Like
the Spice Gallery, a contemporary art gallery located in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, currently hosts the collection Cross-Reference by collaborative artist duo, Hans + Gieves; a must
see for any art, book, and library lover. The two artists collaborate together,
Gieves traveling the world photographing libraries, while Hans uses the photos
vivid colors to blend oil paint into the photograph, creating an interesting
mix of two art forms colliding. Finally an art collection that takes a
philosophical view of how new age technology and older art forms blend.
Hans + Gieves: Cross-Reference #10
Hans + Gieves: Cross-Reference #2
Libraries are a place of sanctuaries, according to the two collaborative artist Hans + Gieves, their inspiration for Cross-Reference. Gieves, a local
Brooklyn photographer/artist, travels the world photographing libraries from Tennessee,
Tokyo, Europe, and NYC. The photographs are sent to Hans, an artist based in
Tennessee, who adds a perfect blend of mixed colored oil paint to an area of
the photograph. With the combination of oil paint on the photograph, it
generates an image of paint blending into photography, turning the two forms
into one piece of art. The collection is a look into how emerging technology affects
our lives, how places that were once sanctuaries are slowly changing or
disappearing in order to fit modern day lifestyles. The collection also shows
how older forms of art are being changed by digital art. Hans + Gieves’ art
work is breathtaking to look at and truly captures the essence of a library’s peacefulness,
especially with the added oil paint blending into a portion of the photos. The
fusion of the two different art mediums creates a spectacular collection of
contemporary art. As much as I would love to explain all the cool art terms for
the brush strokes, color blend, it’s simply a collection you must see for yourself,
to truly appreciate. Snaps to Hans + Gieves’ Cross-Reference and to Like
the Spice Gallery for another great collection!
After the release of his debut novel Nameless earlier this year, Kyle Chais has already begun work on
his next project. Let’s just say he is planning on going head-to-head with
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Chais
gives me the low-down on what some of those future plans may be and the big
changes he is gearing up for.
Chais is currently studying psychology at Medgar Evers
College, but plans to transfer to Hunter College to continue with his education.
He has been accepted into Hunter’s social work program and would also begin
learning Japanese. Chais is not only talented with a pen, but also with
languages, he picked up Russian fairly quick after his mother began learning to
speak the language last year. His interest in Japanese, may stem from his love
of Asian animation and art, especially their graphic novels—something he hopes
to break into with future novels. Speaking of future books…
Chais’ next project is a fantasy
Y.A. series, dubbed GaGa Land.The series is centered on two teen
lovers, Romeo and Bella, who are forced apart in the fantasy realm, GaGa Land. The two lovers will face many
dangers, and must battle against the forces wanting to keep them apart.Chais aimed towards writing Y.A.
series that is more in tune with kids today, and reveals some of his plan when
saying, “I’m going to revamp the Y.A. fiction world, starting with GaGa Land!” When speaking to him about
the series, he explained the book will be a satire about the Twilight series
but will be its own story. There will be no vampires, werewolves, angels, or
Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. The characters in his new series will each have
their own unique physical appearance, quirky personality, and magical powers.
Chais was kind enough to let me read a bit of his new book and he delivers once
again, especially with his dialogue, and the lifelike way people interact with
one another even in a fantasy world. There is no release date yet, but the book
has been given the green light by Karen Hunter from Karen Hunter Publishing. He has been writing up a storm in order to
fulfill his goal of two-to-three book releases per year for the series. With
Chais’ proven ability to make fantasy feel like reality, this new series
promises readers even more excitement, romance, adventure and fun, in a fantasy
realm that makes you feel as though you fell into a Tim Burton dream. Knowing Chais,
he will deliver all that and more in this new series!
Mini Bio: For those who have not
heard of Kyle Chais, he is a Brooklyn-based author, who released his first
novel Nameless at the beginning of
this year at the age of 20. He had written Nameless
when he was 16 and after showing it to a high school English teacher, he
was contacted by Karen Hunter from Karen
Hunter Publishing.
Click on Widget Below to Learn More About Kyle Chais and his Debut Novel Nameless!
Wrecking Crew Orchestra's Tron Inspired LED Light Performance:
Last month Japanese street performance group, Wrecking Crew
Orchestra (WCO), made a splash in the US after a leaked video of their Tron: Legacy Inspired LED light suit performance went viral.
The page that first leaked the video hit over 5 million views, not
counting views from other videos of the group’s performance, that have been
popping up on YouTube! The group’s light
suit performance is much different than what we normally have seen in the past
with other lighted suit dance performances, like TeamiLuminate's, a group featured on America’s Got
Talent. The Wrecking Crew Orchestra
uses suits that are controlled wirelessly and are set on a cue for when the suits
light on and off. The performers must be in position, on count, and in sync,
for them not to miss their cues; this is made a bit harder since they mainly are
dancing in the dark. WCO’s performance is clean, well-choreographed, and
creates a slow-motion stop effect, that is seizure worthy at times (good
thing!) helping the group grow in popularity. They also do not use distracting
special effects, such as glowing floating objects or random glowing body parts,
making a performance too chaotic to truly enjoy. The WCO is made up of about
8 performers, each performer is trained in different dance styles, and together
they are able to create unique performances that are ahead of the curve. After
having seen this performance I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
Check out their Tron inspired performance on YouTube and learn more about them
on their Facebook page!
Welcome to Smoking It Out, a blog dedicated to the latest happenings in all forms of entertainment, ranging from movies, music, theater, arts, events, news, books and more! The blog is to help shed light on emerging artist and help share the latest. If you are a new artist of any sort, feel free to send me your work at smokingitout@yahoo.com and I will gladly smoke it out! Check out smoking it out on Facebook and Twitter too!
