Tag: Art

OMNI Reboot

Remember OMNI magazine? The one with the vvvveerrrryyyy late 70’s computer age affectation font used in its logo:

omni-logo

I think I mostly encountered this magazine in the dusty corners of some of the more nebbish teachers’ classrooms in junior high (that’s middle school to you whippersnappers). I didn’t read it much then. I don’t even know why because it seems to have been exactly square in the middle of what would pique my interest. Perhaps it was too sciency and not enough fantasy for my liking. At any rate, it was reportedly one heck of a rag in its day. I think it was mothballed in the late 1990’s but can’t be arsed to Wikipedia up an answer.

Side note: can we use wikipedia as verb in the same way we use google? Because I tend to want to.

Right. So. The point of all of this is that about a month ago there was a “reboot” of OMNI as a web publication. You can read it here[1]. And, folks, let me tell you. It is freaking awesome! I’ve been loving it. It sits in my RSS reader and sends me goodness about once a day. In the event you were a fan of OMNI back in the day and/or enjoy the intersection of science, technology, culture, design, and fiction then I highly recommend you check it out.

[1] http://omnireboot.com/

CFCL Turns 25

I’m a fantasy baseball addict. I’ve been this way ever since I had to spend a winter alone in a two room apartment in Chicago. I’ve been a member of this league since the 2000 season.

While that might seem like a fair chunk of change, the league itself has been going since 1984. Your’s truly has been tasked with generating a logo worthy of commemorating this event. What does this say about the visual arts talent in the league?? Anyway, here‘s what I’ve been up to all morning.

De-evolution

I’ve always loved Devo. Even when they, or what they’ve since become, strike an odd chord I knew what they were after. It’s always better to reach and fail than to not play at all. I’ve also annoyed friends and family and co-workers by pointing out Mothersbaugh or Devo bits that get injected into the sea of pop culture in which we try to keep our sanity afloat.

They came at the mainstream from a revolutionary angle. When the mainstream co-opted their position (as the mainstream always will when an angle attracts a following) they appeared to fold. I hate to use Iraq as an analogy, but it is apt here. Hussien’s power structure meekly folded in the face of obviously overwhelming force. The dispersal wasn’t a show of weakness however. It was a paradigm shift. The conflict moved to an asymetrical, insurgent / gorilla phase.

I think Devo pulled a similar maneuver whether consciously or not. By fading into the fabric of pop culture they are able to comment on and manipulate it in ways that are unavailable to someone on the outside. Mothersbaugh, in particular, seemed visionary in his creation of Mutata Muzika. De-evolutionary influence pervades all aspects of media these days. By ‘selling out’ Devo actually went all in. And it looks like they’re way ahead in this game.

Don’t believe me, read this article in the LA Weekly. The in-depth look at Mothersbaugh post-Devo and what that group of people have accomplished belies the treatment the band gets as a one-hit wonder.

Oh, and if you’re suitably impressed, there’s an appropriately de-evolutionary fan club that offers fun and gifts and the opportunity to ironically commercialize art through mass consumption of crafted oddities. I’m proud member 1221.