The Mantis-Eye Experiment

We're back! 8pm on the dot, look at that. Anyway, thanks for sticking with the site through that. The blackout site is forever preserved here if you ever want to check it out (it contains many helpful links). Thankfully a lot of sites did this today and there seemed to be a pretty significant impact seen throughout the day (largely thanks to Wikipedia, which will be blacked out until midnight). That includes normally Hollywood-friendly Republican Senator Orrin Hatch promising to vote against the bill as well as a variety of one-time supporters of PIPA and SOPA dropping support. Perhaps most importantly President Obama has said he will veto either bill if one comes across his desk, effectively killing both pieces of legislation without serious alterations to either.

Of course, as you probably know, it's not over, and it may never be. Please take the time to email or fax (you don't need a fax machine!) your state representative and let them know how unhappy you are with this legislation. Sign Google's petition and learn more about what you can do. Piracy and copyright infringement are very real problems, but bills like SOPA and PIPA are not the right way to combat those issues. Mostly just remember that you can make a difference and what you think does matter. The next time someone tells you that protests don't work, just remember today.

Thanks for reading! Now we'll get back to some Venture Bros. stuff, promise.

If you're a user of the internet, and I know that you are, you may have heard of two anti-piracy bills that have been kicking around in the US Senate and House. They are Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). For US citizens passage of these bills would be a major blow to a free and open web, and potentially a means to an end for many sites out there that depend on community-driven content and participation.

In general I try not to take any sort of political stance here (with varying degrees of success), since it's not really the time nor the place, but I feel that these two bills are too detrimental to ignore. So on that note, following the lead of Wikipedia, Reddit and many, many more this site will go dark tomorrow, January 18th from 8am until 8pm (eastern time). To learn more about SOPA and PIPA, and to learn what you can do to help, visit Stop American Censorship. Thanks for your support and understanding.

Head on over to the Gallery 1988 X Adult Swim site to see all of the pieces featured in the show and perhaps to purchase one if that's your thing. Many of the originals are still for sale and some of the artists are also offering more economical limited-edition prints. Remember, the show will also be running until February 4th at the Melrose location, so if you find yourself in the Los Angeles area you should check it out. Also don't forget to check out the Mantis-Eye gallery featuring many of the Venture Bros. pieces in the show (with the remaining ones soon to be added).

In case you haven't been paying attention to this site for the last week or so you should know that Gallery 1988 X Adult Swim, an art show celebrating Adult Swim, opens tonight at Gallery 1988's Melrose location. The opening reception begins at 7pm tonight.

I've also been posting various Venture Bros. pieces from the show and now have compiled all of them, as well as a few new ones, into a Gallery 1988 X Adult Swim gallery (the online kind of gallery, not a physical one, you have to go to the show for that). Feel free to check that out and if you're attending the actual gallery let everyone know how it went!

On the eve of Gallery 1988 X Adult Swim's opening we have a piece by Glen Brogan, aka Albino Raven. Click for the full-sized version:

Tomorrow I will have a gallery up with all the previous ones shown here as well as a few new ones that I haven't been able to post. If you know of any, or you're contributing to the show yourself please let me know (or via email) and I'll add it! Enjoy the show, to those attending!

As we count down to Friday's opening of Gallery 1988 X Adult Swim here's another awesome piece you can check out if you attend the show. This one is by Dave Perillo. Click for the full version:

For more info about this and his other projects you can check out Dave's blog or follow him on Twitter.

Today's Gallery 1988 x Adult Swim offering comes to you from artist Jesse Riggle who has produced four portraits of duos in the show. Each one is named after an episode of the show and is acrylic on maple. In the order shown below (from left to right) they are titled "Are You There God? It's Me, Dean", "The Buddy System", "Tears of a Sea Cow" and "The Trial of the Monarch". Click for the full sized versions.

For more info you can check out Jesse's project blog.

Here's another piece that will be appearing in Gallery 1988's Adult Swim show from January 14th until February 4th. This one is by Olly Moss and is a play on the iconic cover of The Dark Knight Returns. Click for the full-sized version:

Continuing to show off some stuff that will appear at Gallery 1988 starting January 13th, here's a piece by Michael Ramstead called Haunted Henchman. Click for the full version:

For more of his stuff you can also check out Michael's Tumblr and blog.

As promised here are two pieces that you will be able to see in the Gallery 1988 Adult Swim show. These are by Kiersten Essenpreis, both 11x11 inches, Flashe paint on wood, sealed in resin. The one with Brock is titled Brock Samson Feeds the Neighborhood Stray Cats and the Dr. Girlfriend one is Dr. Girlfriend & the 5 O’Clock Shadow. Some more info can be found on Kiersten's blog. Click for larger versions: