harrison-spencer-etc

[harrison-spencer-etc]

A (Heavily-Modified) Espresso Machine

Is it safe to have such massive batteries strapped precariously to a machine who’s sole purpose is to shoot very hot super pressurized water into a little metal cup? Probably not, but these are the allowances that pixel worlds provide us.

Super proud of my first blender render / model. There are few things as satisfying as seeing something from your imagination come into fruition! I imagine the switchboard on the back would make different drinks depending on what you have plugged in where.

[harrison-spencer-etc]

quick practice sketch -- victoria winters from dark shadows (2012). All seasons of the original are streaming on amazon, which was the best news I got all week!

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Why I Hate Black Mirror

I really don’t like Black Mirror, which I think surprises a lot of people. 

I am pretty much BM’s target audience: young, tech-y, interested in the future, and a big fan of Twilight Zone. But I don’t like it, and not for lack of trying. I watched season 1, in hopes that at some point I would suddenly switch into liking it, that I would understand, and then I would comprehend the fervor my friends held over it.

But I never did. I never liked it.

There was one episode I liked -- San Junipero, which I found to be a nice work of science fiction; but otherwise, it didn’t do anything for me. In fact, it did less than that -- I found myself actively disliking it as I went on, past the point of apathy and into antagony.

Keep in mind that I am a huge fan of Twilight Zone. Sci Fi, before it was retitled with the more minimal and less sensical SyFy, used to do a New Years marathon of old Twilight Zone episodes. Every year, me and my mother would devote the day to re-watching all the episodes. 

What I liked about Twilight Zone was that, at its essence, each episode was about one of two things: hubris, or crazy shit happening. There were much more of the former than the latter.

The most classic episodes all follow the format of people’s egos causing their downfall: people getting plastic surgery only to turn out ugly, people using a camera into the future only to foresee their own death, people welcoming aliens only to turn into their entrees. 

Black Mirror, on the other hand, follows a format called “bad things happening to people for no reason, and when they try to fix them they only get worse”. Each episode is just one unfortunate thing after another, all caused by the terrors of modern technology and capitalism and, god forbid, people trying to improve their lives.

Both shows, in my opinion, are barometers of their times. 

Both shows were created in eras marked by significant progress. Twilight Zone highlights the fears of mid-century America: fears of technology, surgery, space flight, communism, and wars. Black Mirror highlights fears we hold today, many of them quite similar if not the same.

The difference is that Twilight Zone’s message is always “be careful”. Black Mirror’s is “don’t try”.

Twilight Zone protagonists only come to ruin when they over-extend. Black Mirror protagonists come to ruin constantly, and not for lack of trying.

Additionally, many Twilight Zone characters are able to escape their fate by realizing the error of their ways, while BM characters are never afforded that luxury. In that way, they show the ideas of their time: in midcentury America, the American Dream was concrete, the idea of working hard to succeed a realistic one. If you had problems, it was because you created them; and if you wanted out, you did it yourself. You reaped what you sowed and you lied in the bed you made.

Black Mirror reinforces a more Millenial view, one of faultlessness and hopelessness. The characters are born into struggles they didn’t cause. The problems they face were created by the system, and they can’t do anything to fix it. Good people fall into ditches dug by the last generation. If you had problems, it was because your parents played the system and fucked you over. Sorry. Better luck next time.

I don’t like that. I find that miserable and tiresome. I couldn’t live in a world where I thought my future was entirely predetermined, and its set destiny ended in failure. A world where there was no sense in learning from your mistakes, because you were screwed either way.

Twilight Zone, at the end of the day, is about hope. Black Mirror is about hopelessness. And I hate that.

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Marvelous Murders Playing Cards -- 2017

There used to be a certain je ne sais quoi around murders, a certain taste, an oeuvre. Nowadays its all crass killings, but it wasn’t always.

These cards recall a better time -- a time where problems were solved by a careful splash of a mysterious poison, or a quick flick of a over-sharpened letter opener.

This set of nine Gorey-inspired cards is a proof of concept for a larger deck, perhaps, or for use in a board game. 

[harrison-spencer-etc]

On 2017

This is one of my favorite times of year.

We’ve reached the end of 2017, just about. It’s only a stone’s throw to that bright, shining, year-on-the-hill that is 2018. This has been a remarkable year for me -- its incredible how different the future you imagined can be compared to the one that materializes. If this year had a theme, or a moral, I think it would be self discovery.

I came into the year thinking that I already knew everything about myself, and while I don’t think I was wrong, I wasn’t quite right either. If my psyche was a house, than I came into this year knowing the rooms only in theory. I knew the kitchen was here and the living room was there, but I hadn’t ever been inside them. This year was about going into these rooms, cleaning out shouldn’t have been there and showcasing what should.

This was also a year of coming to terms with my appearance. Like a lot of people, I have struggled for years over my appearance: my clothes, my skin, my weight, and etc. This year, things have started to turn around. Thanks to some friends, I found myself going to the gym every other day, and actually enjoying it. I looked forward to weight lifting -- I liked how quick it was, and how sore I ended up after. I loved going in the next day and adding weight, that realization that I was doing more than I could yesterday.

A late night Amazon purchase of a well-regarded clay mask turned out to be the secret key to my skin’s clarity. I had been following various dermatologist’s regimens religiously for years, with no effects. I was about to go on accutane to get things under control. Now, thanks to regular clay masks, my skin is the best its ever been.

These kind of little surprises are my favorite part of life. I love the unpredictability of it all -- I am constantly and consistently surprised at just how different my life is than I pictured it would be, days or months or years before. 

My goals for 2018 are to continue on this odyssey: keep going to the gym regularly; keep reading classic books; keep trying to add spirituality to my life, in whatever form that takes.

Thanks to all who’ve made this year possible for me. I am truly and utterly blessed.

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Don Giovanni Poster -- 2017

In Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, the titular character is a serial womanizer and a wealthy aristocrat. He chases three women throughout the play, causing havoc, and is only stopped when a marble statue drags him into the pits of hell.

The illustration itself represents the three women Giovanni chases, their hands reaching in unison. It also recalls the famous final scene, where the Giovanni’s clawing hand is the last part of him the audience sees. The gray airbrushing over the stark white calls into mind the living statue of the finale, while the red ribbon represents both the hellfire Giovanni is dragged into, and the mask he wears at the Opera’s inception.

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Forget how much I love sketching until I do it

[harrison-spencer-etc]

"I'm not like a regular fairy god mother, I'm a cool fairy god mother."

[harrison-spencer-etc]

“By the time you’re 34, you’ll feel like you can fend off bad vibes with a water gun, while sipping a Mai Tai.” -- Elsie Larson

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Scary to think that the cat has a serious chance to beat the democratic nominee, the DEMO-TRON 5000.

[harrison-spencer-etc]

student art show poster

[harrison-spencer-etc]

network map for accenture

[harrison-spencer-etc]

three tropical totes

[harrison-spencer-etc]

app icon for Accenture’s VR campaign

[harrison-spencer-etc]

“Stick ‘Em Up, Boys!” sticker pack for ios10

[harrison-spencer-etc]

[harrison-spencer-etc]

Tiki-drink pattern for Senior Art Show.