MCA Zine Fair

MCA Foundation Hall Sunday 26 May 11.00am–4.00pm

Explore the world of zines at the sixth annual MCA Zine Fair. With a vast array of boutique zines to browse and buy, there’s something for everyone. Zines are limited-run publications that are handmade and self-published. They come in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes and have become a global cult obsession. Get in fast before they all disappear. More info...  Join the Facebook event

Level 2 Galleries Sunday 26 May 2.00–3.00pm

Join zine-enthusiast and MCA Curator Glenn Barkley for an interactive exploration of zines and artist books from his own personal stash. More info...

MCA Galleries and National Centre for Creative Learning Sunday 26 May 10.30am–4.00pm

Kids and families! Pick up your Gallery Explorer from Level 3 and become a detective as you look for letters lurking in the galleries. Zip with zeal to the Creative Studios and play with paper, stencils and stamps in our zine zone. More info... *(AUSLAN interpreter available from 2.00–4.00pm) Ages 4+

All activities are FREE, drop-in Find more information at mca.com.au/zinefair

Learn Something New

Everyone should challenge themselves and learn something new, it will help both your art and life become more interesting. It doesn't have to be formal training or even a class, you can just ask a friend or 'expert' how to do something. Most people are happy to share their skills. People who aren't or who are secretive about their techniques, suppliers or ideas... well... they are just idiots. You get what you give, or if you want to be a hippie about it, Karma, people, Karma.

If you are in Madrid and interested in learning something new in a good place for a cheap price then try La Casa Encendida - the Burning House. Their new courses are now open for enrollment and they look pretty exciting! See the range of courses by clicking here, or email them at cursoslce@cajamadrid.es

Read a Comic

I recently made a comic, album cover and stickers for my husband's awesome band, Codo. You can read the comic here. You can listen to the music here

Paint on an Unfamiliar Surface

Free Entry to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

(Roy Lichtenstein, Woman in Bath, 1963)

Did you know that on Mondays there is free entry to the Permanent Collections at the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid between 12.00 and 16.00?

You can also get free entry on 18 May, International Museums Day, and during the activities organised in relation with "Museum Night" and "White Night".

Get along and have a look, there are some great pieces there. 

Also while you're there, a the time of writing there is an exhibition of plein air Impressionist painting (separate entry fee). 

How to open an mpeg in iMovie

As you probably guessed by now, I like drawing pictures, but I love doing stuff on the computer too. I once taught myself how to make stop motion movies from hundreds of photos. Have you tried making and editing videos? It's really fun if you have iMovie. I am running an older OS on my laptop and I always forget how to import the video so... I am leaving this helpful tip here - maybe it will help you too.

Try this

---

From another post...on the Apple Site
I did try it and it worked like a charm !!!!! I love working in I movie has a lot going for it.

The issue is that most MPEG1 clips are not edit-compatible with quicktime, because of how the audio track is multiplexed with the video. But iMovie '09 supports several sony cameras that shoot MPEG1 movies. But only directly from the MPEG1 camera itself. If you've already sucked the movies into iPhoto, you'll have to trick iMovie into thinking its a camera archive, and cross your fingers.
Try this:
(1) create a new folder on your hard disk called FakeMPEG1Camera (the name here isn't too important).
(2) inside that folder, create a folder called DCIM (the name here, and capitol letters, is important)
(3) inside that folder, place a few of the MPEG1 movies (they need to end with .MPG)
(4) launch iMovie. Choose File > Import... > Camera Archive...
(5) navigate to the 'FakeMPEG1Camera' folder. If your clips are importable, the 'DCIM' folder should be grayed out, and the bottom of the window will say 'Camera Archive Detected.'
(6) click 'Import'. The camera import window will appear, and you can import the clips. iMovie will convert the movie to an edit-compatible format (audio turns into PCM).
Not every MPEG1 file I've tried works, but many do.
If you have a Sony camera that shoots MPEG1, it's easiest to import the footage directly into iMovie while it's still on the camera... do that in the future.

Source is here at Macforums.

Landscaping Brain Exhibition

Opening Saturday, April 6 from 12 am until 22 pm 

Exhibition curated by Daniel Silvo

In the topographic model proposes that Freud's unconscious to speak prior to his concepts of "I", "superego" and "it", the mind is understood as a space where ideas converge. In the living room unconscious mental ideas and desires when they are not present to consciousness. When they pass into the conscious, it is checked whether or not they can be accepted. In the event that such censorship is not exceeded, the thoughts and perceptions are obliged, because of his reluctance to remain in the unconscious.

