Modernism... anyone?

I love it I love it I love it. Some people hate it apparently.

I actually got a chance to check out Helvetica the documentary just last night. I've got tons to say on it so I'll save it for another post. Let's say that after waiting for over a year to finally get a chance to check it out, it was one hundred percent bang on.

Artist: Andrew Brooks

Having been featured in digital art mags, Kellogg's commercials, and an assortment of album covers, Andrew Brooks is obviously quite capable. The images on the left right now might not seem awe inspiring in their technical execution - except that he's been doing it for years before all of these composite hotshots you can see kicking around Flickr these days.

I'm putting him up here for two specific reasons: first, while green screening and compositing is becoming commonplace, we rarely see someone willing to take out something so foundational to an image - the head. Second, while his photos have a good amount of postpro, Andrew is showing us that he understands light better than a lot of the studio photographers working in controlled environments.

Andrew's work is gutsy and from image to image we can see some are quite a bit less successful than others. But I think that's the point when someone's pushing the boundaries like he is willing to do. After all there's a reason David Bowie and Bjork are considered pioneers and top-tier artists - because half of their music is only so-so while the other half is mind blowing.

I do, however, think his web page needs a serious work over. For now though his images stand on their own.

While I think Andrew's work needs to mature, I think it will. Good work Andrew.

Find: Andrew Brooks' website

What is The Open Call?

Welcome. I'm glad you finally found out about this. Actually I'm glad I finally decided to set this blog up.

If you're wondering what this is all about you're not alone. To be honest, the niche i'm after here is loose - hardly a niche at all.

Generally speaking, The Open Call is concerned with all things aesthetic. While photography is the clear alpha on the net right now there is such a vast base of new design, illustration and audio out there that the lines are blurring for me as to what I'm interested in from one day to the next. It's really quite frustrating sometimes not being able to keep up with the graphic arts because I've been reading up for too long on using the wii controller as a MIDI device. If it's not that, it's a thousand other things.

Specifically, I wanted the focus here to be on new artists popping up on the net - new artists and new techniques that are forcing the boundaries of the arts to expand further than they have ever been. It was only a few years ago that a lot of people were still dropping that silly line that "everything's already been done." They clearly didn't see what 15 year old kids were capable of when they could finally afford the new cheap technologies that are now available to them. Not to mention Web 2.0.

The bullk of the posts here are going to (hopefully) be an unapologetic promotion of new work by artists on the net. I've got an arsenal of work I've come across that I think everyone can use. There's obviously going to be filler too - but I'll try to keep it somewhat in check and in line with the work being posted.

The goal? To focus all that new work into straight-up downright inspiration for those very same artists who produce it. I think photographers can benefit from seeing what's going on in design and the same goes for ink jockey's finding out what's new in soft-synths (that might be a stretch...).

I would love it if you would submit your work. Or the work of others that you find around. Just fire me off an email using that link on your right - just include some info that I can use so I'm not left hanging with some attached jpeg alright? And comment. And ask questions.

With some luck I think everyone can learn a little and reinvigorate their creative processes. If not, at least we can all look at some provocative work and get through a coffee break without having to resort to inane conversation with some culturally disinterested c.a. (really though - I love those guys, they've got great vacation stories)

That's it. On to the Fresh.

-Adam