A Quiet Moment Amongst Friends

Things I Saw Last Year

 

Over the long New Years weekend I slapped together all of the video footage that I'd taken with my iPhone over the previous year. I somehow ended up making a real-deal experimental film with close-up footage of insects and long shots of escalators. My friend Carl W was kind enough to help with an original soundtrack. Without music, this would be tough to watch.

UPDATE: This video bookends nicely with this video I made last year.

How To Make Your Own Sea Monster

My friend Jake C was cooking recently when he noticed that his silicone oven mitt looked like the Loch Ness Monster. He followed a few simple steps to turn it into a real sea monster. Here's how you can do it at home:

Step 1: Put a silicone oven mitt on your hand and hold it out so it looks like a lizard. 

Step 2: Put something on the mitt to make eyes and nostrils (buttons or olives, it doesn't really matter).

Step 3: Take a digital photograph of the mitt. (Jake used his cellphone to take and edit the photo, so you don't need to be a genius or rich, okay?)
 
 

Step 4: Import the photo into a digital art program and add a bunch of fog, hills, and waves. You can also add optional features like fish, boats, or the moon. Have fun! 

Step 5: Send it to all your friends. 

That's all there is to it. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make a sea monster. 

 

Pigeons in an Art Gallery

Cell phone video, 23 seconds, 2010

On a recent visit to the San Francisco Art Institute, I found a family of pigeons aimlessly wandering around an art gallery. I used my iPhone to collect some video footage and later added unnecessarily suspenseful music (by Andrew Christopher Smith / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).

Scientists say that after a catastrophic nuclear attack, pigeons will be the only animals left on earth. If, God forbid, something like that ever happens, this is what a leisurely Saturday will be like in a post-human world ruled by pigeons.

Make Your Own Low-Rent Handimals

Handimals, iPhone photos, digital paint, 250 x 350 pixels, 2009

A few weeks ago, during a quiet moment at work, I took a photo of my hand, added google-eyes, and sent it to my sister. My sister responded with her own modified hand photo, and ever since, we've been challenging each other to see who could come up with the best hand animals, or "handimals". 

Here is the entire collection. (Note: The man hands are mine and the lady hands are my sister's.)

   

   

    

   

    

   

After putting this collection together and naming it "The Handimals", I did an internet search and was disappointed to learn that there is a guy named Guido Daniele who has cornered the market on "handimals" with a bunch of fancy-ass, Las Vegas sideshow-style, painted hand animals. Apparently this guy has done ads for AT&T and is raking in the hand animal cash. Mr. Daniele needs to realize that he can't lord over this art form. Handimals are for all people and I am standing up to reclaim the name!

With that in mind, I encourage everyone to make their own handimals and send them to aquietmoment@gmail.com. I'll add your handimals to the collection as soon as I receive them and, little by little, we will build an army of handimals that will shock the world. 

Making a handimal couldn't be easier. Here's how you do it:

1. Move your hand around until you see the faint resemblance of an animal or an animal's face.
2. Take a digital photo of your hand while you can still see the animal (Note: If you lose the animal, return to step #1).
3. Import the hand photo into a digital art program like Photoshop, MS Paint, or any iPhone art app.
4. Add google-eyes and animal features such as horns, hair, or teeth (Hint: Don't add so many features that you completely obscure the hand!).
5. Attach the finished handimal file to an e-mail and send it to all of your friends with the subject line: "See, I told you my hand looked like a [insert animal name]!".
6. [Optional] Make a t-shirt featuring your handimal and sell it on the internet:

 

UPDATE: Seth L stepped up to bat and hit a home run with a vomiting handimal: 

 

A Quiet Moment at the Beach

iPhone painting, 800 x 550 pixels, 2009

In this digital painting by Jake C, a man takes some time to unwind and watch the waves. I'm guessing this guy's wife and four step-kids don't even know about this secret spot on the beach. It's the perfect place to chill-out.

Jake is pushing iPhone art to new limits. The depth and shading are amazing. Nice work!

Stretch Your Neck Out There

I'm continuing my push for artworks that are created by (or transported via) mobile devices. If you have a fancy phone, it's super easy. I think phone art is interesting enough to look at for two minutes and it's also great filler for when I'm too busy or lazy to work on bigger projects. After Thanksgiving, I promise to roll out another collaborative assignment, but in the meantime, here is some more cellphone art:

Nico already sent in a few photos, and today he e-mailed this doodle of a long-necked fellow in a trench coat and a fancy hat.

 

Anna U sent in a digital drawing of a squirrel that has been startled by an earthworm. 

 

Lila K snapped some fish eggs in a blue bowl.

 

And yesterday at work I drew a Nordic guy with a distorted face and a pine tree air-freshener.

A Safe Space For Your Cellphone Art

As the decade draws to a close, everyone is walking around with camera and internet phones. Many of these phones now have art programs similar to MS Paint or Photoshop. To take full advantage of the technological riches of our time, I've dedicated the Friend Art photo gallery on the right side of the page as a place for friends, or friends of friends, to contribute photos or any art created with a mobile device. 

Here are some recent examples:

While riding the train to work, Jake C used the iPhone app Brushes to draw a vengeful wizard standing amidst a pile of slain knights.

 

Anna U, my sister, used her phone to snap a photo of the birthday cake she made for her boyfriend Mike. 

 

She also took this shot of Native Americans at the Natural History Museum in New York. 

Nico C took a snapshot of some mannequin legs next to a football advertisement. 

 

He also used his quick reflexes to capture the exact moment when his toilet screamed at him.

And this last piece is my own mixed-media contribution. I made a doodle of a ghost catcher, photographed it, and gave it a title. Catchin' ghosts. 

Cellphone art is easy. Please send it in to aquietmoment@gmail.com.