CONGRATS to the Johnsons

Welcome Willow to this World.

The Passage

"The existence, maintenance, and development of the Panama Canal is of global interest. It is the primary shipping route for world trade between the Atlantic and the Pacific and provides Panama with great economic stability. During a 2007 trip to Panama, Alex Douglas began to investigate the canal's impending expansion due to global economic and technological demand. As well as interviewing those directly involved in determining the canal's trajectory, he turned to voices that were not normally included in the dialogue, people with whom he lived for months at a time. His immersion in the lives of people from all backgrounds surfaced a more pressing need to examine the country's distribution of wealth. In 2008, Alex returned with a small team to document the people and landscape implicated the canal and its success.


The documentary in progress contains extensive footage and interviews, gathered from more than a year spent in Panama. It includes interviews with Nicolas Ardita Barletta (Former President of Panama, and Vice President of the World Bank), Jorge Quijano (Director of Maritime Operations for the Panama Canal), Juan Wong (Chief Engineer for the Expansion of the Panama Canal), and Stanley Heckadon (Director of the Smithsonian Institute in Panama) as well as voices from outside the larger sphere of influence: Anna Crossdale (single mother of three, living in the colon slums), Bienvinedos Montenegro (70 year old taxi driver in Panama city), Carlos Valderrama (sugar cane farmer in rural Coicle), and Manuel and Maxwell (two fishermen from San Blas). These voices, mingled with vivid scenery ranging from the slum to the city form a fuller spectrum of thought and implication surrounding the Canal's expansion. With billions of dollars being spent, heavy Western involvement, and the assurance of more money being channeled back into the economy, there has never been a more important time to closely examine these rapid developments and their effects on the lives of people."


(below:) the packaging design/layout for San Francisco filmmaker Alex Douglas' stunning documentary "The Passage". The DVD is presented in a high-quality 6-panel digipak. Film-stills kindly provided by A.D. and graphics by myself. 


Please view the trailer HERE and check out Alex and co. HERE.

AU:TONE:NAL - Live performance/download

I got the go ahead from Andre and Dave Ed to get this out there. 
Attached is a live recording from our first live excursion for the project titled AU:TONE:NAL which consists of:


Andre Custudio - VOX, EFX
Dave Ed - Synths, EFX
Kevin Gan Yuen - Guitar, Amp


the performance took place on the second story of the Luggage Store Gallery on Market Street in San Francisco, CA on 09.30.10. Results were captured on a Zoom H2, edited and presented to you below as a digital download.
There MIGHT be a short-run, physical release - but for now...


You can download it HERE

Enjoy.

2 NEW PRINTS FOR SALE

Hi All,  available for purchase through me directly are two of my most recent works. If you have room on your wall, cubicle or need even more badass wall-material, you have come to the right place! Read for details below:

(above:) Artcrank 2010 design, titled: "COMMUTED" measures 12x18", hand-illustrated CMYK print and EACH piece was painstakingly embellished/signed by hand with metallic silver inks. Details on the creative process are below in a previous blog entry. There are about a dozen left! $15 + shipping
Edition of 35 prints. 

(above:) Triptykon, 1349 and Yakuza "Weltenbrand 2010 Tour" 10.23.10 San Francisco print, now available for purchase. Measurements: 18x24" (in reailty: 19x25" >> an inch available for matting/framing if desired), illustration, design and hand-pulled screen-prints by yours truly. 4-colors: metallic silver, black, metallic gold and white on French Slate Durotone stock. HEAVY!!! These are being shipped FLAT in kraft/tab mailers. 
$20 + shipping domestic // (international rates vary). I only have a dozen numbered copies left. Edition of 75 prints + over-run copies (less than a dozen available, numbered @0/75). Eternal praise to Tom G. and the support from the TRIPTYKON forum.

Triptykon in San Francisco

(above:) the digital representation of the poster for Triptykon's concert at Slim's, San Francisco, October 23, 2010. Print details: 18x24", metallic silver, metallic gold, black and white). Edition of 75 hand-screen printed on slate-gray French stock and artist numbered/signed pieces. All remaining prints will be for sale through myself, please keep checking for more info. 


Illustrated with pen/pencil and digitally refined by myself. I will post more progress pictures when I get the chance, but here was my summary to Tom: "It plays on the concept of Earthly chaos and the "perfection process" and end-result(s) birthed from chaos (hence the symbolic diamonds @the stumps of the severed arms I illustrated, gripping each other into formation; It can also be interpreted as an icon of awakening in modern-times of madness and struggle as primitive conquerors within."

Chrome presents: Artcrank 2010

I am one of the featured artists @the Chrome 2010 Artcrank exhibition. (below:) my illustration/print for said event titled "Commuted". 

The original consisted of pencil, ink and digital // the final results are CMYK prints with metallic ink embellishments.  I originally intended this piece to be screen printed, but realized that I would not have been able to archive satisfactory results with that method.

