American Artifact

I love gig posters. Hands down, they are one of my favourite things in the world. Recently I was casually browsing the internets when I discovered there was a documentary about gig posters called American Artifact that featured some of the most awesome artists in the world. I was like, "NO WAY!"

So I bought it (even though I was a tiny bit hesitant at the price of nearly $40 for a DVD). And I can say that it is the most inspiring thing that I've watched for a long, long time. It just reminds me of why I got so excited about gig posters in the first place. There's a real DIY feel throughout the film, as many of the posters artists quit their jobs and started doing what they loved, even though they were struggling financially.



I love how Frank Kozic says that his original goal when making posters was to get people to say "How can this exist? Who the f*ck made this?"

One of the poster artists featured is Emek, who just churns out amazing poster after amazing poster. The video below was from the bonus disc showing deleted scenes and it gives some insight into his process - he uses fineliners to draw insane amounts of detail. He definitely is the thinking man's poster artist.



If you are into gig posters, this is a seriously awesome doco.