Tugboat: September 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 4C Screenprint

••• Three-Way: Featuring the work of Ed Forde, David Gracie & Aaron Holz.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: August 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 2C Screenprint

••• InterConnectivity: Featuring the work of Sarah Blitz & Carlos Guerrero.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: July 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 3C Screenprint

••• Personal Histories: Curated by Caitlin Applegate. The work of Larry Gawel, Carlos Guerrero, Ying Zhu & Caitlin Applegate.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: June 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 4C Screenprint

••• Resoance: the work of Joshua Norton & Nelson Ahrnsbrak with Jessica Mills in the Emergency Room.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: May 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 3C Screenprint

••• Things Go Wrong Quite Often: Painting & Sculpture from Gary Rattigan.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: April 08 - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Poster - 4C Screenprint

••• This Is Not The Return Of Tugboat - April 4th, 2008 marked the beginning of a remarkable new endeavor in downtown Lincoln at 116 N 14th — Tugboat, officially out of dry-dock. The space is amazing, a truly grand renovation re-opening for the city's finest alternative art gallery.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster.


 

Tugboat: The Return - Justin Kemerling




Description - Exhibition Posters - 1C Screenprint

••• With Tugboat's return approaching, I stumbled across one of the first promo prints for the gallery. This lovely tugboat image originally screened by the very inspiring Joey Lynch now marks the return, to a new location, in the middle of what looks to become the artistic hub of the city.

Design + Printing for the Tugboat Gallery. Purchase this Poster


 

From Dreams To Reality - Justin Kemerling




Description - Poster

••• My good friend Dr. Patrick Jones visits Doane College to guest lecture on Martin Luther King, Jr. His emphasis is on a global vision for human rights and racial justice here in Nebraska.

For the poster, we wanted to capture the visual style of the Harlem Renaissance paintings created by Aaron Douglas. We wanted a sense of modern revolutionary spirit and we wanted to call attention to the injustice that still exists today.

We didn't want the neat & tidy "santa claus" image of King that is too often portrayed. Jones discusses King's vision in "Beyond Vietnam" terms — ending racism, militarism and materialism, on a local level and in the world. The ideas of a revolution that question the very core of our American values and how those values apply to race and class in this country.

With the third highest black poverty rate in the nation, Omaha represents a critical junction, as the city tries to create a new vision of prosperity, how will we all continue to move toward equality and justice not just in our values, but in our actions.

More Info:
Omaha in Black and White: Poverty amid prosperity
North Omaha Development Project
King's Beyond Vietnam Speech
Aaron Douglas
Freedom Road Blog


 

Sheldon Survey - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Design

••• Invitational exhibition that reflects the diverse landscape of contemporary art.


 

Space, Peace, Planet - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Poster - 2C Screenprint

••• We live on a tiny planet in a vast universe & are loosing our way. We need a shift. Away from the culture of death to a culture of life. Now let peace guide us.

Made for the 2007 Annual Peace Conference in Nebraska. Purchase this Poster.


 

Peace Propaganda - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Buttons & Postcards

••• I've been working with a very energetic group of peacemakers here in Nebraska for a couple of years now & was approached this year to help Nebraskans For Peace raise some money at their annual peace conference. You can help them in their peacework by purchasing these buttons & postcards in our TMF store.

A main focus at the conference was StratCom, located in Omaha, & space weapons in our military-industrial-corporate complex. Bruce Gagnon, who does a lot of organizing work on the subject, gave a very passionate address about the problems we face with this highly corporate, militarized madness that engulfs our communities. As we have seen in the news with Blackwater or Halliburton, the negative effects of a privatized war machine using globalization to advance an ideology of dominance is getting quite ugly.

We are a nation addicted to war & there is a shift that must take place to a culture of life. Even though war is inhuman & immoral, the military is such a large source for jobs & wealth in a community.

After a rather dire assessment, the solution presents itself quite nicely. The workforce of the weapons of (mass) destruction market needs a new reason to be proud of this country. A new clean, green economy needs a workforce.

More Info:
The StratCom Situation
Bruce Gagnon's Blog
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
The Environment in 2008 OnPoint


 

END - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Screenprinted Protest Signs

••• On September 15th, amidst another sold out crowd in Memorial stadium, 200+ people gathered in downtown Lincoln to demand an end to the Iraq War. It was a day of peaceful protest & solidarity marching. On our way to the rally spot, a young Iraq War vet told us there needs to be more people out there demanding an end to this tragedy of a war.

End The War photos from Freedom Road.
Nebraskans For Peace flickr page, set up by Loren Rye from the Lincoln band RC Dub.


