Archives for posts with tag: character traits
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Smug

September 10, 2012 //
4

Smug Little Devil is the last of the figures of the installation. He does his own thing and makes sure it is always to his advantage. Empathy is a word he has never heard of. At first he seems friendly enough, but when you know him better, you will find out this is the only emotion he ever shows; a smug grin. There is no way you can figure out what he is up to, but the horns give it away, it’s nothing good :).

Now that the whole thing with the Art Awards is over, I have to re-think my marketing strategy for Hermit’s Web, my book.  I still have to contact German publishers… the Frankfurt book fair is only a month away. Personally I think the story is very suitable for the German market, after all I am German and it shows in my sense of humour (okay, some people say the Germans don’t have one – we do… admittedly it’s sometimes a bit obscure).

Lately I am also considering a paper back issue to sell via Amazon. I am looking into Create Space to publish on demand (the book gets printed when somebody orders it). I have been a bit reluctant  to pursue this option, as I have no experience with their print quality – in particular their colour quality. With the puppets, my book has of course colour images throughout. My worry is if they are reproduced in poor quality, it does more harm than good – Oh, these artists are picky!

Anyway, on the upside, my friends in Europe could order their copy more conveniently. So this option will get pushed around in my head for a little longer.

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Categories Art, Books, Hand Puppets, Life

Liar

September 7, 2012 //
2

This one is Liar. His long nose is a give-away (sorry, it is not very clear on the photo). To impress people he embellishes everything he says.  His hair is made up of a net  full of smallish fish… that is all he can catch with his tall  tales. Sometimes I wonder if he believes his own stories. He certainly doesn’t look like a very happy person.

I started working with computers in the early eighties of the last century! I am showing my age now :)…  My first job was at a computer book publisher. I was the first person in the office to get a hard drive… the envy of the entire company.  All the others still had to fluff around with the “5 and a quarter inch” disks. If you have ever seen one of them, you know why they were called floppy. My dad bought his first computer in the late ’70s. A Commodore with a tape recorder attached as a storage medium… so a hard drive was pretty cool. But everything moved very quickly from there on.

I don’t reminiscent much about the times, I hardly have contact to my peers from then, but I clearly remember the gold rush aura that surrounded us. We were cool, man, and we owned the world. In reality we were pasty-faced nocturnal creatures, trying to find our place in society by simply creating a new one. Chat rooms were all the rage in our circles.  (Remember those prehistoric modems on which you had to place the hand-set of the telephone?)  The Web wasn’t invented then and there was no commerce on the internet, it was primarily a military and scholarly network. (By the way, monitors came in a choice of green or amber and when you wanted to create a graph you had to stack asterisks on top of each other, do I need to say more?)

In the editor’s room we had a bet going. One of the male editors had to pretend to be a woman in the chat rooms. To win the bet – a crate of beer – he had to keep it up for six months undetected. He won! This experience was quite an eye-opener and I guess it explains my suspicions of social networks.

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life

Boy, oh boy!

September 6, 2012 //
2

I didn’t want to name the five puppets I used in the installation, so that I don’t get too attached to them. But of course, when you work on an artwork for a while, you will get attached and of course they’ve got names. This one here is simply Boy. He has his cap pulled deep over his face and has his eyes are closed (one eye is covered up by  strands of hair).

The imagery used on the skins gives clues about the puppets’ personalities. Boy can’t see the wood for the trees. He has an issue with time and speed and on the back of his head is a rather large nude female torso. You get the picture…

The installation itself is called Like – What? and questions social media networks.

Recently I read in a couple of articles that the shooters of Colorado and Norway weren’t on face book. The articles claimed everyone not on face book is increasingly treated as anti social and suspicious. In my opinion it is a really strange and dangerous conclusion. I would have ignored it if I had only read it once. I seriously hope the articles drew on the same source and their conclusion is not a widely held belief. I will ask the question in reverse: Does being on face book automatically make someone a sociable and good person?

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Categories Art, Hand Puppets, Life

Inspiration

July 18, 2012 //
4

Doesn’t this rooster look mean?

…Sorry, this is a human’s interpretation of an animal’s facial expression. Of course I have no idea what’s going on in his head. But he is certainly eyeballing the viewer. You have to admit he is an absolutely gorgeous creature.

A lot of things put us off at at first sight, but when we look again we might discover the beauty in the beast. Unfortunately we have the tendency to make our judgements hastily and move on to the next thing, always worried we could miss out on something important. We skim and skip all day long. Unfortunately this has quite the opposite effect: We miss a lot. Photography is a magnificent tool to stop the world and look again.

I have one friend who doesn’t want to look at my puppets. He finds them disturbing. Fair enough, but he won’t elaborate on what puts him off exactly. I would be so interested. Not everybody has to love them, but I am curious what they trigger in different people.

The stories that go with the puppets are of course reflections of my own experiences with people. Creating the puppets and writing up their traits is very therapeutic. While photography is a discovery of the visible world, making the puppets enables me to explore the non-tangible world, primarily relationships. When I have finished a puppet, I have looked at so many different angles of the same issue. While I still might not like the situation, I will have a better understanding and most importantly I will have kept my sanity in the process. For me they are like voodoo dolls gone peaceful.

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Categories Hand Puppets, Life, Photography, Social Network

Push-Push

July 17, 2012 //
0

I digressed again, didn’t I?

The blog is supposed to be about the dede puppets and it is time to introduce the latest addition to the troupe: Push-Push. She is a nice enough puppet, but she is always blowing her own trumpet. If you look past the glitter, you will find she is plain boring, and doesn’t have many ideas of her own. She loves to slip into her colourful circus gear and a real transformation takes place: “Look at me, look at me, look at what I can do” she calls out.  And then she shows you tricks as old as Methuselah. “Yawn,” I say and walk away.

