Jump the Walls & Run

My cousin Matt Bethancourt (Mouse & the Billionaire) has been working on a new synth instrument called the Gesture Controller for his masters thesis at Parsons in NYC. He’s wrapped the degree now, and as far as I know, it’s still being developed to the max.

Below are a couple videos of the GCe2 (Gesture Controller: Exploration 2), and I know he’s working on the GCe3 already. Also, when I hear the sounds coming from the GCe2, they remind of something The Avalanches might use for a live set, so I’ve also put some Avalanches videos in the mix to check out.

GCe2 // Application: freeSample from Mouse & the Billionaire on Vimeo.

GCe2 // GestureSynth from Mouse & the Billionaire on Vimeo.

Since I Left You - The Avalanches

Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches

One of my main goals as an artist is to add beauty to the world. Sometimes it’s in the form of something that’s been thought-out for a long time and then created with great effort, while other times it’s done in a pretty random fashion.

Below is a Mexican Sprite bottle that I decorated with a mosaic of aluminum pieces cut from cans last summer.  Just thought it would be fun to share.

I was looking at pictures of Bolivia today, and that country looks gorgeous.

Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat on earth. It's also one of the flattest places on earth, so after it rains, the floods transform it into a giant mirror.

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…I’d duplicate this. But with small steamboats, and it would be in a quiet harbor, and perhaps it could be rented out as a bed & breakfast, and perhaps I could whittle pipes out of driftwood to put on the guest’s pillows instead of chocolates.

As far as I know, there is only 1 regret I managed to generate during my college years at Arizona State University- I would have liked to have seen more guest lectures.

The university managed to book amazing humanitarians, artists, and scientists to stop in for a bit and speak with students, but I always felt I had too much work to be able to take a break. Cool enough, a friend told me about a crew called TED (Technology Entertainment & Design) that hosts talks done by creative folks and then posts them online each week.  I’ve been enjoying them and catching up.

Here’s a few of my favorites so far:

Do Schools Kill Creativity? - Funny and brilliant talk by Sir Ken Robinson

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I’ve realized I don’t have the money to fully restore the old 1984 Mercedes diesel I bought, at least not past it’s internal mechanics. The oxidized paint will remain, the cracks in the dash can stay their course, and the upholstery will keep it’s sun-faded charm.  I’m an artist, and when it comes down to it, my art is what I want to be spending my money on.

What might be the cheapest way to still class it up a bit? Hmmmm……add some class-A magazines to the back-pouches in the seats, yeah?

Private Islands Magazine

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I spent the past few months reading up on 1980’s Mercedes diesels. Presenting the latest project…

Restoring a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 300D and (hopefully) converting it to biodiesel.

After asking my mechanic friend Ben (co-creator of The Northern Fury), about what would be the least expensive car for a financially-strained artist to buy and maintain, he suggested…

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Introducing Scott Teplin, another illustrator I stumbled across and really enjoy! In some ways, it presents a feeling of nostalgia from the days when I would sit in my room and look through Where’s Waldo? (or for those outside of the U.S. - Where’s Wally?) books for hours at a time.

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“Should you decide to fill one of your pools with champagne, be sure to instruct swimming guests to wear goggles or close their eyes when submerged.”

How meloncholy it is to realize most of the advice I’ve gathered will never be put to use…