Selected Cousins & Braintrusts (Castle Versions)
Cousins began in 2016 as a series of line-driven, unplanned crowd drawings on pre-determined grids. The idea at that time was to make drawing fun again by removing composition and decision-making as much as possible from the active drawing process, instead applying a narrow, linear, micro-improvisational approach to rendering that could produce ordered results that are sufficiently surprising and satisfying individually, and sufficiently open-ended in their possibilities as a series. The Cousins were all made by choosing grid settings and letting the hand print the results.
Braintrusts are a series of simple ribbon drawings made by plugging and unplugging single-closed-line drawings and rendering them out. Like the Cousins, their results aren't pre-meditated. Unlike the Cousins, their production includes a degree of active problem-solving and decision-making beyond the initial setup.
I'm presenting selections from these two collections to contrast their results and limits as drawing systems and to give two different views into "my line." To help make the connection between these drawings and my broader visual work explicit, I'm also including formatted photos of a couple paintings that incorporate similar tactics.
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I've been drawing and trying to publish the Cousins for five years. As a collection, they took on a Fitzcarraldo aspect when I decided that the best way to prepare them for release in a small-run self-published drawing zine would be to digitally color them... a seemingly-minor production idea that ballooned into a gigantic side-project. In 2018, I went so far as to paint a portrait of myself coloring Cousins on the computer at President Street, "Still working on my zine." The Cousins I selected here represent the most successful results of that multi-year coloring project, which I then finished for this show over the last two months.
In addition to additional coloring, that finishing also included some decisions around leveraging the possibilities of their final form being "files displayed on a webpage in the browser." Here I thought the best way to do that would be to show the Cousins side by side as animated gifs, and to place the Braintrust gifs in front of those for a "wall pieces/floor pieces" / "modules/patch cables" dynamic. The intention is for these images to invite exploration and closer viewing than a typical image gallery on a webpage or set of posts on a social platform would.
Finally, I'll add that I'd love to show the full collection of the original Cousins drawings in an irl room, to contrast the opportunities and limits of the original images with the castle versions. Anyone interested in facilitating this is invited to get in touch.
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Huge thanks to Jacob for the invitation to do all this and the installation support necessary to make it happen. Shouts out to all friends, teachers, and influences, especially Shea'la Finch, Mike Stoltz, Alee Peoples, Bela Shayevich, Bryan Daly, and Julia Sisson for supporting or helping germinate these drawings in some way. Hopefully see everyone soon. :)
- Tom Bubul, 4/8/2021
tombubul.info
Cefndryd a Braintrusts Dethol (Fersiynau'r Castell)
Dechreuodd cefndrydau yn 2016 fel cyfres o luniau torf heb eu cynllunio ar linell, wedi'u cynllunio ar gridiau a bennwyd ymlaen llaw. Y syniad ar y pryd oedd gwneud lluniadu yn hwyl eto trwy dynnu cyfansoddiad a gwneud penderfyniadau cymaint â phosibl o'r broses arlunio weithredol, gan ddefnyddio dull cul, llinol, micro-fyrfyfyr o rendro a allai gynhyrchu canlyniadau trefnus sy'n ddigon syndod. a bodloni yn unigol, ac yn ddigon penagored yn eu posibiliadau fel cyfres. Gwnaethpwyd y Cefndryd i gyd trwy ddewis gosodiadau grid a gadael i'r llaw argraffu'r canlyniadau.
Cyfres o luniadau rhuban syml yw Braintrusts a wneir trwy blygio a dad-blygio lluniadau un llinell gaeedig a'u rendro. Fel y Cefndryd, nid yw eu canlyniadau wedi'u myfyrio ymlaen llaw. Yn wahanol i'r Cousins, mae eu cynhyrchiad yn cynnwys rhywfaint o ddatrys problemau a gwneud penderfyniadau gweithredol y tu hwnt i'r setup cychwynnol.
Rwy'n cyflwyno detholiad o'r ddau gasgliad hyn i gyferbynnu eu canlyniadau a'u terfynau fel systemau lluniadu ac i roi dwy farn wahanol yn "fy llinell i." Er mwyn helpu i wneud y cysylltiad rhwng y lluniadau hyn a fy ngwaith gweledol ehangach yn eglur, rwyf hefyd yn cynnwys lluniau wedi'u fformatio o baentiadau cwpl sy'n ymgorffori tactegau tebyg.
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Rydw i wedi bod yn darlunio ac yn ceisio cyhoeddi'r Cousins ers pum mlynedd. Fel casgliad, fe wnaethant ymgymryd ag agwedd Fitzcarraldo pan benderfynais mai'r ffordd orau i'w paratoi i'w rhyddhau mewn cylch lluniadu hunan-gyhoeddedig rhediad bach fyddai eu lliwio'n ddigidol ... syniad cynhyrchu sy'n ymddangos yn fân-fach a falodd i mewn ochr-brosiect enfawr. Yn 2018, euthum cyn belled â phaentio portread ohonof fy hun yn lliwio Cousins ar y cyfrifiadur yn President Street, "Dal i weithio ar fy zine." Mae'r Cousins a ddewisais yma yn cynrychioli canlyniadau mwyaf llwyddiannus y prosiect lliwio aml-flwyddyn hwnnw, a orffennais ar gyfer y sioe hon dros y ddau fis diwethaf.
Yn ogystal â lliwio ychwanegol, roedd y gorffeniad hwnnw hefyd yn cynnwys rhai penderfyniadau ynghylch trosoli posibiliadau eu ffurf derfynol fel "ffeiliau sy'n cael eu harddangos ar dudalen we yn y porwr." Yma, roeddwn i'n meddwl mai'r ffordd orau o wneud hynny fyddai dangos y Cefndryd ochr yn ochr fel gifs wedi'u hanimeiddio, a gosod gifs Braintrust o flaen y rheini ar gyfer deinamig "darnau wal / darnau llawr" / "modiwlau / ceblau patsh". Y bwriad yw i'r delweddau hyn wahodd archwilio a gwylio agosach nag y byddai oriel ddelweddau nodweddiadol ar dudalen we neu set o bostiadau ar blatfform cymdeithasol.
Yn olaf, byddaf yn ychwanegu y byddwn i wrth fy modd yn dangos y casgliad llawn o luniau gwreiddiol y Cousins mewn ystafell irl, i gyferbynnu cyfleoedd a therfynau'r delweddau gwreiddiol â fersiynau'r castell. Gwahoddir unrhyw un sydd â diddordeb mewn hwyluso hyn i gysylltu.
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Diolch enfawr i Jacob am y gwahoddiad i wneud hyn i gyd a'r gefnogaeth osod sy'n angenrheidiol i wneud iddo ddigwydd. Gweiddi allan i'r holl ffrindiau, athrawon a dylanwadau, yn enwedig Shea'la Finch, Mike Stoltz, Alee Peoples, Bela Shayevich, Bryan Daly, a Julia Sisson am gefnogi neu helpu i egino'r lluniadau hyn mewn rhyw ffordd. Gobeithio gweld pawb yn fuan. :)
- Tom Bubul, 4/8/2021
tombubul.info
Slowing Time "Castle Mix" [download]
- Tom Bubul
I'M IN THE MOOD
JACKED INTO THE WALL
MY SYSTEM IS ON
THE VOLUME IS UP
ALL THE WAY
ALL THE WAY -------
AND THIS IS THE WAY
THIS
IS
THE
WAY
THAT I LIKE -------
THAT I LIKE US TO BE