 

Farm Bill Dead Zone - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Poster - 3C Screenprint

••• With the Farm (Food) Bill moving through Congress without much attention, Brad Kindler & myself decided to work up a poster for a couple events he was attending.

Our Congressman Jeff Fortenberry was holding an event focusing on the benefits of local foods. The Beantown Digs Community Gardens was having their annual conference in Boston. Community CROPS, the organization Brad helps run, had a booth at both events.

The movement across the country for locally grown, organic food is becoming an answer to many of our country's ills, from childhood obesity to Middle Eastern foreign policy. It's a direct response to our current model of inefficiency. A model that relies heavily on oil. Chemicals & pesticides, storage & transportation.

With such costly side effects being created in our quest for cheap food in a highly industrialized, corporate-controlled model of agriculture, we seem to be in the midst of creating one large dead zone.

If we had a Farm Bill that focused on sustainability & strengthening small, local farms, we could start to treat food like it is a precious resource that is at the core of our communities. Put emphasis on slow food, not fast. Swap out the junk for fruits & veggies. Spread the word. And keep doing what you can.

More Info:
King Corn Documentary
America's King Corn OnPoint
The 2007 Farm Bill OnPoint
The Omnivore's Dilemma
American Community Garden Association
Community CROPS


 

The Anatomy Of Charley Friedman - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Design

••• The experience of working with Charley Friedman & Dan Siedell on the concept & design for this exhibition might be one of my most delightful. Charley has such a broad range of work packed with life, irony and humor. And he is one of the most grateful people I've ever worked with.

Friedman's world is one worth visiting. He transformed that Sheldon space into his own playground whether the space was ready for it or not. The design guide accompanying it was part mini-catalog, part playful representation. When finished taking in the giant photographs of Charley's Nipple Eyes, please feel free to make your own.


 

Charley Friedman - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Posters

••• 2-Color. Metallic Pearl + Light Blue. Thick French. The opening was tons o' fun. Go for the nipples, stay for the carpet world. Then stay more for the grapefruit serenade.


 

Community CROPS - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Screenprinted Shirts + Bags

••• A co-conspiracy with Brad Kindler of the Community CROPS to raise some funds for the 07 year. We printed on organic cotton Ts from American Apparel's sustainable edition. The bags were organic cotton as well. It might just be the perfect trade-off — he got design + printing, I got tons of potatoes.

Buy CROPS Merchandise - The "Grow Local" organic bags are now available in various earth & vegetable colors.


 

Comics Heroes & American Visual Culture - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Brochure

••• I worked with Shannan Kelly from Sheldon on this brochure that would accompany a traveling exhibition of Comic Art. A very horizontal little piece on thick, uncoated paper that pays homage to comics everywhere with a protective sleeve and cute little stickers.


 

Haywood Yards Travels Again - Justin Kemerling




Description - Gig / Multiple Gig Poster

••• Our good buddy Mike Semrad (the big guns behind Haywood Yards) and his lovely wife Kerry just had a little babe by the name of Jackson Singer. He needed a poster. This is it. A drunken fly by the seat of your pants jubilee on a pirate ship in an ocean blast now hold on.


 

CROPS Plant Sale 2007 - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Poster - 2C Screenprint

••• Community CROPS needed a poster for their 4th Annual Plant Sale. Assistant Director Brad Kindler and myself collaborated on this design and printed them down in the basement.

Lincoln is lucky to have such a great organization that aims to increase food security for refugee, immigrant and low-income people in Nebraska.


 

36 Years - Justin Kemerling




Description - Poster

••• Nebraska's two political prisoners Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa, two former Black Panthers from Omaha, have been in prison for more than 36 years. The First Annual Peace & Justice Banquet was put together to raise funds for Ed's defense and to help buy him new crutches.

From the beginning the case was highly questionable and a poor representation of justice in our court system. In May, Ed has a very important evidentiary hearing that could ultimately lead to a new trial or his outright release.

For the poster I wanted to capture the revolution spirit and visual style of the old Black Panther posters and newspaper covers from the 60s and 70s. Emory Douglas was the party's minister of culture who created pictures called dangerous, meant to change the world.

It's a huge moment in the case and the banquet was very well attended, raising over $1500 for Nebraskans for Justice. Now we can only hope the case turns in favor of justice. All Power to the People.

More Info:
Wikipedia on the case.
Info about Ed & Mondo
The Black Panthers in the Midwest
Recent article about Emory Douglas from the San Francisco Chronicle
Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas


 

Comic Art! - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Design

••• Comics. On walls. In an art museum. Brought to light by Sheldon Curator Dan Siedell. With a 4,000 word essay from cartoonist Chris Ware on comics as art, what better chance to have a fold-out poster that's all words.


