Jean Shin is an artist. Her magnificent work not only takes unusable material, transforming it into something wonderful, she has the most creative titles for her work that give a deeper meaning to the piece.

In her piece, Chemical Balance, Jean Shin uses empty prescription bottles, taken from numerous sources, and arranges her piece to show the kind of world we live in. Ms. Shin is telling us that our lives are frail and delicate, while our bodies depend on external sources to keep us in homeostasis.

Another piece by Ms. Shin, Key Promises, is a collection of keys from a computer keyboard arranged to form a poem. There are groups of keys repeating “Control”, “Pause/Break”, “Escape”, and others. Displayed in the gallery, these words show the gallery-goer to the other displays. But for we viewers behind a glowing screen, using the very keys she placed upon a wall, Ms. Shin’s work should make us ponder the gross amounts of time we spend at a computer.

The Verdict:
The computers are controlling us, that we need to take a break and escape from this way of life.

The Quibbler

via Illusion.Scene360

Melbourne, Australia-based photographer Briony Ridley doesn’t have a clearcut genre. Her photographs stand out by ranging from a reporter in a burning building, to

a fashion photograph, and even to a plain picture of a building.

Ms. Ridley describes her work as like a fairytale and it shows. Her pictures show a variety of colours, making every picture look a touch like real life and a touch like it’s right out of a storybook.

Her beautiful stills are definitely a sight to see!

The Quibbler

Shawn Knol is a photographer, but you won’t find his pictures very easily.

Stop-motion video is Shawn Knol’s outlet of choice and each clip brings the naturally aesthetic pleasure of a set of consecutive photos, set to a pleasing soundtrack.

My favourite of his videos is Methylene Dream. This piece shows the progress of Methylene dye dropped in water.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I really enjoy this video because Knol uses a kaleidoscope of coloured dyes to make it all the more visually appealing.

And because the video is composed of individual photos one after the other, Knol can alter the order in which they appear. This effect makes a good impression when the video alternates from the photos chronologically to the reverse order.

Stop-motion gives such a different effect from regular video; it almost feels like a dream, which explains the title of Knol’s Methylene piece.

I also recommend Knol’s Oil in Water creation. The video is less visually appealing than Methylene Dream, but the soundtrack paired with the stop motion feels like a a day spent laying in the grass.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Take a gander at his other works too, they’re quite a feel-good and relaxing show.

The Quibbler

What’s that? Is it an alien? A giraffe?

No silly, that is a Modigliani.

Amadeo Modigliani is an artist of the late 1800s and the early 1900s who was a rival to Picasso in Paris.

Unlike Picasso, who was an established artist during his life, Modigliani regrettably only made a true impression on the public posthumously.

An early death probably didn’t help Modigliani in his quest to be at Picasso’s notoriety during life. At merely 35, Modigliani died of tubercular meningitis after years of heavy drinking, drug use, and overwork. Like his artwork, Modigliani’s life story came to the public eye after his death. A couple of movies were made about his life and one, simply titled “Modigliani”, shows the truly difficult times he went through during his last days.

The film expresses one of Modigliani’s philosophies about art that fueled the rivalry between him and Picasso. This is evidenced when Modigliani says, “Art is in a woman’s face…tell me Pablo [Picasso], how do you make love to a cube?”. That line defines what Modigliani’s art is about.

Modigliani believed in women and the way they are is an art and all he had to do was try to paint it. If painting was all he had to do, Modigliani did it well. His paintings can capture the basic lines in a human face and still portray the emotion surrounding it.

I personally believe that Modigliani reigns supreme over Picasso. Though it saddens me that Modigliani never got the level of respect Picasso received from the public.

Which one of the two is the winner in your eye?

The Quibbler

Ok, I’ll give you $10 if you can guess which artist this is by the title and/or image, before clicking the “Continue Reading” button.

Ah rats, looks like you don’t get your $10. This artist is Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso, better known as (Pablo) Picasso. I would say it’s a good thing Picasso dropped the other 12 parts of his name, because no one would ever remember the whole thing.

In my last entry about Chagall, I was kind of hating on Picasso for what I believe is bad Cubism.

It’s not that it’s bad per se, its just that Picasso doesn’t suit my personal style of Cubism. His drawings, on the other hand, are definitely on my good side.