Necrite - "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" + tshirt

(above): 6-panel CD digipak for the highly anticipated full-length. Under my artistic direction and understanding of relevance with the albums concept and "nature". I attempted to visually represent the decaying and cyclic nature of mass in (A) perception of time and space. Cover illustration/pencils by Ven Latimosa and I handled the inking/coloring of said drawing and as well as the layout. To be released on Flenser Records in November 2010.

Necrite's first ever shirt I was also asked to design, thematically travels a similar path as the album artwork. These will be available at the record release show on 11/17/2010 with Watain, Goatwhore, Black Anvil and Pale Chalice as well.

from Blabbermouth.net: 

"After five demos and six years of anticipation, Bay Area black metal tyrants NECRITE will finally unleash their debut full-length, "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi", on November 2 via Flenser Recordings.
Seamlessly fusing elements of droning doom, funeral ambience, and thrashing black metal, "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" is a monument in the legacy of West Coast black metal along with the likes of WEAKLING's "Dead As Dreams" and LEVIATHAN's "Tenth Sublevel of Suicide". NECRITE has created something very special and very creepy on "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi", brandishing over 66 minutes of horrifying, ambient black metal of the most oppressive and bleak type.

"Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" track listing:
 
01. A Mass for the Harvest of Death (16:04)
02. Bereft of Hope (11:33)
03. Bathing Open Wounds with Shards of Glass (7:55)
04. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (27:07)
05. Worship the Sunn((O)) (7:33)

NECRITE is a three-piece: Thrull (vocals, guitars, studio bass), Tenspyr (guitar, live bass), and Malick (drums, vocals). Thrull himself recorded "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi" in a basement hole over the course of two and a half years; Thrull, along with Eric Medina, mixed and mastered the album.

Since its debut, NECRITE has shared the stage with acts such as WATAIN, DESTROYER 666, ENTHRONED and more, and has become a well-kept secret in the San Francisco black metal community.

NECRITE has managed to craft some of the most visceral and demonic audio terror around, forgoing traditional song structure and predictability in lieu of a pure unflinching devotion to creating the aural essence of death bathed in a drone of tingly creepiness.

For more information, visit www.myspace.com/necrite."

AU:TONE:NAL screen print available for purchase!

AVAILABLE NOW: 

These beautiful screen-printed posters for the AU:TONE:NAL performance involving: Andre Custudio (Say Bok Gwai), Dave Ed (Neurosis) and Kevin Gan Yuen (FERMENTÆ)  @the Luggage Store, SF. 

 

Designed and hand-screen printed by artist Molly Osborne. Printed on high-quality French speckled stock in an edition of 30. Each print is unique due to the nature of the manual  CMYK process utilized for the photorealistic qualities of these prints.

To purchase please click HERE.

THOU & MOLOCH 2010 Summer Tour print sale

Hi everyone. The remaining 2010 Summer tour prints are now available for sale for $10 each + shipping // please contact me directly for payment/shipping info: kevin@viraloptic.com
These will be shipped wrapped and flat.Print details: measures- 13x32", 4-color (black, red, silver and white) screen print on super thick chip // illustrated, designed and hand-printed by Kevin Gan Yuen and Molly Osborne in San Francisco, CA. in an edition of 175 and we have less than 80 left.

Thanks!

-Kevin

ÆRAKNIDS DEKÆ VR KRESTS

Hi All, a heads-up that the split w/Mark Bradley are SOLD OUT @the source // Scotch Tapes Records.
I have a VERY FEW left for sale $8 >> contact: kevin@viraloptic.com

AU:TONE:NAL // one-shot performance

AU:TONE:NAL

André Custodio (Say Bok Gwai), Dave Ed (Neurosis), Kevin Yuen (Fermentæ)

Our premier. May be a once-in-a-lifetime. Lube up the ear hole.
Also on the bill:
Animal Vegetable Television

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCRdDPoq3g0

AU:TONE:NAL

Location:Luggage Store, 1007 Market St, San Francisco, CA

Time:8:00PM Thursday, September 30th

Be there!

RECAP: GATES - "The Moths Have Eaten the Core"

This is a project I had worked on sometime last year, that saw full realization recently and are NOW AVAILABLE to the masses in an edition of 100 copies. Please see below for more info: 

"tracklisting:
Outer Labyrinth
Inner Labyrinth
Dust of Absence

edition of 100 CDs
6" x 6" 3 panel folio style jacket w/ Obi
design by Kevin Yuen at Viraloptic 
photography by Bryan W Bray
printing and construction by Scott Sokoloski at Firebrand Inc

Gates began as a sonic experiment turned into a ritualistic cathartic process. As a way to further cleanse the mental palette in a continuing ritual that took place after practices and shows with ORCAand always initially beginning with simple multi-tracked ideas. The music spans the worlds of doom, psychedelic drone, ambient, experimental field recordings & intense audio processing all filtered through the bleak aesthetics and sonic darkness of black metal. Recording began in the fall of 2008 and finished January 2009 in the depths of winter. The music ventures into themes of claustrophobia, nothingness, the unconscious passageways of the mind and the transcendence of the self.

