- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
- 250
- 85
How has urbanization affected/impacted our sensibilities regarding the 'aesthetics' of traffic paraphernalia?
What do you think?
====
"When we think of urban civics and law enforcement, we might think of what comprises new age imaginations about sanity and anarchy. The modern world is much about great urbanization and sometimes confusing traffic/immigration. We might celebrate relevant urbanization-paranoia films such as Maniac Cop and Sin City(!). Storytelling helps us deal with the uneasiness of human customs and ethics, so we can better address the natural problems of human vice and frailty. We might therefore create a 'galleria' of pain and misery to deal with all this modernism madness."
"Americans are big fans of horror films and comics which present/celebrate rich and fantastic images of incredible fear and pain and strange monsters and psychos(!). These offbeat films/comics help us re-present pedestrian fears and nightmares through the lens of creative thinking and unusual imagination. We might consider how a 'galleria' of images of outlandish modern fears/nightmares capture our curiosity and concern about new age problems and maladies such as immigration-related crimes in southern California cities (e.g., Los Angeles). These strange stories/images help us deal with the unusual problem of human vice."
"Of course, we all understand that horror films/comics present outlandish characters and situations and stories which are not meant to parallel reality and are therefore not actually representations of what could actually happen. They therefore serve as reminders of what is lurking inside our minds in terms of the dangers/frailties of everyday life and the complications of modernism. It's no surprise that horror films have really blossomed in the modern era (post-Industrialization Age). Traffic and customs complications have enhanced our sense of storytelling regarding the oddities of human sin and human etiquette."
"Youngsters today can be found in great American cities boasting strange and lavish comics-stylized horror-themed t-shirts with printings/pictures of crazy/zany freakish characters such as Pinhead (Hellraiser) and Chucky (Child's Play). We buy these t-shirts for our kids, since they encourage natural healthy crime and paranoia-imagination. We monitor their natural development as they embrace all the niceties and oddities of human civilization(!). We wonder if all these images that comprise this great 'crime galleria' capture our social imagination regarding the complexity of sin and refinement itself!"
"My name is Carrie. I've been working with the urban designer group NY-Fit for about three years now. I'm in charge of consulting for various projects designed to boost the aesthetic/tourism appeal of New York City (NYC). I try to use horror film imagery and civics-folklore allusions to create fantastic graffiti for New York's parks meant to honor the work and contributions of great Americans in years past (as well as in recent times) such as Angela Davis, Bob Dylan, Robert Frost, and Hillary Clinton. I borrow from horror films like Tales from the Hood, Vampire in Brooklyn, and An American Werewolf in London(!). My purpose is to use art and folklore to create 'gallerias' of great social/human imagination regarding the complexities of morality, traffic, commerce, and of course, fashion."
"Right now, NY-Fit is working with an anime-artist from Japan named Hashihori Diamoto who is developing a new line of modern apocalyptic art/comics centered around a female vampire-hunter named Rogue who wields two potent crossbows. Rogue uses her crossbows to shoot at ruthless and bloodthirsty vampires lurking in NY, LA, and DC. We're working with Diamoto to develop a series of women's saris made for American women who want to feel more exotic/worldly in NY as well as a series of wall-paintings in NY parks so that tourists get a sense of the 'living art' of modern-day American fears regarding traffic superstitions. After all, doesn't modern day urban traffic/complication remind you of unforgiving vampires?"
"Modern-day urban crime is no laughing matter. Today's cops in LA and NY deal with vicious/insane gangs and groups who are willing to wield hatchets and uzis against peace-promoting policemen/women. We hear of stories of the illegal diamond trade in South Africa leading to decapitations with machetes by fortune-hoarding henchmen working for ruthless pirates, but in U.S. cities like LA and NY, cops deal with the more 'mundane' or 'pedestrian' problem of random poverty and unemployment oriented crimes and organized crime oriented street violence (everyday shootings, drive-bys, etc.). Working for NY-Fit gives me an appreciation of why kids today love graphic video-games (e.g., Grand Theft Auto) depicting bandits/cops aligned in strange orientations and using 'urban bloodsport' to gain valuable street respect."