Much less vibrant and hectic than his paintings, Picasso’s drawings are simple, which is what gives them their “magic touch”. I especially enjoy the thick-lined ones, as they are still simple, but can encompass a much more realistic unevenness in the world.

I don’t know why Picasso’s drawings weren’t as popular as his Cubism paintings. Perhaps people in general tend to lean towards a more colourful piece or maybe they are just attracted to the unintelligible. Who knows?

I know I like his drawings and you may or you may not, but one thing is for sure, in whatever medium Picasso tried his hand at, he was quite a success.

There is one person I know of though, who wouldn’t be so excited to hear that I think Picasso was an all-around artistic genius. That artist is Amadeo Modigliani.

Modigliani and Picasso had a rivalry of sorts and we’ll see who’s the better in my next entry.

Until then, yours truly,

The Quibbler

I think we, of the internet generation, forget the artists that made art what it is today.

For example, I was utterly surprised that no blogger on artisticthings.com has written about Picasso, who has to be one of the most well-known artists of all time.

Although this post is not about Picasso (don’t worry, there will be one!), it is still surprising that this fairly reknowned artist was nowhere to be found on our site either.

Today, my artist is Marc Chagall: a famous Russian-Jewish artist of the twentieth century, who eventually settled in France.

Chagall was quite the experimenter and tried many different forms of artistic expression, such as stained-glass windows, theatre costumes, tapestries, and even ceramics.

I will focus, however, on Chagall’s paintings, which among themselves stray from a single category, but tend to centralize around Cubism (what Picasso was famous for) and Fauvism (another trend of Chagall’s time).

Cubism in the hands of Picasso was never really my thing. For one, I felt like Picasso was merely emulating a child by doing whatever he wanted and then somehow he got extremely famous. In the hand’s of Marc Chagall, however, the vibrant colours and not-too-out-of-place discontinuous parts of the image strike a vivid impression on the senses.

When Picasso does Cubism, everything is out of place to the point that it is sometimes hard to tell what the image actually represents. When Chagall does it, there is enough of the image that is out of place so that the mind doesn’t see it as natural, but nothing is so overtly out of place that we can’t definitely tell that the man above is drinking wine and there is some sort of bird on his plate.

Take a look for yourselves of what you think of Chagall’s work. It is really fascinating and it can encompass many of your preferred styles of art.

Until next time,

The Quibbler

Angelina Wrona has to be the most depressing artist ever.

Well, I’ll admit that some artists’ life stories are depressing, but Canadian artist Angelina Wrona takes the cake when it comes to the actual artwork. Nearly every piece by Ms. Wrona features a young girl in pain. Sometimes it is clearly physical pain, but sometimes it is mental pain, but either way, it is still a painful sight.

In general, I would advise the general public to stay away from depressors. However, Wrona creates beautiful works of tragedy that will make anyone empathetic of the fictional girls in her pieces. How could you not feel the pain the girls are clearly expressing in the Wronas?

The way Wrona can capture this emotion in a way, so that it emanates to the viewer is astonishing. Wrona can make something so sad become such a beautiful thing.

It sort of makes you wonder how Wrona feels about her two daughters…It is written in her biography that her girls are a source of inspiration to her work.

So does she love them? Does she feel like they’re dark and wretched? Or is this a reflection of how she felt as a girl?

Me? I think Wrona has serious mothering issues. For example, what of Waterlilly?

Isn’t this an image of a girl drowning just below the surface of the water? I think her daughters should switch to showers, if that is the case.

Anyways, whatever her source of inspiration (or her source of past experience), Ms. Wrona has a fabulous artistic talent that should not be overlooked by those who enjoy fine art.

Take your time to enjoy this artwork, but just make sure you find something to cheer you up afterwards.

The Quibbler

For those days when you wake up with “the worst combover”, you can always turn to the geniuses at Cyanide & Happiness to make you laugh.

The four writers of the web comic Cyanide & Happiness (C&H) may not be the best drawers, but they’re amazing at creating a punchline. Granted, some of their punchlines are racy and slightly vile, but if you have a good sense of humour, the boys at C&H are sure to brighten your day.

Each of the C&H writers has his own drawing style: Dave does all the comics similar to the “Bulimia” one above, Rob is responsible for giving that poor man a “Combover”, Kris the man behind the “Drag” comic below, and Matt drew “One-Armed Jim”.

