AlphaDesigner Blogue

I love her. She has always been absurdly wonderful. These hilarious series just continue the trend. :)

See all Green Porno episodes on Sundance Channel.

I’m glad I resisted the temptation to judge this album immediately after the first listen. I should know who I’m dealing with by now. In 2005 I officially proclaimed Playing the Angel, the previous one, a potential disaster. Four years later, it’s one of my favourite Depeche Mode albums and I can barely forgive myself the blasphemy.

So I decided to approach Sounds of the Universe as I would approach a beast in a sheep’s clothing. It seems quiet and friendly, so far. But I know a lamb when I see it, and this is not one. The devil is in the details, it seems Depeche Mode found that impossible balance between self-indulgence and honesty that so many pop icons are fruitlessly struggling to achieve lately (U2, Madonna and Prince being latest examples). As far as I am aware, only David Bowie managed to reach that level without any (visible) injuries.

It’s not that they didn’t get old or that they don’t feel comfortable as a band, they just aren’t trying to persuade everybody their latest effort is as hip as their debut. While Bono, pretending he’s 16 (or that his audience has stayed in their 16s), may squeeze out lines like “Is it true that perfect love drives off all fear / The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear”, Depeche’s manifesto is far more subtle and sophisticated: “I could corrupt you / It would be ugly / They could sedate you / But what good would drugs be?”

That sounds definitely over 30 without being “easy-listening”. Right? :)

I’m glad that when I go to see Depeche Mode live next month I won’t feel out of place like I would feel if I buy a Madonna ticket. I’m so over sweet sticky things, give me Lindt with chilli peppers.

Of all the artworks in my Theogony project, this is the only one that didn’t get a presentation on this blog for many reasons. The most important one is that I have so many things to say about it, I may easily fill an entire book. However I am not sure that book would be interesting for anybody else but me. So let’s just say that 2006 was the worst year in my life and at the time I thought this artwork would be my last one.

It’s a swan song affair.

Surprisingly, despite my (relative) silence about it, The Trinity became my most popular artwork. It hit #1 in Flickr Interestingness pages at a time when digital artworks were taboo on the site and its various incarnations and previews generated so many views that I stopped counting them long time ago.

Just when I thought that was enough, I received an invitation for a feature from Digital Arts, UK’s leading magazine for creative professionals. We made a brief email interview discussing the technical aspects of the artwork and I shared some info about the production stages and the challenges in the working process. This, I am sure, you will find interesting. :) Besides, I am told the artwork is supposed to fill an entire page and since I never intended to sell any prints of it – it’s your only chance to hang it on your wall. [/joke over :]

The Digital Arts May 2009 issue is out now and you can get your copy here.

Update May 02 2009: The feature is now available online as part one of Digital Art’s Inside the Creative Mind article.