Die By The Social Media Sword

Christopher Burdett has written an interesting post on social media that I wanted to highlight. I am always trying to grasp the next advancement in social media, battling my inner voice that says "Is anyone actually paying attention to this stuff?". Sometimes, no one pays attention when you want them to. However, it is still easy to commit a social gaffe in front of your thousands (or, in my case, dozens) of followers and instantly sink your social media ship. Try not to be a jerk, in person or online.

Christopher details his 8-step method as to how not to be a jerk when you're managing your online network (9 steps once you add the protein shake): 


1. Remain Professional
 2. Ask First
3. Anticipate NO
4. NO TAGS
5. Do NOT Thread-jack
6. No Mass ANYTHING 
7. Invite ONCE
 8. Don't stalk 

For more details, hit up the blog link below.

Live by the social media sword… Die by the social media sword

(And to see some awesome art)

Racist?

I've got an interesting moral art dilemma for you: there is a recent cover of Bloomberg Businessweek that is causing a lot of controversy in the media. Is it racist? Is it stylized? Is it harmless/offensive/overblown/unbelievable? I would personally need to see some examples of the artists other works to start with, before coming to an opinion. If that style of distortion is just the artist's style, then I have no problem with the visuals of the cover.

The main argument is that the cover insinuates that minorities are responsible for a housing bubble by flipping houses and other such irresponsible practices that my non-economist brain doesn't understand. To that argument, I would need to read the article. If this article targets minority groups unfairly for irresponsible practices, without statistical data to back it up, then we have an argument. If the article is about the housing market in general, and the artist just happened to use non-white people in his cover, I don't see a problem with that. America is made up of a ton of people from a ton of different races, and all might be equally responsible for any looming housing bubble. There does appear to be a white girl in the cover, but it's hard to tell at such a low resolution. This might be just a good cross-section of the American public.

One thing you keep hearing about in children's publishing is that there are too many books about white kids and not enough books showing black kids, Asian kids, Hispanic kids, redheads, etc. If (and remember I haven't read the article) this cover just shows a variety of races as a seeming coincidence, it might be just that. We as artists often come upon requests to use more "minority races" in our artwork, to make it more accessible to the entire American public. And forgive me, but such depictions can't always be favorable, if we're treating everyone equally. I am reminded of an article I read about children with Down Syndrome (which my sister has). The article was from a mother who wished others to stop calling her child a "little angel", to stop idealizing and stereotyping her child, even in a favorable way. Yes, her child was special, could be an angel at times, but could also be a little devil when she felt like it.

My post turned out to be less about this particular cover, and more about art and stereotypes in general. Remember, I haven't read the article, I don't know the specifics, I'm just judging this book based on it's cover. What do you think?

Bloomberg Businessweek Cover

The Desert of Forbidden Art

I have another political art rebel in my sights (PBS is on a roll, apparently). This one is about Igor Savitsky, who smuggled something in the ballpark of 40,000 pieces of art away from Soviet-era censors in Uzbekistan. He rescued these paintings and other works of art from being destroyed, though they are still not in the clear even with the communists out of power. 

"The irony is that the art Savitsky saved — beginning with traditional Uzbek folk art and textiles and blossoming to comprise art by ethnic Russian avant-garde artists — was at the time under fire for not being Soviet enough. Now it seems, 20 years after Uzbekistan won its independence — it is being targeted by the new regime for not being Uzbek enough."

Desert of Forbidden Art Museum Threatened in Uzbekistan

Ai Weiwei- China's Political Artist

 You probably don't know the name, but Ai Weiwei was one of the designers of the Bird's Nest stadium for the  2008 Summer Olympics. He's kind of a big deal. He's also very outspoken about the Chinese government.



