fottografia

picture speak..

amano

As in “arte a mano”. Among other other things I did today, I coined this term to describe my approach to art of all kinds. Whether audible, edible, or visible  all of my work adhere’s to this idea: use whatever is at hand.

Time, media, inspiration. The quantity & quality of each that I posess at any given moment will never be the same. That is what makes ALL art unique, however, few people really embrace the idea when they’ve little time, cheap materials, or mundane daily life as a muse.

 Even the coinage of the term is an insight into its meaning. Is that how you even say ”at hand” in spanish? Do I care? No, the word carries meaning for me. I don’t have the time or inclination to find the “right” way to say it spanish or any other language [tho I considered Latin for a moment]. I used the knowledge I had at hand to make up a fitting word.

Brazen? Surely! Mildy irreverant? That too! Humourous? My good man, I reply with a hearty “HELL YES”. Ha ha-haaa. Now I’ve lost my train of thinking. Ah yes, using whatever you’ve got to make something cool and artsy.

When making music, I feel equally comfortable in front of a piano, laptop, drumkit, turntable, or a computer screen. The same is true with visual art…a mouse, brush, and ballpointpen are all welcome additions to my stockpile of weapons. Obviously, I’m more adept with some than others, but that doesn’t stop me from making use of any of them to express an idea.

If you stash away all manner of random knowledge, as I am want to do on many a wiki-binge, those seemingly useless tidbits usually tend to be werth their weight, so to speak. As you increase your knowledge-base by reading, listening to music, or studying the strokes of asian masters, you’ll have a larger field from which to harvest new ideas. In other words, there’ll be more “at hand” when you need it most. Those tidbits and incomplete thots are invaluable to an artist and infuse a piece with an intangible aire of togetherness that is absent otherwise. The end product seems like the product of years of planning and deliberation, when in fact it was wholly (or primarily) improvised…a work of a moment or two.

Another truth is that if you are often constrained by time, and you use what little you’ve got in absorbing various obscurities, the resulting compositions will be uniquely stylish and carry a freshness in texture that will set it apart from your peers. Aspire to do something impossible and daring, but most of all intresting to you, and the you’ll at least have something decent with plenty of depth and personality.

Look these vocab words up:

Bilibin

Gouache

Hiroshige

Hokusai

Wii Channel Updates

Wii launched exactly one month ago today, and with that launch a new user interface was born: the Wii Channel Menu. Some “channels” have already been globally successful [the Mii Channel] while others have proved far less captivating [the Photo Channel].

Whatever you think of the first flock of Channels, Nintendo has made it clear that more are on the way. One update arrived via WiiConnect24 soon after the console itself was launched[the Wii Shop Channel].

Three other Channels were unfinished, and therefore not released, at the time of Wii launch: the Forecast Channel, News Channel, and Internet Channel. Below you’ll find a brief progress report on each.

Wii + PC Hack: Google Earth

Console Math

Wii outsells PS3 2-to-1 in US [via CNET]

PS3 Overtakes Total Xbox 360 Sales In Japan … Already [via JOYSTIQ]

Wii Becomes UK’s Fastest-elling home Console Ever [GIBIZ]

Sensor Bar Options

In an attempt to get more news out I’ll spare you commentary. Click the pic for more about this wireless Wii Sensor bar..

Wii The Light

 Turn off the lights. Leave shutter open. Move Wii with slot light on.

What do you get? Art.

DQIX On DS, Not Wii Or PS3

In a shocking announcement SqaureEnix have revealed that the next installment of the wildly popular Dragon Quest franchise, DQ9, will only appear on the portable DS system.

Tho it may seem a baffling choice to Americans, SONY fans, [or Wii fans for that matter] it only makes business sense. DQ is a huge moneymaker on the Japanes Isles. The DS is the current king of the videogaming world, perticularly Japan. Putting DQ9 on a system that not only has the biggest intall base but also the lowest development costs = $$$$ for SquareEnix. As one astute Joystiq commentator said:

This just shows that developers will follow the systems. They have no brand loyalty anymore. It also shows they think the PS3 might not be as big as people had hoped.

Here’s hoping that this is the first of many public notes of affection for Nintendo from Sqeenix.

STREAMING FOOTAGE FROM PRESS CONFERENCE [via GameBrink]

Meet Chubby The Snowman

Click the screenshot [above] to play a new Flash game from Nintendo Of Europe. There’s a little plot described in the intro and 24 levels…its pretty fun!

So much fun, actually, it makes me wonder if Chubby is more than just a churned-out character for a Flash-based mini game. Could this be testing the water for a full-fledged DS game, or possibly downloadable Wii Ware?  Only time will tell.

In the meantime, ward off boredom with a few minutes of MISSION IN SNOWDRIFTLAND

Forget Blu-RAY, Wii has Blu-LED

I have countless stories I could tell about peoples’ impressions of Wii. I also have an equal number of silly questions nongamers have asked.  Example..

her: Is this the one with Blu ray?

me: Umm, no….That would be the SONY one.

her: Oh

me: But, that’s why its cheaper

her: …

If I were quicker on my feet, I might have mentioned the zany Blue LED’s all over the Wii Remote and Disc Slot.

It was almost surreal waking up this morning to see my system glowing blue. To be honest I was hoping that the OPERA channel had been released! So I excitedly fired up the console only to discover that a friend had sent me a few messages.

Despite the quasi-letdown, the blue slot-light does not disappoint.