Overview of the exhibits
For the posters, i have combined hand drawn monsters with typographical anatomical references, giving a hint to the viewer whats the exhibition is about, Translating Monsters.
Translation of the archive exercise. Here I have typographical monsters inspired by a bunch of drawings of 6-7 years olds with the help of my cousin teaching in a primary school.
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Called “Just sit back and recount the violence of one year” and situated at the Alison Jacques Gallery, Canadian painter and sculptor, Jon Pylypchuk have created miniature furry creatures in sub human forms in various in human activities. They seemed to be having fun, relaxing; the centre piece feature a gang of kitty like creatures having drugs on a belly of a drunken walrus. To me the artist is using these animal forms to translate the decadence of the society and its lack of empathy, such that it had been “monsterify”.
The press release says:
Working across a range of media Pylypchuk populates his paintings, sculptures and films with a menagerie of dysfunctional furry creatures composed in various tableaux through which the artist examines the human condition. The mini dramas Pylypchuk stages always have wider philosophical implications for our ideas of love, rejection and pain. Typically humorous and cruel the titles of these works express the blackly ironic personal thoughts of Pylypchuk’s protagonists.
via art rabbit and we make money not art
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By taking characteristics of animal to form type, Jeremy Pettis have made a series of animal type. This series of work have inspired me on solving the archive fever. I could adapt the same approach to conjure monster type. Monster type which are based on kids take on monster.
view more here
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Johnson banks were appointed in the middle of 2006 to help Save the Children in the UK raise their profile.
Save the Children has become slightly forgotten in UK charity circles, and want to be the energetic worldwide voice for children’s rights they once were in the early 20th century. They’d found that, even with a name like theirs, people would still ask them ‘what do you do?’
A lot of discussion around their purpose and positioning followed, and in late ’06 a far more ‘agit’ stance was signed off by their board. Our task was then how to translate this into a new visual approach, whilst staying close to the global guidelines which centred around their ‘outstretched arms’ child symbol and the use of Gill Sans.
After some successful experimentation with versions of Gill that we had roughened up a little and hand-drawn, we had the breakthrough thought - let’s ask children to save the children.
So we developed a worksheet that we tested then distributed round London schools, which contained light outlines of Gill, and asked children to do their own version.
Here’s an excerpt from the worksheet.
This is an excerpt from one of the font pages.
Some kids only managed to draw a symbol. Some managed two weights (including numerals and punctuation - very impressive).
By mid February we had hundreds of examples. We then selected 14 weights and pleaded with Monotype (the original punch cutters for Gill’s original) to not only give the project their blessing, but to help digitise the new versions. Luckily they agreed.
Now we have the digital versions and we’re beginning to see how the fonts will work in everyday communication. It’s very useful having 14 weights of Gill, not just 3, like before.
The fonts will be used in all of Save the Children UK’s collateral from now on, and a campaign identity has been developed for the UK which aims to make it it perfectly clear what they do, and how others can get involved.
Hopefully, soon, it will become impossible for someone to ask Save the Children what they do. It will be obvious.
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an excerpt from Drawn.ca ’s interview on Shaun Tan, where he talked about his “simplified” monsters.
KS: It’s interesting that you say that, because the creatures are very simplified. And it seems like you went in the opposite direction with their designs. Was there a reason behind that?
ST: Yeah, you don’t want to make them complicated because I hate fantasy creatures that have lots of bits—six legs, wings, flappy bits, tongues, teeth, multiple eyes. It all starts to become very distracting. You want a character that you can grasp as a reader in one second—like your own, Kean [Jellaby]—or like “Eric.” You don’t want to make it too confronting or too alienating, like if it were an octopus or something. The exception is my book The Lost Thing. The creature is so dominant and freakish that you are meant to find it confusing. You can’t tell where its face is. Is that his backside? Are those claws? What are they? So, that worked in that sense. For the creature in The Arrival, I was just making it easier to draw by keeping it simplistic. That’s the right answer to the question, isn’t it? (laughs) It’s easy to redraw over and over again, basically! It also just looked right.
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thanks Tze Qi for the link. juxtaposition of monsters in real life. I wondered did they do it…
Monsters: 040 Ballenbad from Volstok Telefunken on Vimeo.
Monsters: 043 Hond Wassen from Volstok Telefunken on Vimeo.
more here at De monsters
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Bizarre. Obviously, all these critter are created prior the invention of the microscope, but it sort of have the connection of the microscopic images we have now. And some are really cute.
via pink tentacle
Long ago in Japan, human illness was commonly believed to be the work of tiny malevolent creatures inside the body. Harikikigaki, a book of medical knowledge written in 1568 by a now-unknown resident of Osaka, introduces 63 of these creepy-crawlies and describes how to fight them with acupuncture and herbal remedies. The Kyushu National Museum, which owns the original copy of Harikikgaki, claims the book played an important role in spreading traditional Chinese medicine in Japan. Here are a few of the beasties found in the book.
