SO…
Awaking from hibernation, we tuned in the radio and learnt that the world, despite Mayan Calendar 2012 promises, was still pumping out Auto-tuned, vocoderized, oversexed and orange tanned Xpop filth… disappointing.
We went back to bed for another day or two and then, when we realised that we’d forgotten to pack a can-opener, emerged from the bunker, squinty eyed and shivery… winter is a drag is it not?
Anyhow, we’ve done some star jumps, smoked our last ever ciggies (for-real this time) and got our systems all tingly and expectant for a bright new year! We have some cool things on the horizon, so yeah – its time to buck up!
Let’s get a few things posted to round-up 2011 though – (we are still occasionally posting about projects we completed ages ago, there are a ton, but these items here are from quite recent events).
First up is a poster we collaborated on with good friend Matt Dixon. The Black Angels were playing the Scala back in September and we finally got through to them and got a poster deal (after at least 2 other attempts in previous years – bands on the road can understandably be pretty tough to reach and pin down). There’s a great 60′s, anti Nam, Civil Rights Movement type buzz and energy to the band’s hard-fuzz psychedlic output and after the pitiful display of nike/xbox looters in London last summer, we thought it would be a grand idea (if a little edgy) to do a piece about real revolution. Kinda.
Black Angels gigposter - London, Scala - Screenprint, 3colours, 45cm x 32cm, edition of just 30
We wanted to make use of Matt’s excellent photo seperation skills (taking a multi-toned image and reducing it to just a few stencils for screening – 3 in this case) and the image Matt found was perfect for a Z poster composition (where the reader reads from left to right, then has their eye drawn back to the left by the image and reads again). Followers of The Petting Zoo stuff could well be forgiven for failing to see anything resembling our usual stuff – This anxious Illuminati character peering from the media billboard was perhaps the only significant clue to our involvement
Detail : Spooky Petting Zoo character
…certainly a step well aside from our usual cuteness theme – don’t worry, more cuddly critters on the way, we just need to get gritty and snarl once in a while.
Another project that occurred at the close of ’11 was Monk Jam part deux – A crazy deadline based assignment where 20 artists were given the same theme to produce a piece of work about in just 72hours before the show was to be hung! The theme on this occasion was pretty cool : “The Good, The Badass & The Ugly”
Petting Zoo’s piece was a screenprint of a supposed psycho-analytical report about a character “P.Z.” and the multiple personalities housed in their noggin…
Here is a very, very bad camera phone pic of the piece (but at the same time appropriately screwy and shot at about 4am during a caffeine maelstrom).
Schizotypal Halllucinator's Iconographic Translation, Artprint - Monk Jam 2, Teatray In The Sky, Southsea - Screenprint, 1colour, 64cm x 45cm, edition of just 5.
Filled out in red biro by “Nurse Simms”, the (Oscitant Hypnagogic) Schizotypal Hallucinator’s Iconographic Translation (OH SHIT for short) recorded the patient’s different personalities’ responses to the large black circle and highlighted where each voice was calling from on the diagram of the brain (bottom right). The 3 “voices” were recorded pretty much as follows…
Voice 1 “Gerry” : It’s a giant cookie, yum. No wait! it’s a Stevie Wonder LP
Voice 2 “Badass” : Its my customised naughty Twister spot – press your boobies here. [session postponed]
Voice 3 “Uncle Sally” : Its nothing, a big messy circle! give me my damn shot and leave me the hell alone!
Yeah – it was weird but fun… and some unlucky punter won this in a raffle – we actually love it though in honesty.
Lastly is another blip of oddma which we ummed and arred about whether to post – but blow it, it’s just a bit of fun! click here for an interview we were asked to give on this wonderfully crazy french guy’s website. Cheers Benoit!
Happy new year you lot.
HEAVY PETT!NG - Less cute, more adult themed work by Petting Zoo Prints & Collectables
