Joy and surprise! Recently, we unearthed a long-lost box of Issue 05s we didn’t even know we had. We’ve put them up for sale in our online shop. To promote the sale, we’ve also thrown together this HTML page with an assortment of free “Making Of” goodies that everyone is welcome to check out. Enjoy!
It’s been a lot of fun, taking a trip back to 2010. From the Coilhouse vaults:
This is a paper proof of an alternate cover concept for Issue 05, featuring all-holographic foil. We worked with two companies and logged many hours in conference calls to try and make this happen, but ultimately decided to go with a holographic effect that was more subtle in order to preserve the original photo’s vibrant background. Ah, well! One of those “live and learn” scenarios, and a fun experiment in the evolution of Issue 05.
There were many such experiments. These Dorian Gray images, for example, went through tons of iterations: different backgrounds, multiple stages of Photoshop, etc. And photographer Allan Amato’s simultaneous Dorian Gray/Amanda Palmer & Neil Gaiman shoot was, itself, a pretty boisterous experiment! From beginning to end, the process of putting those two features together involved, quite literally, thousands of emails and phone calls between roughly two dozen collaborators. The “Issue 05 Making Of” page includes behind-the-scenes Dorian Gray snapshots, as well as several gorgeous photos of Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman that we didn’t have room for in the magazine. There’s also a zip file of a high resolution file of Mildred Von’s paper doll, so you can print out and embellish your very own giant Dick Cheney! (Oh boy! Just what you’ve always wanted!)
So, to reiterate: there’s an unexpected windfall of Issue 05s briefly available in our shop. There are 43 copies available. Buy ’em now before they’re gone forever. Also, this seems like a good time to remind everyone that we still have Issue 06s available in the shop. GET SOME.
Posted by Coilhouse on March 1st, 2012
Filed under Coilhouse | Comments Off on On Sale Now: Limited Quantity of Issue 05s, Plus "Making Of" Goodies For All!
Bartholomäus Traubeck, sales a German designer, artist, and inventor, has crafted a modified record player that takes wood slices from trees and creates music out of scan data gathered from the inner rings:
The Traubeck tree turntable pairs a standard record turntable with a PlayStation Eye Camera attached to the (motorized, moving) arm. In lieux of a tangible needle locking into the grooves of a piece of vinyl, the slowly panning, stylus-mounted Eye Camera reader scans a disc of wood as it rotates below, then passes the data on to computer running an Ableton Live program, which Traubeck has specifically installed with algorhythims that match distinct keyboard notes to various scan density levels.
The resulting music is surprisingly lucid, conveying –quite literally– the internal rhythms of the life of an individual tree. Breathtaking and melancholy.
I was at my wits’ end, dear readers. I really felt that it was all over, because that’s how one feels when your employer shows up with a video of a guy playing a Joy Division song on a cat’s ass. I mean, really, how the fuck is a guy supposed to compete with that? It’s impossible. I was pretty despondent most of the day, to be honest. Bad enough they keep me down here, shackled to a desk, kept alive on a diet of water and beet gruel, but then to post, perhaps, the be all and end all of weird, cat-centric internet videos, well, it was too much. Digging frantically I looked for something, anything of interest but found nothing.
Just when I was about to give up, send word to my overlords that I was done, doomed to be moved to the Lower Levels to tend the infernal Machines, going about their awful work deep, deep under the Catacombs, I found I tiny glimmer of hope, a small, barely gleaming nugget of web-based detritus. I reached out and plucked it, brushed it off and gazed at it’s simple beauty. This would do, I thought, this is what will save me, at least for now. If, years from now, I am still doing this and someone asks me what my lowest point was I will cite this day. And if they ask what got me through it I will proudly say: “Robot quadroters playing the James Bond theme song.”
Did you miss out on Coilhouse Issue 05: Let All the Children Boogie? (It’s not surprising… the print version of Issue 05 sold out in a record time of three weeks.) If so, we’ve got great news for you!
Starting tomorrow, we’ll be selling the last remaining batch of Issue 05’s in our shop. We have a very limited quantity of mint-condition copies from the original print run, and we’re putting them on sale to make room for more boxes of Issue 06 and other upcoming goodies.
The brightest, most colorful issue of them all! Featuring a gorgeous tribute to Grace Jones on the cover, holographic gold foil, two prints from the issue’s Dorian Gray-themed shoot, and a giant fold-out poster, it included interviews with Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer, Clive Barker, Chet Zar, Zoe Keating, Jo “Boobs” Weldon, and Chris Conn Askew. There was a tribute to fashion designer Tiffa Novoa, a richly-researched article on Chinese pulp fiction by Jess Nevins, a charming memoir of adolescent geekhood by Wil Wheaton, striking photography by Ali Mahdavi, paper dolls drawn by Mother of London creator Mildred Von, and much more. Check out a full preview of the issue.
Check back tomorrow for Issue 05!
Posted by Coilhouse on February 29th, 2012
Filed under Coilhouse | Comments Off on Last Batch of Coilhouse 05 On Sale Tomorrow!
A breathtaking combination of time lapse and 3D optical illusion by California-based multimedia artist Jeff Frost:
“Over 40,000 high resolution still images were shot on Canon DSLR cameras for this film. I roamed the deserts of California and Utah looking for abandoned structures in the same manner that my Grandpa, Alfred, explored the Four Corners area looking for ancient Native American dwellings. This film is dedicated to him.”
YouTube user frannintendo64 has made a beatmatched mashup out of scads of Skrillex dubstep/electro house tunes, with no pitch-shifting. Pretty darn funneh:
Via Ariana, who says: “The whoa-that’s-off-pitch of the first ten seconds or so fades fast. And then it’s… well it’s basically just Skrillex, innit. If you hold out (or skip ahead) to 1:20 it kinda starts to get a little magical. Honestly, I think this is a lot like what the internet sounds like when I’m scrolling fast.”
A stunning series of anatomical cross sections by artist Lisa Nilsson, made using paper filigree, coiled strips of paper (in this case, Japanese mulberry paper). Using photographic references, Nilsson’s pieces are beautiful to look at, the rolled paper adding another level of detail to images already brimming with them. You can read about how she made them here and here.
Last year, Vania Heymann, a first-year student at Bezalel art school, took a Canon 7D out into the seething spiritual/cultural microcosm of Jerusalem and –over the course of two very busy afternoons– shot the footage for this remarkable satirical short. Beautifully done. Can’t wait to see what Heymann comes up with next!
