Ocelot Magazine Vol. 1 - Winter 2015 by Rodolfo (RED) Rojo

VOLUME 1

Saturated Sorcery pg. 14

Greg â&#x20AC;&#x153;Craolaâ&#x20AC;? Simkins pg. 68

Ruben Ireland pg. 78

Because the Internet pg. 176

Facets pg. 182

Peer into the world of psychedelic natural beauty with photography by Amanda Charchain.

An exclusive interview with Greg Simkins sheds light on his transition from street art to fine art.

Chris Jalufka fuses traditional techniques and digital processes to create dreamlike images.

Rebellious style brings forward a new warped respresentation of popular album covers.

Using a fantastic geometric style, Justin Maller creates a faceted image each day for 365.

OCELOT MAGAZINE

HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT LETTER FROM THE TEAM

Creating lasting impressions is essential when designing for the mass audience. That is why we at Ocelot magazine strive for excellence when pursuing designs that will last and stay with the viewer while also keeping the constant visual interest and aesthetic that Ocelot magazine has established. While we have a strong design team that is able to branch out individually, we always keep our focus on the overall design brand of Ocelot. Through this, the overall designs that are created by the Ocelot design team are able to achieve our quality standards of excellence. As contemporary art forms can nearly be found almost anywhere right before our eyes, the concept of Ocelot as the leading design magazine that pinpoints these artists and art styles quickly evolved into a bold and distinguished name in contemporary art. With this concept in mind, Ocelot has the subtleness and elegance of a wild ocelot while also having that strong edge and approach that is found in nature; hiding in plain sight.

8 14 22 26 32 42

PHOTOGRAPHY IMPERMANENCE SATURATED SORCERY DAVID UZOCHUKWA ENTERING THE SURREAL CUBE STORIES THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

50 60 68 78

PAINTING SHEPARD FAIREY MAPPING THE CITY GREG “CRAOLA” SIMKINS RUBEN IRELAND

88 96 104

TYPOGRAPHY PAWEL NOLBERT SWEDEN SANS CALLIGRAFFITI

110 120 128

ARCHITECTURE SAXO BANK SPOTLIGHT STUDIO THE GLASS HALF FULL

136 146 154 160 168

ILLUSTRATION SADHU LE SERBE SI SCOTT CHALK IT UP LIX 3D PEN SERGIO CARIELLO

176 182 188 198

DIGITAL BECAUSE THE INTERNET FACETS ICE COLD CRAFT UNDER 25

OCELOT MAGAZINE

TYLER EHRIG Art Director production control, traffic Tyler is a graphic designer from a rural RODOLFO â&#x20AC;&#x153;REDâ&#x20AC;? ROJO Creative Director traffic, copy editor, estimator RED originally comes from Wisconsin, but currently lives outside Chicago, IL. Preferring publication design as his main focus, he loves to explore typography while also looking at the overall appearance and placement of objects on a page. When he's not designing, RED can be found scrolling through Behance, watching music videos, and listening to music from all over the world.

DESIGN TEAM

Iowa town, but is currently based in Chicago, IL. He designs across a wide variety of print, focusing on layout and branding. He also has a strong sense of space and placement, and loves to pinpoint the finest details in a design. When he's not designing, Tyler enjoys tasks involving organizing, sorting, and upkeep. He believes theres is an odd sense of satisfaction when taking something disorganized and chaotic and creating something streamlined and simplistic.

OCELOT DESIGN TEAM

NELS ARNE Senior Designer / Jr. Art Director illustration & photo lead, estimator Nels is a graphic designer based in Wicker Park, IL, specializing in digital illustration. Nels currently works at React Presents in Chicago and flexes his design muscles pumping out flyers and marketing materials for concerts and musical festivals. When he's not designing, Nels enjoys exploring the city on his skateboard, and combing his shoulder-length locks.

Candis resides in the suburbs of Des

Uriel is a graphic designer from Zion, IL, who has a strong focus in illustration and branding. When it comes to design,

Plaines, IL, but loves to explore the

he loves to use his illustrative skills to

city scene. When it comes to design,

take on any project thrown his way.

branding and package design are her favorite projects to tackle. She loves

When he's not designing, Uriel can be

photography as well, as it brings more

found training his one year old Boston

of her into her designs.

Terrier, Ball$.

When she's not designing, Candis likes to blog, watch beauty vloggers on YouTube, and geeking out to graphic novels and comics.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

filming and editing GoPro footage,

CANDIS BARBOSA Designer copy editor, traffic

URIEL VELASCO Designer illustrator, photography

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

8 14 22 26 32 42

IMPERMANENCE SATURATED SORCERY DAVID UZOCHUKWA ENTERING THE SURREAL CUBE STORIES THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY IMPERMANENCE

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

SEUNG-HWAN OH

“Practically everything you see now will eventually fall into a state of decay. It’s an inevitable process, on that can only be delayed but never truly avoided.” Over the years, the more adventurous photographers working on film have often made radical approaches to their works – sometimes just to test an idea, other times deliberately as part of a project. In the series Impermanence, Seoul, South Korea-based photographer Seung-Hwan

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

Oh intentionally incorporates homegrown bacteria into the film, “the visual result of the symbiosis between film and organic matter…” Oh started working on his work “Impermanence” in 2012 after reading a 2010 article from BBC Online about how fungus threatens to destroy historical film archives. “I noticed that mold on badly stored film can eat away and destroy its contents,” Oh said, “And then I realize that I may deliver the idea of impermanence of matter applying this natural disaster into my work.” He expounded, “It (‘Impermanence’) is about an idea that all the matter including all the life forms collapse in our spatial-temporal dimension we belong to.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

The resulting images are expectedly distorted, a little trippy, yet they still have this unique beauty about them. Most of the end portraits are still recognizable enough for what they are, although there are others that seemingly have succumbed to the bacteria and are thus rendered unfamiliar to any such viewer. Seung-Hwan Oh, however, has seemingly decided to embrace the fact in his stunning work in portraiture, aptly titled “Impermanence”. The process for “Impermanence” is a unique, albeit a painstaking one. To put things in a more clear perspective, Oh stated that only one out of 500 frames comes out properly and that he only has 15 of them so far since he started the project.

PHOTO CREDIT: SEUNG-HWAN OH

ARTICLE CREDIT: JULIEN.MATABUENA LOMOGRAPHY.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY IMPERMANENCE

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Oh begins by taking a photo using his Hasselblad 500 C/M loaded with

inevitably is ephemeral.” Without saying anything specific, he revealed

Fujichrome Provia 400X. “I use the medium format color reversal film

that his favorite photograph out of the whole series is “the first one I

to see the damages on the image more clearly,” he explained. He then

have gotten after 18 months of waiting.”

lets homegrown bacteria sit on the developed film in water for months or even years, noting, “It is key that you have to preserve the developed film wet and warm enough that mold can propagate itself. And then you just check them once a while.”

Right now, Oh has moved on to another series done using the same technique. Titled “Straw Dogs,” it consists of mostly nude portraits and, according to the artist’s estimate, would take two or three years to see the outcome. Other than that Oh isn’t sure what his future plans for

The photos that comprise “Impermanence” veer in the surreal, with the “Impermanence” would be as of the moment, although he did say, quite many colors and patterns and distortions that have appeared courtesy

understandably due to time and work involved for the project, “One

of the bacteria present. Oh, on the other hand, has a fancier description

thing for sure [is] I won’t do this again!”

for the series: “An aesthetic of entangled creation and destruction that

PHOTO CREDIT: SEUNG-HWAN OH

ARTICLE CREDIT: JULIEN.MATABUENA LOMOGRAPHY.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY IMPERMANENCE

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

SATU RATED SORC ERY AN INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY TAMRA SPIVEY

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY SATURATED SORCERY

Blurring boundaries, Charchian creates multimedia experiences that blend Pre-Raphaelite appreciation for the magical beauty of nature, with elements of psychedelic aesthetics, informed by the meaningful intricacy of the long tradition of esoteric art and the canon of fine art history.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

AMA NDA CHA RCH IAN Recently, Newsweek chortled on, over the

of psychedelic aesthetics, informed by the

popularity of the “occult” among “hipsters.”

meaningful intricacy of the long tradition of

Nudity, her own, and those of her models, is then removed from erotic objectification

The old-world media brand admitted that

esoteric art and the canon of fine art history.

all into identifications with nature, surreal

among the new millennials, religion is losing

Photography and painting, fashion, jewelry

hallucinations, and posed displays that carry

its popularity while interest in alternative

making, sculpture, video, and collage all blend

the sense of deities glimpsed during sacred

spirituality has grown so much, a professor

in dream like works that often suggest altered

mysteries, and alchemical paintings come to

interviewed for the story declared it a new

states and spiritual epiphanies.

life within her pieces.

“occult revival.” Many are calling it New Age, and some say the New Age movement of the 1990’s never slowed down. I prefer the term used by modern academics for the “melting pot” collection of spiritual traditions from around the world brewing into some kind of new religion on this continent: American Metaphysical Religion.

Recreated ectoplasmic séance photographs

Some of the works become ritual: “This series

became her form of fine art; friends strung

was shot all analog in Idyllwild, CA, a one mile

out on all prescription drugs are posed as

above sea level mountain community which

pharmaceutical zombies. Using herself as

was recently ravaged by a two-week fire. A

a subject, she then provides a visual diary,

group of six girls were sent in custom rainbow

sometimes with a wry sense of social irony.

dresses made specifically for this shoot, to

Her sculpture “Speyedor” viewed seems to

heal the blackened landscape. During a ritual

be a spider trembling unsteadily in the grass,

with Holi powder, they made rain come from

Blurring boundaries, Charchian creates her

sparkling with sunshine, like a nature spirit

the skies on a very sunny day. The result of

“New Aged” multi-media experiences that

vivid in the daylight, but viewed from above

this true experience are these images.”

blend Pre-Raphaelite appreciation for the

the body of the spider is revealed to be a

magic and beauty of nature, with elements

human eye with huge lashes.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY SATURATED SORCERY

RECR EAT ED SE ANCE

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST AS FOLLOWS Your early on art grapples with the pharmaceutical culture, now pervading our society. What experiences inspired you and what did you learn from how your art about the subject was received? My mother had been on SSRI’s my whole life. Exploring the spiritual disconnect I felt with her led me to discover the deep corruption

Are you making music? If so please tell us a

within the pharmaceutical industry, creating

little more about it.

a mistrust for “health practitioners.” I kept

My collaborative music projects have always

on finding more sensitive people around me

been very short lived but very fun and perfor-

dealing with their existential issues by check-

mance based. I have never recorded anything.

ing out on pills. This world is incredibly heavy,

I played a few shows with Guy. One memorable

we are given quite a load. People tend to be

show was in San Francisco where we played

afraid to explore their shadows. During this

one of his songs. I was playing drums standing

investigation I was taking prescription Adder-

up and then it went into a cover of the Patty

all, which ultimately made it harder and hard-

Water’s song ‘Black is the Color of my True

er to differentiate what was real, meaning the

Love’s Hair’. He ended up screaming the word

energy of things, and what is constructed by

“black” repeatedly while rolling around on the

the delusions of our modern society. I spent

floor for 10 minutes while I kept some varia-

many years trying to understand the different

tion of the beat going. They kept flickering the

facets of alienation from a class-based Marx-

lights trying to let us know it was time to stop

ist view, to a socio-political alienation with

but he was in another world until I climbed on

Rousseau and Lacan, or a Freudian instinct

top of him and we wrestled and made out to

based viewpoint. Ultimately while those were

end the song. My favorite thing about playing

important to explore, they didn’t describe the

is how natural it is to enter a trance state. My

whole of my experience. When I read He-

other musical project is a feminist rap punk

What inspired you to paint on marble?

gel and understood that it was a separation

band called “Pussy Muscle” with my best

I was really taken with the weight and natural

from God that I ultimately was experiencing,

friend Lola Rose Thompson. She is a visual

beauty found in marble. I often went to the

it started to make sense. Then came a more

artist and an amazing poet so we write these

marble fabricators and took their scraps as

intentional spiritual practice, birthing my in-

“spells” as songs with a punk attitude. Just

canvas bored me. In retrospect, it was perhaps

terests in magic and the occult.

the microphone, drums and spells disguised

the living energy, something of the ground that

as comedic lyrics.

attracted me to it.

What do you seek when you practice Holotropic Breathwork?

Do you write?

I haven’t done in it in a while. It is a great way

Thank you. I don’t think of myself as a writ-

to access the information in your DNA and

er. Funny enough most of the writing I end up

what connects you to every other living being

doing is about my work, through interviews.

on this planet. The depths of your psyche are

Though I was born in the states, I spoke Farsi

at the tip of your inhale. No shamans in the

before I spoke English so I have always been

Amazon or tabs of acid necessary. I also really

a bit insecure about my own writing though I

find Sufi whirling exhilarating. I practiced it

love language so much. Farsi is an incredible

in India a while back and would love to find

dramatic and poetic language as well and has

some groups here in LA.

had a big impact on the voice in my head.

PHOTOGRAPHY SATURATED SORCERY

You used to draw fashion lines in middle school during class, you work as a photographer and filmmaker with partners in fashion, and you design clothes. You’ve said that photography satisfies your need to react to immediate circumstances, what does fashion invoke in your psyche? It was in middle school that I was drawing fashion lines with a friend actually. Fashion for me is a very light and fun part of human

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

experience. It rounds out a conceptually rigorous, spiritual and moral existence, though How did growing up in a family that fled Iran

ethics are a huge part of my fashion choices. I

in 1979 make your perspective different

suppose is satisfies my interest in color, shape

from your peers?

and history too. Certain clothes invoke differ-

The very fact that I can make my artwork in

ent characters, various aspects of the various

the most liberated form possible is due pri-

archetypes I inhabit.

marily to their courage and discontent with the oppressive regime taking power. Had they

You’ve said that the state of the natural world,

not taken those risks, I might take my freedom

the abuse of animals and the environment,

for granted. There have been no artists in my

sometimes make you wonder if creating art is

family history. I occupy an important role, a

worthwhile. You seem to have addressed that

small but significant revolution all within my

in your recent collaboration that brought rain

DNA’s memory.

to a burned area. Do you plan to do more of

Has your art influenced your sexuality, or did

these combination art and healing projects?

your sexuality influence your art?

