PANDORAYOUNG

I still remember vividly the day in first year when artist Jeremy Shaw  gave a lecture to the student body at Emily Carr University and answering the question of what advice he would give to young artists with “Do drugs.” instantly made of us 400 new fans.

It took a few listens to the deliciously slow sounds of Seven Minutes (above) by Shaw and his group CircleSquare before I realized the song was about Vancouver. The lyrics describe a city of glass (plate glass and electric busses) that all comes crashing down in our ever impending West Coast megathrust earthquake, colloquially, ‘the Big One.’

I adore Jeremy Shaw’s work. He works with a sublimely minimal pallet, and I find his concepts expertly trim, concise, muscular, intelligent, and beautiful. Much of it deals with his belief in the incomparable wealth to be discovered through recreational drug use, and mourning the death of psychodelia. He showed us a work where he produced a solemn black and white tie dye cloth, and folding it thirteen times recreated the ritual of the folding of the American flag death right of a fallen soldier. Another piece consisted of a 10,00 acid blotter sheet dipped in black ink. Another was a single blacklight, smashed.

One absolutely fabulous series was his 2004 DMT, wherein he conducted a series of pseudo clinical trials of the ultra potent psychoactive drug DMT. He then films the subjects faces throughout their trip, and overlays the footage with the transcript of their impressions of the experience taken immediately afterwards. I highly, highly, highly recommended watching these clips, but I would take the time to whip up a bowl of popcorn first because they are some seriously good watchin’. 

He is also fascinated by youth culture. One ethnographic project, Arena, involved him simply showing up in the parking lot of concerts, Eminem, Britney Spears, Slayer, Limp Bizkit, etc., and photographing the types of people there. Another series featured the youths in a Christian rap mosh pit, where Shaw documents what he calls “just different kind of high” and the curious fact that one “could not tell they were not on drugs if they didn’t out and tell you.”

Shaw actually graduated from my school, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, but the city has sadly lost this genius as he now resides in Berlin. I hope very much one day to meet him.

Jeremy Shaw. Definitely filed under the ‘future husband’ category. Go check him out.


10 000 Hits of Black Acid, 2005

10 000 Hits of Black Acid, 2005

Anti-Psyche (Total Black Light), 2005

Anti-Psyche (Total Black Light), 2005

Single Hit of White Acid, 2006

Single Hit of White Acid, 2006

Arena (Up In Smoke Tour), 1999-2004

DMT (Stills), 2004

Transcendental Capacities, 2011


Jeremy Shaw

Photo of Jeremy Shaw by Zoe Bridgeman

I took a book binding course last year and was hooked. Here is a little notebook I made for myself with three quarter leather binding and gold embossing:) It’s not perfect but I got to learn how to use the hot foil press that the university keeps hidden from the light of day almost year round! And let me tell you, once you put gold embossing on one thing, you want it on everything.

Pandora Young. 2011

A book I bound for a birthday gift to my little sister! She’d given me a gift the year before wrapped in a really beautiful tissue paper with little birds, so scanned and I regifted it:) I used a kind of stitch called ‘Coptic binding’ that was developed by Christians in Egypt in the second century for Bibles! It was murder figuring out:)

Pandora Young. 2011

The brilliant ‘T is for Toilet’ from the ABC’s of Death series.

Warning: Horrible graphic claymated violence.

I’m rather tired.

I’m rather tired.

Save some talent for the rest of the class. Sheesh.

I Paint. Thijme Termaat. 2012.

Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)

WARNING: This is hot. Also, there are vajayjays.

St. Vincent - Cheerleader.

The XX - Infinity

I’ve been meaning to post this one for a while, but with the publication of his book this week it seems just the occasion to introduce one of my favorite artists!

I fell in lust a few years ago with the loose, jagged, border-line disturbing but full on tit rocking style of an artist named Louis Roskosch.

Louis hails from Bournemouth, UK, where he’s recently graduated from the Arts University of Bournemouth and is working in animation and illustration.

I also had the great pleasure of doing an art exchange with Mr. Roskosch. At the time his profile picture on DeviantArt was himself having a nice sit inside a refrigerator box, which made me very jealous of his owning a refrigerator box, and placed myself inside said box with him. Louis did one back (it’s the last picture in the series!) featuring my autobiographic Starbucks Barista character serving delicious lattes to Troy Hurtubise, builder of the Grizzly-Proof suit.

