Joana Monteiro AT SCHOOL

Tom Waits' Private Listening Party

2011-10-26T04:07:00.001-07:00

Workshop Letra&Música 5thSeptember, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2011-09-07T05:10:00.001-07:00

And ready for the opening!

Letra&Música means Lyrics/Letter&Music. “Letra” means lyrics but also letter in portuguese, referring to typography. “Letra e música” is the way we invoke the author of lyrics and music at the same time.
I'm inviting graphic designers and artists to reflect around the theme Designing for the Music Industry.
This workshop is part of the MA Graphic Design Final Show.
It's taking place in the exhibition space.
Camberwell College of Arts, North building, 1st floor, 45-65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UF

Participants:
Irene López de Vallejo
Octavia
Andrea Montanari
Laura Coll Corbilla
Laia Pesas
Victoria Borissova

with the help of: Meri Kite Runner
with the support of: Camberwell Letterpress, London
and Quebra Orelha records shop, Portugal

30 Years Of Music Industry Change, In 30 Seconds Or Less...

2011-09-06T04:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/081611thirty

Workshop Letra&Música 3thSeptember, Camberwell College of Arts, London

2011-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Music Philosophy

2011-09-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.musicphilosophy.co.uk/#370351/Dire-Straits
"Hi. My name is Mico. I am an art director in advertising. Music Philosophy is a side project where there are no clients, no logos, no budget and no deadlines involved in bringing music and typography come to live in it's most pure, iconic and visual form. Hope you like it."

Joy Division Trnasmission

2011-08-28T02:13:00.001-07:00

Touching from a distance, further all the time.
No language, just sound, that's all we need now.

Workshop Letra&Música - Preparing the space

2011-08-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Thanks Meri!!

Workshop Letra&Música - London

2011-08-20T00:42:00.001-07:00

Letra&Música means Lyrics/Letter&Music. “Letra” means lyrics but also letter in portuguese, referring to typography. “Letra e música” is the way we invoke the author of lyrics and music at the same time.
I'm inviting graphic designers and artists to reflect around the theme Designing for the Music Industry. After a brief introduction and discussion it will be given to each participant the same similar base to work on. The “white canvas” is a craft sheet of paper 50x70cms, produced originally as the wrapping paper for the music shop Quebra Orelha (Ear Break), in Portugal. Printed as a background is a simulation of a Google search for images connected with music and ears. Each person will make one or more interventions using various techniques (wood type, drawing, painting, collage, folding, etc). Fell free to bring your own materials. You will have access to wood type, paint, colour paper and more. Digital files can also be provided for computer based work.

This workshop is part of the MA Graphic Design Final Show.
It will take place in the exhibition space.
Camberwell College of Arts, North building, 1st floor, 45-65 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8UF
Please chose from the following dates:
3th September, Saturday, from 12h00 to 5 pm
5th September, Monday, from 11h00 to 4 pm
Limited to 8 people per day. RSVP until 25th August

For more information please contact: joana.monteiro@gmail.com

With the support of: Camberwell Letterpress and Quebra Orelha record shop

Music event at Quebra Costas

2011-08-16T07:51:00.001-07:00

João Gentil & Luís Formiga
organized by Companhia Portugueza
http://www.companhiaportugueza.com/
http://www.facebook.com/CompanhiaPortuguezaCbr

More at Quebra Costas Market - Activities with kids, today

2011-08-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ao longo de todo o dia, Ana Mónica Silva e Rute Mota do projecto Ler Miudinho vão realizar actividades centradas em literatura infantil com os visitantes mais jovens do Mercado.
Ler Miudinho especializa-se na organização de actividades educativas (oficinas, encontros com especialistas, apresentações de pequena dimensão na área do teatro, música, dança, circo, narração oral) e venda de livros e artigos para crianças.
A sua missão é promover o livro através de actividades educativas e culturais com uma selecção criteriosa de artigos que alia a qualidade estética à qualidade literária.

Publication: Atelier Letra&Música

2011-07-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

AtelierLetra&Musica - Workshop
AtelierLetra&Musica - Visual Output

RESONANCE

2011-07-21T04:41:00.000-07:00

Resonance is a collaborative project with over 30 independent visual and audio designers/studios. The aim was to explore the relationship between geometry and audio in unique ways.

Education for Uncertain Futures, RSA

2011-07-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

Symposium Presentation: Buying and Collecting Music

2011-06-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

As teenagers we buy music to belong to a certain group. You are friends with x and y if you like band A, or w and k if you like band B.

We are certain about what we like and listen to the same band again and again, the same track eventually for months and months.

As time goes by, and we get older, we tend to open our mind (and our pocket...) and listen to other things, new things we never thought we could like. Then is hard to say what's your favorite band. It used to be that the only we we could find out about new music was by going to the music store or listening to radio. Nowadays internet does the work for us, giving us recommendations, showing us things supposedly similar to what we are listening to.

And it comes a time when we start being collectors.
And then we don't even know what we have at home anymore.
We keep on buying and buying and buying...

We enjoy showing our collection to the others . It makes us fell powerful to possess all that music.

Together with music records we keep related obsolete objects, like the phonograph cylinder we can see here:

We want all the different limited editions from the same album. That's very important!

We want to show to our friend when they come and visit us that special record. So we put it on the wall.

It's really hard to resist buying certain albums that we like so much just because of the cover. Or because it's the only one we don't have from that obscure band.
We like to show how cool we are! And the choices we make for the albums that go on the wall it's again (like the badgets we had when we were teenagers) saying something about who we are.
We can even change the albums on the wall according to our guests, so that we fell we belong to the group (again).

It's as if we are hiding behind our choices.

We "wear" the choices we make.

Or:, if we are creative people, we take our choices and play around we it.

OWEN GILDERSLEEVE
“Customize Your Music
Part of a series of experiments
for issue 12 of Graphic in the customization of different musical formats. The idea behind the series came from my love for collecting music and the interest
I find in exploring other people's musical collections.”

Then MP3 players came, then we don't have more space to store all our objects, then internet replaces everything.
Lack of space = lack of legacy.
So what are we leaving for or grandsons?
An hard drive?

MA Graphics Symposium: I Buy to Belong - images

2011-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

Josh and Ken from Vinyl Vlog

2011-06-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Music Lessons – another quilt I’ve made for my husband.

2011-06-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

This quilt started off with a casual purchase “oh, look music fabric” and an innocent remark by my husband. “Wouldn’t it be cool to make a quilt with nothing but music fabric – just a single repeat of each fabric?”
Over the next five years I began to collect music themed fabric. It was given to me my by my mom and friends. I bought music fabric on-line that I couldn’t find locally. Since I didn’t have a pattern in mind, I kept collecting music themed fabric.

signed: knitnoid

http://knitnoid.wordpress.com/category/music-quilt/

research for MA Graphics Symposium: I Buy to Belong

2011-06-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

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With this digital age of non objects in the music industry, what are we leaving for our grandsons?

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For the listening public at large, in every century but this one, there was no such thing as collecting music. The enthusiast might collect art and literature - even, in a weak way, drama - but not music.
"The thing about this [record albums] collector in Brooklyn. He's deaf."
If there were paintings in the parlour no one would ask whether you'd looked at them - you weren't blind; some bumpkin might ask if you'd read all your books, but you had only to reply, as Anatole France (for subtler reasons) once did:
'Not one tenth of them. I suppose you use your Sèvres china every day?'

The colecting of cultural objects can satisfy any number of needs:
1. The need to make beauty and pleasure permanent;
2. The need to comprehend beauty (the danger lies in mistaking ownership for mastery)
3. The need to distinguish oneself as a consumer. In capitalism there are first heroes of production and then heroes of consumption.
4. The need to belong. And in the frantic effort to belong we enlist our belongings. 'Tunes meant people: roads to people, remembrances of them. At the same time the teenagers showed great anxiety about having the 'right' preferences... The cultural objects, whatever their nature, are mementos that somehow remain unhumanized by the force of a genuinely fetishistic attachment.' (David Riesman) Actually, I doubt that these teenagers had reached the point of genuine fetishism, where objects are not roads to people but substitutes for them.
5. The need to impress others, or oneself. The point is that one can have a sincere love of culture without having any interest in it. That kind of love is almost as well satisfied by owning records as by listening to them.