 

Chris Ware - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Posters

••• Over the last couple of weeks I've become completely enamored with the world of Chris Ware. His beautiful books and wonderful storytelling bring with them an emotion one just can't help but be awed by. Dan Siedell and Chris have been thinking about putting on a Comic Art show at the Sheldon for the last five years and it finally all worked out. These screenprinted posters were for his visiting artist conversation, self-portrait by the artist. Ware paired with the Comic Art exhibition make for a rather inspiring/hilarious visit to the gallery.


 

Not Sold On Surge - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Protest Posters

••• My good friend Brad Kindler and myself decided it was a good time to do some serious (and colorful) protesting of this ridiculous notion of a troop "surge." We feel our president doesn't deserve any more chances in terms of military escalation.

What has happened in Iraq makes it more evident than ever that war will not solve the problems of the world. We need peaceful alternatives with as many resources put into them as we have put into our war machine. You can't expect to see the change if you aren't the change. And that is what we now expect of our leaders, co-workers, neighbors and friends. To be this peaceful change that our world demands.

The "Bring The Troops Home" peace rally sponsored by the Coalition for Peace was attended by more than 500 people and these signs landed us on the front page of local section in Lincoln's newspaper.

Thanks to Rebecca for painting and Katie for the snowflakes.

More Photos and Articles


 

We Will Cut Your Arms Off - Justin Kemerling




Description - Gig Poster

••• A Friday the 13th show at the Chatterbox with 2 Lincoln bands we know and love. Our friend B-Rad, the drummer in Boycaught, asked me to design this poster. He drummed in this band called Sea Sick Bob. Chainsaws and cut off arms were kinda their thing. So in a way this is a tribute to them. In another way, cut off arms are perfect for a show this time of year, it being October. And, for the record, if we were keeping tabs, Boycaught has probably cut off way more arms than SSB, although, Jet Fighter is probably the greatest song in the history of the world.




 

Ceasefire - Justin Kemerling




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Description - 4C Screenprint - Text from Mark Twain's "The War Prayer."

••• The action to end these conflicts unfolding before us is the one politicians put a cloud of cynicism around, speckled with tough talk and righteous rhetoric. Our dialogue needs to shift. As long as peaceful means are considered cute ideas but simply not plausible, we will forever find ourselves in situations like those that surround us today. And what surrounds us today should be the final straw on top of a rather large pile of evidence, that war, to put it politely, simply does not work.

The people are shouting ceasefire. And the bombs are fighting terrorism. Will we shrink?


 

Direct From Stratcom - Justin Kemerling




Description - Protest Poster

••• I've been working on this project with Tim Rinne from Nebraskans for Peace off and on for the past couple of weeks. He needed something that said Bush was going to bomb Iran and Stratcom was the trigger. My first design had the bomb read "From Omaha With Love, President Bush." He thought that was a bit harsh for most Nebraskans to take. I agreed. This is what we eventually decided upon for the protests taking place in Omaha and Lincoln. Then I was in Vancouver for vacation and Katie and I hung out at the World Peace Forum opening rally, where, amongst others, Cindy Sheehan was a guest speaker, and low and behold, we run into Tim who says that there happens to be so much resistance now against the bombing of Iran that North Korea is the new target. He was handing out the posters but had very craftily swapped the countries out under the bomb, and bammo, new message, watch out North Korea. I guess that just goes to show you, it doesn't really matter who the country is, there's most likely a U.S. bomb pointed at it.


 

The Visual II - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Event Design

••• Year two of The Visual brought digi-robo-from-the-future-chaotica that simply numbed then set loose omaha and lincoln audiences into explosive robo dances that lit up the night sky with reverse thunderbolts. Once again, many props to Jen Lukas.


 

Mike Cloud: Systems - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Design

••• New York artist Mike Cloud brought to Lincoln by the infamous Daniel A. Siedell. For the exhibition we put together a logo for the gallery, postcards and a nice little piece that functions as a brochure / poster / table tent on a shoestring budget. All about algorithmic formulas executed in a very raw aesthetic.


 

Sing05-06 - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Exhibition Design

••• The Sheldon contemporary art museum was doing an exhibition that was going to be unlike anything they had ever done. Very new. Very fresh. Very inspirational. 9 artists, very different from each other, were converging in this exhibition to showcase their individual styles, that are all very out of the mainstream of any school of thought or movement or -ism in the world of art.