Your work lives at the intersection of femi-

I tend to think all of my work has healing prop-

Most definitely they influence each other on

nism and spirituality; female empowerment,

erties in that my intention is always to inspire

the fundamental basis that sexual energy is a

or disempowerment, are recurring themes.

growth and the creation of more beauty. One

creative energy. This is essentially the same

Can you elaborate on this focus?

thing that always has given me the impetus to

energy that comes with inspiration to manifest

These themes are at the very forefront of my

keep going is the positive feedback I get from

excitement and beauty through artwork.

young women saying they feel more liberated

Written by Tamra Spivey

existence and cannot be ignored as they occupy my very nature. “They” always say to “make what you know.” I suppose that holds true here. I have never been interested in formalism, either conceptual or visual, or any seemingly objective art practice that aims to exist outside of the corporeal existence we inhabit. The best art is biographical, a reflection of the self. The hand. The head. The heart. The eyes. Art is about these things.

after seeing my work. I am not trying to come off as pompous or self-righteous but getting these almost daily messages of inspiration has created a different perspective for me of my own work. I see it less and less as a reason to feel guilty why all this trauma is going on with the Earth and realizing the potential of

my work to creative a positive influence. I do hope that more opportunities to heal through ritual and photography present themselves. Just saying that here is a spell in of itself and surely it will happen. MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

PHA R M

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY SATURATED SORCERY

AC EUT CAL

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: LAURA FISHER VEXXDMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID UZOCHUKWU

Silent yet crowded, David has me submerged

awareness. Uzochukwuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subjects have their

ing photographs of Uzochukwu, only to find

in the density of existence and astray in the

bodies huddled and contracted, or expanded

yourself again. Beautiful spaces demonstrate

vastness of his surroundings. Lost in a moment

and outstretched. These gestures prompt me

a connectedness with the environment and

stretched along the infinity of time, the echoing

think about the difficult challenges we face,

remind me of the lives within them. Exposed

scenery persuades the mind to travel. His work

and how in the darkness of them we eventually

to all the elements, yet protected by the envi-

inspires introspection, depicting the fragility of

surrender. Perhaps only then can we undergo

ronment I find an affinity with oneself. It pulls

the human experience along with the strength

a true metamorphosis. These transitions be-

my present experience into something primal,

required for accepting vulnerability.

tween the guarded and unguarded self in his

honest and candid, in an internal grip that may

work represent a balance of protection and

never let go of its hold.

Within the surreal environments, the body is immersed in its own space. These intimate and imaginative visions contain slivers of an inner self reflection. These images promote PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID UZOCHUKWU

a relentless sense of striving to understand what lies inside of us, outside of us and the

exposure, resulting in a profound coming of being. Are these continuous transformations a necessity to establishing an identity in this large changing world?

Using his work for self-expression, he works with bright colors and themes such as wonder and tragedy to create somber stories that are only partly rooted in reality. Most often,

The overwhelming nature of space imposed on

one single character is portrayed in a natural

connections between. Within the dark tones

his subjects gives me a sense of isolation. In

surrounding, leading to imagery that exudes a

and pensive mood, each photograph ranges

some images a type of melancholy melts over

sense of loss and loneliness. The tender atmo-

from sensitive to empowering. All these poi-

the narrative as people are depicted alone or

sphere in his work connects the photographs,

gnant moments, illustrated through a dream-

unprotected. However, sensations of freedom

and can be traced back to his emotions usu-

like setting describes the deeper connection

and independence are revealed from within us.

ally being the main force used as inspiration,

with ourselves, an experience of heightened

You can lose yourself in the emotionally allur-

though, and design.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY CATEGORY DAVID WORK UZOCHUKWU TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTERING THE SURREAL

The Entranc i ng

PHOTO CREDIT: KYLE THOMPSON

ARTICLE CREDIT: DL CADE FOR PETAPIXEL.COM

and surreal

self-portraiture of kyle thompson

Words: DL Cade for petapixel.com

photos: kyle thompson www.kylethompsonphotography.com

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

There are selfies, and then there are self-portraits. Make no mistake, these are two very different things, in the same way that a photograph differentiates itself from a snapshot. So while the word ‘selfie’ might be in the midst of experiencing its 15 minutes of fame, it would be an injustice to call Kyle Thompson‘s gripping self-portraits ‘selfies.’

ARTICLE CREDIT: DL CADE FOR PETAPIXEL.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTERING THE SURREAL

Thompson, if you can believe it, is a 23 year old and only recently got into photography at age nineteen. Plagued by anxiety his entire life, photography has become a sort of therapy, a way for him to express himself to the world… and the world seems to enjoy listening. The majority of his photography actually doesn’t feature other people. The brunt of Thompson’s work consists of beautiful, striking and surreal

PHOTO CREDIT: KYLE THOMPSON

self-portraits in which Thompson is bending reality to his will.

Negative emotions tend to be what Thompson deals with most and he c o n s i d e r s h i s p r o c e s s t o b e a f o r m o f s e l f - t h e r a p y. “Fire is beautiful, yet destructive,” Thompson stated in reference to a photo of him holding a bundle of sticks with his arms ablaze. “It deals with displacement; projecting anger or resentment. It shows the way we emotionally deteriorate, while holding together.” The emotions prompted by the photographs are hard to ignore. The theatrical and, at times, surreal moments of solitude are seductive and powerful—drawing you in and leaving you wanting more. MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: KYLE THOMPSON

ARTICLE CREDIT: DL CADE FOR PETAPIXEL.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTERING THE SURREAL

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY CUBE STORIES

IMPRISONING THE BODY NATALIE DE SEGONZAC

“The body exists within a container of free space, bound within its freedom. The edges of the frame are at once finite and limitless while the mind is held in tension between extremes. Through acts of endurance one can attempt to break away from There is a lot of beauty in the body. New York photographer & artist Natalie de Segonzac found a way to show off the naked body. Her photos series, The Cube, is a collection of black & white images that show the naked bodies in distortion. The bodies are positioned and folded within a variety of black cubes and photographers. The combination of bodies and cubes make for the perfect contrast to create awesome images. The bodies featured include both male and female bodies and handle the task of being stuffed into a cube very well.

PHOTO CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC

ARTICLE CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC ARTIST STATEMENT WWW.NATALIEDESEGONZAC.COM

these preconceived notions of reality.“

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC

ARTICLE CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC ARTIST STATEMENT WWW.NATALIEDESEGONZAC.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY CUBE STORIES

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY CUBE STORIES

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC

ARTICLE CREDIT: NATALIE DE SEGONZAC ARTIST STATEMENT WWW.NATALIEDESEGONZAC.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY CUBE STORIES

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

through the

viewfinder with @liddobells Isabel Andrade or @liddobells as she’s known on Instagram shows us there’s nothing little about her or her photography skills as her name would suggest.

INTERVIEW BY Uriel velasco PHOTOGRAPHY BY isabel andrade

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

“What I think makes that for a really memorable photograph is something that makes you feel a certain way and tells you a message. I feel this way because it takes a certain eye to be able to tell you something with out words and make you feel something.”

Ocelot:

When did you discover you had a talent?

Andrade: I honestly never took it for a talent, it was more something I enjoyed. Photography was always my escape. As the world changed around me it was the only thing that was familiar with and was able to control the outcome of what I tried to create. Ocelot: What first drew you to photography and how did you discover it?

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

Andrade:

What drew me to photography was an easier way to express myself while I got to explore the city that I love. I was always pulled towards the fact that you can capture a moment and go back to it when you saw the image. I was always around photography ,it was my fathers way of making money in Mexico and when he came to the states.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER

Ocelot: What do you think makes for a more memorable photograph? Andrade:

What I think make a memorable photograph is something that makes you feel a certain way and tell you a message. I feel this way because it takes a certain eye to tell you something with out words and make you feel something .

Ocelot: Why do you take photos? Andrade:

I always loved creating things, painting, drawing, clay sculpting. Photography is just a different media for me.

Ocelot: What do you want your viewers to take away from your work? Andrade: I just always want to be a positive message and a ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

different perspective in everyday life. Ocelot: How much has social media played a role in your photography career? Andrade: Social media has plied a huge role, I’ve encountered one of the best blessing in my life because of it. Ocelot: What challenges did you encounter first starting photography? Andrade: I wouldn’t say I started off very harsh. More towards the present because just as your work changes you do too. The way you think, the way you do things, over all the person you become is just a huge mind f*ck but in the best possible way . Ocelot: When you are out shooting, how much of your setup is instinctual versus planned out? Andrade:

Its never planned because the more I think about it , the less natural it looks. I just let my whole being take over when in the zone.

Ocelot: What are your thoughts and feelings about shooting PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

individually (versus shooting with a friend or small group of friends) Andrade: I like shooting with people but, I love shooting by myself. I’ve always loved being alone coming from a house with three brothers and two sisters. You just enjoy and really appreciate being alone. Ocelot: What are some tips/advice you would give to yourself if you started photography all over again? Andrade: I would have just told myself to trust my instincts, always have fun, never hold back, appreciate the love, never dwell on the negative and most important be myself at all times. MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

50 60 68 78

SHEPARD FAIREY MAPPING THE CITY GREG "CRAOLA" SIMKINS RUBEN IRELAND

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: ALANI NELSON FOR COMPLEX.COM

PAINTING SHEPARD FAIREY

Shepard fairey x lolla palooza The provo cateurs

In the wake of Art Alliance’s exhibition curated by Shepard Fairey, “The Provocateurs,” murals from, POSE, Cleon Peterson, WK Interact, RETNA and the curator himself commemorate what was by far one of the most amazing weeks in art. Dispersed throughout the streets and alleyways of Chicago, these murals immortalize the groundbreaking exhibition of contemporary art.

The street artists have inundated Chicago’s south loop downtown area with murals, transforming windy Chicago streets into an open-air exhibition of some of the most prolific street artists of the day. Whether

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.COMPLEX.COM

it’s Cleon Peterson’s graphic depiction of the human condition above Harold’s Chicken Shack, or Chicago based artist POSE’s assortment of pop-art imagery, a walk through though downtown Chicago will present you with works by people whom Shepard Fairey deems are “challenging notions of how art should be delivered and what it should say.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

How has the city of Chicago’s architecture, artistic culture and music scene inspired you? I love the Art Deco architecture in Chicago. I’m a big fan of Deco design and ornamentation. I designed the Provocateurs poster inspired by, and subverting, the Grant Park fountain landmark! I’ve done a good bit of street art and a few art shows in Chicago and always found the locals to be supportive. The City of Chicago has also been enthusiastic about supporting What inspired you to bring this group of artists

outdoor murals for several of the artists in the show.

together for Art Alliance: The Provocateurs?

As far as music goes, Lollapalooza alone is enough music firepower for anyone’s needs!

These are all artists who make work that pushes beyond the narrow boundaries of the art world

Tell us a little bit about your own creative process.

provocatively in one way or another. Some of the

What is the initial phase of a new project like?

artists, like the street and graffiti artists, work in the streets, bypassing the gallery system to create

My creative process happens a few different ways.

a public dialogue. Other artists have challenging

I’m a massive art, design, music, photography, and

content or aesthetics, while others intertwine their

pop culture book collector, so I’m always inspired

art with music projects that have a built in democracy.

by great work from the past. I fuse a lot of styles together in my work, but my intention is to find the

All of the artists are provocateurs even though they

right approach stylistically and conceptually for each

come from several genres. The show includes political

project. In my personal art and design I often have

art, pop art, sculpture, installation, photography,

ideas responding to current events, and I look for

collage, mosaic, stenciling, graffiti, and music and

references or take photographs that will be useful

art collaborations.

as I illustrate my idea.

What impact do you hope the exhibit will have on

When I’m presented with a design problem while

people’s perceptions of street art?

working with a band or film director, I look at how their needs and my aesthetic preferences can work

Street artists are only one of several groups in the

symbiotically. I create using many mediums. I make

Provocateurs show, but a series of murals in the

illustrations by hand, I design using a Mac, I collage,

Chicago streets is a very important component of

I screen-print, I make stencils, and I paint.

the show. The city of Chicago has enthusiastically supported outdoor murals for several of the artists in the show, so I think street art and graffiti are no longer being strictly decried as vandalism. What I’d like to see as a result of the Provocateurs show is a deeper understanding of the validity of all the included art forms. Good art resides in many places the art world may not champion or support.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

The Provocateurs (Chicago) Shepard Fairey Red Version Screen Print 18 x 24 inches Signed and Numbered Edition of 450

Limited edition print of only 450 released for sale Lollapalooza weekend in Chicago.

PAINTING SHEPARD FAIREY

Specifically, a big, thoughtfully curated art show. And so, this summer, Lollapalooza is getting a group

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.COMPLEX.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: ALANI NELSON FOR COMPLEX.COM

exhibition so enormous that, if street artist/curator Shepard Fairey has his way, its largest murals will stay in Chicago long after the buzzsaw thump of Skrillex dislodges your brain stem. In fact, the show— announced Wednesday and titled “Art Alliance: The Provocateurs”—is so large and serious it will not be in Grant Park. Instead, it will now be held in Block Thirty Seven.

The details are being finalized, but among those

“Art Alliance”—part of their marketing partnership

confirmed for “Art Alliance” are a monster sampling

between C3 Presents, the Texas-based promoter

of rough-hewn sensibilities that have come to define

of Lollapalooza, and Fairey, whose iconic “Hope”

21st century aesthetics: pioneering New York graffiti

portraits of Barack Obama remain as memorable as

artists Futura and Eric Haze (who also designed album

his Andre the Giant-stamped “Obey” images—will

covers for Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys); Mark

dominate a sizable portion of the 25,000-square-

Mothersbaugh (whose visual arts career extends

foot building on North State Street. It will run from

before his time as the singer of Devo); Gary Panter

July 31 to Aug. 4, concurrent with the music festival

(the revered painter and underground cartoonist

(but a separate ticketed event).

who created the explosive whimsy of “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”); Invader (the French street artist who tags walls with the images of early eight-bit video game graphics); Ryan McGinness, FAILE and RETNA (whose congested, playful canvases are traffic jams of pop hieroglyphics); Stanley Donwood (best known as Radiohead’s go-to album designer and artist); Winston Smith (whose black-and-white collages are synonymous with hard-core punk); and Camille Rose Garcia (whose unsettling, Disney-inspired images of dark fantasy often resemble the missing link between Tim Burton and Hot Topic).

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Erik Jones

design your heart out

music movies&tv apps books newsstand games

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Street artists are showing how they’d map cities differently in a new show that lets visitors step into their clandestine worlds. Conventional cartography this is not... –•–•– • –• –

wags of skin hang from the walls of the New Wing

“This isn’t street art,” insists the project’s organizer,

of Somerset House, like the flayed flesh of some

Rafael Schacter, of arts group A(by)P. “It is work by

strange sea creatures, stretched out to dry. It’s an

street artists. It’s about translating their approach

alarming sight in this abandoned suite of rooms,

to the city into objects, so people can react to them

which have been off-limits since they were recently

in a museum setting, and maybe change how they

vacated by the Inland Revenue. Was this the gruesome

look at the city. It’s not about reproducing street

fate of those who didn’t pay their taxes on time?

art on canvas.”

The drooping rags turn out to be latex, peeled from

It helps to think of the show as like the gift shop

the sinuous cast-iron shields of Hector Guimard’s

at the end of a big museum exhibition, with the

spectacular art nouveau entrances to the Paris

real exhibition outside in the city itself. These are

Metro. They hang beside a slumped rubbery sack

condensed trinkets of bigger ideas, mini manifestos

on a plinth – another latex cast, this time a stone

of work that has evolved, in some cases, over three

cat from the cemetery of Montmartre. Both are the

decades of scampering out in the cold with ladders

work of Ken Sortais, a professional golfer turned

and telescopic rollers in hand. It’s all for sale too

street artist, now member of Paris’s revered PAL

– ranging from £80 for a print to £24,500 for a

graffiti crew, whose cursive letterforms, thrown up

Shepard Fairey original.

on walls all over the city, have reached new levels of baroque extravagance. These latex ghosts form a typically gnomic contribution to Mapping the City, an exhibition of the responses by 50 international street artists to being asked to map their cities “through subjective surveying rather than objective ordinance”. Conventional cartography this is not.

