Archives for posts with tag: imagination

devil under tree

The Dedes were very upset that I brushed them off on Friday night. Quicker than I had anticipated, they re-instated Devil as their spokesperson.  It was a unanimous decision, mainly because nobody else wanted to do the job and Devil wasn’t really that serious about handing in his resignation. Secretly, he was chuffed everybody voted to have him back in the job.

Being earnest about his new, old, position he  came straight to me and aired the concern that bothered everyone. “Have you fallen out of love with us?” he asked outright.

“Of course not!” I said. It  must have sounded pretty lame, rather like I wanted to fob him off again.

“But why are you not writing about us then? There is still stuff happening in the Dede world. You simply don’t report about us anymore! When we look at the blog there are only photos of things we don’t even recognise. I don’t know how many times I have to remind you, it is our blog and it is your obligation to write about us. At least that is what our contract says, or am I wrong?”

Devil, we never signed a contract!”

“Ah well, naming the blog dedepuppets.com is as good as a contract!”

“I agree, it is your blog and yes, it has your name.”

“So, do your job then. I’ll watch you!” he said and turned away ready to leave.

“Hang on, hang on…” I said. I wanted to ask him what they would do if I don’t comply. Are they going to find themselves a new artist? Tough luck. Let’s face it, the Dedes and I are linked, come hell or high water. I have to admit, at the moment I am sick of these demanding little critters who can see only their own perspective. Oh, I would so like to give them a piece of my mind for a change, but I bit my tongue.

“Look Devil,” I said instead, “I am a bit pre-occupied with building stuff at the moment. It won’t be forever. To be honest, I would rather write nothing about you than crap. If I write rubbish, that won’t help your cause either. You do understand, don’t you?”

He looked at me for a while. I could tell it made sense to him but he was in a bind. He needed to go back to the rest of the Dedes with a more positive answer.

“Okay” he said at last. “I have an idea. Let’s have a week of  ‘tag-a-Dede'”

“What is that?” I asked.

“You ask a Dede of your choice 5 questions and the Dede has to answer it as honestly as possible! That would mean we are running the show and you don’t have anything to do with it. Mouse can help us putting the answers up on the blog. She is good at that.”

“That is such a brilliant idea!” I could have hugged Devil  but he is not the huggy type. I was so relieved he came up with a solution that meant less work for me for a change.

‘I can make a start and tag Witch tomorrow. I always wanted to ask the old girl a few things.” Devil was really excited about his idea. “I have to come up with 5 really good questions. Maybe some of our readers want to help me! So if you have a question for Witch, our health freak, let me know.”

sunny and lartiste

Who is going to tell Sunny that we are not using his project as is. Certainly not me. I am a wimp when it comes to such talks. Thankfully I have a good excuse. I am not even a Dede. If I told him he could view the decision as oppression and blame me, the outsider, for his woes of being turned down yet again rather than taking in the real reservations we all have with his proposal after Minor’s revelation yesterday. No, one of the Dedes has to tell him and let him down softly.

I asked for volunteers and waited for a bit but nobody held their hand up for this certainly ungrateful job. Devil just shook his head when I looked at him. “I resigned from my job as spokesperson, remember? I gave you the letter” he said.

“And I’ve never officially accepted it!” I reminded him.

“You took it and said you will get back to me after the weekend. You never did.”

“Guys, guys, what is it with you two?” Witch interrupted. “It’s not helping. This is a totally different issue and won’t get us anywhere today!”

“I just wish he understood what it means to be an artist” L’Artiste started now. “He doesn’t get that while you can use bits of existing work you have to bring your own in and develop it further. He is such a me-too guy. It drives me bonkers!”

“Do you want to talk to him, artist to artist?” I immediately asked.

“No, he wouldn’t take it from me. He would discard my words as sour grapes, as though I was envious I didn’t come up with this ‘brilliant’ project.”

“Why don’t we all talk to him then he has to accept we all agree on it.”

“Yes, and have him feel like standing before a tribunal? This is a sure recipe for disaster…”

Minor should tell him. After all she knows the entire background. And it was her who alerted us to his ruse.”

“C’mon she is only a teenager. Do you think he will take the message from her?” Detail stepped protectively in front of her daughter.

“I don’t know what the big deal is” Philosopher finally said. “I’ll do it. It’s not that we want to scrap the project entirely. We just have to strip it back and assemble it differently, don’t we? I personally like the beginning with everybody sitting on the stands. It goes right back to our roots as NO BODIES. When you look at the image posted yesterday your expressions are just gorgeous. Can’t we work along these lines? We just need a mentor who can help Sunny develop it into his own style.”

“Agreed” I said quickly before he could change his mind. “You just proved you would be the perfect mentor!”

“But I know the least about art.” Philosopher pointed out.

“Art  is Sunny’s job. You only have to keep him on track.”

monkey cup

There was a little bit of excitement last night when I came home. The Dedes were sitting around a parcel that had arrived while I was out. Two weeks back we ordered a cup and a few t-shirts from the new dededesign store. The parcel was too small to contain everything and it was obvious it could only be the cup. As a graphic designer I have very high standards when it comes the quality of printing. It is always a bit of a worry until you actually see the finished product. To check  whether everything turns out the the way I intended, I also ordered one t-shirt on dark apparel. This apparently takes a bit longer, as a white under colour – the canvas for the image – has to be applied first so the true colours come out.

