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Matt Curtius
November 2007
fun installation
posted:
I'm pretty sure I'm posting a little too much for my own good, but I just got back some photos of a show we did back in October. Fall seems to be gallery time for us, and this time around we had a few shows that really challenged us in a fun way. We decided to keep things fairly open, explore some imagery that had been on our minds, and to take advantage of a scale at which we don't often get to work.
The show was at 222 Gallery, which is run by the wonderful folks at Otto Design Group.
G sat out the install. I think drawing all those patterns left her tired! Here are some pics of me and my two great assistants, Mike and Eamon.
A Scanner (Darkly)
posted:
G and I are going to break down and get a new scanner. We've been piecing spreads, posters, and full wrap jackets for years and are tired of it. To tell the truth, we've been using the Epson GT 15000 (epson's old model)and Expression 10000XL (epson's new model) over at UArts and their 18" x 24"-ish scan beds have spoiled us. These scanners are a little pricey, so before plunging into one of them, I figured I'd see what you all are using for larger format input. Also, a while back I remember hearing about a scanner that uses two scan heads in order to catch less glare. If anyone has any thoughts or experience with this, I'd love to hear that as well. Thanks in advance!
Lettering and Students
posted:
I did a piece for the Safire column in the Times Magazine a few weeks back. If you're not familiar with it, Safire ruminates on a word or phrase and the social or political implications of it's usage. The word was, "articulable". This means to make clear, but ironically has been used in several recent government documents as a vague word that can be manipulated to mean whatever a judge wants it to mean. The most notable usage had to do with privacy issues and the Patriot act. So here are my sketches and the notes I sent to the A.D., Leo Jung.
Sketch 1: Here I've used letters fit into the tops of a series of Necker Cubes. I'm playing on the idea of something being confusing, with the perspective of the cube being impossible to follow. Also, I like the idea of something both imposing and intricate, as if meant to put off or repel. I thought this ties in with government documents, acts, bills, etc. These would be shaded as three dimensional forms.
Sketch #2 This one plays on the idea of something being tangible and intangible at the same time. To articulate something is to make it more clear and understandable. Yet, this word's usage is causing confusion, which could be called a lack of clarity and understanding. I thought clouds played up this idea of something being both defined and undefined, there and not.
Sketch #3 I wanted to reference the use of the word in the Patriot Act. I cut the letters from a simplified US Flag/pennant. The idea is the letters are actually negative space, tying in to the dual impacts I referenced in the clouds.
...and the final
After the job, I thought it might be fun to see what some of my Juniors at UArts did with the piece. Wouldn't you know, they came up with some winners.
...a take on the foggy nature of it's usage. (Kyung Wook Min)
...the combative and hurtful use of the word as used in privacy issues. (Traci Dibble)
...the way the word sounds fabricated. (Heidi Ochsenreither)
..another take on the fabricated sound of the word. (Millie Landis)
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Curtius is teaching at TutorMill, an online mentoring site for students of illustration!