Damian Gascoigne/ genuine interest in things & people

ev.k. : diyeceğim ki neredeyse 2008 balonla kaçış eskizlerimle akraba.,

çizimlerin animasyon haline gelişi çok büyülü bir süreç.

guest lecture: Damian Gascoigne

http://mouzeldoog.blogspot.com/2009/03/frogs-inside-my-socks.html

He’s broken the presentation into four sections.

Number 1. Research: when you just got things going on.

He makes some jokes about his Fear of the North, his fear of his Auntie Lizza and I am right on board, he is a funny guy.

A theme that runs through the presentation is about how he is learning 3D animation software now, at a late stage in his life. He talks about tech, how it has improved so much so quickly. Anyone can be slick and do all this cool stuff but coming up with good ideas is just as hard as it ever was.

Creative people – they’re nosey, they need to be. He is so nosey. It’s part of creating. It’s all snooping, doodling, collecting. He shows a photo of the top of a supermarket carrier bag on the floor. It is an interesting shape, almost a rabbits head.

When you’re waiting around, even without a sketchbook, you doodle on receipts. He is amazed by students who don’t have a pen or a sketchbook to hand. Sometimes these doodles become something more, they stand out, put their hand up, ask to be used again, to stretch out. Some doodles he shows us.

To this end he talks about how, having none, he is into hair. Draws hair all the time. Also posture and goddamnit if I don’t love postures. It’s Egon Schiele’s fault. I love weird exaggerated poses, all twists and angles and he does too. He sketches and takes photos of people, strangers, his students, all in these weird poses. Maybe they don’t lead to anything, but they don’t have to.

That resonates with me. I’m always looking for drive and purpose. Not always, sometimes a thing is an end in itself, or it doesn’t have an end; you’re just doing it.

Maybe it doesn’t lead to anything, but it doesn’t have to.

This is the start of something big, Damian. He is pull the curtains on something I’d forgotten about: genuine interest in other people and things.

He draws everyday, all too often not from life. But man he shows us these stone bastard drawings he did in Lisbon when his class went there last year, or earlier this year. Lots of India ink and looseness, fucking awesome. But drawing from life like that sharpens you up, and when you take that to the studio it makes you fresher.

He wants students to notice the things around them, not to just have blank pages in your sketchbook to look at. He shows us a picture of a couple in a Korean café. He is rigid, in a suit, she is in a frock (?), a cardigan. His hands are on his lap, her drink has hardly been touched. He says it is a first date, you just know there isn’t going to be a second. For half an hour he was stood there taking pictures, peering into someone else’s life.

There are stories starting all around, he says, he shows us a picture of a child at the Tate Modern. The kid’s dad, in this art gallery, all he wants is to take a photo of his kid walking around.

This is why I like the music I like, the books I like. It’s stories, other people.

**

Part 2: personal work.

Yeah he talked briefly about this gallery thing he did in Korea. Itwas interesting but not as interesting as

Part 3: Pitch Requiem.

You don’t get paid to pitch, suckers. It is deadly competitive. Last year he made seven pitches and none worked out. He shows us these pitches. They are clean. His commercial work is much, much cleaner than his personal stuff. Which makes sense and is fine. You can see how it all fits together and that’s the important thing.

His pacing of slides is fucking great. Mountain Dew is delicious.

You need nerves of steel for this job, the spirit of a gambler. Despite the seven that didn’t work out he got one, or two, that did. He’s more in love with his work than ever, but he’s now unemployable. He couldn’t have a boss telling him when to get to work, what to do, all that shit and I start thinking maybe I can be an illustrator, maybe this is what I am.

He talks about the conversations we’re going to have with ourselves, the ugly ones when the jobs don’t come. Why am I doing this? The sweat soaking stone whatever. You either walk out or you don’t, spirit of a gambler.

Part 4: new territory.

This presentation was a roving drive through Damian Gascoigne. He shows us part of an animation he’s working on. It’s good because it’s not generic. Has all this pen texture and 2d drawn quality but also this 3d thing going on. It was nice to watch, not to write about.

But it showed how the people around you become a direct inspiration.