Facts are collected indiscriminately by the naïve empiricist, who lives in fear of missing the one fact that will give meaning to the rest. Meanwhile, classification gives a semblance of order to things. And meaning is left at the mercy of the last hidden mollusc on the last uncharted reef.

The buying is what counts (...later I will play the record, but what will be redundant. My money has already heard it.), which is one reason why the record buyer is insatiable. The desire to buy does not always coincide with the desire to hear music.

For music was now an object that could be owned by the individual and used at his own convenience. There was no need to cooperate, coordinate or share with anyone else. Technically the musicians were still necessary; given the economics of production, so was the rest of the audience. But only technically. Once the record was owned they disappeared.

The cathedral of culture was now a supermarket.

Music becomes a thing, "The Recording Angel", EVAN EISENBERG

Originally published in:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10144205-47.html?tag=mncol;title

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There is nothing quite like the feeling of thumbing through LP after LP in a dusty old record shop, only to stumble upon some hidden treasure, new obsession or forgotten love. Old Rare New: The Independent Record Shop is a homage to the holy places of music collecting, complete with their particular anecdotes, peculiar characters, and unique environments.
There is nothing quite like walking into a strange little record store in a town far from home and finding a record you've been after for so long, you didnt even remember you wanted it until you flipped through the bin and saw it. There is no similar charge available online, and it can't be gotten from a CD. It is something unique to vinyl and little stores and the people who live to breathe their air.'
Byron Coley

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Untouchable
What a collector loses (and gains) in the age of music downloading

By Jeremy Eichler

Piles of CDs surround me. I have been feeding them into my computer to suck the music out of them. And then I pack them away.
Discuss
COMMENTS (35)

Discuss Do you digitize your music?

My Mac does not discriminate. Dufay or du Pré, Eno or Ellington, the computer digests them each with the same chipper whir, and check marks appear on my screen next to each MP3 file I have just created. I think I am supposed to feel accomplished.

But this has been an exercise both exciting and melancholy. My own CD collection once commanded a proud stretch of home-office wall space, but it has become a casualty of urban living with a growing family and I have been slowly transferring it into an iTunes library on my hard drive.

Of course, the conveniences of this approach are vast and, several years into the digital music revolution, still astonishing to me. A few keystrokes pull up exactly what I’m looking for. A couple clicks and 10 majestic symphonies of Gustav Mahler pour onto my cellphone, ready to be summoned while I’m stopped at a red light or sitting on the train. The novelty has not worn off.

But as I haul boxes of discs down to a basement room - at a time when CD stores have all but vanished from the local landscape and musical downloading has reached a tipping point in our society at large - I’ve been thinking not only about the virtues of high-tech listening but also about what’s been lost in our headlong sprint into the digital future. This is not a Luddite’s lament, or a cri de coeur about the significantly reduced audio quality of those compressed MP3 files. I love having more music at arm’s reach than ever before, I love taking it with me wherever I go. But I do find myself wondering why, exactly, collecting music now means so much less.

On the shelf
To begin with, there is nothing left to hold in our hands. Recordings have of course always been physical objects, ever since the first known recording device, a phonautograph, was created in France in the mid-1800s. Its inventor did not design it to play back a song - he could not conceive of such a thing - but merely to visualize the music as lines on paper. Before we could dream of reproducing sound, we simply wanted to hold it.

And still do. A recording documents the presence of musicians who are no longer there, but the thing itself can stand in for them, can mediate our relationship to the music we are hearing. We like to turn it over, gaze at the cover art, devour its liner notes, and arrange it on a shelf in a way that gives it meaning in the context of the other albums we own.
(...)
It is extremely hard to fetishize an MP3. A digital file that lives on our computer is immaterial and deracinated, shorn of context, not to mention liner notes. Even with CDs, whose charisma is much attenuated, you can still marvel at their silvery iridescence, display them on your shelves, and squint at their spines.

In other words, they can still serve one of the unique functions of many collections, be they music, books, or photographs: They help us hold together the fugitive pieces of both a historical and a personal past.

The personal aspects loom large for many collectors, and a home library becomes a kind of autobiography, an index of one’s quirks, passions, and adventures. I love for instance my recording of the Tokyo Quartet (with violinist Peter Oundjian) playing Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden.’’ The performance is great, but if I’m honest, I’d say I love it even more because of the sticker from “Uncle Bud’s Deli’’ truck stop that was whimsically slapped onto the CD while on an epic road trip in my early 20s with my string quartet. That sticker is still there, brittle and crinkled, and the entire album has become a kind of jewel-cased madeleine

original post
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/12/13/what_a_collector_loses_and_gains_in_the_age_of_music_downloading/

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Virgil Dickerson, Vinyl Collective

We try to make each pressing on a distinct color and usually press 2 colors initially, says Virgil. There are a lot of debates on colored vinyl, but we try to press releases on limited editions on color so that people can have special, one of a kind collectibles. I personally don't care so much if my records are on colored vinyl so long as it sounds amazing.
Record collecting can get out of hand as well, he continues. - Some people try to collect every variant of their favorite bands and some bands/labels have been getting ridiculous with pressing after pressing.

http://www.mutinyzine.com/oldsite/article_1frame.html

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Vinyl – A New Perspective
by Famicoman

Records also seem to have some interesting history that makes them appealing. Going around from vendor to vendor, you strike up conversation. Sometimes it’s about how the records came from a radio station, or maybe you get wrapped up in someone’s memory of a concert, or just a recollection of another time and place that fits perfectly with the music you are buying. Every record has its own personal story. Every scratch or scuff has its own place in history. Doodles line the faces off The Beatles on their Let it Be album, telephone numbers are scattered all over the back of Billy Joel’s The Stranger. No two records are the same, even if the music on them is.

http://famicoman.com/2009/06/17/vinyl-a-new-perspective/

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Repetition

You can't really perceive a sound or an image until you hear it, see it, at least twice.

'Event' is not a ritual category at all, precisely because it does imply uniqueness. To have ritual value an 'event' must recur. In other words, it must not be an historical event at all, but an instance of something timeless. There is no original musical event that a record records or reproduces. Instead each playing of a given record is an instance of something timeless. The original musical event never occurred; it exists, if it exists anywhere, outside history.

Repetition is essential to ritual...

There is something soul satisfying about a ritual that separates music from noise, culture from chaos.

The musical ritual that punctuates one's life can become merely syntactical, if one lets it. The record that has been in the turntable all summer may become a drug. When exact repetition is automatic, meaning comes easy and goes the same way. Mechanical reproduction makes private ritual convenient, but cheap.

Ceremonies of a solitary, "The Recording Angel", EVAN EISENBERG

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"The Vinyl collection at Rathmines Library is to be discontinued because of space problems and lack of use. There will be a three tiered approach to the disposal of the collection.

1. It will go on free offer to all DIT staff and students. Call to the Library from 23rd May – 17th June to select your choice.

2. Offer to Oxfam in Rathmines

3. Offer to British Library sound archive.

The Library will retain any Irish material and Bach material to supplement the Leahy collection."
http://ditmdlibrary.wordpress.com/2011/05/17/vinyl-record-collection/

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Collecting Music Memorabilia
By Shaun Mushike

Music lovers all over the world have the habit of collecting music memorabilia. Connoisseurs of music like to collect and nurture any memorabilia that is associated with it. You may be a music lover of any genre and style, be it rock and roll, heavy metal, classic rock, rap, hip-hop, country or folk; it does not matter. You would always find an inexpensive and exciting memorabilia to cherish for a long time to come.

Do you love a specific band or artist? Then collecting memorabilia is a gratifying way to surround you with more than just the sounds of their music. While other people might opt to collect stamps, coins or some other rarity, as a music lover, you can showcase your musical passions as art, and spark conversations with friends and admirers who are always impressed and fascinated with rare music collectibles.