His work had truly and greatly inspired mine over the years, and I look forward to centuries more, because I refuse to allow him to die. Mazel taf on your book publication Mr. Roskosch!!

Work in progress! This week’s assignment was to create a beer label! Frankly, after searching the interwebs far and wide, I can’t believe no one’s thought of this concept yet. After all, beer and sex go together like beer and sex, despite the former often debauching the latter. Anyway, it’s not all together the most creative idea I’ve ever had, but I liked it, and in my defense I did think of it stumbling upon an awesome old bit of prohibition era slang about taking a ‘dip in the barrel.’ And come on, who hasn’t had this fantasy? What’s more sensual that the tack of dried beer on the naked skin?

She was originally intended to be a beer maid but wound up as more of a pin-up, and after airing the concept thumbnails I followed the urging to the lovely Miss Nomi Chi to sex it up as loud as it would go. This is just my basic graphic so I’ll throw together a more finished, recognizable logo after, having spent the last three days producing work for this and another project, I lie flat on the floor and dephotoshop my lower ten vertabrae…. gimme a minute….

OH! But I’ll mention, I’m brewing actual beer to place these labels on. Suck a bag of cocks, all my class mates! Haha!! I’m totally kidding though, my classmates are lovely people.

Dip in the Barrel Brand Beer Logo - In Progress

Pandora Young. 2012.

Weekly autobiographical comic for Illustration class! Small Moment Story Boards - Week Eight Pandora Young. 2012

Weekly autobiographical comic for Illustration class!

Small Moment Story Boards - Week Eight

Pandora Young. 2012

“I feel like my interpretation of the Book of Job, as well as this entire project, seems to be slightly different than what was intended. The emphasis of perspective, above, below, onlooking, seem to be designed to frame Job as subservient at the bottom of a hole, with God at the top of the classic European vertical hierarchy, and Lucifer at the bottom. For me the revelation of the Book of Job is that Job, humble human, is far, far beyond his perceived superiors. While they luxuriate in and abuse their power and torture for their own amusement, Job’s humility, maturity, wisdom, patience, and acceptance never falter (baring his renunciation on his deathbed under conditions of emotional and physical pain I would deem completely reasonable). The truth is, to me anyway, that Job was far bigger a being than the deities he bows to. Job’s attitude strikes me as Buddhistic. I am finding myself struggling to place Job in any real world scene with a horizon line since the landscape I see him on and journey I feel he’s taking is one transcending direction, but rather a metaphysical one. Through, perhaps, is the only preposition I see fitting, and even that seems to miss the mark. Inward and outward and deeper and through. The religious context surrounding this story is unfortunate. I think there are very valuable lessons to be taken here, but that the admirable quality of patience is probably most often mistaken for piety. God giveth and God taketh away. Life gives, life takes away.” The Book of Job. Pandora Young. 2011.

“I feel like my interpretation of the Book of Job, as well as this entire project, seems to be slightly different than what was intended. The emphasis of perspective, above, below, onlooking, seem to be designed to frame Job as subservient at the bottom of a hole, with God at the top of the classic European vertical hierarchy, and Lucifer at the bottom. For me the revelation of the Book of Job is that Job, humble human, is far, far beyond his perceived superiors. While they luxuriate in and abuse their power and torture for their own amusement, Job’s humility, maturity, wisdom, patience, and acceptance never falter (baring his renunciation on his deathbed under conditions of emotional and physical pain I would deem completely reasonable). The truth is, to me anyway, that Job was far bigger a being than the deities he bows to.

Job’s attitude strikes me as Buddhistic. I am finding myself struggling to place Job in any real world scene with a horizon line since the landscape I see him on and journey I feel he’s taking is one transcending direction, but rather a metaphysical one. Through, perhaps, is the only preposition I see fitting, and even that seems to miss the mark. Inward and outward and deeper and through.

The religious context surrounding this story is unfortunate. I think there are very valuable lessons to be taken here, but that the admirable quality of patience is probably most often mistaken for piety.

God giveth and God taketh away. Life gives, life takes away.”

The Book of Job.

Pandora Young. 2011.

Another installment of the Knife’s orgasmic Silent Shout concert, Heartbeats.

Just fucking watch it.

It always amazes me the different interpretations I hear of this one. My mom assembled it and declared in surprise that there was a piece missing. Like you could shake out the box and there it would be. But maybe it was just built that way. Some people are made without that piece.

Missing Piece.

Pandora Young. 2010