From this NY Times Article:

"In April 2011,  Mr. Ai was detained by the authorities at Beijing International Airport just before he was to board a plane for Hong Kong. He was taken to a secret detention center on the city’s outskirts and spent the next 81 days watched round the clock by rotating pairs of young soldiers. He was released in June of 2011" but has continued to be subjected to beatings, harrassment, fines, and has had his passport taken away. He is not allowed to leave the country and is constantly watched.

I found the following interview question really interesting:

Q. The movie shows you approaching state security surveillance agents assigned to tail you and trying to talk with them. Why do that?

A. I always think we have nothing to hide, so I want them to know that. Normally people, when they are being followed, are being intimidated or they are scared. So I always say: “If you are looking for me, we can sit down to talk. You can even come to my office, I’ll just give you a table. You’ll see whoever I see, and if I travel, I will name you as my assistant, so whoever I meet, you will also meet. So tell your boss that this is an opportunity to get a close look at this very dangerous guy named as a subversive of state power.

PBS and Alison Klayman recently made a video that looks closely into his life and how an outspoken dissident survives in modern China. You can watch it at the link below:
Never Sorry








Also, this is him

;)

PBS- The Art of Illustration

SCBWI Winter Conference Part 2- The Good Stuff

Saturday started the heavy stuff. It was a day packed with speakers and events, and I met a lot of great people. Sunday was much more relaxed but it still had its moments. I’ll try to keep my recollections brief so I can cover everything that really impacted me.

Meg Rosoff:

The topic of Meg’s talk was “So, when are you going to write a real book?” How many of us have heard some variant of this question since the very moment they entered the creative field? Aside from being hilariously bitter, Meg really turned on a lightbulb for me as to why I want to work in the field that I do. I’ve always known I wanted to be an artist, and when I fell in love with middle grade/YA book covers, I wondered if I somehow failed the maturity test. I’m a reasonable adult- shouldn’t I be illustrating for the New Yorker or something?

Meg mentioned that the reason she writes for the YA genre is that humans that age are “just the right age to have [my] life changed by books.” I remember it so well, how deeply I connected with a good book when I was that age. It’s not that I don’t still enjoy books today, but I do feel more removed from them than I did when I was 14. Kids that age are “seeking intensity. Big emotions. Big ideas.” I love that intensity. What you say, and what they read, really matters.

If anyone wants to lighten the mood, while picking up on some handy writing tips along the way, I suggest you take a look at Meg’s blog:

http://www.megrosoff.co.uk/blog/

Patrick Collins (Henry Holt) and Isabel Warren-Lynch (Knopf & Delacorte)

Though they had differing opinions on what styles personally spoke to them, both agreed on many items that “hook” them, such as strong, identifiable characters, an emotional connection to promote storytelling, body language, and simplicity. It’s a good reminder from the Big Guys that no matter who your connections are, no matter what your personal style is, it all comes back to a solid foundation.

Shaun Tan

Honestly, I had no idea who Shaun Tan was until a few months ago, probably when he was announced as a speaker for the conference. I looked him up a while back and fell in love with his pencils from The Arrival.

“The truths I am most interested in are the ones that can’t be spoken about directly.”

In a time where everyone seems to be shouting how great they are through every social media outlet they can find, it’s refreshing to listen to someone so introspective as Shaun. He reminded me of my early days (you know, since I’m such a seasoned professional now) when the most interesting thing about making art was delving into my own psyche. It was less about “storytelling” for me at that point, and more about telling my own story. I had kind of forgotten what that felt like.

Also, I just really liked this sound bite of his on surrealism vs his own work: He’s just “accessing everyday reality through a sideways door.” If you’re interested in hearing more “deep thoughts” by Shaun Tan, he has a good collection of essays on his website:

 http://www.shauntan.net/comments1.html

Julie Andrews

It was so nice to hear her voice in person!

Mo Willems

Another hilarious personality. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Mo’s work; it’s just not my style. But he was a great speaker and I’m glad that the SCBWI brought in so many interesting personalities that really kept the audience engaged. I don’t know if they look for comedians or if it just worked out that way, but I enjoyed every workshop.

