Amano: Beyond the Fantasy- Book Review

I first became aware of Yoshitaka Amano through his character design on Vampire Hunter D. It was one of the first manga I watched back in the early 90s and the gothic horror stylings really stood out for me. Later on, I knew his work from the Final Fantasy games and the Neil Gaiman Sandman special Endless Dreams. His androgynous, pale faced figures with slight bodies makes his art style visually distinctive whilst his brushstrokes art in a painterly style touch upon the Japanese heritage.

This visual biography, Amano: Beyond the Fantasy, celebrates the life and art of the artist though 400 illustrations and in-depth interviews about his childhood, his rise at Tatsunoko and his move away to become an independent artist. The writing in the book is engaging without being too overwhelming with details. What you get is a good look at his childhood, growth as an artist, his process and his current practice including his quest to create his magnum opus.

The book is printed on quality thick paper stock and the images printed in excellent detail with no artefacting at all. The interviews by Florent Gorges are excellent as they offer flavour to Amano's life and help contextualise the artworks. For anyone interested in this singular artist, this book is a real boon!

William Blake vs. the World- Book Review

I am a bit of a fan of John Higgs, having read two of his previous books The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band Who Burned One Million Pounds and The Future Starts Here: An Optimistic Guide to What Comes Next.

I loved reading these books as his works often takes many turns that often bamboozle me but always had me interested in the topics he was covering. I find that Higgs seems to be a Humanist at heart and he gets to the heart of the matter and the core questions we all ask; what is our purpose and how does this affect the narrative we tell ourselves? In the case of the KLF biography, Higgs took us on the journey through the framing device of the burning of the £1 million. It was a strange and magical journey through philosophical ideas that influenced band mates Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty including quantum physics, religion, conspiracy theories, art, magic and Doctor Who.

With The Future Starts Here, Higgs looked at how dystopian futures are now the norm in science fiction and actually many 'real-world' stories now read like the Walking Dead, with self interest at the heart of a lot of what we do. The optimism of the 60s and early 70s, shown in Star Trek, Space 1999 and The Jetsons gave way to Blade Runner, Back to the Future 2 and Terminator. The default position is that the world is doomed and we are going to hell in a handcart merrily. He believed that we created a circumambient (self-fulfilling) narrative that we are all doomed but we can also change the narrative and by changing it, alter our destiny.

Using this same multi-disciplinary, tangential yet weirdly enjoyable rambling approach- looking at science, religion, history, philosophy and culture- Higgs sets about explaining the works and beliefs of poet, artist and general renaissance man, William Blake. Now, I didn’t know much about Blake except for the fact that he wrote the Prom’s flag-flapping fan-favourite Jerusalem and drew a couple of paintings I knew that were kinda creepy and unsettling (Newton and Neduchadnezzar). However, after reading this book I feel like I know Blake pretty well… well, as well as you can know a genius ahead of his time who had visions of angels in his childhood that affected him for the rest of his life!

Part-biography and part-philosophical/historical jazzy noodling, William Blake vs. the World is a fascinating look into a singular artist whose work still resonates with the country the creator so loved. Higg’s examines Blake’s Reality Tunnel; the idea that his perceptions of the world effected the narrative he told himself, and how this led him to be considered an eccentric in the 18th and 19th century. Higg’s also discusses how this reality tunnel had a profound and long-lasting effects on his work, including placing God at the centre of the world but also a periphery filled with different characters (including Albion) which have entered into our national mythology and identity. The main thrust of the book is in consideration of how his works may have had deeper and hidden meanings which have been misinterpreted or misunderstood by many over the years.

Higgs takes the multidisciplinary approach to show us how to interpret and appreciate the works of Blake, and unlike conspiracy theorists or pseudo-scientists, who manipulate information and cherry pick information to fit their Machiavellian narrative, Higgs seems to be on the side of good trying to help us view askew and gain a deeper understanding of something complex; appreciating an artist who was not appreciated in their time. It’s all very life affirming and positive and doesn’t gaze into the abyss at all but rather reaches for the light and grace of God.

This book is an immersive and engaging read and I would highly recommend it to anyone with even the slightest interest in Blake or Higgs.


LINK- The Future Starts Here: An Optimistic Guide to What Comes Next- Book Review

LINK- Utopia for Realists- Book Review

LINK- Natives: Race and Class in the Ruin of Empire- Book Review

LINK- On And On And Colston ( Or, How We Kinda Sort of Learned to Talk About the Legacy of Colonialism and the British Empire)

LINK- Why I No Longer Talk To White People About Race

LINK: Let’s All Create a ‘New Normal’.