Hung with the “rag-bag, car-boot” approach of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, which somehow suits this subject matter and the tatty old rooms, there are some intriguing things to be found in the muddle. Occupying the first room is a giant tepee of hi-vis vests, next to a figure draped in a dark cloak – by artists Petro and Russell

Street art in a gallery faces the eternal question

Maurice respectively — showing two different

of why it’s there at all, when surely it should be

approaches to not being caught in the act. Low-

out in the elements, hastily slopped on walls or

vis, as innocuous neon work wear is known in the

trains under the cover of darkness. Indoors, neatly

trade, has become the choice of many to gain

stenciled on a canvas and hung on the wall, it

access to the inaccessible.

always feels insipid.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

Ma ppi

Ci the ng

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

oliver wainwright

Buenos Aires, Chu 2012 MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Abstract Rug Design for a Dwelling in the Plains, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, 2012

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: OLIVER WAINWRIGHT FOR THEGUARDIAN.COM

Overcast Angeles, Augustine Kofie, 2014

TYPOGRAPHY MAPPING THE CITY

Covalence, Jurne, 2013

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: OLIVER WAINWRIGHT FOR THEGUARDIAN.COM

TYPOGRAPHY MAPPING THE CITY

In the room next door hangs a map of the city of Rennes, by French group Les Frères Ripoulain, obliterated save for sites that have been vacant for the last decade. It is the city as seen through the street-artist’s eyes, a coded shorthand for plots of potential activity. Spanish artist Sixe Paredes has drawn his own encrypted map of Barcelona, abstracted into an op-art grid like a mashed-up Bridget Riley painting, and inscribed with his own mysterious cuneiform code. This world of secretive signs suffuses the whole

A series of videos playing on monitors inside,

exhibition, and it can be frustrating. The cognoscenti

beneath ring-bound scraps of lino (aka the “Book of

might give a knowing chuckle to the quasi-masonic

Bitumen”), gives some hint as to the antics in store.

symbols in French artist Honet’s diagram of Paris,

They show the cultists performing wild rituals,

but to the uninitiated, it holds the passing interest of

in homage to the late New York graffiti writer

an exercise-book doodle. Seen on the street, most

and performance artist Rammellzee, featuring

of this work would inspire a second look – for being

“breakspraying” — breakdancing while painting

painted on a chimney pot or up in a hard-to-reach

with a spray can — and “express-preying”.

The Ultra Poet, Mike Ballard, 2014 Berlin Tower, Shepard Fairey, 2011

corner you might never even have noticed. But, removed from that serendipitous context, it needs to work much harder. And some of it falls flat.

In their possessed hip-hop chants, Adidas is elevated into the great god “Zi-Dada” and Robert Moses, the tyrannical master architect of New York’s concrete

The show promises to be more engaging when it

infrastructure, becomes the god “Mozizizm”. Sunday’s

breaks out of the gallery, through a lively program

event will see the cult process across the river to

of talks, film screenings and events over the next

the hallowed under croft of the Southbank Centre,

three weeks. Sunday, 25 January will see one of

spiritual home of skating and graffiti, to perform an

the strangest happenings to have emerged from

unearthly exorcism. It remains to be seen in what

Somerset House, when a group that goes by the

form Jude Kelly, the director of the Southbank, who

name of The Cult of RAMM : LL : Z stages a cross-

until recently planned to evict the street artists and

river performance.

skaters, gets transubstantiated. MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

535

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

535™ Jean

511™ Jean

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

levi.com

511 TM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: ERIN SWINFARD: PRINTONWOOD.COM

PAINTING GREG “CRAOLA” SIMKINS

INTERVIEW BY ERIN SWINFARD

“ Sometimes the story of what I am painting reveals itself through a spontaneous character added to the scene. ”

WORK CREDIT: GREG “CAROLA” SIMKINS

For most of us, childhood ends where peach fuzz sprouts into the first few chin-hairs or when “nap time” suddenly becomes our fond, yet oh so distant memory. For Greg “Craola Simkins, the child inside thrives as a driving force behind his whimsical artwork. Using fable-like characters and intense detail, the renowned artist has set a large impression on the different areas of today’s art scene. With over 10 years of experience in street art, Simkins has made the rare, seamless transition into the world of fine art. Drawing from his experiences as a graffiti artist, the surrealist creates pieces all of which tell a unique story. This week, we got the chance to have him talk a bit about his.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

“ I feel like I am writing this stuff just to make sense of why I paint and to open new doors in that world. ”

One thing that stands out prominently

coals as opposed to pencils as opposed to

about your work is the intensely precise

pen and ink, computers, spray paints and

to make sense of why I paint and to open

formation of detail. This detail doesn’t

acrylics, etc... Every once in a while they

new doors in that world. I am preparing

seem to change despite the canvas, be

cross over, but I do enjoy all the differences

for my next sol show right now and am

it a large graffiti wall or a small painting.

each has to offer.

How do different canvases effect you as a

to paint. I feel like I am writing this stuff just

finessing myself fitting new characters into my pieces that I was writing about. I’ll

painter? Is it harder to paint a large graffiti

Your pieces have a very whimsical fairy-

wall vs a small painting?

tale-like air to them. I read that sometimes

remember a train of thought and it sparks

while painting, you become so captivated

some new imagery and ties together old

I’ve actually always taken a different approach with my walls versus my canvases. I tend to compartmentalize everything I do. I enjoy doing my graffiti lettering on walls the most and find it freeing and much more of a physical act then something I would do on a canvas. There is always a time element that is specific to both. With a wall, I like to

go back to my notes and read through and

with thoughts, you put down your paint

images from previous works so as to unite

brush and pick up a pen to write down the

years of work into a whole. I love bringing

story behind characters or scenes in your

back old characters like the Strawberry

painting. Is this true? If so, what do you

Octopus and my Blue Jays and giving them

do with the stories when they’re connected

a purpose, something more than just being

to different pieces?

and interesting image. I have only shared

I definitely do. Sometimes the story of

work faster because everything is working

what I am painting reveals itself through a

against you, daylight, people around, drive

spontaneous character added to the scene.

time, deadlines at home. That’s why i al-

Sometimes it makes itself apparent only

most always keep my wall stuff to my roots

once the image is fully rendered, and I can

which is graffiti, even if I’m not painting free-

see the attitude in the eyes. I will write down

ways and underpasses anymore, there is

the things that pop in my head as I paint.

that ingrained feeling of being against the

Lately I’ve been getting up early and taking

clock. Plus I just like doing letters a lot, there

walks down by the beach. There is a certain

are a lot of abstract elements to it. Now on

area which has become the muse for the

my canvas work, its a whole different story.

world I paint and I have chosen the mornings

I have a different time allotment and can

to be my writing time. This last summer I

allow myself to explore those weird places

have written more than anything previously

in my imagination more freely. I can get rid

and it hasn’t even been in accordance with

of the outside distractions and basically tell

any specific paintings. It’s all based off

a story with my paint brushes. I definitely do

my White Knight Character Ralf and his

something different with each tool. There

adventures in “The Outside”, but there are

is a specific thing I lean towards with char-

a lot of things to it that I would never be able

bits and pieces of these stories with a few people. I find that it feels really personal for some reason and prefer to keep them to myself. I’m not an easy share when it comes to explaining them as I feel it mint take away from the viewer their initial connection to the work. Perhaps somewhere down the line after tremendous amounts of editing, I’ll be able to fully share this stuff, but for now, to keep it simple, the canvas works I do are glimpses and snapshots in the world “The Outside”, some through the eyes of Ralf (the white Knight) and others through the eyes of the birds and inhabitants of that world they exist in.

WORK CREDIT: GREG “CAROLA” SIMKINS

ARTICLE CREDIT: ERIN SWINFARD: PRINTONWOOD.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PAINTING GREG “CRAOLA” SIMKINS

ARTICLE CREDIT: ERIN SWINFARD: PRINTONWOOD.COM

“ I WILL ALWAYS LOVE GRAFFITI. IT ENERGIZED THAT CREATIVE PART IN ME TO WANT TO LEARN AND GROW AS AN ARTIST. ”

Speaking of stories, I read about a short

scenes as we speak and this thing is getting

WAI and Bashers, as well as writers from

film you have in the works called “I’m

close. Feels like only yesterday that we did

other crews. I prefer we get some random

Scared”, can you tell us more about it and

the Kickstarter, but in fact it has been a

permission wall or a wall in a cutty spot that

when it will be available?

long process and many hard hours put in

won’t bother anyone, and just rock burners

This is an exciting project that wouldn’t have come together with out he insistence and skills of my friends Dan Levy, Pete Levin, and Robyn Yannoukos. It is based off of a bedtime story called “I’m Scared...” Which I had been telling my oldest son for the last couple of Years. It was a fun way of exploring all the things that go bump in the night in a funny way so as not to be scared. With the addition of our second son, the idea of having bad advice from big brothers to little brothers about all the things he should

WORK CREDIT: GREG “CAROLA” SIMKINS

be scared of came into the picture and we

by a dedicated team who I have nothing but

and have a good time. It is way harder to get

respect and gratitude for.

the time to go paint walls these days, but

I don’t know if an interview is complete

of, like it will always be a part of me. I am

without asking at least one question

alway drawing letter schemes and it some-

it something that I feel I will never let go

about your graffiti days. What I find the

how feeds my imagination to with over to

most ironic about wall murals today is the

“The Outside” as a switch. One turns on the

enthusiasm behind them compared the

other turns off and vice versa.

enthusiasm just 10-20 years ago. You are paid thousands of dollars for the same act

Are there any hints about what we may see

of artistic expression. What is your per-

on your 20ft x 8ft wall mural?

sonal experience and feelings in regards to graffiti art then and now?

Thanks for inviting me. I have been having fun playing with my name in the color

decided to have it told through the young

I will always love graffiti. Looking through

scheme associated with it. The last three

version of my character Ralf (The White

“Subway Art” when I was 17 (yes I got a

walls I painted were takes off of this. I like

Knight) when he was just a boy and the

late start) turned my art in a whole new

to incorporate my version of Oswald the

leader of “The Scared Scouts”. Watching

direction. It energized that creative part in

Lucky rabbit into my walls sometimes and

the project come together and the amazing

me to want to learn and grow as an artist.

he might make an appearance.

team of artists that Dan, Pete, and Robyn

It still does. And sure occasionally I’ll do a

assembled has been amazing. These peo-

gig where I get paid to paint live. But that’s

ple are at the forefront of stop motion ani-

not all the time. And yes , I have stopped

mation and I am amazed at what they can

painting illegal walls since starting a family.

do. I am not sure on the exact release, it

I have watched how it has turned out with

is a short and will be released with a book

friends and feel I put in my street work and

positioned a children’s book/concept art

dues in those early years. But. I still maintain

book, so it may live online with a release

the same mindset and approach to paint-

party. All the details still need ironing out,

ing walls now, that I did back then. I enjoy

but I can tell you that they are wrapping up

painting with my crew members from CBS, MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Ai Weiwei

disrupt your heart out

music movies&tv apps books newsstand games

POWERSHOT D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera

Fortune, Ruben Ireland

78 OCELOT MAGAZINE

PAINTING RUBEN IRELAND

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

THE DARK IMAGINARY WORLD OF

RUBEN IRELAND chris jalufka

Ruben Ireland is a graphic artist and illustrator based in London. His art fuses traditional techniques with digital processes, creating thoughtful, dreamlike images of seemingly magical beings in abstract spaces, these pensive enchantresses often interacting with mystical elements and wild creatures. Ireland’s eclectic tool kit includes ink, acrylic, dirty water, foods, and weathered paper, all used in conjunction with Photoshop and a Wacom tablet. The portraits of artist Ruben Ireland hang like depictions of unknown

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

saints. Heroes from a forgotten folklore. Ireland shows women as mystics — clean and crisp in an epic state of calm. His subjects stand stoic, unknowing of the stranger with the paint brush. These are characters of fantasy, warriors fresh off of a battlefield, strangely in the artist’s studio. Ireland’s compositions are direct, full of an invented iconography of his own design. His canvases shift in texture, from slick digital color to slate and stone, felt and leather. In taking in the extent of his work as a whole, you see an artist aware and in full control of his skills. There are no missteps. Ireland’s work is simply graceful.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Hold On, Ruben Ireland

80 OCELOT MAGAZINE

ARTICLE CREDIT: CHRIS JALUFKA FOR EVILTENDER.COM

PAINTING RUBEN IRELAND

I responded right away to the distinct “portrait aspect” of your work—the women you capture have this mysteriously stoic quality to them. They remind me of the first photographs of the Eskimos in Alaska that were taken in the early 1900s. ‘Hold On’ is an absolutely stunning piece—you have this way of creating these beautifully bold portraits of these young women, girls, that have a sense of both maturity and innocence. There’s a stark beauty to your women–like strange warriors pulled from the field for a portrait. Ritualistic

WORK CREDIT: WWW.RUBENIRELAND.COM

headdresses specific to some unknown fantasy you’ve created. Were portraits always the main focus of your work? What drew you that subject? RI: Portraiture was actually something I tried to

We can’t choose the bodies we’re in but how

avoid during College and University, for hope of

we choose to decorate those bodies begins to

trying to explore a more narrative and stylized form

describe the world we live in, the ideas we have

of illustration. But as I began working with people

about ourselves, our history and our surroundings

just as a bit of fun on the side, I found I could find

and ultimately how we feel emotionally.

News From Afar Hyperballad for Gauntlet Gallery’s ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ show A Circle

much more interesting descriptions of the ‘when, where and why’, through loaded expressions and symbolic adornments.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

“money as a muse

makes for

.”

stale creativity

PAINTING RUBEN IRELAND

You keep a very simple and powerful color palette. You get a lot out of black, white, and only a few touches of color. There’s also an interesting use of texture in your paintings. In something like ‘This City’ there’s the feeling of leather or felt, slate. Stone. It’s an inspired way of incorporating a natural feel to digital work. Some of your early work appears to be straight traditional paintings. What was your progression from traditional to digital painting? Are paints and pencils still a part of your process? It was a very gradual transition from wholly analog to the analog/ digital hybrid that my work is now. I first became interested in the digital medium whilst scanning in handmade pictures to clean up ready for reprinting. As I learned new techniques in Photoshop it started to shape the way I created the physical work and so a conversation between the two mediums began, which still goes on today I guess. One important thing for me is to almost always treat any digital work I do in the same way I would anything created by hand, so there’s always a human ARTICLE CREDIT: CHRIS JALUFKA FOR EVILTENDER.COM

touch present. I think this might be key in the rise in popularity and validity of the digital medium as a whole, as people are avoiding the shortcuts and special effects that became so popular a decade or more ago, when people were making art about the medium itself in a way, and instead are now putting the creative focus back on themselves, allowing for more openness towards ‘traditional’ processes in their digital work.

