Category: Art

Taking the Plunge

cbcrenshawLeave a comment

I’ve been doing freelance design, taking photos, making art, building websites, and doing all kinds of stuff for more than twenty years. I’ve always thought I’d like to start a business for this stuff, but just never got up the courage to actually do it.

That changed tonight. I’m now the proud owner, er, Manager of an Alabama Limited Liability Company called Planet Glue LLC, and I have some big ideas–some old, and some new–for the company.

Right now it’s just a business card, a portfolio, a registered domain, an email address, and (most importantly?) a dream. I’ll spend the next few days building a website and some social media accounts.

When I was in grad school, I remember one day I was talking to my advisor about my plans for upcoming presentations and publications and he threw his arms in the air and shouted, “dominate!” (I love you, Dr. Frank. Never change.) That’s the energy I’m bringing to this.

New Music and Cover Art, Too

cbcrenshawLeave a comment

Earlier this year I stopped by the SCAMS studio in Tallahassee to lay down a bass line on my friend Gamble Cosmos‘ new track, “Helene Serene.” It’s a great song, and I had a blast throwing down the bottom end.

Later, I was thrilled when Gamble asked me to contribute even more to the project by creating original cover art for the track’s release on Bandcamp as a “double A-side 7-inch” with another Gamble Cosmos single, “Kew Gardens Contigo.” We talked about some of his inspirations–hurricanes, ’90s shoegaze records, old 45s–and went over some of his other artwork for consistency’s sake, and then I was off to the drawing board.

I’m mostly satisfied with the results.

Here’s the record.

Architecture is Alchemy

cbcrenshawLeave a comment

Here is a comparison. Maybe it means something.

The first example is from Peter Zumthor’s Atmospheres.

Zumthor, the Swiss architect responsible for numerous projects spanning the residential, commercial, and commemorative realms, is interested in how architects use materials to convey a certain affect.

The next example comes from a 17th-century translation of the alchemical works of Geber.

Geber, the European name for a real Arabic polymath named Jabr ibn Hayyan, has become a sort of composite author attributed to a huge number of alchemical texts. This one, from a 1686 compendium, discusses how various Substances make up other Substances in different ways which must be understood if one wishes to transform those substances to perfection.

In both cases, what do we have? Materials in possession of qualities which, combined with other materials in ways that complement these qualities, contribute to a harmonious–maybe even perfect–composition.

Architecture is alchemy.