Spiderman- Video Games As Art

As the lockdown continues my video game pile of shame is slowly whittling down. I’ve just finished Spiderman on the PlayStation. At about 20 or so hours, the game is not crazy long if you critical path it but there are lots of side missions a la Assassins Creed, where icons splooge all over the screen.

The game picks up eight years after Peter Parker gains his power and throws you in the deep end as the Kingpin is taken to prison and a new gang is trying to take over his turf. The game is beautiful and the storyline is intriguing. Check out the pictures from my playthrough.

Celebrating Video Games As Art

I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember and being 39 years old, that’s a long time! I’ve been saying for years that video games are an art form. In the same way that not all music, films or books are ‘high art’, not all video game are high art but they are art.

Over the years I’ve created quite a portfolio of video game captures from my gameplay and today marks my 50th game. To celebrate I’ve put 50 of my favourite images that I’ve created into a gallery. Sit back and enjoy!

Posy Simmonds: Retrospective at House of Illustration

Writer and illustrator Posy Simmonds has been a comic artist and graphic novelist for over 50 years. Her works have garnered much praise and have even been turned into an Indie movie (Tamara Drewe). In celebration of her impressive achievements the House of Illustrations in Kings Cross is running a 4 month exhibition.

The exhibition will run from 24 May to 15 Sep 2019, 10:00am - 5:30pm and will feature lots of work covering the span of her career as well as offering an insight into her creative process. I hope to visit soon and will, of course, write a review.

Posy Simmonds Exhibition at House of Illustration

Dorothea Tanning Exhibition is a Surreal Delight

The Dorothea Tanning exhibition at the Tate Modern is an excellent one, containing over 100 pieces of work from her 70 year career. I wasn't aware of who Tanning was but the moody trailer sold me on her.

Tanning's art style reminded me of gothic horror and surrealist writings by the works of Fanu, Poe and Danielewski, whilst recalling the themes of David Lynch's filmic work, especially the themes from Twin Peaks. She discussed the dual world dreamlike theme, which played heavily in all her works, but said she didn't know what they meant, only that she painted what came to her. Going through the 5 rooms I was enraptured by her vision, however I especially love her early works, which were inspired by fairy tales and the works of illustrator Gustav Doré. Highlights include: A Little Night Music, Birthday and Self Portrait.

Oxenfree- Video Games As Art

Oxenfree is a hip supernatural coming-of-age story which centres around a group of teens exploring a mysterious island. Naturally all hell breaks loose and the characters converse in Whedon-esque conversations whilst walking around, exploring gorgeous environments and trying to put away the evil once and for all.

The Nostalgia of Low Poly Art

I've spoken before about how nostalgia typically works in 20/ 30 year cycles (linked below). And so it comes to pass that on the 20th anniversary of the Playstation people have looked back with rose tinted eyes at the games of the early Playstation.

For many it was the first real introduction to the world of polygons, typically games had been 2D and sidescrolling on consoles, PCs had been experimenting with polygons for years, but due to their prohibitive price point was unavailable to many. So with the PS release the first wave of polygon games into being, looking at the gallery below you can see that the art was in it's early stages but there was a cubist beauty to its angles and contours. Many polygons had to be sacrificed in the quest for an improved frame rate. The games may look quite janky now but some, especially those with an interesting art direction, still hold up pretty well.

Over the decade we have seen the revival of pixel art and pixellated games, this has in part been due to the rise of the Indie scene and the affection that the creators have for 8 and 16 bit games... but now its the turn of polygon games. For those in the know the low poly art scene has been in full swing for about 3 years. The idea of producing simple items through limited polygons presents an interesting artistic challenge and there are many tools available to do the job. Some are easy and some are more complex but the end result can be curiously spellbinding. I have spoken before about how you can create immersive worlds without the use of photo-realistic graphics and the same applies here in low poly art, you can create wonderful worlds without needing to make it look exactly like the object as we can fill in the details ourselves. A similar event occurred in ancient Greece, although obviously not with computers, where the statues had become so lifelike that there was nowhere else to go with artistic interpretation so there was a move towards more stylised sculpture.

I for one am glad that there is yet another facet to the video game and art scene and am all for different forms of expression. Long live low poly!

LINK- Video Game Soundtracks on Vinyl