WORK CREDIT: WWW.RUBENIRELAND.COM

Featured images from Let You Be Page Left: This City Space Within Sensily

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

There’s no anger or fear in the faces of your subjects— the women

The great advantage of working with another illustrator, with a very

may be small, but they are not weak. There’s an otherworldly quality

distinct style, is that it pushes you to open up to new ways of thinking

to a piece like ‘The Mound II,’ she’s like an oracle. Stoic. Intelligent.

and seeing. It allowed me to find a fresh perspective on my own work,

Beautiful. What sort of reference materials are you working from?

as well as my process. I’m very excited to say that Muxxi and I are

Are you working from live models or photographs? Do you have the mood and tone in set in your mind before you begin a painting? I work in a variety of ways, sometimes using live models and sometimes creating photo-collages from found images to use as reference. I ordinarily start a work with a feeling in myself and try to reflect that

currently working on another collaboration. Your portrait of Leon from ‘The Professional’ is possibly your only male subject. I’ve talked with other illustrators who mentioned they avoid men in their prints because those don’t sell as well. When starting a piece, do you consider if it will sell or not?

into the characters I create, without trying to intellectualize the feeling

There are a couple of other men in my portfolio, but only as client

or setting it in stone at the beginning.

initiated projects, ‘Leon’ was the first time I wanted to portray a male

I think this process is responsible for the multitude of emotions you describe, as I’ve had commissions where the client has been very specific about the emotion of the character, which can sometimes lead to shallow work. Your piece ‘Kobana’ is a collaboration with artist Muxxi. It’s a total brilliant blend of your two voices. How do you approach working with another artist who has such a distinct style? Is there a goal set when starting a collaboration? Is there a reason to work with another illustrator rather than going it alone? We didn’t have any particular goal for the piece at first, intentionally leaving the development very open for us both to have maximum creative input without feeling restricted. By passing the image back and forth, working on different segments individually each time, we found that our styles began to blend quite naturally as a response to what each other had contributed.

of my own volition, but my choice to mostly portray women isn’t a financial one. Whilst I think it’s good to be aware of sales statistics, this is only to gauge popularity amongst fans. Money as a muse makes for stale creativity. You’ve done a few portraits for film characters, but your work is predominately your own original creations. What made you want to do Mrs. Mia Wallace and the lead characters from ‘The Professional’? Is that something you’d like to do more of, or was it an experiment, a way to challenge yourself? Aside from those being amongst my favorite films and my being eager to celebrate those characters, I also wanted to challenge myself. It’s good to see if I can step outside of my own world every so often as it can become too comfortable sometimes, to create characters without any creative restraint. I would definitely like to work with more cinematic icons in the future, I’m thinking about portraying Walter White from ‘Breaking Bad’, I’m seeing a lot of interpretations around and would like to give it a shot. Does your career eat up most of your time? Are you able to keep a personal life alongside your work as a creative? I do find myself spending most of my time working, but I make an effort to find the right balance between work and play. When I was first starting out I managed to neglect a lot of social opportunities, but in hindsight I think it was really useful to be work obsessed for the time that I was, just to get the ball rolling. Now I’m very strict with myself about taking some Saturdays and most Sundays off completely, as well as dedicating full days to friends and family rather than a few hours in between work, because being self-employed can quite easily become a 24/7 thing if you let it, and that’s not good for the health nor creativity. Besides, it’s often during relaxation or play that the best ideas come.

WORK CREDIT: WWW.RUBENIRELAND.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: CHRIS JALUFKA FOR EVILTENDER.COM

PAINTING RUBEN IRELAND

Last Dance, Ruben Ireland

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

ANSWER TO YOURSELF

FIELD NOTES

88 96 104

PAWEL NOLBERT SWEDEN SANS CALLIGRAFFITI

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PAINTING TYPOGRAPHY BY NUMBERS FEATURING HIS SERIES, “ATYPICAL” | INTERVIEW BY EMIL AGARUNOV

A series of posters exploring form and rhythm of letters or pseudo-letters presented as half-realistic, half-illustrative figurative paint sculptures. The artworks were built from a thick paint brushstroke gestures into expressive three-dimensional forms — extending the aesthetic characteristic of typography — and written word, as tools of a primarily verbal expression.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

TYPOGRAPHY PAWEL NOLBERT

INTERVIEW WITH PAWEL NOLBERT

Pawel is now a veteran designer

out, that Adobe Photoshop could

who has been working along with

do much more attractive.

world-class design agency, Ars Thanea. This experienced artist has created some professional looking advertisements and is now sharing some important advice about the many facets of designing. In our interview with

I could write and write on how it developed further, but these are the most essential beginnings, besides childhood, when from time to time I used to scribble on many undesired surfaces.

Pawel, we cover his work at the

Q. Many designers prefer to

agency, some of his illustrations,

freelance, but you are working

and how he deals with instances

currently for Ars Thanea, which

where he is not creative. Here is

is a prominent design studio,

another great interview with a

what would you say are the pro’s

truly talented artist.

and con’s to working in a studio?

Q. Please, introduce yourself. Could you tell us where you are

And would you recommend it for the upcoming designers?

from and how you got started in

It might be a pretty obvious thing

the field?

that if you work in a studio, you

I hail from a little town in midwestern Poland, where pretty much no one but me was into graphics. Over the past couple of years I’ve been living in Warsaw, where I am mainly working on commercial projects at design agency, Ars Thanea and trying to do personal projects on a side.

usually work with other people, which is a huge advancement over sitting in a room alone in front of a computer, as I did when freelancing remotely from home for a couple of years. If you want to polish up your skills, I’d recommend you to go to an agency first. In a collaborative atmosphere you receive a lot

It started the same way it did for

of feedback and can exchange

most of the people reading this

very useful advice everyday. One

interview I guess... Once upon a

of the main things that might

time, something around 2001, I

attract designers to freelance is

got acquainted with Photoshop

that you can make much more

after a short episode with Paint

money working that way on your

Shop Pro, that I used to create

own, but you often have to pay a

wallpapers, which were my first

fair amount of sleepless nights,

ever digitally created pictures.

as the tight deadlines are usually

After a few clicks, I quickly figured

weak... at least my working habits.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

TYPOGRAPHY PAWEL NOLBERT

Q. What happens when you lose your creativity for a period of time? How do you deal with it in the and bring it back? There’s not much I can do to help myself in that situation. For me, as for many others it just goes along sinusoidal shape, so there are creative days and the ones that I better spend on anything but design. However, great inspiration leads you to creativity, so watching exceptionally inspiring things can keep you on a high level of creativity. Luckily that’s what I do everyday, while I’m an extensive web digger and everyday brings a great amount of gems.

ARTICLE CREDIT: EMIL AGARUNOV FOR TUTS PLUS

Q. What group of skill sets do you believe the perfect designer should have? Let’s point out three important skills here: The first is composition. It takes time to work out a good skill of composition, but it’s something that you can mostly learn, as it bases on some basic principles. However, it takes some sense and intuition to create a unique, well working solution in more

WORK CREDIT: WWW.PAWELNOLBERT.COM

complex compositions. Sense of color. You have to have an eye for good color choices or just try to learn it. Ideally both. After all, the color is everything what you see there, so be sure you mixed it well. For a rich and colorful image, it actually doesn’t require you much to follow the color theory guidelines as much

put up my color choices—I don’t

any smallest piece of the image

like to follow the rules, which are

to be left untouched. Everything

useful, but not always...

must be polished up, especially if

as in more minimalist pieces,

Attention to detail—because de-

while there’s so many colors to

tails make a good, original design.

mix and you can have that nice

In my works, the work on the de-

array of hues to play freely with. I

tails often takes most of time of

don’t actually use any theories to

the whole project. I just can’t let

I have a lot of time.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

c a ptu re id e as

Enjoy total creative freedom and a superior, natural drawing experience with an Intuos Pro www.wacom.com

CAPTURED BY: WWW.CODYBLUEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

THIS IS YOUR LIFE. BE A HERO.

WWW.GOPRO.COM

SANS

OCELOT MAGAZINE

WEDE

ARTICLE CREDIT: JASPER ROBINELL FOR SÖDERHAVET

TYPOGRAPHY CATEGORY SWEDEN SANS WORK TITLE/ARTIST

Countries have national anthems, national dishes, even national dances—but the Swedes have taken their cultural identity one step further by creating their own typeface, one inspired by the Swedish signs of the 1950s and named “Sweden Sans”. The brief was to replace the various fonts used by

WORK CREDIT: WWW.SODERHAVET.COM

different Swedish government ministries, agencies and corporations with one integrated visual brand identity that would represent the country to the world in a “fresh and dynamic way”. “Aesthetics are a very important thing in Sweden and we have a long tradition of great architecture, furniture and design—so this was the natural next step,” said type designer Stefan Hattenbach from Stockholm-based Söderhavet, who worked on the font. “It was a big responsibility to be representing our country, but we were really proud to be asked.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Regular

AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNnO oPpQqRrSsTtUuVv WwXxYyZzÅåÄåÖö Bold

AaBbCcDdEeFfGg HhIiJjKkLlMmNnO oPpQqRrSsTtUuVv WwXxYyZzÅåÄåÖö

Sweden Sans Bold

0123456789

TYPOGRAPHY SWEDEN SANS

Sweden Sans Bold

The starting point for us was the Swedish flag with the yellow Scandinavian cross against a blue background that has been used since the 1600s. “We started to think about how it would work with different typefaces, then started mood boards with different fonts and pictures—especially of old Swedish signs we’d seen from the 1940s and 50s,” said Jesper Robinell, Söderhavet’s head of design. Then, they started sketching; Robinell, to the dulcet strains of modern electro music and Hattenbach to disco along with others such as Bob Marley (“Bob’s always good to create to”). “We worked on it for about six months, really going into the details, to create Sweden Sans—a modern, geometric font,” Hattenbach said. The result is a basic sans serif font with some modern tweaks. Like the Q, for example,” Hattenbach explained, “its tail, which would normally trail off to the right, points straight down instead. I think our Q is really nice.

“We have an expression in Swedish, lagom, which means ‘not too much and not too little’, something in the middle that means you’re content. We Swedes are happy with that. And lagom is what we’ve aimed for with Sweden Sans.” So what do they hope the response will be? The answer is similarly lagom: “We want people to just appreciate the identity overall as a whole,” said Robinell. “It is all about Scandinavian minimalism. If they notice the typeface too much, it hasn’t worked.” But the rest of the world has taken quite a lot of notice with the team at Söderhavet now working on similar briefs for other countries. “We can’t name names,” said Hattenbach, “as the projects are still within their first phases, but we’re currently ‘in discussions’ to do much more nation branding in future.”

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

Sverige ligger i norra Europa, på östra delen av den skandinaviska halvön.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

100

OCELOT MAGAZINE

WORK CREDIT: WWW.SODERHAVET.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: JASPER ROBINELL FOR SÖDERHAVET

TYPOGRAPHY SWEDEN SANS

101

“I think it’s pretty easy to tell that the descriptions are a typical sales pitch,” says Rikard Heberling, a graphic designer based in Stockholm. But ultimately Sweden Sans is more about promoting “the myths of a certain Swedish taste or mentality,” he says. “It is merely a branding tool.” And as branding goes, though, there is an unfortunate and glaring analogy — Blackletter, the thick, Gothic lettering that appeared in 12th century Europe and ended up synonymous with the Third Reich. Its proponents thought blackletter was the superior way to represent the German language, but it ended up discredited as “Jewish,” and subsequently banished. Sweden Sans, too, has some nationalist underpinnings. In 2004, an expert appointed by the government argued it was “important” to take more pride in national traditions. A decade later, Swedish nationalism is mainstream, the anti-immigration party is the country’s third largest political group, and soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recited the national anthem in an epic car commercial followed along with the tagline “Made By Sweden.” “It began almost as a diplomatic thing for government bodies working in both business and diplomacy,” Hattenbach says. “But nationalism seems to be a bit of a trend right now. I don’t see anything wrong with Sweden strengthening its profile a little. We’ve been pretty harmless in the past.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Plug. Touch. Go. Spotify is now free on mobile, tablet and computer. Listen to the right music, wherever you are. Download Spotify at www.spotify.com/us/.

Texta. A Sans for All. Through studying humanists’ models from Edward Johnston to Adrian Frutiger and the Gothic Alphabet made by sign painters comes Texta, a contemporary, rational, transparent and useful Sans to compose all kind of texts. We incorporated an Alt version that replaces lower cases like a-g-y with geometric constructions to get more versatility in neutral compositions. Designed by Daniel Hernández Sánchez & Miguel Hernández Montoya ©2014.

104

OCELOT MAGAZINE

105

ARTICLE CREDIT: DAVID SOKOL DESIGN.NL

PAINTING CALLIGRAFFITI

CALLIGRAFFITI NIELS SHOE MEULMAN

WORK CREDIT: NIELS SHOE MEULMAN

NIELS

Shoe Meulman’s designed versions of

Meulman has largely worked by and for himself ever since,

a midlife crisis started in 2007, during

in more recent years from his Amsterdam home overlooking

a month-long visit to New York and staring down the road to

Looiersgracht. He reflects on Calligraffiti as a mash-up of

his 40th birthday.

all his previous phases as an artist. Meulman sprayed his

At the time the “Amsterdam-born, -raised, and -based” art director and artist had been heading up a small yet successful ad agency called Unruly; that February Meulman stayed with artist Eric Haze and began wondering what it would be like to pursue a career without clients. Riffing off artwork Haze had begun in his Williamsburg studio, the friends devised a

first Shoe tag at age 13 and within a few years he, like Haze, had risen to celebrity status in the graffiti world; 16-year-old Meulman began learning calligraphy; in the 1990s he was running his own design studio Caulfield & Tensing; Meulman later worked for the mega-ad agency BBDO. His interest in letterforms has been unwavering.

technique marrying graffiti and calligraphy. Meulman returned

Calligraffiti projects start as almost any professional gig, with

to Amsterdam, took a cavernous space in a former Post CS

doodling. “After a few sketches, I know how the words relate

building (the same that housed the Stedelijk temporarily), and

to each other—the descender of a g touching a capital F or

emerged two months later with his solo exhibition introducing

something like that,” he explains. “Sometimes you get it right,

Calligraffiti to adoring audiences.

sometimes it takes 10 times.” MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

106

INITIALLY Meulman transformed

rendering into reality using marker refill, a runny variety of ink that lent horizontally to his work, if only to prevent drips. In fact, he explains that choice of medium informs

application technique, which then informs the final product. “The difference in letterforms is physically defined: With a pen you use your hand and with a brush you use your wrist. Of course I’m very used to doing bigger stuff with a spray can, in which you use your whole arm. And recently I’ve been experimenting with big brooms on the pavement. The shapes have the same starting point but the physical aspect really defines how it looks in the end. So many factors influence the final result; my personal will is only 10 percent of it—that sounds kind of Zen-like.” Openness to possibility also landed Meulman one of his most recent commissions, installed during San Francisco Dutch Design Week. His solo exhibition “Throw-Ups,” which opened at the Los Angeles gallery Project Space on October 21, put Meulman on the radar of The Consulate General of the Netherlands in California. The consulate then invited him to conceive and execute a mural for the weeklong event feting its move from Los Angeles to San Francisco. “I’ve found that these kinds of opportunities are all about coincidences,” Meulman says.