It used to be really difficult to try to find the music memorabilia you love. You would have to drive from specialty store to specialty store, wasting time in traffic and long lines. You would also be very, very lucky if you found just exactly the piece that you were looking for. But things have changed drastically now, thanks to the Internet and some of the more popular Internet auction sites such as eBay. It's now easier than ever to get your hands on the memorabilia you want.

http://www.frugalfun.com/music-memorabilia.html

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LAST!!

Why do we like to collect music?

It’s been a couple of days now since I read it, but I keep thinking about an article I read in The National Post, which has been running a series of pieces about the seven deadly sins. The one I read on Tuesday was all about greed, and in particular, about how some people hoard music. But these people aren’t collecting antique wax cylinders used in Edison’s time, or 78 rpm slabs from the Victrola days; they are collecting mp3 files — in some cases hundreds of gigabytes worth of them.

For example, the story describes a member of a group on Last.fm (called the People With an Absurdly Large Music Collection group) who has more than 75,000 files, or about 368 gigabytes worth, which would take almost a year to listen to without a single repeat. Depending on how you calculate it, that’s equivalent to about 7,000 albums or CDs. One of the good things about collecting mp3 files, of course, is that you can have 75,000 of them on a single hard drive, whereas 7,000 albums or CDs would fill several rooms in your house and/or your basement.

Collecting albums seems to make a certain amount of sense from a sort of fetishistic point of view, though, just as having an absurdly large library does (like one of those ones where you have to climb a giant ladder that runs on tracks around the room). Albums and even CDs are physical objects that you can look at and hold, and album covers were a great art form at one time, something that has sadly been lost with the move to CDs and mp3 files. I was just talking with a friend today about how much I loved to look at the old Yes covers by Roger Dean, and Pink Floyd and so on.

But what point could there be in collecting 75,000 mp3 files. Not only would sorting them and tagging them and so on be a gigantic pain, but you can’t even really look at them — unless you run them all through iTunes and use the Coverflow view, I suppose. But still, are you going to flip through the equivalent of 7,000 albums? No. Of course, I guess the guy (and they are always guys) with 7,000 or even three million actual albums probably never looks at half of them either.

I only have about 3,000 songs — but the main reason I do is because I like to put them on shuffle and get surprised by a song that I can barely remember ever downloading or ripping, but one that I remember listening to way back when. That’s a great feeling. And it’s even better when you can do it with a select group of songs you love, rather than just waiting for one to come on the radio by accident. What if you had access to a constant stream of all the music you could possibly want — the way Fred Wilson describes in his recent post? Would people still want to download and keep songs?

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From the workshop Música&Letra

Who’s your star?

The idea came from the brief presentation that was given at the beginning and the comments that came after.
It is understood that talking about music and try to understand it, is so vast and complex as a universe. We all define our starry sky, when we fill a shelf with records, or the PC’s memory, or MP3. that’s how we define our universe, what we like in it, and which are the brightest stars. “Who’s your star?” Marked in black on a sky of stars is exactly that.
The process was simple. Typefaces from various sources, very 90’s, and a manhole cover as a stamp.

Anish Kapoor + Richie Hawtin

2011-06-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

free download music and video

2011-06-14T04:11:00.001-07:00

Google, Les Paul

2011-06-09T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Art of Sci+Tec, An exhibition by Human

2011-06-08T03:43:00.000-07:00

Human began working with the label, run by DJ and producer Dubfire, when creative director Nick Bax launched the studio in 2007. Since then the studio has created the artwork for every release as well as advertising, promotion for events and animations.

To celebrate this long-standing collaboration and to coincide with Barcelona’s Sonar festival, Sci+Tec and Human will be launching an exhibition featuring the artwork that has defined the distinctive look of the label.

Rather than a white-washed gallery space with album artwork on the walls, visitors can expect an immersive digital-led space complete with six huge LED screens and an audio-visual projection. Bax laughs, ‘We like the fact that if there’s a power cut we wouldn’t have a show.’

The Art of Sci+Tec, An exhibition by Human runs from 16-18 June at Carrer Del Corretger5, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.

designweek.co.uk/3027152

João Onofre: two pieces around music

2011-06-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

Instrumental Version, 2003
Original video soundtrack
(interpretation of “The Robots” from Kraftwerk’s original album “Man Machine”, 1978, by the Chamber Choir of Lisbon University)
Vinyl disc with silver nail, 6' 36'', 45 rpm

Box sized Die featuring...., 2007/2008
Steel, acoustic isolation material, performance by a Death Metal Band
Variable duration
183 x 183 x 183 cm

Museum of Me

2011-06-01T03:40:00.000-07:00

http://www.intel.com/museumofme/r/index.htm

What Song are you Listening to?

2011-05-29T11:51:00.000-07:00

Motion Panoramics

2011-05-23T14:58:00.000-07:00

Atelier Letra&Música 22 Maio CAPC

Atelier Letra&Musica - Visual Output

2011-05-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

01 Cláudia Acabado
Márcia Santos
Miguel Coelho

02 Margarida Carvalho

03 Catarina Leal

o4 Catarina Leal

05 Tomé

06 Teresa Serra

07 Márcia Gaudêncio

08 Pedro Silva

09 Carlos Antunes

10 José Nuno Monsanto

11 José

12 Adriana Teles

13 António Olaio

14 António Olaio e Margarida Carvalho

15

16

17 Tomé

18

19 Tiago Roldão

20 António Pratas

21 Adriana Teles e Teresa Serra

22 Luís Ribeiro

23 Pedro Valim

24 Pedro Vaz

25 João Bicker

26 João Bicker

27 Sérgio Martins

28 Luís Ribeiro

29 Pedro Góis

30 José Nuno Monsanto

31 Birds Are Indie
Joana Corker
Ricardo Jerónimo

32 Birds Are Indie
Joana Corker
Ricardo Jerónimo

33 Birds Are Indie
Joana Corker
Ricardo Jerónimo

34 Miguel Coelho

35 Catarina Leal

36

37 Márcia Santos

38 Emmanuel Veloso

39 Teresa Serra

40 Maria Miguel Rosmaninho

41 Pedro Vaz

42 José Nuno Monsanto

43 Cláudia Acabado

44 Emmanuel Veloso

Atelier Letra&Música 22 Maio, CAPC

2011-05-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

participantes:
Luís Ribeiro
Maria Miguel Rosmaninho
Miguel Coelho
António Pratas
Márcia Gaudêncio
Catarina Leal
Emmanuel Veloso
António Olaio
Margarida Olaio
Birds are Indie
(Joana and Jerónimo)
José Nuno Monsanto
Pedro Valim
Tiago Roldão
Sérgio Martins
Tiago Madeira
Adriana Melícias
Teresa Serra
João Bicker
Tomé
José

photos: Alexandra Monteiro, Zoltan Molnar, Joana Monteiro, Emmanuel Veloso
video: Joana Monteiro

organization: Joana Monteiro, Quebra Orelha, CAPC
support: Tipografia Damasceno

thanks: Zoltan Molnar, Alexandra Monteiro

Photos by (Birds are Indie) Joana and Jerónimo:

Atelier Letra&Música 21Maio Quebra Orelha

2011-05-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

participants:
Luís Ribeiro
Maria Miguel Rosmaninho
Miguel Coelho
Cláudia Acabado
Márcia Santos
Pedro Góis
Pedro Silva
Pedro José Vaz
José Nuno Monsanto
Catarina Leal
Emmanuel Veloso
Carlos Antunes
Désirée Pedro
Tomé
José

photos: Alexandra Monteiro, Zoltan Molnar, Joana Monteiro, Emmanuel Veloso
video: Joana Monteiro

organization: Joana Monteiro, Quebra Orelha, CAPC
support: Tipografia Damasceno

thanks: Zoltan Molnar, Alexandra Monteiro

Quebra Orelha Shop Poster

2011-05-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Self-promotion
Self-made
Self-initiative
Designed by the owner, Afonso Macedo

Atelier Letra&Musica - Quebra Orelha, the space and other activities

2011-05-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

The first day of the workshop will be held at the record shop Quebra Orelha, also my client.

Quebra Orelha is a record shop, that also sells books, B.D. and merchandising related to music. It works as an art gallery as well and a hosting space for music events. It’s located in Coimbra’s historic centre, in a cultural core visibly growing.