In the exhibition "Brain Injury Landscaping" we deal with these mental landscapes in which are located the wishes and ideas that do not pass the censorship of consciousness wild places, rugged, dirty, illegal, dangerous.

Paul Milicua extensive collages made ​​from hundreds of small pieces cut from black and white books. In his surreal scenes invented landscapes found, explicable only in the world of dreams. 

Paula Anta presents, as in a baroque setting, a huge artificial paradise full of plastic plants, hallucinogenic, toxic, dangerous. A nature created from petroleum, a fossil, an inert matter. 

The skull of Ruben Gutierrez presents the viewer as a ruin, an archeological site. A dead end maze representing death, a fact vanitas landscape. 

Humberto Diaz played, on stage at the Malecon in Havana, a scene of alienation: the same person again and again ahead of the car in which we mounted. The vertigo we experience before this memory game is the "déjà vu", the title of the work. 

Uriel Bethlehem shows us, as if it were a threat, the shadow of what seems an innocent poster. This image, made with the familiar colors of the De Stijl architectural utopias, this nightmare is the symbol of frustrated dream of homeownership. 

Angela Cuadra also invented landscapes through collage. But in your case seem more alien landscapes, places never seen, invented from the beginning to the end, where the laws of gravity, light refraction or more elementary physics have nothing to do with the experience here on earth . 

Aparicio Saelia hides landscapes in the most ordinary furniture. A bedside table that contains the scene of the dreams of the wearer, or who lives there. It is a proposed interpretation of dreams in which nature seems to overflow the scenario that is formalized. 

Photo Jorge Fuembuena colorful caves, hidden and illuminated spaces that become monstrous, terrible shadows that shape our deepest fears.

Antonio R. Montesinos recreates an urban landscape waste from the city itself. A kind of recycling that operates in a similar manner as do dreams: during the day collecting images to project in our mind at night under a combinatorial perverse. 

In this series of works are multiple interpretations of these mental scenarios in which each artist locates his thoughts and desires, taking very different landscape forms. Daniel Silvo

ESPACIOVALVERDE 

Valverde 30 28004 Madrid. 

Asela: +34 639 632 236 

James: +34 609 572 226 

www.espaciovalverde.com 

info@espaciovalverde.com 

Painted Guitar Pedal #3

I just finished painting a new guitar pedal! I know that a lot of my readers want to know about it, because when I painted my first one, it was my most popular post ever! You can read that post here and learn the steps to paint a guitar pedal, or any metal surface.

This pedal is a Rat clone and so I called it a Big Mouse and it has a picture of a rat with gold teeth and he is thinking about making rain because he is angry, then it starts raining leaves. It's sort of Kawaii influenced, but I think my next one will be very Kawaii with a lot of different pinks and reds and glitter and metallic paints. Going to try to get some pink or clear glitter knobs and a pink led light. And a pink lead. Wheee!

This time I used metallic bronze paint which was more difficult to use than solid colours, so if you are going to use metallics practice the application first. I found that doing a couple of coats actually made the paint come off, so I recommend letting it dry before doing a re-coat. I also ran into a bit of trouble because the hot pink was really thick so I had to thin it out with turps. It kind of had the texture of bubble gum and was hard to work with. I would have bought more but I got this super-rare colour in Portugal so it was too far to travel. Anyway... it worked out ok in the end. For the tiny details I used a sable brush number 00. I personally think that acrylic brushes are the best - a Windsor and Newton Cotman works well and is inexpensive. Don't use really cheap brushes - the hair comes out and gets stuck in the paints and is a total nightmare to deal with. More pedals soon!

Get An Arts Grant

You've got an idea, you've got lots of great work... now you need some cash or a studio or a gallery. Get an arts grant. Didn't get it the first time? Keep applying until you have success! Find an opportunity here at re:title or here at transartists. Good luck!

Get a Job That You Won´t Hate

A tight job market doesn´t mean that you have to take any job on offer. In fact, this is the worst thing you can do. You will hate your job, be unhappy and demonstrate poor performance, meaning that you won´t get a good reference from your employer when you inevitably leave. Companies also suffer by employing cheap and desperate people for these same reasons. Passionate people in the right jobs is what keeps the workforce running properly. High staff turnover is evident when financial crises hit and it´s bad for business, bad for the economy and most importantly, bad for people.