Everyone stood around while I opened the parcel. I don’t want to plug it too much, but I have to say I am very impressed with the quality of the cup and the printing. It looks absolutely fabulous. And the puppets obviously thought the same. The cup was mine for as long as I held it in my hot little hands. Just long enough to admire it. The second I put it down, Monkey grabbed it an dissappeared with it up the scaffolding. I only hope he doesn’t drop it!

Lartiste art

I am truly relieved. I found L’Artiste safe and sound, though he devised a devilish plan to get back at me. Let me tell you the story:

My dear friend knows all too well how much I dislike having my image displayed publicly. So while he was sitting up on the ladder he got his pencils and crayons out and did a few sketches of me concentrating on my work with the other Dedes. I didn’t even notice, so engrossed was I in what I was doing. Excited about his cunning plan, he shouted himself a bottle of schnaps to celebrate his success. The discarded robe didn’t mean anything sinister either. L’Artiste is generally a very messy worker and wasn’t wearing his tunic at the time. Sure enough, he soiled his robe and swapped it for a new one. Untidy as he is, he didn’t bother throwing the old one in the wash. You should have seen how excited he was about the outcome. He could hardly wait to get back to the gallery and hang the piece today.

I am a good sport, at least I think so, and primarily I am excited he found his spirits again. So I am happy to call it quits. But I certainly hope  that by tomorrow everybody will have forgotten the image.

artistes end

I am extremely concerned about L’Artiste. Last week he was very frustrated and I thought I would help him out by making him the star of my short film. Originally he was quite chuffed, but when the feedback came in, he changed his mind. Even though we had some good responses and Socialite was so excited and wanted to interview him, it didn’t help. Strangely enough, negativity always seems to be remembered longer than positive remarks, doesn’t it? Sure enough, after cooling down for a while L’Artiste became convinced the film had ruined his reputation. He choose to have some time out and has withdrawn from the Dede community for the time being. I am well aware of how much he needs his solitude every now and then. So I left him to his own devices sitting high up on a ladder yesterday, while I worked with a few other Dedes on a pilot for a new film. Much to my surprise, when I came into the studio this morning he was gone. Only his robe was lying around where he was sitting yesterday and next to it a bottle of high percentage schnaps. Can you understand my worries?

studio-3

When you know the whole picture, I have to confess, I have sugar coated our situation just a tad. I am actually not working in a studio. I am trying to keep up appearances here and studio sounds flash and established. In reality, I am working in a building site. The site currently has no roof and is shrink wrapped. This protects the building from the elements and gives me  the perfect diffused lighting for photography. As it is the Easter holidays there are no builders around. If you have ever lived on a building site you know how awkward it is. As you can imagine the creativity suffers a little. I’ll try to make the best of it :)

But if L’Artiste really has taken to the bottle and wanted to go skinny dipping in a puddle outside the house, as his discarded clothes suggest, he might have come to grief. I had better go searching for him.

socialite artiste

Socialite wanted to interview L’Artiste about the film and looked everywhere for him. Finally, she found him sitting high up on a ladder in the studio contemplating. Socialite, even though she tries to climb the social ladder, is afraid of heights so she had to shout at him. That meant everyone became privy to their conversation.

It turns out that L’Artiste doesn’t want to talk about the film unless our viewers have particular questions. Socialite tried her best to convince him of the film’s artistic merit, but he couldn’t see it and he stubbornly denied her the interview. Instead, it became clear that I can add him to the list of Dedes who un-friended me. He is annoyed because he believed we were just fooling around and it was only a trial for a bigger film we wanted to do. He thought we were trying things out to see if it was feasible. On the day of the shooting he was very frustrated and he acted ridiculously, exaggerating everything.  He was very surprised when he realised I had uploaded the film to Youtube and the blog without further consultation. He would have had a thing or two to say about the storyline and he certainly would have had a different ending. He is thoroughly annoyed because  now our wider audience thinks he is a shallow chap. He is adamant this isn’t a fair depiction of him at all.

“Get over it!” Socialite ended the conversation  “Nowadays you always have to be on your guard.”

L’Artiste still moped: “Honestly, it never occurred to me that friends could do such things to each other! She really has to consider our feelings a bit more.”

socialite film

Socialite is a puppet I don’t see very often. I suspect I am much too common for her. She likes to hobnob with the rich and powerful. There are not many of them in my circle of friends. Naturally, I was very surprised when Socialite came and told me about this wonderful short film she had seen called “Life of an artist.” She immediately launched into dissecting the story line: “It’s fantastic how the director captured the essence of torment. You see the artist’s rapid decline from self-confidence to a picture of misery. You must see this film”

“I know the film” I said.

“It’s sad how artists are reliant on viewers opinion, isn’t it?” she continued. “People just don’t understand good art anymore! They are ignorant folks. Did you see the two characters that just walked past the picture? What are they doing in an exhibition for goodness sake? They obviously have no idea how much pain goes into creating unique artworks!