Kanshaku
Kanshaku, an angry-faced bug found in the liver, aggravates its host by violently thrusting itself upward toward the chest cavity. Infected people tend to shout with rage or engage in activities to blow off steam, and they crave acidic food and avoid eating oily food. Acupuncture can stop Kanshaku.
Hizo-no-kesshaku, Kanmushi
Hizo-no-kesshaku causes problems with the spleen, but it can be cured by ingesting shazenji (plantago seed).
Kanmushi is a harmful parasite that embeds itself in the spine, causing it to curve backward. Infected people also develop an appetite for spicy food. The herbs mokko (Saussureae radix) and byakujutsu (Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz) are effective in fighting off Kanmushi.
Gyochu, Haimushi
Gyochu, a deadly critter responsible for leprosy, acts as a messenger to the underworld. On the night of Koshin-no-hi (an important date occurring every 60 days on the Chinese calendar), Gyochu leaves the body to visit Enma-daio (Lord of the Underworld) and tell him of your misdeeds. Enma-daio is known to punish people for bad behavior by reducing their remaining time on earth.
Haimushi, a creature with an appetite for rice, causes problems with the lungs. If the Haimushi exits the lungs and cannot find its way back, it turns into a fiery will-o’-wisp (hitodama) and the person dies. The herb byakujutsu is effective in warding off Haimushi.
Kagemushi
Male and female versions of the Kagemushi appear during sexual intercourse. When the two bugs come together, their wiry legs get tangled up, the female bug spits up red fluid, and the male spits up white.
Hizo-no-kasamushi, Akuchu
Hizo-no-kasamushi, a worm found in the spleen, causes its host to gain or lose weight based on the amount of food it eats. The herbs agi (giant fennel) and gajutsu (purple turmeric) are effective in controlling Hizo-no-kasamushi.
Akuchu, also found in the spleen, consumes rice eaten by the host. Drinking mokko is an effective antidote.
Haishaku, Kakuran-no-mushi
Haishaku, a critter found in the upper lungs, has a nose that opens directly into its chest. People infected with Haishaku hate pleasant smells and foul smells, but are fond of strong, fishy smells. Other symptoms include extreme sadness and a craving for spicy food. Gentle, shallow acupuncture is an effective treatment.
Kakuran-no-mushi, a worm with a black head and red body, invades the stomach and causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is known to come up into the host’s mouth and poke its head out. Try to grab it, and you choke for air, but let go and it returns peacefully to the stomach. The herbs goshuyu (Euodia rutaecarpa), shazenshi and mokko are useful in fighting Kakuran-no-mushi.
Umakan
Umakan, a beastie that causes heart problems, infects people outdoors in the scorching sun or in the vicinity of fire. Acupuncture is an effective treatment.
Koseu
Koseu (Kosho), a snake-like critter with a scruffy white beard, wears a hat that protects it from medicine. It likes to drink sweet sake and it can speak.
Kameshaku
Kameshaku eats rice and wears an umbrella-like hat that blocks medicine. It can be destroyed by eating wild beans.
Koshi-no-mushi
Koshi-no-mushi flies into a host’s body and makes its way to the lower back area, where it causes diarrhea, sweating and chest pains. The herbs mokko and kanzo (licorice root) are an effective treatment.
Chishaku, Hizo-no-mushi
Chishaku (Taibyo-no-kesshaku) appears in the stomach after a severe illness. It can be controlled by applying shukusha (wild siamese cardamom).
Hizo-no-mushi is found in the spleen. It causes dizziness and hot flashes when it grabs the host’s muscles with its long arms and claws. It can be stopped by ingesting mokko and daio (rhubarb).
Kiukan and Kishaku
Kiukan (Gyukan) lives in the chest and acts up at meal time. This critter is difficult to get rid of, but acupuncture is an effective treatment.
Kishaku is a dark red beastie that causes its host to develop an unhealthy appetite for oily food. It can be stopped by eating tiger stomach.
Jinshaku
Jinshaku (Honton) resembles a tiny boar that runs wild through the body. Those infected with Jinshaku develop a weak pulse, a dark complexion, a craving for salty food, and bad breath. Acupuncture is an effective treatment.
Hishaku, Hinosha
Hishaku is found in the spleen, most often in females. Symptoms include an overpowering appetite for sweets, a yellowish complexion, and a tendency to hum. It can be stopped with acupuncture around the navel.
Hinoshu, also found in the spleen, looks like a rock and remains dormant inside the body until the host visits a crowded sightseeing area, at which time Hinoshu causes dizziness by thrashing about and creating the sensation of rocks crashing against each other. Acupuncture is an effective treatment.
[Source: Kyushu National Museum]
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Aren’t Aliens aren’t a subset of Monsters? Monsters verus Aliens is like saying bears versus pandas, Cats versus tigers, rodents versus hamesters.. ok, maybe I am being too critical
Coming soon March 2009. Official website here.
click image to wiki link
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I pretty much like how the idea of how the barbie doll gets transmogrified into a zombie. Very creative. Maybe a Ken version or baby Kelly?
via Paranaiv
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