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The Ballpoint Summit group exhibition
ISETAN department store gallery Tokyo, Japan
Ballpoint art elder Lennie Mace curates & contributes to the first comprehensive ballpoint pen exposition of its kind in Asia. No one is better educated in the minutiae of the medium as Mace, promising what may constitute the finest collection of art & talent the ballpoint genre has to offer. James Mylne (UK), C.J. Pyle (USA), Shirish Deshpande (India) and many more are among the artists confirmed to participate. More info.
BALLPOINTBRIEF by E. Lee originally posted Sept 1, 2018
Bíró's Birthday・September 29・
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RETROSPECTACLE by E. Lee posted December 15, 2016
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Wikipedia has included Bíró's birthday within their On this day... front-page listing, causing a ripple-effect of second-hand traffic to the site's Ballpoint Pen page and Ballpoint Pen Artwork page.
The Ballpointer, also celebrating a birthday of sorts as we reach year-six of publication, has benefitted from Bíró's beneficence, as well, with daily traffic spiking dramatically on those days due to that same ripple effect.
László Bíró invented something we each hold in our hand every day, and I'm not just talking about the drawing ballpointers among us; I'm talking about each and every person walking this planet. Plenty of other people have invented plenty of other things, but does each and every person get to ride in a limousine every day? Does each and every person get to ride that limo to the Academy Awards ceremony wearing Armani with front row seats awaiting them? No. But every single one of you gets to write 'sweet- nothings' to your lover, or pissed-everythings to your enemy, thanks to Mr. Bíró's creation.
Dear Mr. Bíró, Hip-Hip-Hooray and HAPPY BIRTHDAY !・
All but the keenest viewers may have missed the many ballpoint pen cameos on screens big and small over the years. Ballpoints are regulars in Hollywood productions, and not just as desktop set dressing or in pocket protectors. Sometimes the tone of a scene is expressed by a character's inattentive ballpoint doodling. Those doodles may expose important plot points. For roles where real drama is required, the pen itself can become a weapon, wielded with sinister intent by an antagonist or coming within reach of the protagonist to save a life in a nick of time.
Sketched in Stone
・World Trade Center 2006, directed by Oliver Stone.
This entry had been on hold most of the year awaiting publication as a timely nod to this month's 911 anniversary. Tucked into the opening montage of the film is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it glimpse of ballpoint doodling by a man who would not live through the events of that day. Here are a few words about that few seconds of film...
thINK by B. Neufeld posted June 30, 2017
book review: Ballpoint Art・by Trent Morse
Published by Laurence King Publishing Ltd ・London, England
Continuing from HEADLINES 2 ... Morse may simply not want to give any additional attention to those who already gain plenty on their own but, luckily, excluded ballpoint talents such as Rebecca Yanovskaya—whose artwork can also now be found decorating Canada's 150th anniversary silver dollar coin—neither require nor aspire to Morse & Co.'s seal of approval. In a world without The Ballpointer, Morse's exclusions might've gone unchecked and his account might've become the final word on the subject, but his book, nonetheless, is a noble contribution to the documentation of the medium. Morse cements the reputations of some of his more credible choices and introduces a few new names who can already be considered a credit to the medium or show promise into the future. Some of those new names were already under consideration for exposure within these pages. (Some whom The Ballpointer had contacted well before Morse's book—Il Lee and Claudio Ethos among them—had already ignored inquiries.) Still, it's hard to take Morse selling himself so seriously while failing to explore some of the more poignant aspects of ballpoint pens' evolution as an art medium. Morse's art world only encompasses a predictable circle of cities the writer reasons as those ''where artists congregate''. Meanwhile, the flourishing of ballpoint pen artwork coming out of third-world countries such as the Philippines gets no mention. In that part of the world the price and inaccessibility of art supplies puts them out of reach of the less-fortunate, however talented, making ballpoints one of the only alternatives for those with the drawing skills and the urge. Art schools and galleries are also not an option, making the internet the only form of representation they're ever likely to attain. Does that make their work any less valid?...
Wikipedia has included Bíró's birthday within their On this day... front-page listing, causing a ripple-effect of second-hand traffic to the site's Ballpoint Pen page and Ballpoint Pen Artwork page.
The Ballpointer, also celebrating a birthday of sorts as we enter year-five of publication, has benefitted from Bíró's beneficence, as well, with daily traffic spiking dramatically on those days due to that same ripple effect.
László Bíró invented something we each hold in our hand every day, and I'm not just talking about the drawing ballpointers among us; I'm talking about each and every person walking this planet. Plenty of other people have invented plenty of other things, but does each and every person get to ride in a limousine every day? Does each and every person get ride that limo to the Academy Awards ceremony wearing Armani with front row seats awaiting them? No. But every single one of you gets to write 'sweet- nothings' to your lover, or pissed-everythings to your enemy, thanks to Mr. Bíró's creation.