The space in other occasions and events:

The opening, 19 Feb 2011:
http://joanamonteiro-rca.blogspot.com/2011/02/quebra-orelha-shop-open.html

Record Store Day, 16 Apr 2011:
http://joanamonteiro-rca.blogspot.com/2011/04/record-store-day-at-quebra-orelha.html

Quebra Costas Market, 14 May 2011:
http://joanamonteiro-rca.blogspot.com/2011/05/quebra-orelha-e-o-mercado-do-quebra.html

Atelier Letra&Música - planning the 22nd of May at CAPC

2011-05-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

The 2nd day of the workshop will be held at: CAC - CAPC
Centro de Arte Contemporânea do Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra.
CAPC is an art association that promotes and produces body of work as a group since the 60s. It is now based at the gallery Centro de Arte Contemporânea, in Coimbra, Portugal. It was originally connected with the University of Coimbra, but is now independent.

The space:

It's located at the end of Sereia's park, in the center of Coimbra.

The sculpture seen at the back is from the artist Rui Chafes.

Ideally, depending on the weather conditions. the workshop will be held outside, under the trees, close to the gallery building.

The bookshop of the gallery space.

We were checking the visibility of a projection in the window, so that I could eventually make my initial presentation (concepts to help initiate the discussion), but it didn't work.

So the initial presentation will be projected inside, in the wall of the first room of the gallery.

Furniture for the workshop:
Table

Light boxes/tables

Short history of CAPC in pictures:
From the book "50 years of CAPC".

Drawing class, at the work room of CAPC, at the time inside the building of Machado de Castro National Museum.

A poster promoting an exhibition of the group.

In their own old space near Praça da República at the bottom of the university stairs.

Darwing activity with kids.Begining of 70s.

Art on the Street week. 1977

A collective creation Living Theatre, at the university. 1979

Ecologic intervention, at Praça da República. 1979

An exhibition at the new gallery space, Miguel Leal.

The opening of the gallery CAC of CAPC, were the workshop will happen, was in May 1997.

Quebra Orelha e o Mercado do Quebra Costas, 14Maio2011

2011-05-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Atelier Letra&Música - Planning my presentation

2011-05-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm planning a presentation that should work as a trigger for the discussion around the theme: visual culture/music industry

Atelier Letra&Música - the invite

2011-05-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

-------------

Gostariamos de o convidar a participar no atelier Letra&Música a decorrer ao longo do fim-de-semana de 21 e 22 de Maio em Coimbra.

O atelier tem como tema principal o papel do designer e artista visual na industria musical. De que forma está a cultura visual a reagir às novas formas de criar e distribuir música? Para promover esta discussão quisemos juntar um grupo de designers e artistas visuais que de alguma forma estejam ligados à música. Serão lançados alguns conceitos gerais que darão início à discussão. A cada participante será fornecida uma base semelhante. A "tela branca" será uma folha de papel craft 50x70cms, que é usada como papel de embrulho da loja de discos Quebra Orelha, que tem já impressa como fundo uma simulação de uma pesquisa google de imagens relacionadas com música e orelhas. A partir das suas conclusões/ideias cada convidado fará a sua intervenção recorrendo a técnicas variadas (tipografia utilizando tipos de madeira, desenho, colagem, dobragem, etc).

Poderá optar por participar apenas num dos seguintes dias:

-------------
Sábado, 21 Maio, 14h00-19h00
Loja Quebra Orelha
Rua do Quebra Costas, Coimbra
-
Discussão aberta sobre o papel do designer e artista visual na industria musical
-
ATELIER

-------------
Domingo, 22 Maio, 14h00-21h00
CAPC
Parque de Santa Cruz, Coimbra
-
14h00, Auditório do CAPC, Apresentação de conceitos a discutir
Discussão aberta sobre o papel do designer e artista visual na industria musical
-
ATELIER
-
Pic-nic

-------------
Organização: Joana Monteiro, CAPC, Quebra Orelha
Apoio: Tipografia Damasceno

Por favor confirmem presença até ao dia 19 de Maio.
Obrigada e até breve
Joana

------------------------------------
translation:

We would like to invite you to participate on the workshop Lyrics&Music, during the weekend 21st and 22nd of May in Coimbra.
The workshop main theme is: the role of the graphic designer and visual artist in the music industry. In what way is visual culture interacting with the new ways of creating and distributing music? To promote this discussion we wanted to invite a group of designers and artists somehow connected with music. Some general concepts will be thrown as a trigger for this discussion. To each participant will be given the same similar base. The "white canvas" will be a craft sheet of paper 50x70cms, used as wrapping paper for the music shop Quebra Orelha, that as printed as a background a simulation of a google search for images connected with music and ears. From your conclusions/ideas you will make your intervention using various techniques (wood type, drawing, collage, folding, etc).

If you want you can chose to come only for one of the following days.

---

Saturday, 21st May, 2-7 pm
Shop Quebra Orelha
Rua do Quebra Costas, Coimbra
-
Open discussion around the theme: what's the role of the designer and visual artist in the music industry
-
WORKSHOP

---

Sunday, 22nd May, 2-9 pm
CAPC
Parque de Santa Cruz, Coimbra
-
2pm, Presentation of concepts
Open discussion around the theme: what's the role of the designer and visual artist in the music industry
-
WORKSHOP
-
Pic-nic

---
Organization: Joana Monteiro, CAPC, Quebra Orelha
Support: Damasceno Leterpress

Please confirm until the 19 of May.
Thank you and see you soon
Joana

Music is the New Silence

2011-04-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

How is visual culture interacting with global changes in the production and distribution of music now?
Music is the New Silence

The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, ICA Boston

2011-04-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

April 15 - September 5, 2011
www.icaboston.org

The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, is the first museum exhibition to explore the culture of vinyl records within the history of contemporary art. Bringing together artists from around the world who have worked with records as their subject or medium, this groundbreaking exhibition examines the record's transformative power from the 1960s to the present.

Through sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography, sound work, video and performance, The Record combines contemporary art with outsider art, audio with visual, and fine art with popular culture.

The exhibition features 99 works by 41 artists, including rising stars in the contemporary art world (William Cordova, Robin Rhode, Dario Robleto), outsider artists (Mingering Mike), well-established artists (Jasper Johns, Ed Ruscha, Carrie Mae Weems) and artists whose work will be shown in a U.S. museum for the first time (Kevin Ei-ichi deForest, Jeroen Diepenmaat, Taiyo Kimura, Lyota Yagi).

Laurie Anderson

Playing her instrument:

Guardian Readers recommend: opening album tracks

2011-04-21T02:53:00.001-07:00

Herbie Hancock in 1986
Losing track ... Herbie Hancock struggles to hear the beginning of his latest LP. Photograph: Rex Features

Music is increasingly sold digitally, one track at a time. Which means that albums are, sadly, becoming an anachronistic form. But before the dear old LP rides off into the sunset, let's consider a strategic moment of every album: the opening track.

From the listener's point of view, "side one, track one" is one of the most important moments. Does it draw you in? Does it make you want to continue listening?

Most albums are carefully plotted, the order of the tracks crucial to taking the listener on a journey. Sometimes an artist (or the record company, which usually has a say in these matters) might want to show their hand, hitting the listener between the eyes straight away with their best track. Or they may just want to whet our appetite, giving a mere hint at pleasures to come.

True, some albums are carelessly slung together. But even then, the running order of the tracks can work fine. Whatever the reason, tell us about your favourite opening album tracks.

The toolbox:

* Listen to others' suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist

Short link for this page: http://gu.com/p/2zedf

Paper Record Player

2011-04-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

Wedding invitation. They created a paper record player to house + play a flexi disc pressed with their original song, inviting guests to the wedding.

Check out the full song here: karenandmike.us/song.mp3

And more about the project:
kellianderson.com/blog

Record Store Day at Quebra Orelha

2011-04-17T02:44:00.000-07:00

Afonso Macedo (the owner)
Been compared to:

by Tiago Eiras

Catarina Leal

My posters.

