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Author Event | Guardians of Detroit
Due to a fortunate confluence of water, geography and entrepreneurial vision, Detroit at the end of the 19th century was poised to experience unprecedented growth. Even before the Ford Motor Company was established in 1903, Detroit was a major industrial center and transportation hub. All this commercial activity and prosperity led to a building boom of incredible proportions at a time when the most popular architectural styles were Beaux Arts, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival, and Art Deco. Each of these styles typically required extensive ornamentation and because of this, Detroit became a treasure trove of architectural sculpture.
Jeff Morrison’s new book Guardians of Detroit: Architectural Sculpture in the Motor City documents these incredible features in a city that began as a small frontier fort and quickly grew to become a major metropolis and industrial titan. Jeff shares more than 100 spectacular close-up pictures of architectural sculpture from throughout the city of Detroit. You also learn about the symbolism behind the ornamentation and hear some of the untold stories of the artists, artisans, and architects involved in its creation, all drawn from the book.
Jeff Morrison is a historian and photographer who has been taking pictures since his parents gave him his first camera at age nine. He has a bachelor’s degree in history and art from Eastern Michigan University and over thirty years’ experience as a graphic artist. Jeff lives in Oxford, Michigan, with his lovely wife, Susie, and their wonder dog, Manfred.
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers for December 2018: Martin Bandyke interviews Christopher Bonanos, author of Flash: The Making of Weegee the Famous.
Arthur Fellig’s ability to arrive at a crime scene just as the cops did was so uncanny that he renamed himself “Weegee,” claiming that he functioned as a human Ouija board. Weegee documented better than any other photographer the crime, grit, and complex humanity of midcentury New York City. In Flash, we get a portrait not only of the man (both flawed and deeply talented, with generous appetites for publicity, women, and hot pastrami) but also of the fascinating time and place that he occupied.
From self-taught immigrant kid to newshound to art-world darling to latter-day caricature―moving from the dangerous streets of New York City to the celebrity culture of Los Angeles and then to Europe for a quixotic late phase of experimental photography and filmmaking―Weegee lived a life just as worthy of documentation as the scenes he captured. With Flash, we have an unprecedented and ultimately moving view of the man now regarded as an innovator and a pioneer, an artist as well as a newsman, whose photographs are among most powerful images of urban existence ever made.
Martin’s interview with Christopher Bonanos was recorded on July 17, 2018.
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Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing - Dr. Stephen Huyler
As part of the Rasa Festival, Dr. Stephen Huyler presents a fascinating talk that recounts an amazing story of the discovery of a rural Indian woman's beautiful art.
While imprisoned by her husband for fifteen years, a woman in central India invented an entirely new art form that expresses life's joy. Although Sonabai was illiterate and untrained, her artistic vision is now globally acknowledged. Her work has been the agent of significant social and economic improvement in her region. Sonabai's astonishing story confronts us with our own choices: do we allow ourselves to be victimized by our current issues or can we use our own inner resources to find creative solutions?
An exhibition of Sonabai's art was on view at the Riverside Art Center in Ypsilanti throughout the month of September 2018.
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Wayzgoose | Small Studio, Broad-Shouldered City - Jen Farrell of Starshaped Press
In 1999, amidst the height of DIY culture, independent music and publishing and the idea of owning the means of production, Jen Farrell built a small letterpress and design studio, focused on creating meaningful work for herself and other indie entrepreneurs. Over the past 19 years, the type of work produced in the studio has shifted but the spirit has not. Here she discusses the early days of the studio, its first mission statement, and how Starshaped Press continues to grow alongside its urban community in a city known for its diverse and interconnected neighborhoods.
Since 1999, Jennifer Farrell has operated Starshaped Press in Chicago, focusing on printing everything from business cards and social stationery to music packaging and posters, as well as custom commissions and wholesale cards and prints. All work in the studio is done with metal and wood type, making Starshaped one of the few presses in the country producing commercial work while preserving antique type and related print materials. Jennifer’s work has been repeatedly recognized both in print and design blogs and has appeared in poster shows throughout the USA and Europe. Her work can be viewed at www.starshaped.com.
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Wayzgoose - Geri McCormick
Geri McCormick of Virgin Wood Type explains the process for making wood type, with a demonstration of the final step — using hand tools to create the points or corners that the router bits can't make.
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Wayzgoose - Scott Moore
Scott Moore of Moore Wood Type uses wood patterns and a pantograph to show the process of making new wood printing type. Moore demonstrates how a mix of modern technology and historic processes supports the revitalization of interest in letterpress.
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A2CAF | Iron Cartoonist
Watch Maris Wicks, Rafael Rosado, and even more of your favorite cartoonists battle it out in a series of themed drawing rounds with random elements thrown in by attendees! Watch guest cartoonists fight for the title of Iron Cartoonist under the watchful eye of host Zack Giallongo!
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Martin Bandyke Under Covers for May 2018: Martin Bandyke interviews RJ Smith, author of American Witness: The Art and Life of Robert Frank.
From the author of the acclaimed James Brown biography The One comes the first in-depth biography of renowned photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank, best known for his landmark book The Americans.
As well-known as Robert Frank the photographer is, few can say they really know Robert Frank the man. Born and raised in wartime Switzerland, Frank discovered the power and allure of photography at an early age and quickly learned that the art meant significantly more to him than the money, success, or fame. The art was all, and he intended to spend a lifetime pursuing it.
American Witness is the first comprehensive look at the life of a man who's as mysterious and evasive as he is prolific and gifted. Leaving his rigid Switzerland for the more fluid United States in 1947, Frank found himself at the red-hot social center of bohemian New York in the '50s and '60s, becoming friends with everyone from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Peter Orlovsky to photographer Walker Evans, actor Zero Mostel, painter Willem de Kooning, filmmaker Jonas Mekas, Bob Dylan, writer Rudy Wirlitzer, jazz musicians Ornette Coleman and Charles Mingus, and more. Frank roamed the country with his young family, taking roughly 27,000 photographs and collecting 83 of them into what is still his most famous work: The Americans. His was an America nobody had seen before, and if it was harshly criticized upon publication for its portrait of a divided country, the collection gradually grew to be recognized as a transformative American vision.
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Visions 2018: Fashion, Health & Technology
Camila Chiriboga, winner of the 2017 “Disrupt Aging Design Challenge”, a design competition sponsored by AARP in collaboration with New York’s Parsons School of Design at The New School, talks about what it means to create accessible design for fashion, the importance of this kind of design, and its future possibilities.
“My passion lies at the intersection of fashion, health and technology. I believe clothing should be made for everyone to enjoy the luxury of looking good and feeling comfortable and confident. Design for me is the tool to provide functional features that will improve daily lives, creating garments that will serve to empower our bodies and minds. This way allowing us to confidently embrace who we are and shape who we want to be through fashion.”
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A2CAF 2017: Kid's Comics Awards
Which comic in 2016 had the most rolicking adventure? Which character did kids love the most? Kids voted in these and other categories, including their favorite characters and graphic novels! At the third annual Kids’ Comics Revolution Awards, we revealed those winners! Hosted by Ben Hatke, Zack Giallongo, and Jerzy Drozd, with a bevy of special guests!