So, the question is, “how do I get the right job for me?” A little bit of self knowledge is very helpful. Dedicate some time to writing down some ideas about the following questions. Just let your ideas flow, you don´t have to make complete sentences or even make sense, this is just a brainstorm for you to see.

  

Know yourself 

• What you like/dislike? Be honest, this list is just for you.
• What can you do?
• What are your transferable skills?
• Write down some examples of your successes. eg. “I implemented social networking strategies and  significantly improved our website by growing our audience from 100 to 250 views per day”. “Or I successfully defrosted the freezer”. No matter how big or small, think about challenges you have overcome. Stepping up to challenges is very important and a highly desired skill in the workplace. It shows that you are motivated and willing to take a risk.
• Know the company.
• When you find a job you like – research the company (look at their website). If you don´t have a specific job advertisement, allow yourself to fantasise about your ideal workplace. Research that. Then create a job opportunity for yourself. Write them a letter, telling them the things you like about their company and what you have to offer them.

All of your brainstormed ideas can be easily translated into “job-speak”  for your new  and improved resume and cover letter. For example "I like hanging out with my friends and getting drunk" becomes "I am a friendly, outgoing person with highly developed social skills." "I spend all day on Facebook" becomes..."I have all the skills necessary to become a Social Media Manager"!

Case study - Social Media Manager

(PR, Marketing, Writing, Knowing Trends)

Social Media manager - 6 month to perm - £28-32k pro rata - London

Your Profile
As a Social Media Executive you will have a strong web background specifically within Social Networking and Social Media. It is essential that you have experience of developing social media strategies, and demonstrate a passion for channels including Twitter, Blogging and facebook. The ideal candidate will know their way around a social CRM system and should be a great writer and editor.

The Role
This is an exciting role for 6 months (with a view to going perm) for a Social Media Manager to join a well established web team. Bringing in your own knowledge and flair within Social Media and Networking. Working alongside the other members of the digital team and the marketing and communications functions, you will specifically looking to improve and update the site's interactivity, including the relationship and strategy involved for Social Networking sites. You will be giving advice to others in the organisation about how to develop their own understanding of social media and looking to widen the companies' 'social sphere'. You will also get involved in the analytical side of social media, so that you can best understand and decide the effects of your work.

The Company
This is an exciting opportunity to join a well established youth organisation. If you think you have the above please do not hesitate to send your CV to John Smith following the instructions on this page or call 2222 222.

Please note that only successful candidates will be contacted.

• What kind of job is this (full time, part time etc)?
• What is the employer looking for? (highlight key words) How can you demonstrate these skills?
• Research the job. Look for other similar job ads and see what they are looking for.
• What can you offer them? (Specific skills or transferable skills examples)
• Are there any words you don´t understand and need to further research?
• What do you know about this company? (Research, demonstrate). Even though the company name is not mentioned, you now it is a youth organisation. What kind of person would be expected to work there and what transferable or concrete skills can you offer?

By completing this exercise you will be well on your way to getting a job that you love and will be happy getting up everyday to attend. Because it´s everyday and you have to attend, remember that – do what will make you happiest.

Take Yourself on a Date

Stop waiting around for other people to get their shit together and take yourself out instead! I took myself to The Caixa Forum and had a great time! Next, I am going to take myself to Oporto in Portugal for a well-earned rest and creative retreat. For the same cost as a hotel room, I got an apartment, where I can spread my stuff out and create things. Or just lie in bed and watch tv. Or eat too much Bacalao. Or spend too long in the art gallery. Or drink a coffee for 2 hours. Or write a lot of postcards. Or make a really bad drawing. Or just stare out of the window looking at the rain. It doesn´t matter what you do, as long as you do something!

Turn Dreams Into Reality

"We all have an idea we've been meaning to execute, but how can we really make it happen? In this highly original, all-ages talk, illustrator Rilla Alexander walks us through this classic creative struggle by sharing the story of Sozi - an adorable character who walks us through the arc of an idea. She daydreams, she procrastinates, she sets deadlines, she gets tempted by new ideas, she buckles down and works hard - and finally - she realizes ´Her Idea.´" Watch this awesome video about how to realise your amazing ideas and to remind yourself about the importance of collaboration. Can you find someone to collaborate with who can help you realise your dreams/reach your goals?

