Jeff Smack : Direction + Design

RPG & Studio B

jsmack — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 01:53:59 +0000

Just stumbled across this teaser video featuring the amazing Richmond rock band, RPG. It was put together by Richmond based photographer, Kieran Wagner, in support of Studio B, a local music show that is produced by my brother, Jay Smack. I guess he was going to show this to me later but I found it first. Dig.

Detroit, Art & Propaganda

jsmack — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:45:52 +0000

Two days later, I’m still watching this ad. And only now processing the interpretation of the “second half” metaphor as a more literal “second term.” Whether or not the spot is a well crafted “Thank You” from Chrysler to Obama for the bailout, it is a truly inspired piece of art.

Ironically, Eastwood fancies himself a Republican and the ad has inspired a groundswell of hypothetical pleas for him to run… against Obama.

Either way, it got past my cynical filter and my own marketing literacy, tapping into a very real, emotional fatigue around the economy and the state of the nation.

Practice.

jsmack — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:56:36 +0000

Sometimes I get all worked up and stressed out. It’s easy to do these days. Then I remember that the cosmic probability that this little pocket of reality we call “the world” even came into being is essentially equal to nil, barely even more likely than 0 chance. But it happened. That means we’re already blessed with opportunity, which takes the pressure off and reminds me that as long as I’m pondering these things, it’s never too late for me, anyone else or the whole damn world, to actually “get it right.”

There’s an important lesson there. It’s an inhospitable Universe but the possibility, in time, is unlimited and we are the most certain evidence of that inextricable rarity. So no matter what the situation, the odds of any possibility are still infinitely favorable relative to the sum total of impossible outcomes. Embrace that.

SOPA / PIPA

jsmack — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:06:50 +0000

Oramics : Yesterday’s Future Music

jsmack — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:13:18 +0000

Read the NPR article or just watch the video and appreciate this excerpt:

“Forget everything you’ve ever known about synthesizers. This machine has no piano keyboard or anything like that. It looks like the sort of thing that a mad inventor would make in his shed.”

-Tim Boon

The Island

jsmack — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 21:06:57 +0000

Very few things can stop me in my tracks and blank all distraction and consume my attention.

I’ve been a fan of Alexander Balanescu, his quartet and his collaborations with David Byrne for close to 20 years now. This project, “The Island” came and went, years ago apparently, without registering on my radar. There is a real vibration in me for his music and mindful emotion. It’s a bit of an antidote for my boredom amid the passively consumed offerings of today’s musical landscape. The Island harkens back to Peter & The Wolf in that it paints a theatrical scene through music and voice. I’m overjoyed to encounter thriving art forms like this.

UPDATE:
I’ve just discovered that this project has been a performance for a few years but is only this year available on media for purchase. I downloaded it on iTunes. So this post is more timely than I realized. I love the simplicity of the performance but I can’t help but wonder what the right animator could do with this composition.

Edison Rides

jsmack — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:26:40 +0000

There's a comment on the YouTube page that Tesla did this first.

Hamburger Eyes

jsmack — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:30:44 +0000

I’ve been following Hamburger Eyes for almost a decade now. I guess I haven’t been following closely enough to catch this documentary before now but I just stumbled across it on Vimeo.

Hamburger Eyes could be described as a black and white photo periodical but to me it has grown to represent a community of people affiliated with it’s production and an approach to image gathering. Many of the photos are moments that could not be replicated; spontaneous punchlines and oddities and interest.

From the site: “When opening Hamburger Eyes Photo Magazine you enter a pictorial history of both the unseen and iconic moments of everyday life. It is organized in such a way that it has become many things to many people. As a photo journal, we share our travels and experiences. As a photo diary, we share our accomplishments and heartaches. And as a photo album, we share our families and friends and reach people on a level they have been familiar with since their first birthday party. Our publication is currently composed of black + white photography. We have contributions from photographers of all levels. Inspired by the traditions that began with National Geographic and Life Magazine, we hope to revitalize the sensation of photography as a craft as well as a tool to record and document.”

Detroit Bike City

jsmack — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:07:05 +0000

Another really nice video via People for Bikes. Bikes = Smiles.

Pitch Black Comedy

jsmack — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 01:15:46 +0000

Not much to add about this other than... the illustrative expression is guttural and the artist's choice to animate the tension between another artist, a brutal comic, and his unforgiving audience is a brilliant construct once removed. Are we the viewers disgusted with the character or his creator? It probably depends on the levels we appreciate.