David Rodrigues & Octupossy Crew member António Rebocho

SHOWCASES

Emma Get Wild (espanha)
Birds Are Indie (portugal)
Tó Trips (portugal)

Dj's

Afonso Macedo
David Rodrigues [cosa nostra]
Octopussy Crew

EXHIBITIONS

Jorge Simões . "Shuffle" . photography
Col. Recolher Obrigatório . "Violarte" . multimedia (at Arte à Parte)
Catarina Leal . "Parede Branca Que Já Não é..." . painting

Special edition for Record Store Day
Wraygunn . Amateur . 10" + Poster . 50 copies.

TÓ TRIPS

Tó Trips photos: Nuno Ávila

BIRDS ARE INDIE

Birds Are Indie photos: Nuno Ávila

Record Store Day - 16 April

2011-04-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Exactamente Antunes {Exactly Antunes}

2011-04-14T03:15:00.000-07:00

As part of the Odisseia showcase, we bring back Antunes, that extremely Portuguese version of Ulysses, a character invented by a Modernist visual artist who was also a poet, an essayist, a playwright, a caricaturist, an actor and a dancer: José Sobral de Almada Negreiros (1893-1970). However, during the process of adapting, rewriting and/or reinventing that peculiar Bildungsroman entitled Nome de Guerra, Jacinto Lucas Pires brought to the stage not only Antunes, but the rest of its extravagant cast of characters: the experienced Dom Jorge, Judite – she who, actually, is not called so –, angelic Maria, the Uncle, and the novel’s Author himself, with his boiler-suit. Directed by Cristina Carvalhal and Nuno Carinhas, Exactamente Antunes will be mostly anything and its opposite: a romantic comedy, a Lisbon soap opera, a social documentary, an American musical, a fake melodrama. Or, quite simply, a play in which to experience the ingenuousness and ingenuity of Almada – the ‘little boy with a giant’s eyes’, as he once described himself – his view of the body and of the city, and his inquiry into identity. “Woe is he who is so ignorant of his own dream.”

©TNSJ
photography JOÃO TUNA

Making Of

Photo Section with actors

Based on:

News about my Design and Multimedia talk

2011-04-07T03:10:00.000-07:00

Original post:
http://www.icweb.tv/musicvideo.php?vid=9ef3a89d0

Original post:
http://ucv.ci.uc.pt/ucv/podcasts/uc-ao-vivo/conversas-sobre-design-e-multimdia

Linotype: one line of type

2011-03-27T11:49:00.001-07:00

"Linotype: The Film" Official Trailer from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

Raw Type

2011-03-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.rawtype.co.uk/featured/rawtypeposte

Robert Brownjohn Title Sequences

2011-03-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

From Russia With Love

Goldfinger

Lights, Colours, Movement

2011-03-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

Bibio - 'Excuses' music video (taken from forthcoming new album 'Mind Bokeh')

Music poster

2011-03-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Printing a Book, 1947

2011-03-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

For instance... : )

2011-03-16T15:46:00.001-07:00

example of sentence to LETRA&MÚSICA

Tipografia Damasceno by Rita Mendes

2011-03-16T15:34:00.001-07:00

Tipografia Damasceno from RitaMendes on Vimeo.

Letra&Música first draft

2011-03-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

LETRA&MÚSICA Workshop
This is the first draft of the poster to promote a workshop on typography and music.
The dates are only hypothetical.

Letra means lyrics but also letter in portuguese.
Música means music. Letra e Música it's the way we invoke the author of lyrics and music at the same time.

The idea is to use the wrapping paper from the record shop Quebra Orelha (my client) and invite artists to intervene on it, by printing a sentence they consider to be interesting about the state of the music industry nowadays.
Techniques might vary from print using wood type and a press to collage, etc.

The workshop would also promote discussions about the present role of the visual artist in the music industry.

GUESTS
I am going to invite visual artist that are also musicians (or the other way around).
The list is coming up now only with local people from Coimbra, but it might be interesting to open the circle.

CAPC
The space in Coimbra where this is going to happen it's a gallery called CAPC, Círculo de Artes Plásticas de Coimbra. Visual Arts Circle of Coimbra, non-profit organization, founded in 1958. Carlos Antunes, from Atelier do Corvo (arquitects) is now in charge of the gallery. He is welcoming this project very well and I will get all the support I need, keeping it very low budget.

TIPOGRAFIA DAMASCENO
For this workshop I'm trying to get in touch with a local letterpress, Tipografia Damasceno, that possess a huge collection of wood and metal type, somewhere out of Coimbra in a warehouse.
Paul Hardman posted on his blog about them last year:
http://www.paulhardman.co.uk/blog/index.php/2010/08/tipographia-damasceno/

They might also give us information about how to acquire a press.
Both me and FBA.'s creative director João Bicker want to have a press for ourselves so we can produce letterpress work.

FBA.
This is a graphic design studio where I worked for 5 years.
They want to collaborate with me on this project.
www.fba.pt

---
AFTER

EXHIBITION
After the workshop CAPC gallery will exhibit the "posters".

MAKING OF
I'm planing on recording this event to produce a small video that would be projected on the windows of the gallery during the exhibition.

---
LONDON

The same project can be made in London either on the New Gallery or on the final show.

Hanging music on the wall

2011-03-16T12:59:00.000-07:00

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/march/vinyl-factory-st-martins-lane-hotel

The Vinyl Factory Concept Store

The Vinyl Factory, creators of limited edition vinyl music and art packages for the likes of Grace Jones, Massive Attack, and Hot Chip amongst others, has opened a temporary pop-up store in the Front Room at St Martins Lane Hotel in London to showcase its wares...

The shop will be open for three months (until May 29), and will host exhibitions of new works, plus sell the previous editions produced by The Vinyl Factory since 2008. According to the press info, the intention is for the space to "become a homage to records and the relationship between music and art, celebrating the unique, the tangible and the rare in an age of rapid digital consumption".

Re-pressing Marco Paulo

2011-03-13T19:08:00.000-07:00

A very famous portuguese pimba singer (pimba = bad pop), Marco Paulo.
By sal

The Third Man Rolling Record Store will find you

2011-03-10T03:44:00.001-08:00

2011-03-06T14:57:00.000-08:00

Big Brother is no longer watching you.
You are watching everyone and everyone is watching you.

(as seen on the street on a Carnaval night in Coimbra)

Quebra Orelha Music Shop Applications

2011-02-22T15:31:00.001-08:00

Wrapping paper design tries to mimic an image search on google for "Broken Ear" (translation of Quebra Orelha)
The print plan of the back side of the commercial cards it's again this pattern.

Back of commercial cards

Wrapping paper, envelope, stickers, voucher and front of 2 different commercial cards

Commercial card with map for tourists

Envelopes and stamp
Low budget solution for envelopes that I so much like
The envelopes for LPs also take a sticker to seal

Stamp

Voucher

Vinyl application on the door

I'm trying to convince Afonso (the owner) to use this "digital" tape to identify the various types of music. It works by coloring black the parts that don't form the letter.
This example: FADO.

The company Papabubble, based in Lisbon, made these really nice sweets, from the design of Quebra Orelha's logo.

Quebra Orelha record shop OPEN

2011-02-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

This saturday was the opening of Quebra Orelha's shop.

A sweet application of the logo. They made a cake!

photos by Miguel Von Driburg and Eva Queiroz de Matos

Tools for revolution. Facebook and Twitter. Is this an important fact?

2011-02-12T05:43:00.000-08:00

Take Me Away Fast

2011-02-10T14:50:00.001-08:00

PressPausePlay - The Vinyl Factory

2011-02-10T14:42:00.000-08:00

The music industry should be more democratic giving a valid alternative to downloads. But special package and limited editions it's not the answer in my opinion. We shouldn't elevate design to art.

The White Stripes. Video projected pver video.

2011-02-03T03:08:00.001-08:00

Video for: Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground

Thanks Paul

Music Blog Zeitgeist

2011-01-31T07:35:00.000-08:00

http://hypem.com/#!/zeitgeist/2010

Quebra Orelha: imagery

2011-01-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

Idea: to pick iconic music images (LP covers, bands logos, etc), stylize it and give it the same kind of feeling, turning it into a collection.