Package design was executed by the talented Kevin Yuen (Fermentæ,Circle of Eyes), using photos of caves and statues accentuating the immersive sonic environment. Printing of the packaging was of the utmost quality, 167lbs coated cover stock with wax polymer printing (sleeve & obi) and pro-duplicated/printed cds attached with foam hub all housed in a resealable poly-bag.


(above art is slightly different than the final version)

Listen to 'Inner Labyrinth' here http://gatesritual.bandcamp.com

Contact for copies, (mailorder etc) 
gravitationaldoom at g mail dot com 
$10 each. Please get in touch for exact shipping costs. 
Mailorder copies (or purchase at a show) will include a sticker and 1" pin 
Also available at Soundscapes & Sonic Boom in Toronto. 

Available as a digital download via Bandcamp at the the link above. 

Huge, infinite thanks to Kevin Yuen & Scott Sokoloski for enabling this project to come to light(dark).

Through the howling infinite....."

Liz Ryder - "Ghost Letters From the Sea"

Design/layout by myself and the cover photograph by Alex Douglas.

lizrydermusic.com

FERMENTÆ: there is a new release out (!!!)

Copies the new split w/Mark Bradley are now available and will begin shipping next week. You can hear excerpts from said release HERE and Scotch Tapes for physical purchase.

"Fermentæ/ Mark Bradley split 

Creepy, wonderful droned out guitars and ambient synths with subtle beats litter this long in the works release.  Both artists have seen substantial growth since I last listened to them.  A great album.  If you are a fan of Dreamcolour, Great Slave Lake or Rambutan, you will really dig this tape. 

Limited to just 50 copies.

$8.00"

2K10: May + June haul

Gratitude: A. Bursese, T. Ekelund, T. Hannum, B. Handy @HSS, Buzz + Mackie Osborne, T. Olsen II, W. Funk, A + A from MALEFICIA, J. Way and thee Image Comics familia.

screen-printing posters pt.1

"And thus lay before him the culminative creation wrought from his blood (literally), sweat and coffee... "

GREAT FALLS + PASTOR TONAL split

BELOW: the folio-style packaging design/layout by yours truly (with this project, I drew inspiration from: 80's skateboard graphics, Mercyful Fate and John Carpenter's THE THING); these will be screen-printed (3-colors: sky-blue, black and metallic silver on chipboard stock) and assembled @BROKEN PRESS. NOTE:  the menacing hand + devil-skull illustrations are by Mr. Demian Johnston and were mangled at my own discretion. This release will be available on the DEAD ACCENTS imprint shortly in an edition of 300 copies.  

THOU + MOLOCH Summer tour 2010

We will begin screen-printing these SOON - you can get more details about the tour HERE. These will be available for purchase starting next month at their shows and then through me afterward. Personally, I had been really slacking as a "graphic artist" the last few years and had shamefully disregarded the power of the pen(cil) and paper. Below is one of the first re-visitations of hand-rendered projects that I have been proud enough to post in recent time. I spent some time sketching the hourglass and Molly handled the lettering (dates) within. I will be posting photographic documentation of the whole process on here as things develop... it's going to be a good one! 


Details:
- designed by Kevin Yuen + Molly Osborne
- measures 13x32"
- printed on very thin chip stock
- colors: red, black, white, metallic silver
- edition of 200 prints

die.

Grinding conception

"While playing shows in the San Francisco Bay Area with IMPALED back in 2000, guitarist Leon DelMuerte asked vocalist Travis Ryan of San Diego extreme metallers CATTLE DECAPITATION to handle vocals for the group MURDER CONSTRUCT he was starting. 10 years later, the band is a reality! 

MURDER CONSTRUCT is a roots grindcore-style five-piece ala NAPALM DEATH and REPULSION with an experimental edge. The band features Leon DelMuerte (guitar/vocals; IMPALED, EXHUMED, PHOBIA, INTRONAUT), Danny Walker (drums; EXHUMED, INTRONAUT, PHOBIA, JESU), Kevin Bernier (guitar; FETUS EATERS, WATCH ME BURN), Caleb Schneider (bass; BAD ACID TRIP) and Travis Ryan (vocals; CATTLE DECAPITATION...)  The band recently cut a seven-song demo which will be mixed soon. In the meantime, check out a couple rough demo tracks on the MURDER CONSTRUCT MySpace page."

ABOVE: not 10 years later, but more like 3 weeks later: the logo that I was recently asked to complete for them. Process: digital camera, sharpie chisel tips, micro .08, ball point-pen, scanned and destroyed.

LEFT: two directions that did not make the cut