Fever Ray: "When I Grow Up"

When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

"Intense and anxious, yet luminous." It doesn't get more avant garde than Fever Ray in music right now. One half of the influential electronic brother-sister duo, The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson returned in 2009 as a solo artist under the new name Fever Ray.

I was feeling the album from the get-go with songs like "Seven" & "Triangle Walks," but the video to "When I Grow Up," especially blew my mind. Plus, she does this post-apocalyptic Persian dance that I love! Totally dancing like that from now on!

-S

Fever Ray: "When I Grow Up"

When I Grow Up from Fever Ray on Vimeo.

"Intense and anxious, yet luminous." It doesn't get more avant garde than Fever Ray in music right now. One half of the influential electronic brother-sister duo, The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson returned in 2009 as a solo artist under the new name Fever Ray.

I was feeling the album from the get-go with songs like "Seven" & "Triangle Walks," but the video to "When I Grow Up," especially blew my mind. Plus, she does this post-apocalyptic Persian dance that I love! Totally dancing like that from now on!

-S

Todd Williamson: Light & Sound

Todd Williamson is an abstract American painter shown internationally for his ability to establish a harmonious meeting of reality and imagination. His latest exhibition, "Blurring the Lines," is a personal favorite of mine. What I love about Todd's latest series of work is the emotional polarity that exists in every piece. The works are undeniably moody and powerful, and at the same time they somehow bring peace and calmness...like a question that's answered in a single work of art.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Todd to dig a little deeper about his work:

SY: I believe that artists are Sociologists. They have an innate ability of feeling where society is at and where it's going. Are there any particular shifts that you're feeling right now, and would you forecast for us?

TW: Artists always seem to have an innate ability to feel the pulse of the world. I think the entire world is in flux right now. We are all still getting our balance from the economic meltdown. I think this will have a huge effect on the art world as we recover.

SY: The first time I saw your work, I immediately felt a connection with the work of the Italian Artist Lucio Fontana, especially his "Concetti Spaziali" series where he puts slash marks on monochromatic canvases to create an actual dimension of space. How does the concept of space inspire you in your work?

TW: Big compliment! I love Lucio's work…he is a master! Space is vital, but for me it's more about balance within the space. To be successful the work has to have a balance to the eye. It must feel complete and it must be pleasing to my sense of structure. My work is really more about light and the use of it in the fields of color and the way they interplay together.

SY: Color affects mood. Is there an emotion that you are trying to evoke in your audience with your current color palettes?

TW: LOL, they change ever day and with every work! I have always been known for my reds and blues. Fitting huh, hot and cold. I am an Aquarius! Usually the venue that I am preparing a show for dictates my use of color. New York is bolder than Tokyo, LA is brighter than Naples.

SY: What is your artistic process? Are you regimented, or do you only pick up the brush after any provocations (love/sex/fight/eat/sound/memory)?

TW: I'm both. Anything can inspire me as well as an underlying feeling just to put paint to canvas. I don’t paint well when I’m not happy and it shows.

SY: Professionally or in the everyday, what are you excited about?

TW: I'm starting a new group of Los Angeles artists. We are going to create a group that works together, drinks together, supports each other, etc... It's something that is needed in LA and it's time has come. I know more artists in Europe than I do in LA...

SY: Your paintings are divided with several horizontal lines like the staffs from a sheet of music, and there's a vibrational feeling like that of sound waves in your brush stokes. Is it safe to say that music fuels your work?

TW: Yes I was a voice major in undergrad. I graduated from a small private university (Belmont) with a very important music department. I did a show at the university in January. Music is always playing as I work. The titles of my work come from whatever catches my attention within a song lyric. Alternative rock and country are my main things.

Todd Williamson: Light & Sound

Todd Williamson is an abstract American painter shown internationally for his ability to establish a harmonious meeting of reality and imagination. His latest exhibition, "Blurring the Lines," is a personal favorite of mine. What I love about Todd's latest series of work is the emotional polarity that exists in every piece. The works are undeniably moody and powerful, and at the same time they somehow bring peace and calmness...like a question that's answered in a single work of art.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Todd to dig a little deeper about his work:

SY: I believe that artists are Sociologists. They have an innate ability of feeling where society is at and where it's going. Are there any particular shifts that you're feeling right now, and would you forecast for us?

