A New Start
June 16, 2008 | Categories: Design / Life

Usually when I write about things on here I relate to the experiences I’ve had, but for the most part I try to keep my private life private. Well today is a little different, simply because so many things have changed in my life in the last month and a half. In May I moved into a new apartment with my best friend and it’s been great. My best friend and I get along perfectly, we’re quite the odd couple, and just being in here makes me really happy.

But then two other major changes happened, and it’s sort of thrown my game off a bit. First, I ended a long distance relationship that lasted three years. That was a major major change for me, one that I’m still getting used to. Then last Friday I was laid off from my job of 3 years. When it rains, it pours, right? This wasn’t a huge shock, my boss is trying to keep make things work for herself as well, and I was too pretty a penny to keep around.

Which now means I’m sitting at home, eating oatmeal at 10 am. This is a totally foreign situation to me, I’ve had a steady job since I was 17 years old. But I’m a glass half-full kind of guy, I’m eternally optimistic and no matter how crazy things get, you can always make it better. So in an effort to really utilize and capture all this change, I’m going to be accepting freelance design and retouching jobs if anyone has any cool projects they need help with. I’m hoping this doesn’t come off sounding desperate, but I figure that I’ve made a lot of really cool friends and I know a lot of really creative people read this blog, so what the hell?

If you’d like to see any examples of my work, retouching or design, please send an email to thefoxisblack@gmail.com.

Bobby

P.S. The image above is from Destroy Rock City, whom I’ve loved for a long time, but he hasn’t updated his site in forever.

Wooster Collective Interview with Dan Witz
June 11, 2008 | Categories: Art / Life

One of the very first things I ever posted about here on Kitsune Noir were the paintings of Dan Witz. I didn’t know much about him or what the hell I was doing for that matter, but his paintings totally stood out to me and proved in my mind that if I shared what I felt passionate about, this silly blog thing might work out. Well a year later I’ve posted over 1000 times and had way over a million page views, so things worked out by me just doing what I enjoyed.

So I started reading this interview that Sarah from Wooster Collective did with Dan was really enjoyable, especially because he’s been making art for so damn long that he definitely knows a thing or two. The interview is actually an excerpt from his upcoming book, but don’t be fooled by the word excerpt. The portion of the interview you get to read should take you at least 20-30 minutes I would guess. I got about halfway and was already thoroughly enjoying myself. The way Dan tells stories is great, and a lot of the wisdom he gives I personally found to be pretty smart. I’ve pasted three of my favorites, so if you enjoy those I highly suggest checking out the rest, definitely insightful.

I used to say that art should be an agent for change. I wanted my work to wake people up, but as time went by I realized that it’s useless trying to anticipate how people will think. Now I’m content to let doing my stuff help keep me awake-to be an agent for my own inner change. Which is, admittedly, a lot to ask, but a healthy thing to aspire to.

What good is art that makes people feel unworthy and left out? I still don’t know. This was the beginning of a life-long aversion to anything exclusionary. Or boring. Especially boring. For me, that was the worst thing art could be. If you couldn’t dance to it (metaphorically, I mean) then fuck it.

People I’ve met who are really good at what they do often seem to posess an encyclopedic knowledge of everything about their medium, they see themselves as the logical continuum of that time line, they know and are constantly gathering more information about every aspect of their field of choice. The canon, the anti-canon, trivia, anecdotes, etc.

Bobby

The Hood Internet vs. Chicago + We Make It Good Vol. 2
May 30, 2008 | Categories: Life / Music

Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you all know that I’ve been going through some personal stuff lately, so writing in the blog really hasn’t been my priority. Also, I’m going to be heading home to visit my family and friends this weekend, so I won’t be posting anything until at least Sunday. But of course, I can’t just leave you all empty handed all weekend, so I’ve got a couple of things to keep you occupied.

First off is the new Hood Internet mix called The Hood Internet vs. Chicago, a mix that contains artists who’ve called Chicago their home at least one point in their lives. As per usual, the mix is awesome, it’s definitely good driving music and I think you could totally work out to it as well. My favorite parts were Wilco, Andrew Bird, and The Smashing Pumpkins, which are totally weird to hear mashed up with hip hop guys, but still sound really awesome. Also, the cover was done in collaboration with Chuck of No Pattern, who’s a Chicago native as well.

To download The Hood Internet vs. Chicago, click here.

The other treat I have is the new We Make It Good, Vol. 2, mixed together by Chris Devlin. I love how Shilo describes th mix, “kind of like if Animal Collective were DJs instead of a weirdo, hippy, hobbit family.” Like, how would you now want to listen to this mix after that description? It’s a lot more abstract then The Hood Internet one, it kind of reminds of somewhere between The Avalanches and Propellerheads, if that means anything to anyone. Also be sure to check out that absolutely beautiful cover, with all of those beautiful grids and those colors are fucking phenomenal. Does anyone know who designed it?

To download We Make It Good, Vol. 2, click here.

Since I love my iPhone so much, I’ll be updating my Tumblr with photos throughout my trip, so if you’re really bored, go ahead and hop over there and take a peak, it usually gets updated every hour or so when I go on trips like this. I hope you all have a good weekend, and things should start going back to normal next week. Thanks for being such awesome readers.