Mo recommended you always approach your work as though you want to change the world for the better, not just to get published. That will push you to make better work.

I don’t often make an attempt at writing, as I know where my strengths lie. But Mo had, in my humble opinion, some great advice: “In writing, you (the author) are in the way. You’re the third wheel. You have to be invisible.”

And this advice is relevant to anyone, writer or illustrator or any type of creative: “Ideas are not animals to be trapped.”


Lastly- I can't believe I didn't win the joke contest! I thought mine was hilarious:

A guy walks into a bar, and says to Chicken Little; "What's up?"

*****

This post is getting rather long, but I just had to mention how I ended my Saturday, as it was so unusual. Nothing to do with the conference, but I still recommend it if you’re in NY. A friend and I went to see the immersive theatre piece “Sleep No More”. It’s visually stunning, though definitely not for everyone.

Sleep No More is roughly based on Macbeth, which is helpful to know beforehand because it would be hard to pick up on. But knowing that helps you make sense of some of the scenes you happen upon. I am having trouble, even now, explaining it, except that I can say it covers a huge 5-floor hotel which you can roam through freely, and every room is meticulously designed to enchant the eyes. Spectators wear masks, no one speaks, but hauntingly beautiful music follows you throughout the hotel. If that sounds like your kind of thing, check out the website below:

Sleep No More NYC

SCBWI Winter Conference Part 1- The Journey

So after all the madness has died down, and I am safely back at home, I am tackling the subject of the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York this year. What an eventful weekend!

To start with, it was a transportation nightmare. I live far up in Upstate New York, and it's quite a journey trying to get down to the city. I figured I would drive 4 hours down through the mountains to Albany Thursday after work, stay with my sister that night, and catch the train in the morning so I wouldn't have to park in the city. I checked the weather report for a town about halfway through the mountains, since the roads are steep and winding, and it looked wintery but mild. Great. However, once I got a few miles past that town, a sudden onset of lake effect snow started blowing across the road, blinding us motorists and slowing traffic to a crawl. That was fine, I've driven in storms before, and the roads were still clear at that point. But after about 30-45 minutes of that, traveling at a glacial pace, not a single plow had been seen. I was coming around a downhill curve (in low gear and about 30 miles under the speed limit) when I started to fishtail and lost control, brakes locking up. Rather than steering into oncoming traffic I slid into the guard rail, spinning off onto the side of the road.

Honestly, I was going so slow that it didn't feel like much of a bump, so I thought, "hey, maybe it's not that bad." Boy was I wrong. I guess that guard rail just chewed up the front of my car. To make matters worse, it was still snowing, and that area has no cell towers. Luckily someone stopped immediately and offered to drive down to the nearest garage for me and call the police and a tow truck. I wasn't waiting there very long before the police came, and we waited for the tow. On top of all my bad luck, I was given a traffic ticket. The cop said he had no choice, since the guard rail was damaged, but hopefully I can get it reduced (he also wouldn't let me use his phone).

He dropped me off at a gas station near the garage, where I made a couple of long distance calls from a pay phone (when is the last time I've used one of those?). Seemed I would be stuck there for the night. I walked half a mile to the nearest motel, and saw 3 deer along the way. The lovely owner let me use her phone to make some more calls, as the rooms didn't have phones (how do these people live?). I arranged for the nearest taxi (about 60 miles away) to come get me in the morning, and changed my train ticket to Glens Falls. Then I had a rather sleepless night. I have never had a speeding ticket, much less been in an accident. I credit my supreme chillness in not freaking out and escaping wildly through the woods. Plus I was not wearing boots.

I arrived at Grand Central 15 minutes after the portfolio drop-off deadline. Noooo! This event was the whole reason I came! I am so grateful that the powers-that-be sitting outside the portfolio room let me drop off my book anyway. Let's hope the right people liked what they saw!

Why can't the NY Conference be in the spring or summer?

To be continued...