Moving

I´ve moved HERE and I wont be posting on this blog anymore. 

WINDOWS

I am not really sure what this is gonna amount into but amidst all the creative chaos I needed to do some relaxing painting. So I started to paint on paper abit. And thus decided for myself to not let any of these paintings take longer than one single sit-down. Plus I thought it would be pleasant to try and not have alot of emotional input on the motives to begin with. Just try to create a spontaneous atmosphere as I go, which is the total opposite to how I usually go about my business.

I call them windows. For now. Because I believe that is what they are; just glimpses through small windows into my subconsciousness. Art for me is not just aesthetics you see. Ofcourse aesthetics are big part of the art since that will always be what represents the surface. Henceforth, my subconscious will always be what represents all that other stuff. The things you might find if you delve upon it. It is not imperative that you do but that is how I like it to be.

KNIFE. Oil on paper 30×30 (cm).

READY. Oil on paper 30×30 (cm).

Clairvoyance

We, me and some friends, have now launched a Clairvoyance paid beta right here: twww.gameofclairvoyance.com/buy

The game costs $5 while in beta and we will probably increase the price a little bit when it´s completely done.

If you got any concerns about the game or what not after/if you´ve decided to try it out we got a twitter,facebook page and email.

Big thanks to the Humble Bundle people for letting us use the Humble Store Widget to sell the game.

Check out the trailer bellow if you may.

Singularity

This is what I have to say:

Does Our Rule Benefit the Earth?
Does It Help The Grass To Grow Or the Sun To Shine?

Oil on Canvas 200×158 (cm). 

Hotline Miami

Is out. I did the poster/cover for it among other things. I am not going to dwell too much on this since Hotline is not my creation. It is not nurtured from my womb, I merely just interpreted what Cactus and Dennis was doing and thus….it is their voice that should be heard. You can listen by getting the game. Its on steam and other sorts of digital distribution channels (just google it, I know you are good at that sorta thing).

This is my mere addition to the postmodern (whatever the heck that means) top down fuck em up that is Hotline Miami.

Hotline Miami RingaDing. Digital. 

One Simple Truth.

Is not enough no.

Today I found out I got rejected for a scholarship from Konstnärsnämnden. I didnt really expect them to grant me one to begin with but as it turned out I got alot more disappointed then I thought I would to begin with, since yeah I had already expected it. Why is this I wonder? Well, to begin with it is not the first time this has happened when I try to get some kind of recognition from any of the Swedish Art Institutions. In fact, I have never received anything even remotely resembling positive feedback from these institutions.

First time me and Erik applied for free money from These Guys they were like “Yes we will totally give you Free Money!”.

It seems they liked what we do.

And I am basically doing the same thing with my paintings as I am doing with my graphics. Its just the tools that are different. I started to wonder why the balls have rolled this way and I think it has alot to do with the fact that the art world is so heavily burned by old algorithms and constitutions whereas the videogame world is a totally new thing that hasn’t really acquired any set of “rules” of how things should look and be done yet. So everyone is just, more or less, only excited over what people will come up with and thus their minds are more open and not corrupted by history, because there isnt much uva history to talk about.

And also; everybody in the art world seems to compete with each other as well as trying to infect the others work and success with petty hate and jealousy. Which sucks because it is just the tools and animations of a small mind. And artists are supposed to have great minds. Well, I am generalizing here of course and I am not really blaming the players as much as the game itself.

But more also; everybody in the videogame world just seems to be stoked about each others work and so far it seems to me that they only try to promote one and other while not trying to sprinkle fucking hate and shit.

This is why most of the interesting things that are happening in the art world are actually not taking place in the art world but in the videogame world (eventhough they are comprised of the same world).

I do have more matters and questions on the topic to think about and discuss but for now I just wanted to get this one out there.

Maybe I am a little bitter who knows. It si really no big deal when you think about it. People should just do what they do and not give a fuck about money.