I love these comics with all my heart. I look forward to reading a new comic every morning, to start my day right!

If you do decide to jump on the C&H wagon, you may learn a few things. The C&H boys are always highly up-to-speed with today’s political and cultural goings on in the world, giving you the information in a way even those with ADD can keep attuned with.

Ok, so that was my own feeble attempt at a joke…C&H isn’t exactly a news bulletin, but they will occasionally throw a breaking news fastball.

Enjoy the Happiness you will feel all day after reading a good comic. And make sure to do it again tomorrow for another feel-good day.

The Quibbler

No, this post doesn’t have anything to do with fire. Nor does it have anything to do with the condition known as pyromania.

This post is in reference to my new favourite artist: PYRO! So I’ll tell you a little bit about him…Pyro is a musical artist from Reno, Nevada.

I bet you’re wondering, how I know an unsigned artist from a small town in the Western States. Well, I may live in Montréal now, but I used to live in Reno and I am familiar with some local talent.

I have a few friends from Reno who regularly perform at local venues and one day, I went to a show where Pyro was performing. I was immediately awed by his stage presence and even more so by his performance.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ok, so this particular performance might not seem top-notch on YouTube…and it doesn’t help that there were technical difficulties (oh, and I’m pretty sure they scrapped the terrible “dancers”), but I think you get the point.

If you want a better idea of his music, you can visit his Myspace page.

All of his work is very pop-y and has a touch of electro, which makes it great for dancing or just being upbeat. He also frequently uses featured artists Lil Rasta Boi and Weston Buck, (a couple other local artists) who add flavour to Pyro’s work by rapping and adding electro, respectively.

I have been pretty much listening to his music non-stop since I first heard him perform in December. And although he isn’t signed (so you can’t purchase his music online…yet), you can always visit his Myspace and blast your sound system.

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do. And who knows, if enough people start noticing him, he may get a record deal and we’ll be able to listen to him offline!

So get your dancin’ shoes and “Look No Further”, because Pyro is the next big thing!

The Quibbler

What determines what will become the next YouTube hit?

Some videos on this highly trafficked website are surprise hits, such as Susan Boyle’s singing on Britain’s Got Talent.

Others, it seems, are made merely for attracting the millions of people who regularly visit YouTube.

One such video was the odd, Sneezing Panda

and another was Tay Zonday’s video, Chocolate Rain.

If you haven’t heard Zonday before, may I suggest first only listening to the video, then watching it a second time around.

Zonday presented a song that would cause no particular stir if he were older and slightly rotund. However, Zonday was a mere 24 years old and definitely not your stereotypical overweight American.

Why is this conflict in our minds so appealing? Why is the unpredictable and the unorthodox what catches our eye?

The latest YouTube hit to grace our computers is JK Wedding Entrance, a choreographed dance preceding the vows.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Your wedding is supposed to be one of the most important days in your life, along with graduating school, your day of birth, and of course your first kiss.

Church weddings (and many others) all seem to be the same: the groom waits at the alter, the flowergirl and bridesmaids walk down the aisle, then the bride slowly proceeds to the alter with her father at her side.

I’ll give Jill and Kevin credit for having a creative entrance and a great way to entertain their guests, but is it really necessary to put this all on YouTube? Do you really want millions of people across the world to see your big day?

Judging by the amounts of guests at the ceremony, JK seems to have wanted a small, private wedding.

So why put it on YouTube?

I’ll tell you: it was a made-for-YouTube-movie.

The entrance was all that was filmed and posted online and the clip features a popular song, Chris Brown’s Forever. It’s just lucky all the guests weren’t supermodels or there would be no doubt that this is a fake.

This wedding doesn’t appear to be fake, but it seems superficial to show the world this intimate moment in life.

What happens if JK gets a divorce?

This happens to thousands of Americans, so it seems plausible that it could happen to them. I’m not wishing this upon them, but it’s a realistic situation and they will always have their wedding as a YouTube hit, to remind them of their ex-spouse. What a stinging reminder of your last loved one!

I don’t like these made-for-YouTube-movies.

It is so superficial to do something unrealistic in the plainest of situations.

I wish people would create more artistic pieces to put online, because we need to get of our obsessive watching of “reality” shows.

The Quibbler