ThingsAmongMany

It’s not terribly unusual for us to get a look at early work from print artists or designers. Seeing where these minds have come from, how they’ve grown, and how they got started is relatively commonplace. Even the widely esteemed Michael Beirut has shared his student portfolio with the world (and its well-worth a perusal if you haven’t seen it yet!).

It’s a bit more rare, though, to have the opportunity to gain the same insight into the world of a cinematic director. Directors seem to pop up out of nowhere or squeeze out an indie hit that then propels them on to bigger things. The difficulties are ten-fold when we’re looking at someone who’s much more a video artist than a big-screen director. Someone like, say, Chris Cunningham. Most well-known for his work on Bjork’s All is Full of Love video (view here) and Aphex Twin’s Come to Daddy video, Cunningham is now one of the most widely recognized names in music video.

Given his notoriety, and the fact that I love his All is Full of Love video, I was really excited to stumble onto a reel of Cunningham’s early work. This is perportedly the reel that scored Chris his first directorial job. It’s a 7.5 minute look into one of the more creative minds out there right now!

There’s something about the creative mind that’s always intriguing to me: it never settles. How many creatives do you know who are always looking for the next thing to keep them going? The next project to fill their time on the side? The next idea that will fulfill their creative aspirations in whatever manner their “creative” job can’t? I know quite a few.

That was the thought that crossed my mind a few weeks back when I met Yuyu Chen. We were introduced in much the same way that I meet just about everyone these days: beer in hand, through mutual friends. As our conversation progressed, Yuyu revealed a rather interesting background. She started as a graphic designer, graduating from the Academy of Art back in 2000. After a few years in the business, though, it seems that she had much the same realization that many of us do after leaving school…the real world just isn’t quite what we expected.

Which led Yuyu back to that haven we all seek when its time for a change. She recently graduated Parsons fashion design program and has been plying her new trade in the world of jewelry. According to an interview, the change was brought about by her interest in being more hands-on through the design process - an interest that I’ve heard from many digital designers.

Check out Yuyu’s work here, and keep an eye out for her as she continues to grow and explore her new field. I don’t think we’ve seen the end of her work by a long shot.