Hello Youtube Take 2

2011-01-26T15:32:00.001-08:00

To be seen in it's natural habitat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9XYAjkvBE&feature=feedu

Ask president Obama a question - server error

2011-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday January 25 at 9 p.m. ET, President Obama will deliver his 2011 State of the Union Address, which will be streamed live on YouTube on http://youtube.com/askobama . This year, you can do more than just watch the speech: you can also submit your questions for the President for an exclusive YouTube Interview that will take place just two days later, on January 27.

maybe not from Portugal...

How do you listen to music?

2011-01-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

by Tony Naylor

Yesterday, as sometimes happens, I suddenly wanted – no, needed – to listen to Ricardo Villalobos's track Waiworinao. But how? It's not on my iPod, so digging out the Alcachofa album would have taken ages (my house is full of music, none of it organised). So, I did the obvious – I searched for it on YouTube.

I mention this because I don't want you to think I am unreasonably precious about music. I listen to it while I work, while I'm running, as I read the paper, and I'm happy to play my music through crappy computer speakers, on the TV or via a DVD player. I might listen to an individual song, a random selection of tunes, a full album: whatever.

Consequently, I find Classic Album Sundays – a London club, covered by the BBC today, where people gather to listen to vintage albums in their entirety – just a little bit uptight, a little bit Luddite. Sitting with a group of thirtysomethings, listening to classic 70s albums (on vinyl of course), great as they may be, is not my idea of fun. You can just imagine the conversation in the bar afterwards: about how that grimes music and the dubstepping is all young people are interested in nowadays. With their Facebooks. And their MP3 machines.

Yet Classic Album Sundays makes one important point. Not about the sacred format of the album, but about the way we increasingly treat music as a disposable lifestyle accessory. When organiser Colleen Murphy talks about making people turn their phones off, shut the door and give these "works of art" some "heavy listening", she is surely on to something.

We are all busy people and, as music fans, we now have unlimited musical distraction at the end of a broadband connection. We have increasingly little time to listen to a reserve of recorded sound that is growing exponentially every day. I find this can easily lead to drive-by enjoyment, a kind of panicked attempt to absorb as much music as possible – but without truly engaging with it. This is not the way to navigate your way through what Murphy believes to be profound art.

You might have read Patrick Kingsley's hymn to slow reading in the Guardian last year. I'm not sure what effect it has had on my reading habits, but it made me make a conscious effort to listen to music properly. That is, sit there, do nothing, listen – and play things that might not strike you as brilliant, but which are clearly interesting, more than once. It's unfashionable to say so, but sometimes good music is hard work and you have to steep yourself in it before it begins to make sense.

You get through a lot less music that way, but since when was it about quantity? I would rather take the time to appreciate Marcel Dettmann's Dettmann – an initially forbidding monolithic chunk of dub-techno – than rattle my way through numerous cosily familiar minimal techno tracks that I could enjoy in the same time.

I realise you need a cut-off point. The KLF used to rail against the album format as a self-fulfilling con. People would invest heavily in albums and would train themselves to like them. I can believe that, too. Years ago, I worked in a record shop where we were forced to play the top 10 on a loop. Listen to Simply Red's Life often enough and eventually you even begin to pick out favourite tracks (Fairground, of course).

So how are you listening to music in 2011? Do you still see the album as superior to the single? Can you multi-task and take all you can from a song while cooking, cleaning or writing a blog? Or is time to sit down, turn off the laptop and engage in some serious Slow Listening?

Are record clubs the new book clubs?

2011-01-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

By David Sillito
Doc Video: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12209143

Music lovers gather for uninterrupted album appreciation at Colleen Murphy's club

A growing number of music-lovers unhappy about the way album tracks are enjoyed in a pick-and-mix fashion have decided to take action.

The rules are strict. No talking. No texting. You must listen to every song on the album.

Classic Album Sundays treat our best-loved records like great symphonies and are being set up in London, Scotland and Wales.

Groups of music fans sit in front of a vinyl turntable, with the best speakers they can afford, dim the lights and listen to a classic album all the way through.

This monthly club in north London is run by Colleen Murphy and for her it is a strike against "'download culture", the sense that music has just become an endless compilation of random songs used as background noise.

"Everyone, stop multi-tasking, sit down, open your ears and do some heavy listening."

The set album this month was Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. We sat in silence even as David Bowie's record was turned over to side two.

The seats were soft, someone had lit some incense. Some people closed their eyes, others nodded in rhythmic appreciation. There was a sense of being collectively submerged in Bowie's music.

"You're not even allowed to use the bathroom here, it's too noisy," says Ms Murphy.

Kate Bush's The Hounds of Love was a previous choice, and a popular one amongst the regulars. Most had heard bits of the record but few could remember sitting through it all the way through.

It is a topic that has been making the papers. Pink Floyd went to court to try to protect the integrity of albums such as Dark Side of the Moon. For music critics such as Neil McCormick of the Daily Telegraph they were totally justified.

"These are works of art at their greatest level. You can pick up a Dickens book and read a little bit of it and get some pleasure but you will not get the same pleasure as you would picking it up and reading it from beginning to end."

Re-Rite, Be the Orchestra

2011-01-19T03:42:00.000-08:00

RE-RITE, the Philharmonia Orchestra's Digital Residency, breaks down the barrier between the audience and the concert platform. RE-RITE is not about sitting in silence while musicians perform on a distant stage. This ground-breaking audio-visual installation lets you experience what it's like to be in the midst of an orchestra playing live - hearing, seeing, and feeling the power of the performance from the musicians' perspective. You can even join in if you like.

The project is an immersive/interactive installation featuring a film of the Philharmonia Orchestra playing Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Filmed on 29 separate cameras with microphones in each section of the orchestra, larger-than-life video projections and sound throughout the installation allow you to watch a particular group of instruments and hear what they hear. Special features include conductor and player commentary and a percussion room where an instructional video shows you how to play along. You can also 'sit' in the horn section and even have a go at conducting. RE-RITE lets you be the orchestra.

www.philharmonia.co.uk/re-rite/

www.philharmonia.co.uk/re-rite/experience/

Radio Show names:

2010-12-28T10:30:00.001-08:00

Música para cegos
?

Hear Yourself

2010-12-25T05:39:00.001-08:00

Unravel - Paint on film workshop at Camberwell

2010-12-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

I’ve invite the producers and directors of the Unravel film to come to school and do a
workshop.
Winner of the Deutsche Bank Award for Art at the Royal College of Art 2010, Unravel
is an epic project that will create a hand painted film that correlates in length with the 874 miles between John O’Groats and Lands End - taking each metre between
these two edges of mainland Britain as a ratio to equal one frame of 16mm film.
Formed by Maria Anastassiou and Chris Paul Daniels whilst studying at the Royal College of Art, Unravel is also comprised of OKO Lab of Leeds (Mark Pickles and Jo Byrne) and, Manchester based, Kelvin Brown.
This piece of film was made during a Workshop at Camberwell College of Arts,
Wilson Road (MA Graphic Design Studio).

Post on Unravel blog:

unravelfilm.blogspot.com

Listening to music with headphones

2010-12-02T12:36:00.000-08:00

Wondering around in a city like London seems easier with the use of headphones. Music is the new silence.

Private goes public...

2010-11-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Not listening again

2010-11-22T17:01:00.000-08:00

How Records Are Made

2010-11-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Gotta Groove Records - "Groove With Us" from Nick Cavalier on Vimeo.

How To Pirate Vinyl Records

2010-11-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

Just because vinyl records are analog, it doesn't mean you can't pirate them. All you need is a wood box, glass, window cement, silicone mixture, liquid plastic and a drill press. Hey, I didn't say it was going to be easy.

An interview given to a Camberwell student

2010-11-18T03:35:00.000-08:00

"Hi there,
I'm a student at Camberwell University of the Arts and I am writing a dissertation on the process of letter press, it's relevance in design culture today and its future. James down in letter press showed me some of your work and I also checked out your website/ blog, and I love the work that you have done with this printing process. I wondered if you could answer some quick questions for me please?
Thanks so much,
Kate Clift"

1. What first attracted you to working with letterpress?

To learn about typography, even if we use only digital "instruments" in the end, we need to learn how to use type in the letterpress. It's harder to make it work because you have more constrains, and that makes you understand better how to work with type in general. When you need to spend more than 5 minutes just to find the exact thickens of a piece of metal to work the spaces between two letters, this space becomes much more visible. And you get much more sensitive to it. You will spot it all the time around you in every piece of text you see on the street.