Innovate and Invent

Innovation and invention are both a result and integral parts of the creative process. It can happen when you are drawing, cooking, showering, driving your car or skateboarding. For a lot of people, skateboarding is just an extreme sport or a thing for kids to do, but it´s much more than that. Skateboarding is a constant challenge and innovation and changes in techniques are necessary to overcome small problems; learning and conquering one thing leads to learning another new, more difficult thing - does this sound familiar?

Take 23 minutes out of your schedule to watch this video of Rodney Mullen aka the guy who invented the kickflip. Even if you have no interest in skateboarding, you can apply his ideas to your own practice, no matter what it is. As my final post for the year of 2012, I hope this inspires you to make a tiny change to your practice that will bring about innovation.

Opening Night

Ode to Creativity

An Ode to Creative Work by Behance from Behance on Vimeo.

Zombie Science

Come learn about the macabre world of zombie science...

Author Frank Swain will take us on a tour of the world’s zombie makers, from the fetid heat of the Caribbean cane fields, where voodoo witchdoctors grind bones into poisons, to the bitter snow-blown streets of Moscow and the gas-lit rooms of London’s surgeries where necromancers build machines that promise eternal life. This is the real life quest to raise the dead and enslave the living – the science of zombies.

Frank Swain is a science writer and author. He has produced content for Slate, New Scientist, Wired, Focus, Eureka, BBC Radio 4 and Bravo TV among others. His first book, How to Make a Zombie: the real life (and death) science of reanimation and mind control, is out next spring from OneWorld. Visit his website http://www.frankswain.com/

When: November 10, 2012 at 7pm
Where: St. George’s Bookstore, Wörther Straße 27, 10405 Berlin
http://www.saintgeorgesbookshop.com/

Creative Map Invention

I have a love/hate relationship with maps. I like the colours, the tiny letters and the squiggly lines. I even like folding a map up sometimes. However, I can´t read maps. I never know which is the right way up. I´m more of a "turn left at the servo and when you see the yellow house, go right and keep going until your feet start to hurt and then you´re there" or "head towards the sea and when you hit the sand, you´re there". Anyway, lots of other people love maps, poring over maps and working out directions. Most people will complain that the 2 things they hate most about maps are 1. folding them up and 2. they get wet in the rain. Well, problem solved, map lovers ... check this out! It´s a waterproof map you can scrunch up and it´s name is Crumpled City Map. A challenge for you today - find a product, name 2 problems with it and fix them with an amazing invention like this one?

My Head-To-Toe Body Book

My favourite website for kids has just released my new favourite book! My Head-to-Toe Body Book by Okido is a fantastic source of knowledge about the body as well as a big bundle of fun games to play and things to make. The information is real but still fun and interesting to read. You can learn how to make a paper whistle or a body map.

If you read this book you will also learn all about breathing, the blood, the muscles, scabs and wee and poo. Did you know that some people like to read while they are on the toilet? This book is fun!

Who is this Okido? Well apparently it´s a group of people who also create an excellent magazine for kids. Included in the group are a real live scientist who teaches at uni, a proper artist and a whole bunch of other cool misfits, who have banded together to produce intelligent, well designed and fun kid´s stuff. They also host art and science workshops.

My Head-To-Toe Body Book is published by the ever-wonderful Thames and Hudson, so you know it´s going to be great!

Find out more about the book here

and check out the awesome Okido website for more fun and games.

Death Anxiety

I spend as much time as I can making art but I am a graphic designer in real life. I want to present you with a book I have recently had the pleasure of working on with my good friend Rosa Niran. She is a Melbourne artist and writer. This book is about her experience of cancer and death anxiety. It is very raw, honest and a great insight into her life. She is all about painting her experiences to let them out of her brain, which I am sure many of you can relate to. Have a look!

Open publication - Free publishing - More death anxiety

Flora, Fauna and Fantasy

Gordon Edgerton Gallery is pleased to invite you to

Flora, Fauna and Fantasy

Works by Graeme Cardinal, Marion East, Edward Heffernan, Kyoko Imazu, Damon Kowarsky, Lynette Koci, Diane Lawson, Barbara Madden, Vida Pearson, Robyn Rayner and Yitao Liu

Preview Opening
Sunday 30 September 2012
2 to 5:30 pm

Gordon Edgerton Gallery 
64 Main Street Gordon
VIC, Australia 3345

Exhibition continues until December 2012.

For more information click