Too bad though then that we live in a world which currently promotes material success above all else.

I am trying to promote love and emotion: currency of the soul. I am not trying to intelectualize too much about it since I believe that art is not something that needs to be interesting. It just needs to be something that speaks to you in whatever way and whatever form in such a manner that whatever is inside of your fleshy shell grows a little bit.

My taste drives me to believe though that this is not something you achieve by cutting characters out of black and white pictures. Obviously.

Oil on paper 30 * 30 (cm) 

Clandestine Emotions.

My camera sucks. It has been a long and righteous, wait lets make do with functioning, asset in my wanderings for inspiration and documentation of surroundings. In these areas it is quite a wondrous little contraption that wheighs almost nothing and is quick from the holster.
But for taking pictures of my pictures it sucks. I know I´ve been down this road before but it has become more apparent lately as my girlfriend got herself a really flamboyant piece of equipment.
That camera rocks.

But we are not here to disguss cameras are.

This piece has been hanging on my wall for almost a month. I wasnt sure I was done with it but I never got around to “fix” it. But then I have been quite ambivalent as of late. Thowards most things. For whatever reasons I dont know but….It seems to me I am scared.
Scared of what will become of me, scared of the cold world, scared of my future, excpectations, people.
Friends.
I´ve been putting a lot of thought into this whereas why I would feel this way. There is no single clear explanation for this, so far. Things goes up and down I guess. And I dont really suffer I just put a little too much energy into thinking about it and that fatigues me and obstructs my ability to work. Work properly, at least. Doubt is a heavy burden to bare.

So I am absolutely possetively sure I´m not the only one feeling like this from time to time. And how do we cope with it? I know I hide it. To some extent at least. I dont wann drag around my worries all the time and sport a negative attitude because that will get me nowhere. Of course you need to search for, hopefully find, comfort in your friends when the time is right. But it seems to be that these battles must be chosen and not fought in every single topic.

So we hide. Our emotions become clandestine to our surroundings and most poeple will not know what goes on and dwells deep within  the lands of our secrets. It is quite sad really but a friend of mine once said that once you grow up it is up to our parents to pamper with us.

Maybe this is true and well but I still do feel that if one walks around with a heavy heart one should be able to find consolation amongst friends and fellow beings. Sometimes it almost seems that folks are afraid of individuals who has serious ponderings and doubts. Why is this? Is it because they fear that it is contagious? Some do say that fear is. But I always thought they meant The Fear Of Wolves.

Harry Martinsson once said that we all must take responsibility for our guilt. That we cannot point fingers. For humanity to cope and thrive we must all care for each other and realize that everyone has their place and that isolation is a very short term solution.
To suffer is not to be ashamed. It is just a burden one must bare and those around you must ease. Without fear.

But. It is also good to find ones own way through the darkness. To come out on the other end with newfound hope, lust and inspiration. And to understand that one can by their hands and their head alone to find courage as well as peace.
It is just that its a fucking drag while yer in it.

Thus. I wanted to illustrate going to a party with such a condition. To Illustrate just that crucial moment when the line is about to be crossed and you put on your mask to show that everything is ok. Eventhough it might not be so and the world poses as a haze. To illustrate how alone we can sometimes be even amongst friends. Eventhough they may all mean well.

 

Clandestine Emotions. Oil on canvas. 123 x 94 (cm).

 

But while a voice
Within me cries
Im sure someone may answer my call
And this bitter earth
May not seem so bitter
After all

 

Behance and stuff.

Ok its late and I dont have much to say. I just spent 3 hours creating a profile on Behance Network. These things kill me because not only are you supposed to lay a week on creating something fantastic, you also have to maintain loads of blogs, networks, twitters and whatnot to get it out there. Its killing my head; mindlessly uploading pictures here and there.