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PAINTING CALLIGRAFFITI

107

ARTICLE CREDIT: DAVID SOKOL DESIGN.NL

THE FAIRLY NEW ART OF GRAFFITI AND ITS SOMEWHAT RIGID RULES PROMPTS US TO LOOK FURTHER BACK INTO THE HISTORY OF WRITING. Another series of coincidences inspired the

Like all the previous works at “Throw-Ups,”

subject of the San Francisco installation. Since

Meulman executed the San Francisco Dutch

seeing them in Los Angeles, Adele Renault, a

Design Week mural in acrylics and in color, a

graphic designer at the Amsterdam-based

contrast to his predominantly black-and-white,

design studio Dog and Pony and Meulman’s

inky body of work. Renault also painted pelicans

girlfriend of two years, had been drawing

by his side, which is only the sixth time she’s

pelicans almost obsessively. “It’s a pretty weird

served as co-author. His choice of text also

bird, but she was really into it,” Meulman says.

represents a change: “Once, I felt the need to

“Then I was on the plane to San Francisco, not

do a lot of pieces that said coke & booze. With

knowing what to write, and I put Dutch design

the work I’ve been doing lately, maybe being

and the birds together, and then I knew.

unruly isn’t that important anymore. As I get

”Meulman knew to use a medieval phrase that had been relayed to him once by Dingeman Kuilman, the former Premsela director whom he had befriended while both were working in the studio of famous graphic designer Anthon Beeke. It roughly translates to, “All birds have started making nests, everyone except me and

older, my next goal is to get wiser, and to share those insights.” Meulman’s take on Calligraffiti is a kind of barometer for the graffiti movement, which itself is experiencing a second wave of popularity. This time around it’s older and wiser, more aware of its history and more dedicated to a holistic legacy.

you, what are we waiting for?” It is the oldest WORK CREDIT: NIELS SHOE MEULMAN

piece of Dutch literature, and it is attributed to a monk testing a pen. “The first time I heard the text, I was really touched,” Meulman recalls, adding, “I figure the oldest Dutch line of text also is the oldest example of Dutch design, because the moment you write something it’s already designed.” The references to nesting the glyphs perfectly suited for the location of the mural, too: Supernatural, a new San Francisco gallery selling European furnishings and locally made artwork.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

WWW.GOPRO.COM

CAPTURED BY: JOSSE WESTER

THIS IS YOUR LIFE. BE A HERO.

110 120 128

SAXO BANK SPOTLIGHT STUDIO THE GLASS HALF FULL

110

OCELOT MAGAZINE

111

ARCHITECTURE SAXO BANK

Architect: 3XN Engineer: RambĂ¸ll Address: Philip Heymans AllĂŠ, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark Client: Carlsberg Properties / Saxo Bank Award: 1st prize in invited international competition 2004 Size: 16,000 m2 + 6,700 m2 basement ARTICLE CREDIT: WWW.3XN.COM

Completion: 2006-2008 Budget: DKK212m / $28,4m

The new Saxo Bank headquarters in the new district of Tuborg South, on the waterfront north of Copenhagen,is in a highly unconventional building for a bank. Banks have usually opted for dark, static building masses as a way of signaling trustworthiness and solidity, but here Saxo Bank has chosen the opposite solution. Saxo Bank is what you might call a hyper-modern banking firm, a young bank which has seen explosive growth in recent years, and which has

PHOTO CREDIT: MIKE DUGENIO HANSEN & 3XN

not been afraid of voicing its opinions. The bank is involved in online trading in foreign exchange, stocks and futures. The above factors were important in the design of the new headquarters. Together with the clients the architects of 3XN have sought to strike a fine balance of expressiveness and trustworthy solidity. The result of this effort is double-curved glass facades made of triangular panels of transparent glass alternating with opaque white sections in an irregular rhythm. The sail-like pattern suits the headquarters, whose gable walls face on to the canal that cuts through the maritime district. The building consists of two blocks interconnected by a glazed section which is set slightly back from the line of the facade.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

112

OCELOT MAGAZINE

113

ARCHITECTURE SAXO BANK

Despite Saxo Banks’ clients primarily meeting their bank in cyber space, the physical gesture of the head office is of great importance to the bank’s management, who took a great interest in the design process. This was not only due to the client’s interest in the creation of a building endowed with iconographic qualities, but also to the conviction that architecture and design plays an important role for staff performance and dedication to the company. The architecture takes Saxo Bank’s cutting edge profile as its point of departure. Main lines of the structure explore the balance between dynamic expression and trustworthy solidity, executed with an eye to the framework constituted by planning constraints and intentions. Conceived as two logs facing their gable ends to the canal, joined together by a retracted glass façade, the building combines curves and sharp angles in a new interpretation of modern seaside architecture. Colors of the sea and the sky in the green glass and white façade elements interchange in the cut-up structure with a lot of X-shapes reminiscent of the letter X in the name of the Bank. Inside, a transparent and inspiring environment enhances the sense of team spirit. The open plans center round a softly shaped top-lit atrium with a winding main staircase. The trading floor located at the top of the building contains state of the art technology and a highly international staff of professional bankers.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

114

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

115

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

116

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

117

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

Timeless. Eames Collection

‰

www.hermanmiller.com

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

levi.com

OCELOT MAGAZINE

535™ Jean

120

OCELOT MAGAZINE

SPOTLIGHT STUDIO

DOUBLE STANDARDS an interview with CHRIS REHBERGER

The Design Studio: Double Standards, Berlin Principal: Chris Rehberger Total Staff Members: 12, plus a camera-shy cat named Leo Founded: 2001 Notable Clients: Lacoste, Red Bull Music Academy, Vitra, Vitra Design Museum, Museum of Applied Arts Berlin, Guggenheim New York, Bauwelt magazine, Schauspiel Frankfurt Theatre, Muenchner Kammerspiele Theatre

“We make an idea come to life in a very specific way of interpretation,” says CEO and director Chris Rehberger, noting that they continue to beat expectations in all different ways, shapes and forms. “We are all classically trained print-product-designer[s]-typographers-hands-oncrew. … We do it all for the long-lasting impression. The objects, print products [and] campaigns we create, create their own voice and space.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

121

YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD... THEY GET RUN OVER CHRIS REHBERGER

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

122

OCELOT MAGAZINE

123

SPOTLIGHT STUDIO DOUBLE STANDARDS STUDIO

Where do you come from, and why are you just landed here? Oh, that’s a long story. I come from Denkendorf

ARTICLE CREDIT: NILS HARTMANN FOR FREUNDENCONFREUNDEN

near Esslingen, near Stuttgart.A Schwabe so,

Tobias (Rehberger). Is there a creative consensus between you two? Or a common position?

Yes, a Schwabe. Going to Berlin was sort of the

It exists determined. Recently, I had again “Chew

“choice”. We stayed at the beginning of my career

The Fat,” a documentary by Rirkrit Tiravanija about

as a freelance graphic designer in Frankfurt, but

its artist friends considered, including my brother

by a campaign that I had made at that time, I was

heard. While watching I noticed in some scenes

feeling a bit too loose in Germany. My wife and I

that we think alike about certain topics, but I did

are then cut down initially to London. She studied

not know before. So there is in thinking how to come

photography there. After a little over four years, we

up with ideas, solve problems, similar structures,

have but then said: Okay, now it’s back to Germany,

without us having ever exchanged about it. I am

that’s enough with England. We were faced with

doing now and then an exhibition catalog for my

the decision: “Let’s go back to Frankfurt or Berlin?”.

brother. There are quite a few points of contact.

Monika had but it did not like so insanely good in Frankfurt and my brother and his family had at the time can also hinted that they might move to Berlin. We then quite quickly decided on Berlin. It was back in the year 2000. You always have the feeling you never sleep. Can you even still, the separation between work and private life? Is that even possible? Yes, of course you’re gonna get through a breakup. With a little discipline it works already. As designers, we can, in certain situations the private from the Vocational not clearly separate because you watch over and over think... a vocational never leave them alone. As one can not say: So, time card, now I go home and listen to rotate on screws. That will not do. To say “I never sleep,” is difficult exaggerated. Although it is a lot to do, but I’m not leaving, for example, every day at the office at six because I

WORK CREDIT: AILINE LIEFELD

You can also see many works of thy brother

just want to eat with the family for dinner, but now and then come back here very late. Although this is awkward, but that’s sometimes.

You are both deeply rooted in the business world. My brother yes (laughs) exclusively, yes. The first thing I noticed right away when I got the first email from you, was the signature: “You know what happens to Those standing in the middle of the road.” Want to say something? Or maybe just in terms of your work with double standards? Of Course, “.... They get run over. “ You have to decide. This year we have a lot of similar and plugged much spanking for it. But you can not make up your mind differently or different when you have come to the conclusion that they have done the right thing, yes. You just know at some point, as you have to deal with a problem you asked. Often there is a pulse that tells you: “Yes, this is now right for me.” And then of course you need a counterpart find who feels the same thing or something different here, but your view, even when it comes to a misunderstanding is, shares and this can also be reinterpreted. Yes, I guess you can not argue wrong when it says honestly. I would be ashamed to want someone into buying something. Of course, it is also about money, of course you have to keep the line moving, but that still does not mean that you have to disown you. I can not change me.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

124

OCELOT MAGAZINE

So you represent a very clear stance? Yes, I could not now precisely expressed, but “Standing in the middle of the road...” is probably what comes closest. I have to choose one or the

Its like zoom-drawn example Helvetica would be

other. So concepts are clear, structured. One clear

like McDonald’s—where ever I go taste the burger

statement. And if the true feel of my client, then

the same. Yes, that’s it. That was a major reason

that’s great and if not, then I’d rather miss a shot

why we chose Helvetica for the CHP and not, as

very far, as to reach just short of the solution along.

he suggested, the Arial. Especially as the Arial has so nothing to do with the design language of the

In the poster series for the Berlinale and the House

Helvetica, which is added an aggravating factor.

of World Cultures yourself a strong headwind is blown against. Would you say in retrospect, it

What I find interesting is that many of you do not

is good that it is happening to define your own

know that you’re also co-owner of techno labels

position exactly?

Perlon. If the background nor affect your work, or

Whether someone from the outside says after “This is total shit, what they’re doing,” which really

indeed the whole electronic music culture? Runs through the central theme?

interest me not so much.

Yes, of course, affects the background that you

This is perhaps even good.

structured with certain breaks in the design, which

mention. This is an ever-present noise. Clearly

Yes, dear take a stand and say. “Relates” “Well, we turn a negative poster for the Berlinale, the not so trendy colorful comes as the year before, but more on the material” Film The idea to photograph was still very close. And if the later someone finds shit, can not understand or too close looks at the issue that is his own opinion. I do not think much to say: That’s right and that is wrong. That there are not fundamentally. As a personal definition for myself already. I can decide for myself and if I find that

is also electronic music. Repeating, Sampling. Recompile, the recognition of certain roots, take this to reinterpret to seek a new context is important in the design, as well as in music. I believe that Umkontextualisieren is an important part of our overall design and music culture. So, now the question of all questions: Are you living your dream? Yes, a simple yes.

right, I will continue to find it right. Although Erik Spiekermann is totally freaked out at the poster

If however you hungry?

series for the House of World Cultures. I have talked to Erik about it and after that everything was not so

One remains hungry, yes of course! Maybe that’s

bad. Then he just said “Yeah, I’ll go there often run

the dream - to stay hungry. Do not look at what has

out of the skin and am a bit direct”. Since you can

been achieved, but the “always-reach-want”. This is

only reply, “All right, now what?”. We walked by

for my takes the view that the most important thing

email once again in the “Infight” and have replaced

we must always deliver in terms of our client as a

us about it. I’ve known his attitude to Helvetica.

designer. And stay true to yourself. Even if times get

What he did negative points, was positive for us.

pick, you can handle it well, if one is sincere. I never had to adjust myself in recent years. This is the dream.

WORK CREDIT: AILINE LIEFELD

ARTICLE CREDIT: NILS HARTMANN FOR FREUNDENCONFREUNDEN

SPOTLIGHT STUDIO DOUBLE STANDARDS STUDIO

125

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

THE CANNON GOLD

NIXON.COM

128

OCELOT MAGAZINE

The Glass half Full Lacuna Artist Lofts Writer: Rachel Moore, Adam Knade Photography: Uriel Velasco

What was once the largest macaroni factory on the planet is now a gleaming, colossal entertainment venue in Pilsen that welcomes concerts, art shows and events of all ilks, including weddings. The various spaces include The Reverie, a sprawling, unconventional space with wall-to-wall wood, custom artwork and neon signage; The Skydeck, a rooftop patio deck with stunning views of the city’s iconic architecture; Magik Street Bazaar & Deck, a refurbished semi-trailer with a capacity of 250 that’s now a unique outdoor patio with a smoking lounge; and a couple gallery spaces. Guests will comment for years about your high score on the hipness scale.

WORK CREDIT: URIEL VELASCO & WWW.LACUNA2150.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: RACHEL MOORE & ADAM KNADE

ARCHITECTURE THE GLASS HALF FULL

129

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

130

OCELOT MAGAZINE

A local realtor purchased a 250,000-square-foot building in Pilsen when he graduated from law school in the 1980s. The structure remained empty for years until his son had a vision two years ago to transform the building and make it a business center. He followed his gut and began rehabbing, keeping the flavor of the building. The massive building opened as one of the largest macaroni factories in the world in the early 1900s. It is now trying to become a mini-Merchandise Mart. It took Joey Cacciatore, the son of real-estate mogul Joseph Cacciatore, two years to transform the building into the Lacuna Artist Lofts. “I wanted it to be sort of a melting pot of all different types of people and different industries mainly to do with the arts… and put them in the same building… definitely the only thing in the city that’s like it” said

vendors, graphic specialists, furniture companies, interior designers

Cacciatore. There is an art gallery on the first floor and parking for 300

and a host of other artistic people occupy the building. “Great energy

cars. The building is now home to more than 150 businesses and is

here – it’s one of the best places in town,” said multimedia company

known as the premier loft space in the Midwest. Photographer Jimmy

owner Andrew Barber. “There’s a lot of creative minds here and we

Fishbein, whose work is featured on many magazines, says the space

all work together.” Fallon Johnson of Annie Bell Fragrances decided it

is perfect. “I fell in love with it – just raw – it’s got a very raw, unique

was time to open a specialty candle shop where she make and sell her

flare to it, like New York,” said Fishbein. Cacciatore offers businesses

one-of-a-kind natural soy candles. “It was very reasonable with the

low rent and designs the raw space to fit their needs. “We’re built to

price, and I love the whole artist decor,” said Johnson. “This, to me, is

suit here, so nothing’s speculative. We sign a lease and then we start

the most unique space that anybody can rent – period – in, probably,

to build,” said Cacciatore. “It’s easy to get to – it’s right on the highway,”

the Midwest,” said Cacciatore. Every Friday, the building stays open

said sculptor Audry Cramlit. Tenants can have a space that is thousands

late. They provide refreshments, a fashion show, and an opportunity

of square feet or just a few hundred. Artists, clothing designers, music

for business owners in the building to showcase items.