“I don’t know. To me it looks very much like instant-gratification-artist. A one shot wonder! He had one good inspirational idea and he immediately took the result to the market in the hope of selling and making money. Artists need a bit more stamina, don’t you think?” I responded. “He can’t expect people to go all gooey over everything he hangs on the wall just because he wears a tunic like Paul Klee. Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?”

“I totally disagree. He did a lot of soul-searching before he had his inspiration. That’s very obvious in the sequence where he walks around the room. No, no, his inspiration did not come out of nowhere! I clearly see it was the audience that ground him down!”

“What I don’t understand, the two art-lovers at the end commended him for his work. But this wasn’t  good enough for him. He is obviously slanted towards the commercial. Honestly, what kind of reaction is that… pulling the work off the wall and tearing it up only because they don’t want to buy it! Isn’t it more important that they  liked it?”

“Tssst” Socialite threw her head over her shoulder. Obviously she was piqued. “What do you know about the delicate soul of an artist? I should have known one can’t discuss films with you!”

Mhm, could I be so wrong? What do you see in the film? In case you haven’t seen it, here is the link Life of an Artist

“I should do an interview with L’Artiste!” Socialite said. “He is the only one who can shed light on this matter. Do you have any questions I should ask him?”

bad concience and foxy

I don’t know what it is, except that maybe because it’s the end of summer, but the Dedes are in total disarray…

Remember when Devil threw a wobbly last week? Foxy Lady was obviously a bit aggressive towards him. She is a staunch feminist and can’t stand it when the other gender gets too cocky.

Bad Conscience was sidling around all weekend offering his services to both squabblers. That’s what he does… He goes around and looks for a disagreement of some sort somewhere. He offers his help and moves in with whoever lets him in. Once he has made himself comfortable in a corner of your house, preferably the darkest one, he forgets his promise to help and  just sits there and expects to be fed. He has lived with me for a while and, gee, it is difficult to move him on. You have to make a big effort to virtually throw him out. He is one of those who doesn’t know when he has outstayed his welcome. He never leaves of his own accord. Sorry, I am digressing. You certainly know the chap anyway.

Neither Devil nor Foxy Lady have taken Bad Conscience in yet. And I actually wanted to talk to them to see if I can help. But then L’Artiste popped in unexpectedly on Saturday morning. He was really, and I mean really, depressed! We had breakfast together and he moaned and groaned. In the end I said: “To be honest, we only have two options. Either we hang around and we are all depressed for the rest of the weekend or we do some new work. What’s it going to be?”

You know what he opted for. The result is in the previous post. It was an impromptu. L’Artiste just wanted to tell his story. In the end he admitted in secret (so please keep mum about it) that it felt so refreshingly good to have  a hearty cry. I picked up his tunic and will keep it for him until he is ready to put it on again.


Sorry, I am running late today. I  was rushing to finish a new Dede puppet film. So, here it is, fresh of the press… just uploaded to Youtube. Hope you enjoy it!

esta blished

I am finally ready to tell the story of Fairy Godmother. It is a long story and I have to briefly recap the whole Dede story.

You might know the Dedes have been around for just over a year. I started doing them in December 2011 and they immediately took on a life of their own. Within a week I had created 15 characters. They instantly set forth and forced me to drop everything else I was doing at the time and take pictures of them. When the images turned out well, they went on to demand a story about our relationship. So I sat down and wrote the book “Hermit’s Web or the few friends I need I hand-craft myself”. Their initial success made them so vain that having the book distributed to my close friends wasn’t good enough for them any longer. They wanted to take on the world…

Unfortunately they can’t do it themselves. They have to work with me. And I am the one who is holding it all up, so they tell me. If they had chosen a different artist, if they had landed in someone else’s studio, they would be out there enjoying fame and fortune (or at least, that is what they are constantly telling me). I can assure you they are not always plain fun. They are needy, demanding and ungrateful at times. They are holding me hostage  – but that is a different story. I wanted to let you in on the appearance of Fairy Godmother.

The Dedes, – when the book was published – heard or read somewhere that New Zealand was Guest of Honor at the tremendously important book fair in Frankfurt. Of course their demands didn’t stop with the publication of the book. The next thing was they wanted to go to this big fair. My plea that we were a little late didn’t cut it with them. “That is what we want, make it happen.” they said.

I was extremely fortunate to find someone who still had space on their booth and was willing to take the Dede book to Frankfurt after I had described it as an art book over the phone. I was so overjoyed about the good news that I immediately had to sit down and create the Fairy Godmother for good luck. The head wasn’t even dry when the lady, an academic, rang me back to tell me that my book wasn’t an art book. She said the book was rather childish. Whimsical I prefer to call it, but the word eluded me at the time. I was speechless. Here we are again: what is art?

Anyway, the book went to Frankfurt in the end. When I put the skin on the Dede Fairy Godmother I named her Mrs Esta Blished. Look at her. She turned out to be a tired old Fairy Godmother, who is busy protecting her own achievements. Her wand  is gathering dust in the attic. Personally I think she is a beauty, but she might not appeal to other people. Just like art, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.