I was asked to do the design for all of the materials that would go with the exhibition. With curator Dan Siedell we put together this very atypical museum design, with a logo, banners, ads, flyers, postcards, and so on, of which, my favorite piece was the exhibition catalog.

60 pages of clean, contemporary design, hinting at the notion of the individual coming to view the art, and in the process, picking up where the story leaves off, making the art his or her own.


 

This War Must Stop - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Shirt/Patch

••• Because war is not a good thing, whether we are talking about the War in Iraq, social injustices or the battles we fight with ourselves. Let someone know where you stand. Because "you can't be neutral on a moving train."


 

Hurricane - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Poster

••• Together We Rise - Whatever opinions you have about the words, images or feelings Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have imprinted upon the world, what we must do now is come together. Only then can we rise and rebuild. (Done for thehurricaneposterproject.com)

Shopping - In the face of tragedy — from terrorist, from mother nature, from our own hands — we citizens must reach out to one another without judgment, acknowledging our differences. Spreading love and hope in our daily lives, in everything we do. The last thing we should do is just continue on and shop, like nothing is wrong. We were told that once, but pumping dollars into grand ole economy while people continue to suffer doesn't work to fix our problems.


 

Whiteclay - Justin Kemerling




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Description - TV Screens

••• On Saturday, June 11, 2005, at Noon, members of Nebraskans for Peace and the Oglala Sioux Tribe marched from the Billy Mills Hall in Pine Ridge, S.D. to Whiteclay, NE to demand that illegal sales of alcohol to Indians be stopped. We distributed 30+ posters to the crowd with the 9' banners out in front as we marched the same stretch of 2-mile road that the Indians from the dry reservation walk to consume over 12,500 cans of beer every day.

Organized on the anniversary of the still-unsolved murders of Ronald Hard Heart and Wilson Black Elk, Jr. who were slain in 1999, this was a public demand for the elected officials of Nebraska to do something about the lawlessness and misery that the people of Nebraska continue to let happen.

Read more about the Whiteclay Issue:
State obligated to help solve problems at Whiteclay
Senators: More needs to be done at Whiteclay
Nebraskans, Oglala Sioux march to protest Whiteclay beer sales
Whiteclay, Nebraska: The Town That Booze Built


 

Mike Semrad and the Lesser Birds Of Paradise - Justin Kemerling




Description - Flyer

••• The nature of a certain style of whimsical folk music has exploded somewhere on a small highway just outside of Weston, NE in the form of a bearded mathematician who calls upon a swarm of birds to prey upon the open Midwestern sky. You betcha' there's candy in them there hills.


 

I CONQUER - Justin Kemerling




Description - Book Jacket

••• An anonymous proclamation of self-worth — beautiful and painful, simple and constantly over-evaluated. Grabbing hold of the complete aspects of an identity and letting go at the same time. At every step that notion of identity is successful at blending in to the barroom walls while stepping forth into a night where an attempt can be made to discover. It's a game where hearts pour out until heads ache. Everything is hidden and everything is found and then dropped.

For once it seemed like a good idea to put the ending of the book right on the cover.


 

Trucker - Justin Kemerling




Description - Photo

••• This is my father.
He has always given me everything he could the best way he knows how.
He also drives trucks, breaks arms and arm wrestles. That's what he likes to do, that's what he does best.


 

Say Something - Justin Kemerling




Description - Poster

••• It could be when the violence that is beginning to classify our times is accompanied by the proper imagery our current media establishment chooses to ignore in the name of "good taste," the half of the population that still chooses to support our current war might consider changing their views. The images of blank death that stick in your head when you try to sleep at night are a lot harder to ignore when you begin to see the true costs of a war with no purpose. For me, its becoming a series of events that just baffle me and leave me depressed about the future of this country. The only thing I can even say anymore, is "Peace Please."


 

Image Television - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Prints

••• My generation has become specs of consumer lust and population frustration. My generation can find solace in a shopping cart while billboards muffle the pleas of the person. My generation is full of discontent. Shelves of soup pulse. Buildings get erected to block the view from the window. Shelves of bread beat. I can help you on lane (insert any number 1-20 here) is the catch phrase of the (insert disenfranchised demographic here). All in the name of image and a happy ending. Blow the candles, make a wish, deny, deny, deny.


 

From Under Above - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Mix CD

••• So there's this girl. She's absolutely wonderful. She loves Iron & Wine. When I think of her, I get all smiley.