131

WORK CREDIT: URIEL VELASCO & WWW.LACUNA2150.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: RACHEL MOORE & ADAM KNADE

ARCHITECTURE THE GLASS HALF FULL

There are only a few spaces left to be rented. Cacciatore wants to make Pilsen a happening place to visit. He has already purchased another building and will start transforming it soon. LACUNA Chicago maintains an active exhibition calendar with contemporary artworks from various mediums represented all throughout the building. We consider our audience urban

“Definitely the only thing in the city that’s like it.” — Joseph Cacciatore

contemporary, inspired by Chicago and always welcoming excellence from both emerging and established artists alike. Tours of the artwork are available by appointment by email lacunalofts@gmail.com

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

132

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Toronto 2006: Facing a rising issue with gun violence amongst young people in the

Now, as a registered 501c3 in the state of Illinois, The Remix Project

city’s 13 ‘priority neighborhoods’, Toronto was in the midst of what

is dedicated to bringing to Chicago the same level of success and

media were calling The Summer of The Gun. Several advocates started

positive outcomes that it has seen in Toronto for several years. The time

to speak up about a small non-profit located on the lower west side

for Remix in Chicago is now. The ongoing narrative of violence amongst

of the city that was seeing measurable results at reducing violence,

the city’s marginalized young people needs to change – we hope you

engaging young people and changing the path of youth who were

will be part of this change. The Remix Project is looking for partners to

labeled ‘at-risk’. Over the past 7 years, through various public and

join in facilitating our barrier-breaking curriculum for the exceptional

private funding, countless volunteer hours and the exceptional talent of

creative talents hailing from Chicago’s ‘at-risk’ communities.

its participants, The Remix Project has grown to a near million-dollara-year, 5000sq feet state-of-the-art alternative arts and education Centre. The Remix Project was created in order to help level the playing field for young people from disadvantaged, marginalized and under

Our Successes Include:

served communities. Our programs and services serve youth who

Over $3million in funds-raised over 6 years to help a wide variety

are trying to enter into the creative industries or further their formal

of inner-city youth.

education; The REMIX Project provides top-notch alternative, creative, educational programs, facilitators and facilities. Our mission is to help refine the raw talents of young people from across the GTA in order to help them find success as participants define it and on their own terms.

National Crime Prevention Centre (Canada) deemed The Remix Project a successful model for increasing community safety, by preventing and reducing youth crime 49% of graduates connect to the workforce

Chicago 2014: At 2150 S Canalport, in the southwest neighborhood of Pilsen, sits a 114 year-old, massive, 5 floor, former Macaroni Factory that over the last 4 years has developed to what is now known as The Lacuna Arts Lofts. Lacuna is home to nearly 200 small creative arts based businesses as well as several shared events spaces and galleries, its

23% of graduates re-connected to education 24% of graduates pursued their art as young entrepreneurs Graduates have received a semester of high school credits from being a part of Remix.

walls adorned with some of the city’s finest new music, street art,

Graduates have received internships in the field of their choice while

photography and design coming out of Chicago today. Lacuna defines

at Remix or following graduation

Ward 25’s mandate for the neighborhood’s focus as a creative arts based district. It is through existing support from the ownership as

Each year 3 Remix graduates receive full scholarships to college.

well as Alderman Danny Solis and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel that makes

25 Remix Graduates were helped by Remix staff and mentors to

Lacuna perfect home for The Remix Project’s first American alternative

obtain grants to pursue entrepreneurship and now have successful

arts and education Centre.

businesses and/or non-profit organizations thriving in the community

WORK CREDIT: URIEL VELASCO & WWW.LACUNA2150.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: RACHEL MOORE & ADAM KNADE

ARCHITECTURE THE GLASS HALF FULL

133

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

136 146 154 160 168

SADHU LE SERBE SI SCOTT CHALK IT UP LIX 3D PEN SERGIO CARIELLO

136

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ILLUSTRATION SADHU LE SERBE

137

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.ILLUSTIONSCENE360.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: QUENTIN J FOR INKAGE.COM

INTERVIEW WITH TATTOO ARTIST, GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND CALLIGRAPHER

Conducted by: Quentin J Divine calligrapher Sadhu Le Serbe is finding his style within the tattoo industry. His work is a sampling of Buena Vista Tattoo Club and Gastown Tattoo, and is quickly making a mark with his unique style. The one significant theme in Sadhu’s work is an immaculate ability for Arabic style letter forms that create such moving compositions, that they border on spiritual. The work in the first frame is simply astounding. It is a prime example of a canvas’s complete and utter trust in the artist and the artist’s capacity to create work from a place of deep love and devotion. This daily obsession will be a niche artist, there is no doubt about that, but it will only work to his advantage and open doors of opportunity to break new ground.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

138 42 • OCELOT MAGAZINE | BUILDING THE PHILHARMONIE DE PARIS TO A CRESCENDO

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ILLUSTRATION CATEGORY SADHU LE SERBE WORK TITLE/ARTIST

139

Hello Seb, could you please introduce yourself in a few words? I am of Belgian origin, I’ve been tattooing for 9 years . With my wife and our daughter, we left Belgium for the south of France and we have all rebuilt here 4 years ago now. How did you come about becoming a cabana boy? Who formed you?

PHOTO CREDIT: CREDIT: AMANDA WWW.ILLUSTIONSCENE360.COM CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: CREDIT: AMANDA QUENTIN JCHARCHIAN FOR INKAGE.COM AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

At the age of 12 years, I have flashed on the tattoo of the boyfriend of my cousin, from there, the sentence worship: “When I am big, i am cabana boy” . For my learning i first followed Gianni in Roubaix, then I joined the team of Jef to the “ Butcher Modern “ and I also had a lot of technical advice by Dan Sinnes in Luxembourg. For the first time in an interview, some of your fans came to see us to tell us at what point you became type “friendly”... Is the relationship with your customers is it really in the center of your work? It is important; a good home, accompany the client in its approach, develop the project with him, put it in confidence and to ensure that it past a super good meeting. For me, the tattoo must remain an exchange between the tattooed & the cabana boy.

“We wanted to create a userfriendly shop where everyone is found around a table, WITH THAT “family spirit” like home”

You have a style said to be like a “graph” with geometric forms, large area fills and lines. It is a style little common, yet in France, have you had difficulties in the making of clientele? Thanks to Yann Black, who has opened the spirit graphic in the middle of the tattoo... everything from there. Now we see more and more area fills with black, of lines, geometric shapes, etc. It is true that it has taken time, some cities are more rich in culture and people more open so it is easier to work this style, as in Lausanne for example (among Dropin). What artists have influenced your work? Yann Black, Jef & Kostek, Thomas Hooper, Tomas Tomas, Gerhard Wiesbeck, and in others: the architecture as a general rule, Vasarely, Eisher, the origami, the spirographes, the pictures... Did you arrived here do something other than the graphic design? Yes & non; yes because a cabana boy must respond to the request of the client and not because I prefer the head toward the cabana boy who will match him, that is why I invited various tattooers at shop, as Caroline Karenina, the P’tit Blue, Simon Little Jean, Matik, Toko Lören etc. .Each cabana boy has its specialty and can thus respond better to the request. What lets me focus on the graph.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

140

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

141

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

142

OCELOT MAGAZINE

You started off designing in a new shop. What importance granted you the development and the decoration of the latter? We wanted to have a user-friendly shop where everyone is found around a table, type “family spirit” and especially not a countertop which puts a barrier between the client and the home. Here it sits down to draw with the client and we developed with him his project. We saw you to several conventions recently in Belgium or in Montpellier for example, what experience did you learn at these events? It was a good way to make themselves known and to be able to meet other tattooers. I love the atmosphere of the conventions, the bustle around the middle. What motivates you to achieve such high standards with in the years to come? Stay in the passion for my job, “When thou art more passionate, it is better stop “!!!! Therefore I would like to continue to burst me in what I am doing, move and meet lots of people ... In a few years, i will calm down like in the movement and i hope create machines. A word to our readers or any others? Here is your space to do that! THANK YOU: thank you to the people to trust me, thank you to the guests for all these exchanges, thanks to readers & to “ Inkage” for the interest you have shown in the world of tattoo. So here we have a cabana boy that we are happy to make you discover. Sadhu Le Serbe is a true passionate cabana boy by his job, which puts its relationship with its customers at the center of its work as it should always be the case. This love of straight lines, of typos and patterns (patterns that are repeated) made of sublime tattoos that will please all the fans of this new generation very talented of tattooers and graphic designers.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

143

MARCH MARCH2015 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM OCELOTMAG.COM

Banksy

express your heart out

music movies&tv apps books newsstand games

CREATIVITY'S PARTNER Legendary notebooks

146

OCELOT MAGAZINE

elaborately ornamental SI SCOTT

is a UK-based illustrator, choosing to divide his

time between Manchester and London â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a decision which he fully admits he uses primarily as a source of inspiration. His intricate, entirely hand-drawn technique has seen his work commissioned by the likes of Nike Europe, UNICEF, Casio and the BBC as both an illustrator and art director. Behance sat down with Si to discuss the challenges facing new graduates, his bare-bones approach to design and finding a balance between maintaining high standards.

Widely inspired by a strong love of music, Siâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flowing designs combine a clever mix of intuitive rush and calculated precision, where minimalism meets complexity in a timeless, yet contemporary fashion.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

147

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

148

OCELOT MAGAZINE

149

ARTICLE CREDIT: HEATHER ANNE SNODGRASS FOR 99U.COM

ILLUSTRATION SI SCOTT

Si found the greatest frustration as he was graduating college and actually determining what route he wanted to take. “I left school at 16 and went straight to art college to do a BTEC in design and then a foundation course, which after completing, I did a degree in design. After graduating I did the usual round of placements and worked for a couple of small design agencies, learning about the industry and how to use a computer. Whilst employed I kept working on my own ideas and developing them and trying

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.SISCOTTSTUDIO.COM

to get my foot in the door at different agencies and get my work in there.” A positive mindset aided him in less-than-fortunate situations. “I got made redundant twice in as many years and I think in a way this was good for me, because it pushed me more…I just try and keep focused and pull positives out of every job — if it doesn’t go ahead, [I] keep it on the back burner until a project comes up that [I] can use the idea for.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

150

OCELOT MAGAZINE

“Computers are great as a tool but I do believe that a lot of people rely on them far too much.”

His unique style requires little to no technology, a process he is not only happy with, but a fact that is sometimes unbelievable to others. “I like to be very hands on with my work and only use the computer to piece it together. I still get a lot of emails off people asking me what programmes I use to produce the work! I think I could actually get by without one — having to send original drawings by post or courier and things like that. Computers are great as a tool but I do believe that a lot of people rely on them far too much and let them dictate how a piece is ultimately going to look.”Confidence and a can-do attitude is ultimately what pushes Si through his work and keeps him organized, both mentally and professionally. “I just seem to work all the time — I don’t think [I have] any big secret to being organized, it’s just a matter of getting on with it, I guess. I’ve always been quite good and very motivated to do the best work possible. I’m always striving to better myself. One day I would like to be content with myself and look back and think ‘yeah, I did alright in the end.’ Hopefully this will happen, as I never feel quite content.” The best advice he can offer to anyone yearning for success and satisfaction is one from Anthony Burrill: ‘Work hard and be nice to people,’ a statement we couldn’t agree with more.

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.SISCOTTSTUDIO.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: HEATHER ANNE SNODGRASS FOR 99U.COM

ILLUSTRATION SI SCOTT

151

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

Find Copic and more at copicmarker.com

POWERSHOT D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera

154

Artists competed for a Guinness World Record by creating the Largest Anamorphic Pavement Art at the Venice Airport festival grounds. The 18,900-squarefoot illusion featured the extinct Megalodon shark.

OCELOT MAGAZINE

155

ILLUSTRATION CHALK IT UP

a showcase of the sarasota chalk festival ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

The Sarasota Chalk Festival is a local community-based event by the Avenida de Colores 501c3 charitable cultural arts organization. It is the first and only internationally acclaimed festival in Sarasota County that is free for all â&#x20AC;&#x201D; children, students, adults, families, and the elderly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to participate in and attend. The festival is also a global community-based event where pavement artists from around the world come together, once a year, to participate in the festivities. Hundreds of artists use the pavement as their canvas and pastel chalk as their medium to create breathtaking oversized traditional and 3D illusionistic paintings. The public are invited to participate in, attend, and interact with the artists as they go about their work. The artwork appeals to the most sophisticated critic as much as it does to the novice. The festival resembles a museum-in-motion as artists of all ages and skill levels take to their hands and knees to recreate old masterpieces alongside original works of art. All applications are approved to participate in the festival irregardless of age or skill level. Artists requesting travel compensation and lodging are approved as the budget allows.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

Dozens of other performers and groups are accepted and compliment the festivities with song, dance, music, magic, theatre and storytelling. The Sarasota Chalk Festival remains free because of four partners: dedicated volunteers that work all year to organize the festivities, generous sponsors who help with in-kind support and cash needed, passionate artists that dedicate their skills and waive fees for the community event, and enthusiastic visitors who donate at the festival.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

156

OCELOT MAGAZINE

3D chalk representation of China’s Terracotta Army with Lego figures.

HISTORY OF THE FESTIVAL Denise Kowal, President of the Burns Square Property Owners

2010 was a big turning point, with the festival becoming the First

Association, along with supporters held the first Chalk Festival in

International Street Painting Festival in the United States. By now it

Burns Square, Sarasota in November 2007. The festival boasted 22

had evolved into its own 501c3 Non-Profit, and with over 250 artists

local artists, and drew 5000 visitors to the area. At that time the

in attendance it was fast becoming an important fixture in the annual

Children’s Chalk Playground, run by artist Jill Hoffman-Kowal, was

events calender of Sarasota. That year, 3 artists created over-sized

the most popular area. Of the 22 participants that year, only 3 had

3D street paintings; Street painting group, Art After Hours; Tracy

street-painting experience; Lori Escalara, Kitty Dyble-Thompson, and

Lee Stum from California; and German artist, Edgar Mueller. The

Mike Kasun. These artists were all instrumental in the progress and

2010 festival was met with such positivity that the city of Sarasota

development of the festival.

requested that roads remain closed after the festival to give the public

The second festival, held in May 2009, expanded on the 2007

a chance to view the finished works for one more day.

model considerably with over 75 street painters attending. Many of

The 2011 festival focused on “Pavement Art Through the Ages’

the artists that year were experienced street painters who traveled

and attracted a whopping 200,000 visitors to downtown Sarasota,

to Sarasota from all over the country. At that time, various fringe

giving the local economy an estimated boost of $6-$10 million. With

events began to pop up to complement the street painting. There

over 500 artists participating, the festival was the most important

was a performance stage that featured non-stop performances by

contemporary street painting venue in the world. That year saw

local bands, and professional Sword Swallower, Johnny Fox. The local

Leon Keer and a crew from Planet Street Painting create a giant 3D

children’s magic camp, Camp Cigma, performed at various points

chalk representation of China’s Terracotta Army with Lego figures.

throughout the festival as well as poets, dancers, and models. The

The piece went viral and is still hailed today as one of the best

festival was really beginning to engage with the local community!

street paintings of all time.

