American art collective
Paper Rad
was an
art collective
from approx. 2000 until 2008, based on the East Coast in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
and
Providence, Rhode Island
in the United States.
[1]
[2]
Known for creating comics,
zines
,
video art
,
net art
,
MIDI files
, paintings, installations, and music with a distinct "lo-fi" aesthetic often associated with
underground culture
or 1990s "retro tech", juxtaposed images and featuring bright colors.
History
[
edit
]
The three primary members were
Jacob Ciocci
,
[3]
Jessica Ciocci
,
[3]
and
Ben Jones
,
[4]
but additionally included many others such as Paul Bright, David Wightman, Sonja Radovancevic, Extreme Animals, and others.
[1]
[5]
[6]
Prior to Paper Rad, Ben Jones and
Christopher Forgues
(C.F.) were students at
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
and created a zine project called "Paper Radio".
[7]
[8]
Jacob and his sister Jessica became active in Paper Rad after moving to Boston and hanging out with Joe Grillo, Ben Jones, and Christopher Forgues.
[8]
All of them were interested in zine making, experimental art and music, and computers, which opened up the possibility of multimedia work.
[8]
The first Paper Rad animation video was made in Boston on VHS tape.
[8]
The early collaborators for Paper Rad included Andrew Warren, Joe Grillo, Laura Grant, and Billy Grant (and later the Grant siblings with Joe Grillo formed the art collective,
Dearraindrop
).
[8]
Paper Rad exhibited works at several major galleries including
PaceWildenstein
,
The New Museum of Contemporary Art
, and
Deitch Projects
.
[
citation needed
]
Paper Rad's work (featuring Ben Jones) is included in the permanent museum collection at
Princeton University Art Museum
.
[9]
The collective published a book in late-2005,
Paper Rad, BJ and da Dogs
[10]
and a DVD in 2006 on
Load Records
(
Trash Talking
). Paper Rad's video works are distributed by
Electronic Arts Intermix
.
[11]
Style
[
edit
]
Paper Rad calls its style "Dogman 99", a play on the Danish filmmaking movement
Dogme 95
.
[12]
According to one of its project websites, the rules of Dogman 99 are: "No Wacom tablet, no scanning, pure RGB colors only, only fake tweening, and as many alpha tricks as possible".
[12]
Paper Rad's visual projects often employ bright
fluorescent
palettes juxtaposed with
primary colors
to create a distinctive "lo fi" look. It adopts a variety of techniques and elements to achieve this look, including
pop art
,
collage
,
punk art
, as well as imagery from popular culture. The multimedia projects incorporate
MIDI audio
, poor recordings of original sound effects and voices, pixelization, and other crude audio and visual components. Paper Rad recycled or appropriated obscure sounds and images from a variety of sources, including old cartoons, commercials, and late-night television.
In the early 2000s Paper Rad's website featured early
GIF art
as well as a maze of linked images in the "Dogman 99" style.
[12]
Collaborations & other works
[
edit
]
Super Mario Bros. Movie
[
edit
]
Paper Rad collaborated with multi-media artist
Cory Arcangel
to make
Super Mario Bros. Movie
, a 15-minute video piece about the life and times of
Nintendo
's
Mario
.
[13]
The piece consisted of a hacked
Nintendo Entertainment System
video-game cartridge where the backgrounds and scenarios were altered and rearranged into a narrative story about the game world becoming corrupted and Mario's existential crises about being a video game character.
[13]
[14]
The movie debuted at
Deitch Projects
in New York in 2005.
[14]
Wyld File
[
edit
]
Wyld File consisted of the duo
Ben Jones
and
Jacob Ciocci
, in collaboration with Eric Mast (better known as E*ROCK).
[15]
Wyld File is a commercial entity that makes
lo-fi
music videos for artists like
Islands
,
The Gossip
("
Standing in the Way of Control
"), and
Beck
("Gameboy Homeboy").
[16]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Chiaverina, John (September 16, 2015).
"Paul's Pile Of Papers: Paul Bright On His Paper Rad Collection And Forthcoming Book"
.
ARTnews
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
Nadel, Dan (2011).
"Artistic Modern Funnies: Ben Jones' Problem Solverz"
.
The Comics Journal
. Retrieved
April 18,
2019
.
He studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and in Boston linked up with C.F. and collaborated as "Paper Radio"; then he formed the collective Paper Rad with Jessica and Jacob Ciocci in 2000,
- ^
a
b
"Gold Finger"
.
www.artforum.com
. Retrieved
April 18,
2019
.
- ^
Miranda, Carolina A. (August 21, 2015).
"Datebook: The art of a comics legend, avant-garde film and the future of L.A. architecture"
.
Los Angeles Times
. Retrieved
April 18,
2019
.
- ^
"Watch Influential Noise Outfit Extreme Animals' Insane New Video For "God Jam (Blow Your Pants Off)"
"
.
Paper Magazine
. July 28, 2016
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Moore College presents Women in Animation Film Festival"
.
Metro US
. March 14, 2017
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
Nadel, Dan (April 28, 2016).
"Punk and Hippie"
.
Art in America
. Retrieved
April 18,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"An Oasis, a Utopia, and a Nightmare"
.
Rhizome
. August 14, 2018
. Retrieved
April 18,
2019
.
- ^
"Collection: Diamond (2004)"
.
Princeton University Art Museum
. Retrieved
April 17,
2019
.
- ^
"Quimby's Store"
.
www.quimbys.com
. Retrieved
September 9,
2016
.
- ^
"Electronic Arts Intermix: Paper Rad"
.
Eai.org
. Retrieved
September 9,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
"A Brief History of Animated GIF Art, Part One"
.
Artnet News
. August 2, 2014
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Cory Arcangel's Surrealist Super Mario"
.
Hyperallergic
. May 10, 2011
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
Smith, Roberta (February 4, 2005).
"Art in Review; Cory Arcangel; Cory Arcangel and Paper Rad"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
October 30,
2017
.
- ^
"E*Rock"
.
E--rock.com
. Retrieved
September 9,
2016
.
- ^
Womack, David; Heller, Steven (2011).
Becoming a Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Web, Video, Broadcast, Game and Animation Design
. John Wiley & Sons. p. 37.
ISBN
978-1118034217
.