2. Why do you chose to use the process of letterpress in your working practice?

I use letterpress when and if it makes sense to use it. It's not a rule, it's a tool/technique like any other. Like the computer is another fantastic tool.
When I was studying in RCA for one year and focusing on the idea of dematerialization of music (internet, mp3, etc) I wanted to work with the idea of reify music. I was working with video so I've decide to use metal type, compose the lyrics of one song and film it in the leterpress. In this case I though it was the best tool.

3. Why do you think letterpress is going through a massive resurgence at this current time?

I guess it's a circle. Everyone was fascinated with computers for a while. Then some people realize the physicallity, print quality, texture, one can achive in the leterpress is something very special and unique. So they went back.
Also I think that's a different approach over graphic design, that has a very artistic experimental side. Leterpress is like a type lab for people to do nice experiments.

4. Do you think letterpress could ever be replaced by digital technology? And why?

No. For comercial reasons. For money reasons. For time reasons. Lots of reasons. Also there are many many things you can't do in the letterpress and you can do digitally.
And I don't see it as being either one or the other. Both can work in paralel. You can start a project in the letterepress and finish it on the computer.
The last project I did in the Camberwell Leterpress I didn't print it. I compose the type, ink it, and photograph it. Everything else was done in the computer.

5. Do you think there is a sense of nostalgia attached to letterpress?

For some people it can be. But what about young students using it for the firts time? They don't have any reason to feel nostalgic. They never did it before!
You can imprint the feeling of nostalgia to a project by using the leterpress. But that can also be achieved with other tools and techniques.
My answer is yes and no, depending on the person and on the project.

6. Where did you learn to use letterpress?

I've learn with the leterpress monster (like he likes to call himself) Ian Gabb, in the Royal College of Art leterpress. He is a funny character. We where all the time listening to music with a very nice selection done by Ian (also a Dj). I've use his turntable for some experiences with a praxinoscope that I end up using in my final project at RCA.

7. Do you think people in general (not in the design world) really appreciate and respect pieces made in letterpress?

I'm sorry but I don't like generalizations. People in general is too vague.
And I don't think it needs to be respected. Let's not be too precious about it.
In graphic design what people can't see, doesn't exist. We are not supposed to convince people about anything.
Otherwise we are talking about an artistic practise.
Letterpress can be a self indulgent practise. If "people" don't apreciate it so what?

8. Letterpress is a very time consuming practice, do you think this adds to part of it's charm?

I like to spend time in the leterpress. And I believe that by spending more time on something you can make it better. Also allowing yourself time it helps spotting mistakes. But for me the charm is more on the touch, on the smell and on the result. Not so much on the time.

9. Do you think you get more self- satisfaction from using this printing process rather than printing something off the computer?

No. My self- satisfaction comes from getting to the end of a project and feel that I did a good job. That is to do with answering in a consistent way to a specific programme. I don't like self initiated projects. I like to work with clients and to have restrictions, budget, deadlines, an audience, a programme. I'm a graphic designer.
I actually think it's easier to get to some nice visual results using the leterpress than using the computer. And all this fascination for no reason can be silly. Everything at it's own place, please.

10. What are the disadvantages of letterpress in you opinion?

If you use it in a anapropriate situation. If it doesn't make sense to use it. If you are just fascinated by a visual result and forget the purpose of what you're doing. Then it has disadvantages. When it's inadequate.
Besides this you can find lots of obvious disadvantages: no repetition, time consuming, you destroy your clothes with paint, it's tyring, you have to carry heavie stuff, bla, bla. Or you can have a look at it from the opposite direction and say: you get unique print work, enjoy the time you spend in the letterpress, learn a lot, etc.

Cheers!
Joana

Transition, Transaction and Transformation

2010-10-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

"Using cheap, easily available materials, make a symbol, sign or image to represent change, transition or transformation in your own life.
Communicate your message to one other person in the group so that they can communicate it to the group as a whole."

My main message was "I'm going to be based in Portugal this year to make it easier and possible to travel more in order to continue the documentary/video project: music industry outside the music industry."
I went to the library in search of the map of the world and I found the Time Zone map. That allow me to realize I've been working, traveling and living in the same time zone.
I still don't know if this will be some kind of guidance for the rest of the project. But it's an interesting fact.

Web Suicide

2010-10-24T04:26:00.001-07:00

2010-10-19T16:41:00.000-07:00

If you know exactly what you are going to do what is the point of doing it.
Picasso

Gandhi on Western Civilization

2010-10-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.
Mohandas Gandhi

The Virtual Revolution, Episode 3, Homo Interneticus?, BBC

2010-10-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Revolution, Episode 3, The cost of free, BBC

2010-10-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Revolution, Episode 2, Enemy of the state?, BBC

2010-10-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Virtual Revolution, Episode 1, The great levelling?, BBC

2010-10-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

Presenter: Aleks Krotoski, journalist
How 20 years of the web has reshaped our lives
The wonder and walls of Wikipedia; the blogger media revolution; who really has power on the web? Is it the online crowd or the 'gatekeepers'?
Internet in Africa and more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/3dexplorer.shtml

The Virtual Revolution free footage to download

2010-10-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/makeyourown.shtml

Be inspired
Making a documentary has become easier with the help of The Virtual Revolution. We are providing unedited professionally filmed footage from the series, for you to use. This includes interviews, aerial shots, graphics and music. Download them for free under our permissive licence, and mix them with your own ingenuity.

Gunbalanya / Oenpelli

2010-10-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

"Gunbalanya / Oenpelli is an Aboriginal community on the eastern border of World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park at the base of the Arnhem Land escarpment.

Stone Country Festival (www.gunbalanya.org), in August, is an open day and cultural festival with traditional music, dancing, arts and crafts demonstrations. It’s the only day you can visit Gunbalanya without a permit. Camping is allowed but strictly no alcohol."

Their music is strongly connected to their rock paintings.

"Home taping is killing music" 1981

2010-10-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

"And it's illegal"

found in my vinyl collection
inside "Friends of Mr Cairo", Jon and Vangelis

Recycling Music

2010-09-18T02:44:00.000-07:00

Organ that recycles sound wins New Music award

The Organ of Corti – which takes sounds from saturated environments and recycles them using sonic crystals – wins £50,000 prize for most innovative idea for a new musical work

The Organ of Corti, liminal's New Music award-winning idea. Photograph: Colman Getty/PA

A £50,000 award given to the most innovative idea for a new musical work was tonight given to an arts practice that recycles everyday noise whether it is the repetitive drone of motorway traffic or the tumbling rapids of a weir.

The biennial New Music award is one of the most financially lucrative prizes in the arts calendar – more even than the Turner or Mercury – and is given to what is judged the most groundbreaking concept for a new musical work, whatever the genre.

At a ceremony at the Serpentine gallery pavilion, in London, first prize went to an arts practice called liminal led by composer David Prior and architect Frances Crow, for their entry, The Organ of Corti, named after a part of the inner ear.

In essence, the project sculpts sounds. It uses a portable structure resembling a fairground organ to take sounds from saturated environments and recycle them using sonic crystals. One of the project's aims is to encourage people to listen more carefully and be more aware of the sounds around them.

The judging panel was chaired by the Guardian's chief arts writer Charlotte Higgins. She said the decision had been unanimous after "a long, sometimes difficult, and always stimulating debate". She added: "The judges admired the quiet beauty of the idea of 'recycling' sound in a world saturated by noise and overwhelmed by music. In a world obsessed by glitz and glamour of large-scale, bells-and-whistles events, the thoughtful, discreet and gentle idea of the Organ of Corti utterly caught their imagination."

The prize, established in 2005, is funded and organised by the PRS for Music Foundation which funds music across all genres, supporting everything from unsigned bands to composer residencies.