CARRIE: Thanks for this interview...
GQ: We've been seeking a NY-Fit interview for some time!
CARRIE: Well, what can I answer for your magazine?
GQ: Are you happy working for NY-Fit, Carrie?
CARRIE: Oh, yes; it's a great chance for me to work with American culture.
GQ: What's so fascinating about American culture?
CARRIE: Americans love fantasies and fashion and traffic; it's a kaleidoscope!
GQ: You've worked with various graphic images in your designs/layouts...
CARRIE: Yes, we borrow from horror-cinema and comics to reach masses.
GQ: So you believe horror-art is a genre that speaks to American sensibilities?
CARRIE: Definitely yes; horror films/comics capture the American magic of folklore!
GQ: Did you read ghost-stories growing up?
CARRIE: Well, I was a fan of Sleepy Hollow and Edgar Allan Poe.
GQ: Now, you've translated that interest into urban designs that speak to daydreams!
CARRIE: Yes, if you look at the films of Tim Burton, you see an American 'oddity' aesthetic.
GQ: This 'oddity aesthetic' informs your approach to urban designs symbolizing crime?
CARRIE: Without attention to pedestrian fears, urban designs can't represent the people.
GQ: Is this trend in urban design/art an extension of punk rock or something else?
CARRIE: I think punk rock has had an influence as have had the writings of Dreiser.
GQ: Do you consider yourself a modern-day Louisa May Alcott?
CARRIE: I'd be satisfied just to be compared to the likes of Donna Karan, honestly!
GQ: Thanks so much for this illuminating interview, Carrie; we wish you the best.
CARRIE: I'll pass on the good wishes to my 'cohorts' at NY-Fit.
GQ: We look forward to more avant-garde urban designs about traffic sanity.
CARRIE: Hail to modern astrology, right?
====
What do you think?
====
"When we think of urban civics and law enforcement, we might think of what comprises new age imaginations about sanity and anarchy. The modern world is much about great urbanization and sometimes confusing traffic/immigration. We might celebrate relevant urbanization-paranoia films such as Maniac Cop and Sin City(!). Storytelling helps us deal with the uneasiness of human customs and ethics, so we can better address the natural problems of human vice and frailty. We might therefore create a 'galleria' of pain and misery to deal with all this modernism madness."
"Americans are big fans of horror films and comics which present/celebrate rich and fantastic images of incredible fear and pain and strange monsters and psychos(!). These offbeat films/comics help us re-present pedestrian fears and nightmares through the lens of creative thinking and unusual imagination. We might consider how a 'galleria' of images of outlandish modern fears/nightmares capture our curiosity and concern about new age problems and maladies such as immigration-related crimes in southern California cities (e.g., Los Angeles). These strange stories/images help us deal with the unusual problem of human vice."
"Of course, we all understand that horror films/comics present outlandish characters and situations and stories which are not meant to parallel reality and are therefore not actually representations of what could actually happen. They therefore serve as reminders of what is lurking inside our minds in terms of the dangers/frailties of everyday life and the complications of modernism. It's no surprise that horror films have really blossomed in the modern era (post-Industrialization Age). Traffic and customs complications have enhanced our sense of storytelling regarding the oddities of human sin and human etiquette."
"Youngsters today can be found in great American cities boasting strange and lavish comics-stylized horror-themed t-shirts with printings/pictures of crazy/zany freakish characters such as Pinhead (Hellraiser) and Chucky (Child's Play). We buy these t-shirts for our kids, since they encourage natural healthy crime and paranoia-imagination. We monitor their natural development as they embrace all the niceties and oddities of human civilization(!). We wonder if all these images that comprise this great 'crime galleria' capture our social imagination regarding the complexity of sin and refinement itself!"
