When art and ads collide, Mike Shine
Posted on June 16, 2009 - Filed Under culture |
It’s been a while since I’ve jotted anything down here that wasn’t already posted somewhere else, but I guess that’s why this is called a repository… Anyway, a few years ago through my work at Creativity and its obvious involvement in advertising, I became aware of the comforting-yet-creepy art of Mike Shine. Shine’s a principle at agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, whose client list includes LucasArts, MINI and Priceline.
Last year, Shine penned a telling POV column for Creativity in which he talked a bit about the balance between his ad stuff and his fine art. In it he mentions the influence of one of his favorite books, Steppenwolf, about a not-particularly-cheery German man who sees himself as two miserably conflicting identities. While the connotation is obvious, Shine’s art and personality don’t come across as particularly depressing or even that dark — despite all the devils and creepy characters — but rather an earnest look at these types of personal duality dilemmas, as told through what always reminds me of classic skateboard and vintage carnival imagery. Must have something to do with all the driftwood. And beyond all the Faustian, philosophic-psycho-stuff - the shit is just damn cool to look at. And then there’s his Art Shack, which Shine recreated inside SanFran’s Museum of Craft and Folk Art this past spring.
Anyway, perhaps better to just watch the mini-doc by Stacy Peralta than read these rambles. But I will say this, many in the ad world like to fancy themselves artistes, but Shine’s a good example of someone who actually does cross the divide. Deals with the devil, notwithstanding.
(video after the jump.)
Raw Meat on the Doorstep from Eddie Ringer on Vimeo.
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