Sally Taylor, the foundation's chair, said the award was "about looking beyond the obvious and the commercial and envisaging the music of the future. All five ideas on this year's shortlist, which ranged from site-specific sound art to African-inspired human beatbox, captured this spirit of adventure and discovery."

The liminal work will now premiere at the City of London festival in July 2011. It was chosen by a judging panel that also included the artist Martin Creed, the singer and DJ Bishi, the pianist and conductor Joanna MacGregor, the composer and pianist Michael Finnissy and the music journalist Paul Morley.

Animation with light coming from an iPad

2010-09-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

"Home taping is killing record industry profits!"

2010-09-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

thanks Ye77a

Immortalize Yourself In Music: Have Your Remains Pressed As a Vinyl Record

2010-09-01T11:31:00.001-07:00

For those who can't afford to have their ashes sent to space or who may not like the notion of being screwed into the ground post-mortem, here's another solution: have your ashes pressed into a vinyl record and spin for all eternity.

For about $3,000, your cremated remains, parts of your remains, or your pet's remains can be immortalized in a limited-edition run of 30 records. In a 24-minute segment, you can record your final thoughts or your favorite songs, or you can pay extra to have a UK band write a song for you.

The company, And Vinyly, says you can "live on from beyond the groove."

UK record-label founder Jason Leach, who is also part of a couple techno groups, came up with the idea after contemplating his own mortality, according to Wired UK. His mother started working at a funeral home, and he saw a TV program that showed someone in the U.S. putting ashes into fireworks.

The basic package, which costs $3,000, includes standard "Rest In Vinyl" artwork decorating up to 30 albums, with audio provided by you. For extra fees, you can add in exclusive artwork, where UK artist James Hague adds your ash to the paint; original music by artists on Leach's record labels; and even worldwide distribution in record stores.

The Web site is a bit cheeky -- it includes a link to a "raveyard," which simply shows a bunch of headstones splashed in pulsating color.

But it's a unique way to spend eternity once you shuffle off your mortal coil. Hey, you can't do it with an MP3.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-08/immortalize-yourself-vinyl

(right!)

Music elevates you

2010-08-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

Give me something

Extreme Isolation

2010-08-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

What makes them extreme? They utilize specially designed earmuffs that passively attenuate surrounding sound by 29db and custom fitted high-quality, speaker assembly. Because of the extreme surrounding sound isolation, it is only necessary to use the headphones at medium to low volume resulting in less ear fatigue and less risk of hearing defects.

Sharing music: We are playlist people. Nokia

2010-08-18T07:46:00.001-07:00

http://events.nokia.com/remix_event/

Singing type

2010-08-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Song lyrics brought to (visual) life by typography and design

Published on Monday, 26 July, 2010 | 3:25 pm

The TypoLyrics section in the German typography magazine Slanted is an experiment in bringing together song texts and typography, writes Yves Peters. Slanted has turned this popular section into a book featuring 170 new contributions. Celebrated graphic designers as well as talented young designers from all over the world were asked to create typographic interpretations of song lyrics.

Above: Amon Düül II, ‘Archangel Thunderbird’ (George Triantafyllakos, typeface: BP Mono Italics / John Dowland, ‘Come Heavy Sleep’ (Hannes von Döhren, typeface: Opal Pro)

Below: The Dillinger Escape Plan, ‘Sunshine the Werewolf’ (Chris Steurer, typeface: Hunstruct Tall) / The Crystals, ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ (Vincent Sahli, typeface: Theinhardt Pro)

In analogy with traditional type classification, the illustrations are grouped in eleven chapters according to musical styles. Each genre is coupled with a particular type style, for example stencil for Punk or monospaced for Krautrock. The book opens with a foreword by Max Dax, interviews with Stylorouge, Dirk Rudolph and Invisible Creature, plus a comment by Frank Wiedemann who selected most of the songs. The end pages list the contributors and the typefaces used.

Above: Miss Kittin, ‘Kittin is High’ (Matthias Christ, typeface: Rauschen) / Faithless, ‘Insomnia’ (Dirk König, typeface: Frac)

Below: David Bowie, ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ (Sabrina M. Lopez & Maximiliano R. Sproviero, typeface: Aphrodite Slim)

As is to be expected in this type of book, the work presented is very eclectic, and inevitably some pages are not as successful as others. Yet most designs are imaginative and offer surprising visuals, like Daniel Bär’s exuberant interpretation of Zoot Woman’s ‘Nu-Disco’, or Franzi Kahle’s visceral painting for ‘Je t’aime … Moi non plus’. This book confirms that great type designers seldom make great graphic designers. Their efforts to present their typefaces as favourably as possible sometimes fall short in the design department – a noteworthy exception being Andrea Tinnes’ brilliant visualisation of the angular, cut-up R&B of Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ featuring Beyoncé.

TypoLyrics is a beautifully produced hardcover book, printed in simple black on coloured stock – a different colour for each chapter. As the ink for the covers was gradually changed during printing and the volumes randomly put in the boxes, each cover has a unique colour. TypoLyrics shows an interesting cross-section of contemporary graphic design and examines the intriguing interaction between the music, the meaning of the lyrics and their typographic interpretation.

Above: Visage, ‘Fade to Grey’ (Anthony Dart, typeface: Statistic) / Gary Numan, ‘Cars’ (Kristina Klinkmüller)

Below: Van Morrison, ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ (s-w, typeface: Susa) / Bill Haley, ‘See You Later Alligator’ (Elena Albertoni, typeface: The Antiqua Ornaments)

EYE BLOG

Arcade Fire's Synchronised Artwork

2010-08-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

Back in 2007, director Vincent Morisset reinvented the music video online, with his interactive promo for Arcade Fire track Neon Bible. For the band's latest album, The Suburbs, Morisset has now turned his attention to how digital music files could be more visually exciting...

Morisset has worked with designer Caroline Robert to create a digital artwork that appears when the album is played on mp3 players like the iPod or iPhone. The work deliberately echoes the pleasures of old vinyl record sleeves, where the song lyrics were often written out in full. Each track on the album has an individual image that appears on the iPod screen when it is played, with the lyrics of the song then appearing on the screen as they are sung.

"Win [Butler, Arcade Fire's lead singer], wanted to create a version of the artwork that would be relevant in the digital world," explains Morisset on his website. "Most of us now buy, share and listen to music through computers and portable devices. It seems absurd that it is still a single jpg that is attached to an album in 2010."

"I thought about the relation we have with the vinyl cardboard cover or the paper booklet while listening to the songs. Flipping through the lyrics, looking at a band picture or a cool drawing related to a song while listening to it. With the mp3 player, we lost that. I wanted to find a way to get closer to that experience again."

As with his Neon Bible video, part of the success of the Synchronised Artwork is its simplicity. Explaining how it works, Morisset says, "Tightly sync a series of images with specific moments in a song using the m4a format. Like some podcasters do, but with micro chapters for each line of the lyrics. In addition to that, we were able to add good old hyperlinks also synchonised to the song. This gives the possiblity for the band to add, at any moment, all kinds of references related to each song. They plan to change and update those links occasionally."

The handwritten presentation of the lyrics on the screen works perfectly with the artwork that Caroline Robert designed for the album, which includes photographs shot by Gabriel Jones in the suburbs of Houston. To experience the Synchronised Artwork for yourself, head online to arcadefire.com, where it is included with the purchase of any digital download of the album.

CREATIVE REVIEW BLOG

8 different covers:
http://embed.arcadefire.com/artwork/artwork_jpeg.html

Skip full of records in soho

2010-08-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

"So what's this all about? Well, turns out that long established Soho record shop, Harold Moores (specialist in classical and jazz releases), is closing for a re-fit. In order to prepare the shop for its revamp, staff are chucking out thousands and thousands of records (well over 20,000 by my reckoning) - which were dumped, rather unceremoniously, in a skip outside the premises...

But that's not to say the records are destined for landfill just yet. During my lunchbreak I stumbled across this scene of vinyl hungry people clambering over each other to grab a few vintage slabs of wax..."

CREATIVE REVIEW BLOG

Final Show Group Photo

2010-07-18T10:27:00.000-07:00