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Photography, Relationships, Social Network

Puppet friends

July 5, 2012 //
2

These two, Pig and Witch, were early puppets. (If I recall correctly, Witch was the third puppet I ever made). They are a reminder of how relationships change over time. These two were really good mates once, but now they can’t stand each other. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I suspect it is because Witch turned into a health freak and a teetotaler, while Pig likes his booze. Pig is now hanging out with Professor while Witch keeps more or less to herself.

I noticed the more puppets I make the more negative (in my opinion) traits they display. The first lot of fifteen, they were my friends. They have their little quirks, the ones you just reckon with in friends. Some of them I like more, others a little less, but they are all puppets I wouldn’t mind inviting round to my place.

The newer ones are more like acquaintances. I know them, but some of them have traits I totally dislike. The worst is, that I can easily come up with these now.

I have two more books planned for later this year, early next year. The next one will be of course about Puppy the love sick stalker (by the way, he has moved back into the house and he is starting to annoy me) and the following one will be about Hermit loosing his job. Pretty sure all the negative characters will find their place in this one.

I am currently working on a puppet called Push–Push. It is one that drives her own agenda, no matter what. Along the way she tramples all over the others. Yes, pretty sure you find her at the average workplace. And then I think, I really need to get started on Procrastinator as well.

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Categories Art, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Self-publishing, Social Network

One dislike

July 2, 2012 //
2

I have created twenty-six characters to date and so far have only one character I really dislike. This is Twoface.  She looks straight at you and smiles. Superficially she looks like a pleasant enough person, very non-committal though. Her response to what you say is usually: “Ah, yes” or “Really” or “Indeed.” But you know exactly she doesn’t give a toss about anything. Even worse, when you turn her around, she has a second face rolling her eyes and it is very clear she believes everybody (except for herself) is a tosser.

I haven’t incorporated her in any stories yet, but I think she will become the boss. I will only use her if absolutely necessary.

two_face roling eyesNow that I look at her second face and know that she is the boss, I feel slightly sorry for her. She must be in middle management and feels a bit of pressure from higher up. While she rolls her eyes, she does look a bit scared. But still I thoroughly dislike her behavior and I will stay clear of her as much as possible.

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Categories Art, Hand Puppets, Life, Social Network

Rocks and Pebbles

June 29, 2012 //
0

Everything around me is in flux at the moment. I am not a rock, I am a pebble.

Rocks brave the tide. They are strong and stand their position. But over time they will be ground down.

Pebbles on the other hand are small fries. They might get uplifted and swirled around, yet it is very reassuring they will settle again. A few inches to one side maybe, but there is always a chance it will be in an even sunnier spot.

For now I am happy it’s Friday again.

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Categories Life, Photography, Social Network

Monster’s fear

June 26, 2012 //
0

I didn’t really want to write about what happens in the dede world today, but there was another incident.

Monster waited up for me. He sat quietly in the corner and waited until I came past. “Psst” he said, and at first I could hardly hear it. “Psst” he said again and I looked around and there he was all scared, squashed into the corner. He is an ugly little thing and one doesn’t know where his front and back is, but his dark black button eyes stood out.

“Can we talk?” he continued. “I don’t have much time, so make it short” I said looking at my watch. I was happy to lend him my ear. He comes across as a fairly rowdy one, I assume much of it is facade. Once you know him, he can be a really nice guy. But one thing is for sure, he is certainly not one who wins you over at first sight. You have to look twice and engage with him for a little while.

“You know, mhm, you know” he hummed and hawed.  There was nothing demanding about him today, not like the other day when he came to see me together with Skeleton. I felt sorry for him as I could see how painful it was for him to get started. Then finally he just exploded and blurted it all out… all his fears.

He virtually begged me to put Lou in his place (if he had knees he would have fallen on them). Deep down he is very worried that Skeleton actually enjoys the attention she gets from this handsome young puppy. He has been observing her. She is looking in the mirror more often than she usually does. If she had hair she would comb it all day. There are countless little signs. He told me around ninety-nine of them …

Monster is worried out of his mind that he will loose her. He is so sure she is his soul mate. He seems to think he would not survive, should she ever leave him.

I had to sit down and just let him talk. He sobbed and cried. It was obvious he seems to think she is his ultimate love. He talked and talked. Finally after an hour or so, he started to slow down, clearly exhausted. I watched him silently. A lot of thoughts flashed through my mind, but I was certain, none of them would have fallen on fertile ground in this situation.

I believe, if they really have such a strong relationship, no puppy, now matter how young and handsome, could destroy it. Yes, the attention might revitalise Skeleton Edeltraut for a little, but only temporarily…. She certainly knows there is more to a relationship than zing!

In the end I put my arm around him and said: “Look, just trust Edeltraut. Don’t be clingy and suffocate her with your love. The more you watch her, the more you shackle her, the more you will drive her away.”

“But, but…”

“No but… Trust!”

“You just don’t understand” he muttered, disappointed.

“Poor sod” I thought.

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Categories Art, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships, Social Network

Foxy Lady

June 24, 2012 //
4

I’ve finished two more puppets. This here is Foxy Lady. She is a beauty, I could fall in love with her myself. Initially I started her as a play mate for Lou, but now I think is she is too mature for Lou. No… I certainly wouldn’t be happy if Lou tried to chase her instead of  Skeleton. His puppy love for Skeleton is a pain, but at least I know he is going nowhere.

I have updated the Character page and finally included the three puppets that were on show as well as the two new ones.

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Categories Art, Fun, Hand Puppets, Life, Relationships
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