Bobby

Memorial Day
May 26, 2008 | Categories: Life

Today in the US it’s Memorial Day, and because of our current “war” that’s going on, I thought I’d post these photos I found on DIGG. I read the captions and totally started to cry, I couldn’t help it. I’m very fortunate and haven’t lost anyone that I’ve known to this ridiculous sham we’re calling a “war”, and seeing these photos makes me entirely too upset. Fuck this war, fuck George Bush, fuck everyone involved in getting us into this ludicrous situation. I just hope we can clean up this mess we’ve made so more innocent people, and I mean everyone involved including the Iraqis, and everyone else serving abroad, don’t have to lose their lives in vain.

I know this isn’t very eloquently written or well thought out, but it’s what spilled out of me at the moment.

Bobby

Emailing Me + Other Odds and Ends
May 19, 2008 | Categories: Kitsune Noir / Life

Good morning everyone, hopefully you all had an awesome weekend! It got pretty hot here in Los Angeles, but I personally love the hot weather, I don’t do well with the cold at all.

It came to my attention last week that the email address on my contact and advertising page wasn’t working, which really freaked me out. I’m guessing for the last 3 to 4 months that address hasn’t worked. The point being, if you emailed me at hello@kitsunenoir.com and I didn’t get back to you, it wasn’t my fault, so stop hating me. The proper address is thefoxisblack@gmail.com, so be sure to write that down. I always try to write all of you back, no matter what sort of weird things you guys send.

I’m also gonna try and post some photos of my apartment soon-ish as well, we’re still putting away some boxes because we’re down to the crap we don’t want to throw away but don’t know where to put. Alright, back to blogging.

Bobby

Advice to Baby Photographers, Not Photographers Of Babies
May 9, 2008 | Categories: Life / Photography

I really love Clayton Cubitt’s blog The Constant Siege, I read it everyday and I just get a general good vibe about the guy. So I saw this excerpt on his blog from something he posted on his blog on Nerve and I thought it was really great. The original piece is basically words of advice relating to photography and life in general. What he wrote down made me laugh though:

- Rules were meant to be broken, yes, but it feels much better if you know what the rules were in the first place. Picasso started as a realist. Once he had that down he could paint whatever he wanted. Be like Picasso. He got laid a lot.

- Expensive gear won’t make your images better, and more gear won’t make you more effective. If you can’t do it with a basic camera, you can’t do it. The simplest 10% of a camera does 90% of the work. The rest is cock-waving for specialists. That short, aging bald guy in the red sports car? The one with erectile dysfunction? That’s your fancy camera.

- What makes up a style? Find a photographer you really admire and rip him off mercilessly.Consider it a remote apprenticeship. This is the history of culture. One day you’ll accidentally start doing original work, and then some young punk will start ripping you off. And the cycle of life is continued…

For more of these check out the entry here.

Bobby

The New Apartment at Night
May 4, 2008 | Categories: Life / Photography

Hello everyone! Sorry to be so quiet for the last few days! Moving has been a pretty long and difficult process so I’ve taken the time to concentrate on that and not worry about the blog, not that I post all that much on the weekend anyhow. So far everything is pretty scattered still, but I did finish organizing the kitchen and the dining room, and the large furniture has been put together in my bedroom. As soon as everything is put together I’ll post some photos, but it’s definitely not there yet.

But I did take some time lapse photos late last night and they turned out pretty well, very Todd Hido. The neighborhood around the apartment is pretty damn bright, so it made for some really cool effects. Be sure to check back in tomorrow, things will be back to normal, I promise!

Bobby

Moving Day
May 1, 2008 | Categories: Life

I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that I’ll be moving for the next few days so posting might be a little shabby until next week. I’m finally moving out of the shoebox of an apartment I’ve lived in for almost 2 years, and it’s much needed. I’m 6′ 1″-ish and my apartment is a cozy 200 sq. ft…. it’s not cute. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Bobby

Puppy Break
April 29, 2008 | Categories: Life

Posting is gonna be slow today, we’re shooting puppies in the studio today and I can’t NOT pay attention to them. The puppy in the picture with me is a miniature schnauzer who I’ve named Bert, even though it’s a girl, haha… I might try and post later, even though I have to do more packing and clean more of my apartment, so I’ll be playing it by ear.

Update: Seriosuly, Bert was the cutest puppy ever. If she wasn’t $900 I would have been taking her home tonight. LE SIGH!

Bobby

God Went Surfing With The Devil
April 24, 2008 | Categories: Blogs / Life / Photography

Every now and then I’ll run across things that make me realize just how awesome and special our lives are. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does all aIl I can think is how I want to soak in those feelings. Reading God Went Surfing With The Devil, a blog by Alex Klein and Bryan Derballa, makes me feel this way.

Alex and Bryan are a couple of surfers making their way through the Middle East, taking photos and describing their time over there. What really hit me about this blog is the beautiful and striking images coupled with the well written descriptions of their day. Sometimes you read it and laugh, other days it’s extremely depressing, sometimes frightening. But their optimistic attitudes shine through some of the scarier events. Their adventure is like a real life City of God, but being blogged instead of filmed.

They’ve only been there 16 days, so there isn’t a ton of stuff to look through, but I’ll definitely be checking this daily from now on.

Found through Fecal Face

Bobby