Biography of Stanley Donwood:
A friend once told me that Stanley Donwood is in dire need of the services of a pshyciatrist. Nevertheless, Stanley Donwood is actually the alter ego of sorts for an Englishman named Dan Rickwood. While studying art at the University of Exeter, he met Thom Yorke, a member of a little band eventually known as Radiohead. Soon enough, Donwood was asked to do the art for the band's second album, "The Bends" (1995). He has worked with the band since, creating artwork for albums and singles, promotional items, and participaing in their websites. Donwood also runs his own website SlowlyDownward where he publishes stories, pictures, and even sells books, prints, and various other objects. He recently produced a series of wood-cut style prints called "London Views," which would be used as the art for Thom Yorke's album "The Eraser." In collaboration with the mysterious human known as Tchock, Donwood released a new book called "Dead Children Playing" in 2006. Written by Nathan Postlethwait
Why I chose Stanley Donwood?
I chose Stanley Donwood for a lot of reasons. First, he is this sort of shadowy figure operating with one of the biggest bands in the world. But for me, Radiohead's music and all the art that goes along with it are inseparable. I hear those albums and I can feel all those images. I was 17 when I first heard OK Computer and it was the first album I can really remember sitting down with and listening to again and again while flipping through the booklet again and again, just lingering among the pages like it was a novel. The music was universally acclaimed and it floored me, but I was just as fascinated with the art that accompanied it. I started to look at all packaging differently and it makes me regret digital media in a way. Also, Donwood's writings, which are maybe sort of obscured by his art in a lot of ways, have been just as large of an influence on me as his art. So, I guess I chose him to sort of attempt to pay tribute to him.
What I liked about doing this project?
I liked having to find a way to work with and within somebody else's body of work. I had to take these, to me, iconic images and try to do something different with them. I purposefully avoided acutal CD covers as much as possible because they were most noticable, but I was still working within those structures. And having picked a cross-media artist like Donwood, I had the freedom to play with ideas from his art, his writings, his web design, and I suppose, to some degree, his identity as an artist who is such an integral part of the image of Radiohead. Whether I succeeded or not, well, I used the quote because it fit how I personally felt about the final product. I think there was a lot more I could have and probably should have done, but I'd like to think I conveyed the history or progression of his works well enough.
Nathan is currently in his final semester at Appalachian State University, meaning that, if all goes as planned, he will graduate in May 2007 with a double major in literature and philosophy. Even though he abandoned a graphic arts minor, some sort of art remains a rather time consuming hobby which competes with reading, writing, listening to music on absurdly large stereo headphones, and generally surviving.Contact Nathan
No comments:
Post a Comment