He ends saying he’s enjoying the battle.

http://www.animateprojects.org/films/by_artist/g/d_gascoigne

http://fada.kingston.ac.uk/staff/damian_gascoigne/damian_gascoigne.php

http://www.stanleypickergallery.org/archive/2005/Damian%20Gascoigne/complex_embrace.htm

http://www.animateonline.org/films/howtogetridofinformation/all.html

stay curious

‎"Breathe properly. Stay curious. And eat your beets."
Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume) /
"hafifle !"

ate the half of the lentil dish. a czech speciality as i have learned from Ulrosch.

we sat at this "owl" restaurant; with a coal - black golden retriever by my feet.

conversation about social capital, political art, the hungry and the full; and how to name some concepts...

trip to eisenstadt tomorrow!

and now with a camera!!!

busyy bee, that's me / sounds of the city

busy busy day.

finally i am home; and still need to work more. this is something other than a need; a passion i guess. so curious what will come out of these sound recordings, notes, and drawings.

so i guess now i need to make a schedule. i am terrible with schedules. yet always enjoy the challenge. so since making a schedule is a challenge, i should also enjoy that...

i am in love with the ZOOM sound recorder. I went to many spots, recorded all kinds (not all but many) kinds of sounds that i had an intuition i would use in trhe video and the animation. and also, when i am back in istanbul, it will be lovely to listen to the sounds. sounds are more real than pictures. somehow. they live in the present tense.

i sat among a group of birds. pigeons. they were not afraid of me. they came near my feet, my bag. they were busy trying to eat the pieces of dry bread. "dry": at that moment i could not remember this word. i said "solid." but anyways, i thought i was recording, but as it turns out, i did not record. you have to push twice. and i pushed only once on the record button. yes, the perfect way to learn is to make mistakes; is to fail!

kings of convenience sings that well:

Failure is always the best way to learn,
Retracing your steps untill you know,
Have no fear your wounds will heal.

bugun ses çekimi yaptım sokaklarda. kuş kanatları sesleri çektiğimi sandım ama meğer makinayı kullanmayı bilememişim çekmemiş. neyse . başka sesler çektim. yarın artık bi daha denicem kuş kanatlarını.
ama baya kuşların arasında allahın soğuğunda da oturdum yani. ve kaçmadılar. bıdı bıdı yuruyorlardı. az ucup konyorlardı

i had white tea with sweet luzi and johannes. i stopped by the labFactory to loook for my camera. and there i met Lutzi, so actually she is working there now, it turns out. i was so happy to see her. we looked around for my camera. and on that black box actually two hair-clips of mine were still standing. and finally the camera was also in the office.

and Lutzie said we could drink something warm at their place which was very near. it was really near. and such a cosy, beautiful, tidy house. there was a swing:( of course, i got on it. and some lovely conversation, completed with a twist of chocolate. so it was st. niklas day today as it turns out. so we HAD TO eat some chocolate. JOhannes is from Finland. I would love to visit Finland. I think Lutzi is from Steria. I am so curious about the mountainside of Austria. I believe most of the people i have met so far are from the mountains. And they are nice. they have a different sensibility towards materials. things. i like that. and she had some paintings from a street artist. i must learn the name. i forgıt the name.

a nd i learned a neue word today:

"bedienung"

the person in charge of the sound& video equipment taught me that. mr. hoerman. he has photos of Greek İSlands. I told him: "ich schwimme im meine draum." i am not sure if this is right; but "er versteht":P

i had made a photo of the photo of the greeek island with my cell phone. i should also transfer my photos from the cell phone. oh i should have hundreds by now...

yes, finally somebody thought i was JAPANESE! this afroamerican guy who sells homeless people's newspapers in the Kardinal NAgl PLatz. We met in other metro stations too. HE greets me all the time. He asked for my numberi but i said i had a TUrkish number. It's ok. He is from Cameroon. and i need to ask his name again. I think it is GODLUT.

i will write more and also upload some photos. now i need to drink some warm tea and listen to goo dmusic and take care so that i do not succumb to the flu. oh, yes, the flu. "the bloody cold"...

i adore how a person's use of language is passed on to another person. that's some empathy... or a flock psychology; hmm i would prefer empathy.

and today at some point, between many errands and places, i checked my emails from the MAc store. kids were playing computer games. I really recommend the Mac store fro checking your emails. it felt like a MAc-bar:P just needed some drinks. oh well... they wouldn't appreciate a cup of tea or hot kids punch near the MAcs, right.