157

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

Joel Yau’s chalk art piece created for the Chalk Festival Theme, “Circus City, USA” MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

158

The Circus Parade, Kurt Wenner Page Right: Mouse Trap, Tracy Stum Skullduggery, Anthony Cappetto

OCELOT MAGAZINE

“Artists with Art After Hours” created the first

Vertical’ also featured the U.S. debut of a new kind

Augmented Reality street painting that allowed

of vertical art called ‘Cellograff’. This is a temporary

viewers to enter and interact with it. Lectures

form of mural art in which images are sprayed onto and workshops were performed by the world- big sheets of cellophane that are wrapped between renowned innovator of 3D pavement art, Kurt two trees or lamp posts, the result of which can be Wenner. Melanie Stimmel created a mermaid sanctuary while artist Kumpa Twornprom provided live mermaids. That was also the year the festival went ‘vertical’ and invited over 25 international

quite breathtaking. Creating a circus was the 2012 theme. ‘Circus City, USA’ paid tribute to the rich history Sarasota shares with the circus. The festival featured many

mural artists to decorate the walls of Sarasota City. The artworks were created with the co- featured artists. Kurt Wenner created the world’s operation of the artists, the city, and the owners first several tier street painting illusion, ‘The of the properties whose walls were painted. ‘Going

Circus Parade’ with the assistance of experienced

ILLUSTRATION CHALK IT UP

159

pavement artists. Sarasota’s homegrown daredevil Nik Wallenda performed with his wife Erendira on 60 high sway poles that truly amazed everyone watching. Hundreds of artists shared their talents with the community and circus performers danced, played, and entertained the crowds. The festival brought out the child in everyone and was the Greatest Festival on Earth for ten days! Honoring our Veterans, inspiring patriotism and embracing freedom with the theme ‘Legacy of Valor’ was the focus of the 2013 festivities. Festival founder, Denise Kowal, was encouraged to choose this theme by Festival Archive Chairman, David Taylor. Kowal agreed the theme should honor Veterans but struggled to reconcile the community event with the seriousness of the subject. A replica of the Statue of Liberty , reaching 31 into the sky, was created and graced the center of the festival for 6 days where taps was played at sunset each evening. Seasoned artists chalked side-by-side with veterans to create beautiful masterpieces, and the student and children’s chalk blocks welcomed

ARTICLE CREDIT: CHALKFESTIVAL

thousands of visitors. The 2014 Theme honored ‘Extinct and Endangered Species’ and moved locations from Burns Square in downtown Sarasota to the Island of Venice. It was featured in three locations. The Traditional works of art were located on West Miami Avenue, the large 3D works of art were located at the Venice Cultural Campus along with the Student Pavement Artists and the Children’s Chalk Block and largest anamorphic pavement art in the world, that was designed by Kurt Wenner and created by Julie KirkPurcell and a talented team of artists, students and PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.CHALKFESTIVAL.ORG

volunteers was at the Venice Municipal Airport. Kowal chose the theme because planet earth is in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals – being the worst epidemic of species dieoffs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year but we are now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. The 2015 Chalk Festival details and dates will be available February 2015.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

160

OCELOT MAGAZINE

drawing in

ARTICLE CREDIT: LANCE ULANOFF FOR MASHABLE.COM

ILLUSTRATION LIX 3D PEN

161

tiny & lightweight 3d pen enables you to doodle in the air

Humans are accustomed to drawing in the air. We gesture with our hands when talking and will try to illustrate charade secrets by “drawing” objects in space. 3D-printing pens takes those gestures, makes them tangible and, in the hands of an artists, beautiful. Recent PHOTO CREDIT: NELS ARNE & WWW.LIXPEN.COM

3D-printing pens have been cool, but clunky affairs. LIX, however, is something different. It’s light, small and apparently needs no more power than you can draw from your laptop. Measuring 6.45 inches long, 0.55 inch in diameter and weighing just 1.23 ounces, the aluminum 3D-printing pen (which also comes in black) really is pen sized. You hold it just like a pen, and plug a 3.5mm-like jack into the base and the other end of your cable into your computer. The juice allows LIX to heat to over 300-degrees Fahrenheit, though the plant-based PLA filament (it can also use the stronger ABS plastic) only needs to heat to 180-degrees to work. That filament is fed in through a hole in the base and emerges as a super-heated liquid on the tip so you can start doodling in the air.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

162

OCELOT MAGAZINE

HOW IT WORKS Essentially, LIX 3D printing pen functions similarly to 3D printers. It quickly melts and cools colored plastic, letting you create rigid and freestanding structures. Something interesting about this lightweight, engineered pen is that structures can be formed in any shape. Experience the pleasure of three dimensions and make your imagination a reality, by creating objects in thin air.

ILLUSTRATION LIX 3D PEN

163

01 Plug in the power cable on any USB output and wait for an LED heat indicator to show the pen has reached its right temperature,

ARTICLE CREDIT: LANCE ULANOFF FOR MASHABLE.COM

which takes less than a minute.

02 Feed the plastic filament into the end of the pen. LIX pen works with both ABS and PLA plastic filaments.

03 The pen features two different

PHOTO CREDIT: NELS ARNE & WWW.LIXPEN.COM

speed buttons to let you control how fast the plastic extrudes.

04 Start creating. Eject the plastic to build in any direction and watch as your points melt and cool together, forming a solid structure.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

164

OCELOT MAGAZINE

LIX is smaller than all other 3D printing pens on the market. This smart pen fits perfectly in your hand, giving you extreme comfort and balance while you draw with it. LIX is highly portable with its small size. Its smaller size (Height: 6.45inch/164mm - Diameter: 0.55inch/14mm) has made it an ideal 3D printing pen for all those who want to give their creative skills a try. This is one of the reasons why LIX has claimed to provide extra functionality over its competitors. Since this doodling concept is relatively new, most of us expect it to be just a 3D printing pen that proudly offers its exceptional benefits. However, it is more that. Creativity does not end at its superb functionality. It aims to deliver its users more than just the characteristics. This calls for its attractive design, made with sophistication. Hidden in a very small pen, the superiority of its powerful 3D printer justifies its reflection beautifully. LIX is made from aluminum, and comprised of trendy colors, i.e. Black Matte and Grey Matte. This variation of colors helps you select the one that actually suits your style.

165

PHOTO CREDIT: NELS ARNE & WWW.LIXPEN.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: LANCE ULANOFF FOR MASHABLE.COM

ILLUSTRATION LIX 3D PEN

“sketch in the air without using paper” Founders: Anton Suvorov // Ismail Baran Origin: London Market price: $139 Website: www.lixpen.com

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

511™ Jean

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

levi.com

CATEGORY WORK TITLE/ARTIST

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

168

OCELOT MAGAZINE

sergio

cariello world-renowned comic book artist

Sergio Cariello knew he wanted to be a cartoonist at five years old. At age 11 he created “Frederico, the Detective,” a weekly comic strip for his local paper. He wrote and drew the whole strip himself. It ran until he was 14 years old. Cariello worked on his first comic book, “Dagon, the Worlds of HP Lovecraft,” while attending the Joe Kubert School. During his second year at the school, Virginia Romita hired him as a Bullpen Letterer at Marvel. While there, he was given penciling assignments on Daredevil and Marvel Comics Presents: Spellbound. When Pat Garrahay moved from Marvel to DC, he offered Cariello penciling duties on Deathstroke. At DC he also did work on Guy Gardner, Steel, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Young Heroes in Love, Blue Beetle, Batman, and Azrael, among others. When work slowed down, Cariello got a teaching job at the Kubert School and taught several courses over seven years. After winning a Christian Comics competition, Sergio was contacted by David C. Cook Publishing in 2006 about illustrating a new version of Cook’s original “Picture Bible.” Cariello worked on the project for over 3 years, producing over 750 pages. “The Action Bible,” as it is now called, was released in September 2010. Recently, Cariello penciled and inked, “The Lone Ranger” for Dynamite Entertainment and the “Son of Samson” series for Zondervan.

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.SERGIOCARIELLO.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: EMILY FOR REDEEMEDREADER.COM

ILLUSTRATION SERGIO CARIELLO

169

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

170

OCELOT MAGAZINE

171

“Every well known, correct way can prepare us well...Schooling, practice, dedication, effort are the correct way to carve the success we desire.”

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.SERGIOCARIELLO.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: EMILY FOR REDEEMEDREADER.COM

ILLUSTRATION SERGIO CARIELLO

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

172

OCELOT MAGAZINE

INTERVIEW WITH SERGIO CARIELLO You have had an “illustrious” career as a comic book illustrator.

out of my Marvel Bullpen lettering day job. One job led to another

You’ve worked on characters that anyone would know — including

and every job prepared me better for the next one (still true today

Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Marvel’s Avengers. Did you always

for I never stop learning). I found some spare time to go back to the

know you wanted to draw comics?

Kubert School, as a teacher, to prepare others to do what I do. Those

Thanks. Very kind of you to say that. Did I always know? No. It took me a few years to decide. It was only after 4 years of thinking and

7 consecutive years of teaching taught me a great deal and prepared even more for more different types of jobs.

discovering, that I knew, and told my parents, at the age of 5, I wanted

What would you recommend to kids who might want to follow in your

to draw comics.

footsteps? How can they prepare even as kids for that kind of job?

What prepared you for that career?

So, the way and the truth will lead you to the life you want. Every

Well, 5 years of drawing on church bulletins and every surface I found worthy of my strokes prepared me to win first place in a contest in producing my first published comic strip: Frederico, the detective, to my local newspaper at the age of 11. A few more years of doodling prepared me to do political caricatures to same newspaper at the age of 14, to Paulo Craveiro( Brazilian journalist). Got side tracked a bit by life in general as a young boy Then 14 more years of drawing and filling up many sketch books( learned to be more professional at that time) launched me to the American comic Book market for Caliber Press, where I illustrated and lettered Dagon, published in 1992. While doing that Dagon book I attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoons for a couple of years just before working for Marvel Bullpen as a letterer, where they saw I could also draw (not because of

well known, correct way can prepare us well..Schooling, practice, dedication, effort are the correct way to carve the success we desire. By being true to our calling, personal trait, burning “professional” desire, pleasurable impulse to draw many, many drawings. Being honest to yourself, doing it because you really enjoy it. And when you do it, you want to do it the way YOU see it at that time, willing to change and improve once you recognize that you need to do it better. Then you will be Ready for the right opportunities that will show up along the way, in the right time, with the right people, with the right project. If you prepared well, it will happen, according to the measure that you are not lazy, but work hard as if it depends on you to get there. Who is your favorite Avenger?

drawing homework but due to seeing me still working on a second

Captain America is my favorite. The uniform, His abilities. The shield.

issue of Dagon). I got so busy drawing for Marvel comics I had to drop

I drew him recently for Marvel too.

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.SERGIOCARIELLO.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: EMILY FOR REDEEMEDREADER.COM

ILLUSTRATION SERGIO CARIELLO

173

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

176 182 188 198

BECAUSE THE INTERNET FACETS ICE COLD CRAFT UNDER 25

176

OCELOT MAGAZINE

177

DIGITAL ART BECAUSE THE INTERNET

ALINA NGUYEN: In our digital age, more and more people are studying graphic design. What direction do you see your work moving? How do you feel about the state of contemporary graphic design? HKCOVERS: It’s cool seeing people take an interest in design, hopefully for the right reasons. In regards to my future work, It’ll get crazier. I want it to represent and express the era and culture I’m living in, but still withstand the tests of time for future generations to appreciate. I don’t really stay in tune with current contemporary design, I check on some artists every now and then, but I don’t want to try to keep up with it. It’s “normal” and safe. That’s boring. Like I would read this design blog talking about yearly trends in design and it’d be basic shit they highlight and project, maybe even backwards at times. It reminds me of Recently, I stumbled across the website of a very young, mysterious graphic artist named HKCOVERS, at the suggestion of the The Hundreds’ graphic designer Julian, who’s a big fan. The Florida-based designer’s work includes warped, alternate iterations of well-known album covers, coupled with a sense of grit and longing that makes them particularly recognizable and unique. Some of his cover work is so clean that I initially thought a majority of them were official; myself ignorantly not knowing that creating alt-covers is a sort of new wave Tumblr/IG graphic design-obsessed hobby for – almost rebelliously – self-motivated designers like HK.

this design class I was in while at my university. I failed twice because I wouldn’t adhere to the guidelines on assignments due to the fact that I would challenge myself and the course itself. I didn’t wanna stay safe, I don’t want to be normal. It does no one good staying secure all the time. Before designing, were you ever into art or sketching? I really didn’t know what was going on or really start to appreciate art until I was 18. This 2D Design course I was in really changed my whole perspective, and honestly changed my life. Just going through different artists and their work, color theory, form and function, aesthetics, working with different mediums – basically fueling and training my creative eye. To date, he’s one of my favorite teachers. What is your earliest memory of realizing that you were a creative? I would doodle everywhere on school assignments as a kid, but really didn’t express myself much as a kid. I would keep to myself, always observe and study – and still do. I really tapped into my creativity and started executing when I was 16. Who are some of your favorite artists? Salvador Dali, Nabil, Travis Brothers, Bryan Rivera, DeadDilly, and Rudcef. There’s more, but I really like the direction these individuals take their craft and ideas. I noticed you seem to incorporate elements of net art in your work. Do you consider yourself an Internet artist? I don’t want to, but I pull a lot of inspiration from Internet art. It’s really cool and I love certain artists who create in that realm. I don’t consider what I do strictly net art, however. On the other side, I feel like some net art has the idea present, but the execution is sometimes off. Nothing wrong with that, but I want to have everything well-rounded on both sides. The Internet is for sure a huge platform to display my work at the moment, but I also love holding something I made, something tangible, outside of viewing it from a screen. It’s honestly a whole other experience holding your work or seeing it blown up at huge sizes rather than being compressed on an Instagram page or website. I live for that.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

178

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Can you tell me more about the work you did for Digital Madrid, and what inspired the lo-fi style you incorporated into it? Digital Madrid is an online gallery hosted by TheILSMag, in which graphic designers have a chance to be spotlighted and showcase new work to the world. My last set was based on this world where I created pieces inspired by this analog, low fidelity design-scape. Just very weird, chilling stuff that wasn’t based on anything nostalgic or anything – but more left end of the spectrum. I feel like people love to exploit that analog/lo-fi feel for nostalgic purposes. I wanted explore that side and bring something new out of it. What’s the most exciting instance of recognition or shout out that you got for your artwork? I did some work for Bad Boy and got Diddy to shout me out, that was crazy. Another time I made this “2Termz” meme in my math class around election time. It got really viral for a bit, it ended up on MTV and on countless bootleg shirts.

179

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.KANYETOTHE.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

DIGITAL ART BECAUSE THE INTERNET

“I DIDN’T WANNA STAY SAFE. I DON’T WANT TO BE NORMAL. IT DOES NO ONE GOOD STAYING SECURE ALL THE TIME.”

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

POWERSHOT D10 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera

182

OCELOT MAGAZINE

FAC ETS

JUSTIN MALLER o

a g

d a y s

Interview by Ryan & Tina Essmaker for thegreatdiscontent.com

d a y

183

DIGITAL ART FACETS

a y

d i d

w h e n

a s s

t a

s i

b r

r I

f i r s t g

t .