"My name is Carrie. I've been working with the urban designer group NY-Fit for about three years now. I'm in charge of consulting for various projects designed to boost the aesthetic/tourism appeal of New York City (NYC). I try to use horror film imagery and civics-folklore allusions to create fantastic graffiti for New York's parks meant to honor the work and contributions of great Americans in years past (as well as in recent times) such as Angela Davis, Bob Dylan, Robert Frost, and Hillary Clinton. I borrow from horror films like Tales from the Hood, Vampire in Brooklyn, and An American Werewolf in London(!). My purpose is to use art and folklore to create 'gallerias' of great social/human imagination regarding the complexities of morality, traffic, commerce, and of course, fashion."
"Right now, NY-Fit is working with an anime-artist from Japan named Hashihori Diamoto who is developing a new line of modern apocalyptic art/comics centered around a female vampire-hunter named Rogue who wields two potent crossbows. Rogue uses her crossbows to shoot at ruthless and bloodthirsty vampires lurking in NY, LA, and DC. We're working with Diamoto to develop a series of women's saris made for American women who want to feel more exotic/worldly in NY as well as a series of wall-paintings in NY parks so that tourists get a sense of the 'living art' of modern-day American fears regarding traffic superstitions. After all, doesn't modern day urban traffic/complication remind you of unforgiving vampires?"
"Modern-day urban crime is no laughing matter. Today's cops in LA and NY deal with vicious/insane gangs and groups who are willing to wield hatchets and uzis against peace-promoting policemen/women. We hear of stories of the illegal diamond trade in South Africa leading to decapitations with machetes by fortune-hoarding henchmen working for ruthless pirates, but in U.S. cities like LA and NY, cops deal with the more 'mundane' or 'pedestrian' problem of random poverty and unemployment oriented crimes and organized crime oriented street violence (everyday shootings, drive-bys, etc.). Working for NY-Fit gives me an appreciation of why kids today love graphic video-games (e.g., Grand Theft Auto) depicting bandits/cops aligned in strange orientations and using 'urban bloodsport' to gain valuable street respect."
CARRIE: Thanks for this interview...
GQ: We've been seeking a NY-Fit interview for some time!
CARRIE: Well, what can I answer for your magazine?
GQ: Are you happy working for NY-Fit, Carrie?
CARRIE: Oh, yes; it's a great chance for me to work with American culture.
GQ: What's so fascinating about American culture?
CARRIE: Americans love fantasies and fashion and traffic; it's a kaleidoscope!
GQ: You've worked with various graphic images in your designs/layouts...
CARRIE: Yes, we borrow from horror-cinema and comics to reach masses.
GQ: So you believe horror-art is a genre that speaks to American sensibilities?
CARRIE: Definitely yes; horror films/comics capture the American magic of folklore!
GQ: Did you read ghost-stories growing up?
CARRIE: Well, I was a fan of Sleepy Hollow and Edgar Allan Poe.
GQ: Now, you've translated that interest into urban designs that speak to daydreams!
CARRIE: Yes, if you look at the films of Tim Burton, you see an American 'oddity' aesthetic.
GQ: This 'oddity aesthetic' informs your approach to urban designs symbolizing crime?
CARRIE: Without attention to pedestrian fears, urban designs can't represent the people.
GQ: Is this trend in urban design/art an extension of punk rock or something else?
CARRIE: I think punk rock has had an influence as have had the writings of Dreiser.
GQ: Do you consider yourself a modern-day Louisa May Alcott?
CARRIE: I'd be satisfied just to be compared to the likes of Donna Karan, honestly!
GQ: Thanks so much for this illuminating interview, Carrie; we wish you the best.
CARRIE: I'll pass on the good wishes to my 'cohorts' at NY-Fit.
GQ: We look forward to more avant-garde urban designs about traffic sanity.
CARRIE: Hail to modern astrology, right?
====