 

Revolt - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Posters

••• Given a platform, the senses react. Alive or dead or positive or negative the human reaction can always lead to something bigger than itself. Passive resistance bringing colorful change. Looking past a basic form, past a simple season, onto crystal clear summations amidst daily chaos. Blurring the lines of human meeting nature into a wash of transparent beings. Following basic blueprints of life. Always able to discover creation's bastard son in the balancing act that change gives to our hearts. Steady, slow. Coming into coexistence and appreciation of simple awe. We happen to be the intruders, but now we come bearing hugs.


 

The Sprinter Posters - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Posters

••• Combined elements of television, direction, figure, cityscape and movement represent the finer aspects of our short film, The Sprinter.


 

The People Will Prevail - Justin Kemerling




Description - Poster

••• In the name of all that this country could be, when bombs cease to be dropped, when reason and understanding replace the doctrine of military might, when citizen dissent is a valued commodity for the democracy that we are supposed to be, and when empire is no longer able to be uttered from the lips of the common person in fearful realization, the people will indeed prevail.


 

SOS RWB - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Banner

••• Logically, if you want to deter other nations from using their nuclear weapons against you, it helps if those other nations know of your plan to use your nuclear weapons against them. That's how it worked in Dr. Strangelove, even though it didn't really work because of a trigger happy, renegade general. Even if that is the intention of the new full-spectrum global strike, to claim it in the name of security, it doesn't change the fact that the plan itself is a preemptive attack, an offensive triggered by perception, contains a nuclear option and is in violation of international law. This "kick down the door" strategy of foreign policy is now centered at Strategic Command in Omaha, NE approved by Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush to fit nicely snug with Stratcom's some 10,350 U.S. nuclear weapons. Now, looking at this administration's track record in foreign countries and the wars they continue to wage, I don't really feel comfortable about these new features and the destruction they intend to bring to the world. And the real problem is that nobody even knows about all that this "global strike" plans on doing. This 9 x 3 foot canvas banner was made with ink, screens and brushes for the Speak Out At Stratcom peace rally on August 6, 2005, which marks the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. This is the 3rd annual SOS done to emphasize the dangerous connection between nuclear weapons, conventional warfare and current U.S. foreign policy.

Read more about Stratcom & Global Strike:
Omaha SOS
Stratcom
Stratcom: One-Stop Shopping for Bush War Plans
The "New Stratcom" Gets a "New Mission"
Omaha Independent Media Center


 

NFP Banner - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Banner

••• March 19th was the Second Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq. The Nebraska Coalition for Peace and Nebraskans for Peace organized a rally on the west steps of the Capital. The idea behind the rally and the pamphlets that went out in the weeks leading up to the 19th, was to remind people that we must ask the hard questions of our government in hopes that those questions will someday lead to answers and eventually to peace.

This 9 x 3 foot banner was attached to wooden stakes and held behind the speakers at the rally as they talked about fallen soldiers, fallen sons, fearful futures and the answers that we as citizens demand of our government.

It shared space with the wall of deceased soldiers and 200 caring Nebraskans who showed up with their signs and their hearts. Their solemn faces made it obvious that we are not going to be quiet in the face of deceit and are going to stand up to the blatant lies put forth by our elected officials.

This is not our war, but we are certainly going to fight, in our own way, to stop it.


 

M. Semrad: Stories - Justin Kemerling




Description - CD Packaging

••• The burning stories of a forgotten childhood revolve in fits of big city crime and World War II memory. Quick bursts of vocal sounds march to the rhythm of a country guitar. The crowd sings along with the syllables. And the sound guy is intrigued.


 

The Visual - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Postcards

••• A couple postcards for The Visual, which was a widely attended Short Film & Video Art exhibition at The Sheldon.


 

4 Cities - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Photos

••• Stockholm, Göteborg, Helsinki, Oslo. The Scandinavian fury as we like to call it. Via airplane, train, bus, foot and ferry. So much art, so much cold and so many miles in 10 short days. To Spider and J-Har, those were indeed some good times.


 

365 - Justin Kemerling




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Description - Watercolor

••• These three are part of a series of watercolors I did for my girlfriend Katie for our one year anniversary. I wanted to make something to express the 365 days of peace that she has brought to my heart. They represent the love, passion and joy that I feel when we're together. Or when we're apart I think about her "boppin' around" just being the amazing person that she is.

So thank you Miss Cavanah. The days that we have shared have been so very wonderful and I look forward to many more.


 

Image 400 - Justin Kemerling




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Description - TV Screens

••• If this was put together for any reason, it would be to persuade you, the visitor, that if you haven't already, go watch Truffaut's The 400 Blows. It's a truly beautiful film.