TW: Artists always seem to have an innate ability to feel the pulse of the world. I think the entire world is in flux right now. We are all still getting our balance from the economic meltdown. I think this will have a huge effect on the art world as we recover.

SY: The first time I saw your work, I immediately felt a connection with the work of the Italian Artist Lucio Fontana, especially his "Concetti Spaziali" series where he puts slash marks on monochromatic canvases to create an actual dimension of space. How does the concept of space inspire you in your work?

TW: Big compliment! I love Lucio's work…he is a master! Space is vital, but for me it's more about balance within the space. To be successful the work has to have a balance to the eye. It must feel complete and it must be pleasing to my sense of structure. My work is really more about light and the use of it in the fields of color and the way they interplay together.

SY: Color affects mood. Is there an emotion that you are trying to evoke in your audience with your current color palettes?

TW: LOL, they change ever day and with every work! I have always been known for my reds and blues. Fitting huh, hot and cold. I am an Aquarius! Usually the venue that I am preparing a show for dictates my use of color. New York is bolder than Tokyo, LA is brighter than Naples.

SY: What is your artistic process? Are you regimented, or do you only pick up the brush after any provocations (love/sex/fight/eat/sound/memory)?

TW: I'm both. Anything can inspire me as well as an underlying feeling just to put paint to canvas. I don’t paint well when I’m not happy and it shows.

SY: Professionally or in the everyday, what are you excited about?

TW: I'm starting a new group of Los Angeles artists. We are going to create a group that works together, drinks together, supports each other, etc... It's something that is needed in LA and it's time has come. I know more artists in Europe than I do in LA...

SY: Your paintings are divided with several horizontal lines like the staffs from a sheet of music, and there's a vibrational feeling like that of sound waves in your brush stokes. Is it safe to say that music fuels your work?

TW: Yes I was a voice major in undergrad. I graduated from a small private university (Belmont) with a very important music department. I did a show at the university in January. Music is always playing as I work. The titles of my work come from whatever catches my attention within a song lyric. Alternative rock and country are my main things.

Design In 70's Danish Porn

Design inspiration can come from varying sources... books, films, music, art, a feeling, daily life, the past, and even in snapshots from 70's Danish porn. I stumbled upon a clever blogger that has compiled a collage of stills from 70's pornography, and I have to say that mid-century design never looked so suggestive.

Design In 70's Danish Porn

-S

Design In 70's Danish Porn

Design inspiration can come from varying sources... books, films, music, art, a feeling, daily life, the past, and even in snapshots from 70's Danish porn. I stumbled upon a clever blogger that has compiled a collage of stills from 70's pornography, and I have to say that mid-century design never looked so suggestive.

Design In 70's Danish Porn

-S

Reading Rainbow

This year marks the City of West Hollywood 25th year of cityhood. Since the City’s incorporation in 1984, West Hollywood has established itself as one of the most progressive and innovative cities in the country. In celebration of this landmark, the city has embarked upon a new capital improvement project to develop world-class public facilities, parks and open space, asserting the city's dynamic legacy.

Projects are already underway, and specifically, the development of the new West Hollywood Library on San Vicente (across from the PDC) has really started taking shape. The forthcoming MDA Johnson Favaro-designed library will be a 43,000 square foot, three-story project, that will house the library, sidewalk cafe, public meeting rooms, and circuit party convention rooms (just kidding.) It's scheduled to be finished in 2012.

"The design’s square volume and white, smooth facade of cured limestone plaster may evoke Le Corbusier’s masterpiece, but undulations in the lustrous surface will imbue it with lightness and movement, making it tranquil rather than monolithic." (via la.curbed)

Highlight of the Library: Extensive LGBT Collection; International Languages Collection; Decorative Arts and Design area; a vast collection of large-print materials for Seniors and people who are visually-impaired and a West Hollywood Room which will feature archival materials showcasing the City’s history. Not to mention, the new Library is designed to achieve LEED certification to be a certified "Green Building.”

Next time you're gonna get your Abbey on, look out for all the exciting changes in West Hollywood!

-S

... OMG, I can only imagine what the opening party's gonna be like.