Anyways,iIf you are a frequent you´ve already seen all the stuff thats there, on this new network art thingy, since I´ve already posted it all here. Im just trying to broaden my uh horizons. Get in touch with more people, you know. If I can spread my work to a wider audience more people will see what I do and the chances of me continuing (well, I wont stop painting or creating. I´ll just have a harder time doing it if no one knows Im doing it since the rest of the world actually has a potential position of maintaining my financial situation) will grow.

So here is the link for my Behance profile. We´ll see where that leads us. Goodnight.

http://www.behance.net/ElHuervo

Oh and I got twitter now. Whaddayaknow.

https://twitter.com/ElHuervo

Hotline Miami

So as it turns out my friends Dennis Wedin (who drives the nittitremo-band Fucking Werewolf Asso) and Jonatan Söderström (AKA Cactus) have been working pretty intensively on their latest addition to the progressive indie-scene.
It is a game called Hotline Miami and well, it a relatively, mildly put, intense experience as well as disturbing dwelvement into the mind of a deranged and violent individual.

The game is not quite ready yet but will hopefully be released sometime during August in the year 2012 (so its pretty soon).

They have released a trailer though and it features music by me (El Huervo)! Actually the game will feature some more music that I have made (and my person will also sport a rather handsome and excessive cameo) among some other awesome artists. The whole soundtrack is a beast of its own that deserves special attention I might add.

This here is the trailer:

I am very proud of what they have done with this game and it warms my heart that they put me and my music in there. A gesture that demands proper thanks.
How that will come about I am not quite sure of yet but I´ll think of something.

Every Process Has a Genesis That Ends With A Revelation

I recently got started on my epic (at least I strife for it to be epic) project “Love & Solitude” which is supposed to consist of around a dozen oils on the previously named theme. Some of you might wonder about what that really means. Love & Solitude. I am not quite sure myself yet to be honest. Its like, Im trying to figure it out as I go, but it is also obviously something that interests me as I(´ve) battled with the situation of maintaining Love and coping Solitude. They aren’t necessarily opposites but rather leaning more towards the concept of two sides on the same coin. But they are also strong contrasts that can create emotional landscapes (Im really starting to sound like an art critic nowadays…) of unsurpassed splendor, confusion and, well, madness in some cases I guess. Very much like a David Lynch movie.

It is probably a theme that has been used over and over throughout humanity’s dabbling in the cultural arts and philosophies. But then I would say that is for a good reason. A lot of people battle these things in their daily lives and has done so for a long time. A quote from the movie Hellboy goes something like this (Im sure I´ve used it before in this blog): “I´ve traveled to the far corners of time and the questions always revolve around the same thing: Happiness, and how to achieve it.”

Love is a part of happiness I believe. So is autonomy. And autonomy is something one achieves not only through ones companions but  also through the ability of maintaining a solitary situation. Standing up for your own thoughts, ideals and philosophies.

This first piece here is called Siren. Im not going to fully dwell on the concepts of feminism and womens roles throughout history (Nina Björk has some cool ideas on the subject) but since Love is a part these roles (I am heterosexual so I´ll shoot from that angle here) I wanted to do something quite on the subject.

 
Siren. Oil on Canvas. 80 x 60 (cm).

I thought I knew what a love songs sounds like
But I felt a sharper love in teh limelight

-Shing 2O

And here I will post for you the first edition to “Love & Solitude”. It is somewhat simple comparing to the other pieces I plan to do (you´ll find them in the section with the same name ). This is because I needed to try out some of the techniques I´ve figured out Im probably gonna need to master (or just get the hang of, mastering them will probably only mean that I´ll paint faster) in order to seal this deal. I like how it turned out. It is very close to the original indeed, even though some hues did not land quite flawlessly but hey, stuff is supposed to happen on the way.

As the world around changes on its own accord in a dreamlike haze, Araki is desperately trying to maintain a sense of reason through solid technical solutions.

Araki. Oil on Canvas. 124 x 93 (cm).

I was going to write a line from Harry Martinssons Aniara here but I´ve had a little bit o´wine and am to fragmented right now to find it.