Justin Maller is an Australian-born, New York-based freelance illustrator and art director. In 2002, he founded Depthcore, an international modern art collective, and he has since produced illustrations and concept art for an array of companies and publications worldwide, including Nike, Verizon, The Grammys, ESPN, Harper Collins, Under Armour, and Coca-Cola. Justin also works on various side projects, including his Facets series.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

184

OCELOT MAGAZINE

185

DIGITAL ART FACETS

So what has your path been? And, for our readers who might not know, what are you up to right now? I started digital art an unbelievably long time ago in 1998—that feels like a different century. My friend had given me a copy of Photoshop 4, which he had burned onto a fancy CD with a bronze top that he printed “Photoshop 4” onto. (laughing) Here’s a side note: I could totally do everything that I do now with the software I started out with—the very first 3-D program I had and Photoshop 4—if I had to. People ask me all the time, “What software do you use?” That’s utterly irrelevant. You need nothing—the easiest, cheapest, shittiest thing you can get is enough. If it does layers, then that’s mostly all you need. Anyway, my friend gave me the disc and I fucked around making websites and terrible

d ’

e e l

photos. I found his website and was like, “Whoa!” There was a Photoshop

his site and realized you could make stuff without relying on filters, that

was a revelation. And through his website, I found deviantART.

v e r

o e r u ’ t u s t t d e a s

was able to do digital art full-time.

p r o j e c t

job, which I continued working for another year after school before I

/ / / /

(laughing) By the time I dragged my ass through university, I had a retail

all bad! I got a degree in creative writing, and it’s been very useful.

learn how to process film and work in the darkroom though, so it wasn’t

p .

an advanced photography class and they barely had Photoshop—I did

theatre because it was 2001 and there were no digital art classes. I took

After high school, I went to university and studied creative writing and

F a c e t s

lost a lot of my motivation to excel in academics—I just wanted to do art.

these kids were studying to be doctors, lawyers, and all that shit, but I

have to work really hard. I was at an accelerated high school where all

t h e

anything better to do. I was living in Australia and staying up till 1am

o f

So I got really into deviantART because I was 18 and didn’t really have making digital art. In Australia, your final year of school is when you

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.FACETS.LA

2 5 2

plugin called Eye Candy and I was going nuts with that. But when I saw

d a y

Photoshop, you could do mad shit with it—it wasn’t just for tweaking

He was one of the first big digital artists to realize that if you had

ARTICLE CREDIT: RYAN & TINA ESSMAKER FOR TGD

o n

No.

i ’ m

you know who deaddreamer is?

school in 2001 when I found deviantART. If you want to get real old, do

little avatar logos. I got more serious about it during my last year of high

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

186

OCELOT MAGAZINE

So, what kind of work are you doing now?

Alright. There’s one last question. What kind of legacy do you want

These days it’s mostly advertising, apparel, and music industry stuff.

to leave?

I actually got nominated for an ARIA Award for my Bliss n Eso album

I think that’s a reductive concept to bear in mind as someone who is

cover art, which is like the GRAMMYs in Australia, and my parents are

currently in the middle of his career. What I’m doing is taking shape as I

pretty proud of that. I’m starting a couple of projects soon for shoe

go, and I don’t actively think about what it will amount to when I’m done.

companies, which I’m really excited about, considering that I’m a

Ultimately, I want to spend my days making work that pleases me and is

reformed sneakerhead.

fun to create. I suppose that the sum total of that, whatever it is, will be my legacy, but I’m not actively worrying about what that will look like.

If you only draw inspiration from the thing you do for work, then there’s no diversity. You need to go experience life to be inspired.

Have you thought about the legacy you want to leave personally?

Maybe that’s why some people suffer from artist’s block? I never do.

No. I try to be a good person and take care of the people around me.

I’m on day 252 of the Facets project and I’ve never run out of ideas,

I’m not trying to be the greatest or the biggest or the shiniest; I’m just

because life doesn’t stop.

trying to be a decent bloke.

187

DIGITAL ART FACETS

I f t

y o u o

e v e r

n c

c o

o f

a r t

F a c

d l

i u

c e

t .

r ’

i v

s t

s w

a y

a t

t m

e i

f f

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.FACETS.LA

e l

d a y ,

e i

p i e

r a

e y

m a k e

t e

’

e v e r y

e v

t o

m p l e

t i

y o u r s e l f

w a n t

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

188

OCELOT MAGAZINE

ICE COLD CRAFT How a design school dropout went from being arrested trying to intern at Staple Pigeon to making his own 3M apparel company.

INTERVIEW & PHOTOGRAPHY BY pete pabon

DIGITAL ART ICE COLD CRAFT

189

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

190

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Necessity is the mother of invention, and for ICNY‘s 23-year-old founder

had 50 pieces and I ended up selling them all in one day and what ended

Michael Cherman, visibility was his necessity. After being struck by a car

up happening is the kids whose face I used for the graphic of the shirt

cycling home one night, Mike was left wondering, “How can I prevent

didn’t get one. A fight broke out in the quad of my high school this kid

this?” His answer: Increase visibility.

ended up getting his face bloodied, I ended up in the principle’s office at the end of the day and was expelled from school for making those

What started out as a solution for his own personal safety soon grew

shirts. This was something that wound up being one of my first claims

into ICNY Reflective-Wear. Using reflective materials and incorporating

to fame for making clothing and it was my first time feeling [like I made]

them sleekly into functional apparel that can transition between active

something that was semi-impactful and caused a commotion… That

and casual was his solution. It started with socks and a few T-shirts and

was kind of my first stint in really believing that I could start a clothing

has now become a full line. With a few seasons behind him, it is safe

company or do something creative.

to say, being seen isn’t as much of a problem. You said in your interview with Hypebeast, “It’s really about how much time you put into it. It’s earned not given out there.” When did you realize this in your career path? And how did you make that initial transition out of the grind of working for people to working on something that is your own? I was originally attending Parsons after I left high school. I spent one year at Parsons and [interned] at a store on the Lower Eastside called Prohibit. I was working out there on basically doing any freelance work out there I could get, I was on Craigslist soliciting work, it got the point were I needed a job. So I did that Jeff Staple poster campaign, ended up getting arrested, and from there a good friend of mine, Emeka Obi wrote an article on the Hypebeast blog he had called “Shameless Self Promotion.” People noticed it and I ended up getting an interview at

“This was something that wound up being one of my first claims to fame for making clothing and it was my first time feeling (like I made) something that was semi-impactful and caused a commotion…”

Nike. From that job I was then able to work my way up. I started out as a basic T-shirt maker – someone who worked on graphics – and every single year I was getting to the next step. I was there for about three and a half years. By the end of the time, I was one of the lead graphic designers in the space and I had learned all the machines that were in that space, from embroidering to heat press to laser machine, direct to garment printing… being immersed in all these different things gave

Mike had been doing freelance design work in New York for a while

me a knowledge of quick-turn apparel that you couldn’t really learn

until he realized he wasn’t happy working on projects that weren’t his

anywhere. It kind of opened up my eyes to the ability that you could

own. He says, “It didn’t give me fulfillment getting a check from Nike if

make anything anytime and you’re not really held back by minimums

I did an advertising campaign or a T-shirt design. That money only goes

or by someone telling you, “Oh, you need to order a certain amount,” –

so far, it only pays so many rent checks and I needed something that I

whatever; all those things kind of make it hard to start your own brand.

could wake up to every day and expect that I could grow and develop.” In our interview below, Mike talks about how he started ICNY, working

So for me when that place closed, I actually ended up getting some of

with a small team, shameless self-promotion, why be believes success

the machines that they had in the space. And from purchasing those

is “earned and not given,” and how he transitioned out of the grind of

machines I was able to start the business. Literally, with one machine

freelancing for others to reserving work full-time for his own brand.

I was able to do everything. And it was actually the most empowering thing ever because I ended up joining up with a studio in Brooklyn called

On that guerrilla campaign you did trying to get hired by Jeff Staple that got you arrested what other bold stunts have you pulled to reach a goal in your life? I would say that I haven’t really pulled any stunts to reach a goal in my life… One funny story was when I was in high school, I had a small T-shirt brand and I essentially made this shirt and brought it to school. I

LQQK Studio and from there really establishing the business.

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

DIGITAL ART ICE COLD CRAFT

191

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

192

OCELOT MAGAZINE

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.ICLY.COM & WWW.ILSMAG.COM

ARTICLE CREDIT: PETE PABON FOR THEHUNDREDS.COM

DIGITAL ART ICE COLD CRAFT

193

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

194

OCELOT MAGAZINE

I think I read that you said it took three jobs for you to figure out

this into the market where it won’t really crack anymore. You’ll have

that you didn’t want to do that shit anymore.

a little bit of breakage over time, but the sock is gonna be so much more resilient and so much of a better product that it’s really gonna

Yeah man, I’ve also worked in taco shops and I’ve worked at Jamba

blow away consumers who did have it before. Because reflective is not

Juice. I’ve worked in food spots – my dad owns a little coffee spot.

meant to be put onto ribbing… at the end of the day, reflective is made

But it never felt right, you know? When you can make money doing

out of millions of glass beads and that is the anti-stretch. And so we’re

something you’re happy doing, there’s nothing more beautiful

constantly working to develop and build our product so that when we

in the world.

do work with these people and we do build with these brands that we’re making the highest-level product possible. I think that’s the most important thing out there because you can go make a bunch of crap, people will buy it, and you may have a brand for a few years but if you make some really great product, no matter what happens with that brand, that product will stand the test of time. So that’s what we’re really trying to focus on: making great stuff. There’s plenty of people out there making reflective wear. There’s plenty of safety proper reflective wear, there’s plenty of fashion brands in reflective wear, as well as sports brands. So it’s really about us carving our own niche and creating something that’s truly special in the market. And our socks are truly something that’s special. Because when you ride a bike your legs are constantly moving and because reflective

Yeah, it’s not work anymore.

works off direct light, it’s essentially creating a constant strobe while

Exactly man, and I think that’s what’s beautiful about working here

sight and you’re essentially creating a strobe for anyone who’s in a car

is just… you can joke around during the day, you can play some

or anyone who’s in any kind of situation to inflict harm onto you; you

loud music. These guys DJ sometimes, they do No Wave radio.

could fully keep yourself aware to them.

you’re riding or running. Your legs are coming in and out of line of that

They just have a good time while they’re also printing, creating, making things – there’s ways to have fun. And if you can find

That’s what’s so beautiful about this product so that’s why I’m truly

something that makes you happy at the end of the day, then you’re

inspired to create this stuff. For us, creating this brand is a necessity.

gonna be good. No matter how much money you make. At the end

And so the look, feel, and voice kind of come from that necessity and

of the day if you’re happy doing it, it’s not work.

come from this community of the New York running and cycling world;

In your interview with Breaks, you mentioned wanting to build your

get to work, you do it to get home, and it’s beyond living in other places

people who just do it every day. It’s part of your daily life, you do it to brand more first before you go head-first into more collaborations.

where you’re generally riding a bike or you want to go on a long ride or

Can you expand on what you think are the most important things

go to the beach; here it’s a necessity. And for me it’s something that I

to do when building your brand look/feel/voice, especially coming

need in my every day life and that’s why we do this.

from your design background? So we definitely want to build our brand way more before we jump into more collaborations and do more things with different people, although, we will be working with other brands and other retailers. It’s generally for a goal or for some purpose of creating something, pushing the limit, pushing the design element, trying to see what we can do with reflective is kind of what we’re doing. Where we just did a collaboration with Jason Markk and we just did something new where it was the thinnest and lightest reflective we’ve ever put onto a sock, which also comes with a fully stretchable reflective. It’s something very new and we can’t wait to introduce

PHOTO CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN

ARTICLE CREDIT: AMANDA CHARCHIAN AMANDACHARCHIAN.COM

DIGITAL ART ICE COLD CRAFT

195

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

CAPTURED BY: SERKAN TAHIR

THIS IS YOUR LIFE. BE A HERO.

WWW.GOPRO.COM

198

OCELOT MAGAZINE

Mago Dovjenko From: Russia Medium: Graphic Design. Looks Like: Stylized stenciled portraits of iconic figures ranging from fictional to celebrities. Almost abstract forms allied with a fluid style, gives a organic and psychedelic touch to his compositions. The use of vibrant colors and high contrast combined with a great wealth of detail, creating complex compositions gives strength and personality to his works. His irregular bold typography is another strong characteristic and present in most of his works.

199

DIGITAL ART UNDER 25

Slvstr© From: Oakland, CA based in New York Medium: Paint Looks Like: A mix between Kaws and Takashi Murakami with a select color pallet. Using mainly blues, pinks and yellows, Slvstr© uses his long time

ARTICLE CREDIT: URIEL VELASCO

Caroll Lynn a.k.a @CAREAUX From: Netherlands, Amsterdam Medium: Digital Illustration Looks Like: A geometric mix of triangles and gradients to form countless pop culture fandom such as her favorite pair of sneakers, movie characters and toys. @Careaux uses her sense of positioning

character Sly the Cat to express his

to showcase both her artistic skills

emotions on worldly events. Distorted,

and an appreciation for the brand she

dreamlike images of sly occasionally

represents. Caroll’s illustrations not

only connect with why that shoe is

the Cat bended, stretched and morphed

important to her subject but also allowed

into clouds of cotton candy. The choice

her to work through her own personal

of color is not used to make light of

struggles by focusing on her art.

the situations that Slvstr© illustrates but to stay true to the art form and put the freedom of speech at the forefront of everything he does art related.

MARCH 2015 OCELOTMAG.COM

200

OCELOT MAGAZINE

cr edits Because the Internet

Impermanence

Shepard Fairey

Photos: www.kanyetothe.com

Photos: Seung-Hwan Oh

Photos: www.complex.com

Article by: Alina Nguyen for The Hundreds

Article by: Julien Matabuena for Lomography

Article by: Alani Nelson for Complex

Calligraffiti

LIX 3D Pen

Si Scott

Photos: Niels Show Meulman

Photos: www.lixpen.com

Photos: www.sicottstudio.com

Article by: David Sokol for Design.NL

Article by: Lance Ulanoff for Mashable

Article by: Heather Ann Snodgrass for 99u

Chalk It Up

Mapping the City

Spotlight Studio

Photos: www.chalkfestival.org

Photos: www.theguardian.com

Photos: Ailine Liefeld

Article by: Chalkfestival

Article by: Oliver Wainwright for The Guardian

Article by: Nils Hartmann for Freundevonfreunden

Cube Stories

Pawel Nolber

Sweden Sans

Photos: Natalie de Segonzac

Photos: www.pawelnolbert.com

Photos: www.soderhavet.com

Article by: Natalie de Segonsac Artist Statement

Article by: Emil Agarunov for Tuts Plus

Article by: Jasper Robinell for Söderhavet

David Uzochukwa

Ruben Ireland

The Glass Half Full

Photos: David Uzochukwa

Photos: www.rubenireland.com

Photos: Uriel Velasco & www.lacuna2150.com

Article by: Laura Fisher for Vexxd Magazine

Article by: Chris Jalufka for Evil Tender

Article by: Rachel Moore & Adam Knade

Entering the Surreal

Sadhu Le Serbe

Through the Viewfinder

Photos: www.kylethompsonphotography.com

Photos: www.illusionscene360.com

Photos: Liddo Bells

Article by: DL Cade for Petapixel

Article by: Quentin J for Inkage

Article by: Uriel Velasco

Facets

Saturated Sorcery

Under 25

Photos: www.facets.la

Photos: Amanda Charchian

Photos:

Article by: Ryan & Tina Essmaker for TGD

Article by: Amanda Charchian

Article by: Uriel Velasco

Greg “Craola” Simkins

Saxo Bank

Photos: www.imscared.com

Photos: Mike Dugenio Hansen & 3xn

Article by: Erin Swinfard for Print on Wood

Article by: www.3xn.com

Ice Cold Craft

Sergio Cariello

Photos: www.icly.com & www.ilsmag.com

Photos: www.sergiocariello.com

Article by: Pete Pabon for The Hundreds

Article by: Emily for Redeemed Reader

Special Thanks: Alan B. Martinez Brian Dolan Carlos Ortega Kayla Shanks Robert A. Baker Saige Z. Hooker Walter A. Haynes

magodovjenko.com, ali6chicago.com, iamcareaux.tumblr.com, swagerareus.com

CREDITS CONTRIBUTORS

201

202

OCELOT MAGAZINE

US $26.99 / CAN $34.99 www.ocelotmag.com