Bravo Taxi

One of the 'goodest' ideas I've seen in a while.

www.15belowproject.org

On Architecture...

Artists are told to be inspired by three things. Art (duh), fashion and architecture. I've never really been inspired by the third, and always hated looking at buildings. They're buildings. Big deal. But after my trip to London and Paris this break I've had a breakthrough. That yes, buildings are just buildings on their own. They are beautiful on there own. But for the first time ever was actually able to be inspired because of the environment they create. From the culture architecture breeds.

London was extremely clean. Pristine. The people were flawless. There are no ugly people in London. No sweatpants, pajamas, track suits or ill fitting sloppy clothes. Everyone was polished and put together. The street fashion trendy and forward but never forced. Tailored designer jeans, hot shoes and boots, and not a single nylon jacket. Just coats. And impecably tied scarves. And all of this was a function of the architecture that surrounded them.

Now, I don't know anything about architecture technically, but I did feel something when I was in that city. Everything was low. Old. beautifully sculpted with solid angles, checkard patterns, light colors. All of this somehow reflected the people, or rather the people reflected it. Polished, quiet, dignified, light, yet beautiful and well put together.

If this is making any sense, please continue reading.

In paris, the buildings here were more fragile, decorative. Points and curves. Round corners and wrought iron rails. It created a much more gritty, raw yet beautiful and incredibly rich environment. The people were much more diverse, more unique and distinguishable. The ugly were ugly, the good looking beautiful. The dress, dark. Eclectic. Rough, but with polished shoes. And so was the environment they lived in. Gritty, rugged, to the point, blunt, ugly beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful.

To beat a dead horse, New York: Obnoxiously tall, loud, dirty, macho, strong, ever adapting, confident. Buildings or people?

So I feel now what architecture means to an artist. At least my interpretation. It's not about the buildings on their own and how beautiful they are. Everyone can see that side of it. It's about the reflection onto us as it creates the environment we live in and breeds the culture we adopt.

You get the idea, hopefully.

I get it. Duh.

Resolution

I've for most of my life been motivated by guilt. If I don't do something, I fear regret and feel guilty until I do it. In advertising we use this "device" often. Mostly in cases of charity, non profit services and excercise equipment. But what if you didn't have to feel guilty about eating fourteen pounds of Christmas cookies in order to start working out? What if you donated and participated in save the world charities without Sally Struthers or Al Gore. What if you were inspired to create change. Oooh, breakthrough. Not really. I know it's not a new concept in advertising, but in our personal lives, maybe it is. If you can eliminate the need to feel guilty about something in order to motivate change, than maybe you can prosper easier. So my new years resolution is to search hard to find motivation through inspiration rather than regret. We're reminded all the time to get inspired with our work. And if it makes our work better, it must work for other things too. I've also heard it prevents becoming a jaded pessimistic asshole.

But side effects may also include overoptimism like this guy.



Hmmm. Get pumped 2008 it's time to get inspired.

From the Vault..

To See

This break I decided to stay in Richmond for a week before going home for the yuletide season, so I could get work done, think about my book, my future plans, work on ads, photoshop, concept, etc.

Now the time has come. But without TV, a car that's on the fritz and only some part time internet, procrastinating has been difficult. So, I watched some movies.



Great to go into blind. And really great casting of someone you will have nightmares about. Best to watch with a loaf of bread smuggled from Panera and a good companion.



A collection of amazingly written, edited and directed vignettes about love in Paris.
A must see if you're into lots of directors, love and Paris. A must not see if you don't know how to read or don't have a soul.



The first story I've seen in a while that doesn't follow a predicitable line. Don't know if I like it, too many traces of Wes Anderson in it when it wasn't just his movie, but an amazing cast and well written. Overall, enjoyable.



No.

Next on my list: Juno.

It's time to get up CPBear

wow. After about 64 hours of sleep this past weekend, I feel like I've finally caught up after last week of only shutting my eyes for a few hours to dream about photoshop and killing myself. But after getting some good rest and putting my book aside I've realized that I'm extremely behind on everything else. So it's time to restart some things, like running, blogging, trip planning, christmas shopping, reading emails, eating whole meals of food and breathing normally. Yep, it's springtime again everyone. Time to feel like a real live person.

The best thing since Ren & Stimpy