Stencil T-Shirts

When I was a teenager I made my first stencil, a Husker Du t-shirt using the classic Husker Du logo, a couple years later I made Radio Birdman and Magma t-shirts with stencils, and then I forgot about stencils for many years. When I started making stencils again about 7 or 8 years ago I recreated those, plus a bunch more obscure rock bands (Chrome, Univers Zero, Regressive Aid, as seen here, plus the comedy "Abba" t-shirt I posted a few months ago.) These don't always withstand washing very well (I've tried spraying with a sealing coat after the paint, which sometimes helps, but they still fade after several washes.)

Cheap Experimental Photography

When my Bazooka Bubble Gum camera finally broke (I couldn't get 126 film for it anymore anyway) I moved onto a cheap 35mm camera (like the ones they used to give away with magazine subscriptions, made to look like a fancy SLR but basically a point-and-shoot, yet another poor man's Holga), and here are a few of the psychedelic photos I took (using colored filters and/or multiple exposures.)

Far out.

Face Stencils vs. Photos

So after I made the last batch of stencils (specifically for possible limited edition album pressings) I decided the "face" stencil came out best and started making more. However none were as striking as that first face stencil (to me anyway), then I noticed the leftover paper from cutting the stencils looked more interesting than the final spray-painted stencils. . . so I took some photos of the leftover papers in various locales near my apartment. Now what the hell am I going to do with all these face stencils?

Found audio "puppy day"

I found this recorded acetate at a thrift store in Florida several years ago-- reminds me of the audio equivalent of found vintage photos. It's a kind of weird, awkward exchange, apparently from a local TV show (note how the girl gives her complete name/address/phone number-- something nobody would do today, and note the weird giggle and uncomfortable silence when she mentions how her sister is dead.) I had several of these kinds of mystery acetates in my record collection (none as interesting as this one), and recently decided to just get rid of them all (sold to a collector in Illinois, who may be posting them on WFMU's blog in the near future-- stay tuned.)

Found (and subsequently damaged) photos 13

OK, here's the story: a guy down the street was evicted last year, and when the landlord put his belongings out on the street the neighborhood descended upon them and pilfered anything they thought interesting or valuable (sorry Andy.) I was no different, and I made off with several envelopes full of photographs, plus several boxes full of slides. I think we all felt a little weird about it. I decided any photos that had double or triple prints were fair game for me to damage, so here are a couple that I damaged using different techniques.

Bazooka photos

Four more photos from my early 90's amateur avant/experimental photo phase. All these were done with a toy camera I got via mail order from Bazooka Bubble Gum.

Found photos

More found vintage photos. These were salvaged from beneath a pile of scrap metal in the Hockomock Swamp of Bridgewater Massachusetts (?!) Sorry for the lo-res scans (if anyone cares I can rescan at a higher resolution.) I have rescanned at a higher resolution-- click and see. I don't know what it is about vintage photos that I find so interesting. I don't think modern digital photographs will survive to have a new life the way these do.