360 DEGREES Weblog

Equipped with little more than a video camera and a piece of green cardboard, Montreal filmmaker Patrick Boivin earns a comfortable living by setting up action figures on his kitchen table and moving the limbs in tiny increments to produce weirdly funny slugfests. The creative shorts have propelled this self-taught stop-motion auteur from YouTube sensation to Hollywood hopeful in a matter of months.

Patrick Boivin’s warped sense of humor comes through in his amazing videos.
Image courtesy Patrick Boivin
In March, Boivin, 35, heads west to pitch projects on the strength of his videogame-inspired hit “YouTube Street Fighter,” his funny smackdown clip “Iron Man vs. Bruce Lee” and his recent martial arts spoof “Ninja’s Unboxing,” commissioned by Google to promote its new cellphone. The videos have racked up millions of views on YouTube and earned Boivin entry to Hollywood’s hit-making machine.
Essentially a one-man show, Boivin savors the do-it-yourself show biz ethos.

“There used to be this huge process where you had to go to a company with an idea, they’d called another company to hire a director — there was all this protocol,” he told Wired.com in an telephone interview. “Now, thanks to the web, companies can contact me directly to create all this stuff. For them it’s cheaper, and for me it’s a lot of money because I’m all alone.”

Well, not entirely. Shorts posted on Boivin’s YouTube channel triggered a call last year from Circle of Confusion. The talent-management outfit is setting up meetings with movie producers for Boivin to meet with during next month’s trip to Los Angeles.

Read More http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/02/patrick-boivin/#ixzz0fcTBJHRh

Believe it or not, autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire managed to draw this amazing 18-foot New York skyline panorama using only graphic pens and the information stored in his photographic memory

The Hackney Council of Stoke Newington, England just made a big mistake: it painted over a mural featuring a spoof image of the Royal Family by graffiti artist Banksy. The owner of the building on which the mural was painted, Sofie Attrill, agreed to have the mural painted so it could be used on the cover of the band Blur’s 2003 single Crazy Beat. And for six years, it sat there, attracting plenty of attention.

When she saw the Banksy artwork partially covered in black paint, however, Attrill was moved to tears – a feeling ostensibly made worse by the fact that the workers were smiling as they covered the (once) priceless creation. Working with a crowd that had gathered, Attrill was able to get the painters to stop before they covered the mural completely.

The Hackney Council claimed to have had permission because it sent letters to Attrill and received no reply. Then, it sent an enforcement notice and again heard nothing. Unfortunately, they sent them to an address she used 25 years ago.

At first, the Hackney Council offered no apology. When it realized its error, though, it began to talk to Attrill about ways to resolve the situation.

In 1984, Michael Jackson and Andy Warhol were at the heights of their respective careers. The two pop artists have since passed, but their one collaboration is about to hit the auction block in a sale expected to figure in the millions.

This portrait of Jackson painted by Warhol, measuring 30 x 26 inches, is valued at half a million pounds sterling (nearly $850k), but is likely to fetch far more than that when it hits the block in the near future in a New York auction. Until then, it will be on display at the British Music Experience in London, where Michael was due to launch his comeback concert immediately prior to his untimely death.

Beaches at night have been rich subject matter for Edgar Martins‘ body of photography entitled the Accidental Theorist. Despite having an air of having been carefully set up, the haunting beach scenes make use of props and atmosphere that are already in place. Helped by the ambient light, Martins positions his camera in such a way that the objects in the frame end up looking tiny. The almost deserted beaches, in Portugal and Iceland, emit an air of serenity and solitude, magnified by Martins’ techniques.

Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster have taken piles of trash and turned them into interesting abstract artworks depicting people or animals. The piece above is called White Trash (With Gulls), it is comprised of six month’s worth of trash and two dead sea gulls. The image portrayed is a self portrait of the artists relaxing with a glass of wine.

Artist Jorge Colombo took about an hour to fingerpaint an intricate Times Square scene on his iPhone using Brushes, a $4.99 iPhone drawing app. Now, it’s the June 1st cover for The New Yorker.

When actress Helen Mirren portrays the character Phèdre this summer in a London production of Jean Racine’s tragic play by the same name, it won’t be only attendees at the Royal National Theatre who get to watch. Rather, theatre lovers around the globe will have a chance to see the production on the silver screen at a cinema or arts centre near them.

Through its new NT Live initiative, which kicks off with this summer’s production, the Royal National Theatre will film the Phèdre performance live and in high definition, then broadcast it via satellite to some 50 venues across the UK—for a potential audience of up to 10,000 in a single evening—along with 100 more in the US, Canada and Europe. In addition to the performance itself, remote audiences will be able to watch backstage footage and interviews with artists. In the UK, the National is working with the Picturehouse chain and a range of independent cinemas and arts centres; ticket prices will likely be GBP 10. The National Theatre aims to broadcast three additional productions during its NT Live pilot season, and they’ll be chosen in advance to allow cameras greater freedom; ticket prices will be adjusted accordingly.

Much like the Met’s broadcast efforts, which we covered back in 2007, the NT Live initiative promises to bring live theatre to countless audiences who might not otherwise see it. It’s a sort of democratization of the arts—both financially and geographically—and it’s very likely coming soon to a cineplex near you. Symphony orchestras: you’re up next!

Urban camouflage is a fantastic new art form. Weburbanist has a wonderful collection of a variety of fantastic examples of modern and somewhat pointless camo.

Thanks neatorama

 

Body artist Emma Hack blends models seamlessly into wallpaper backgrounds in a series of photographs entitled ‘Wallpaper Collection’. In several of the photos, her models hold birds, creating an eerie sort of floating effect.

Thanks weburbanist