Dear Mr. Bíró, Hip-Hip-Hooray and HAPPY BIRTHDAY !・
Were the man still walking among us this day, László Bíró would be 121 years old and he'd probably have a pocket protector full of ballpoint pens. Thirty-five years since his passing (1985) Bíró and his invention still command respect, with internet recognition and traffic numbers to prove it.
Google usually celebrates Bíró's birthday with a Google Doodle, their search engine graphics which change daily to honor the honorable. Bíró's Doodle shows a hand holding a ballpoint pen writing 'Google' in cursive lettering onto lined looseleaf paper. They even animate the flow of ink from the reservoir through the ball point and onto the paper (pictured), cramming a bit of grade school penmanship and basic engineering into a tribute with some educational value...
Google archives all of their Google Doodles. See their animated entry dedicated to László Bíró as originally 'aired' on September 29.
The Ballpointer memorializes László Bíró by permanent inclusion in our artist registry on the BULLPEN page, with a drawing by Bíró, himself, proving him to be the first to test the creative application of his invention.
Photo of Bíró and Google Doodle graphics © respective artists.
INKBLOTTER last revised July 23, 2016
Ballpoint pen artwork & more, now on display or coming soon.
Support the Starving ARTS, Ballpoint and Otherwise.
Google archives all of their Google Doodles. See their animated entry dedicated to László Bíró as originally 'aired' on September 29.
The Ballpointer memorializes László Bíró by permanent inclusion in our artist registry on the BULLPEN page, with a drawing by Bíró, himself, proving him to be the first to test the creative application of his invention.
Photo of Bíró and Google Doodle graphics © respective artists.
Submissions to The Ballpointer are welcome and encouraged but, by doing so, you are authorizing the use and publication of of any texts and/or data provided. Having said that, let us know you're out there.
Postcards, prints & Lennie Mace ''SMALLS'' available for viewing & purchase at lenniemacemarket.com.
¥10K Hō-Ō Phoenix new year card art (above) © Lennie Mace.
Below: actual Japanese ¥10,000 note showing original engraving.
Listings published courtesy of The Ballpointer, space permitting.
Something you'd like to see? Something you'd like us to see?...
SUBMITCONTRIBUTE theballpointer@gmail.com
The Ballpointer 's special online retrospective of Lennie Mace's ballpoint pen art will continue in December as Decade 2 : 1994-2004.
A comprehensive book documenting Mace's artwork & art life is slated for publication in 2017. The Ballpointer will report its release.
All artwork in this article © Lennie Mace/THE LAB
lenniemace.com presents a tickertape scroll of Lennie Mace artwork.
lenniemacemarket.com presents goods for sale.
BALLPOINTBRIEF by E. Lee December 19, 2017
Dog Years・September 29・
Enter 2018, Year of the Dog for Far-East Asia, where people send New Year cards instead of Christmas cards and artist Lennie Mace, as part of his long list of art activities, creates annual New Year cards to get in on that niche market in his adopted homeland Japan.
The designs follow the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. 2017 was the Year of the Bird, for which Mace created a design he thought might be a tough act to follow. ''It was my most successful card to-date, a near sell-out,'' he explains. It certainly helped that since a couple of years ago his New Year cards are also being sold through retail outlets as well as his own 'goods' website. Mace jokes that he may have to rethink the benefits of such wider distribution for cards originally initiated as a perk for ardent followers: ''I heard from a person who bought the cards, telling me they received the same card from someone else who'd obviously also bought cards!'' ...
Rodrigues is shown sitting in a commuter train on his way into the city, passing time doodling in ballpoint pen onto a pad held on his lap. Seeing as the events of the film are based on actual accounts of the day, it would appear that officer Rodrigues may have had some 'arteest' in him. Rodrigues was killed by the collapse of the towers, which would mean this scene depicts his final doodles. Real-life Rodrigues earned a degree in aeronautical engineering prior to becoming a Port Authority officer, so alluding to an affinity for doodling, however fleetingly, adds poignancy to the portrayal of him in the scene.
Of course, the moment may have been inserted with no significance. Or perhaps officer Rodrigues did, indeed, doodle on his way to work, that day or in general, and such doodles survived him, to be found later in his locker. If so, perhaps the doodle shown in the film, what looks to be a man in uniform, was based on a doodle actually drawn that fateful day・
ORIGINAL TEXT from Oct 2016 post
Were the man still walking among us this day, László Bíró would be 117 years old and he'd probably have a pocket protector full of ballpoint pens. Thirty-five years since his passing (1985) Bíró and his invention still command respect, with internet recognition and traffic numbers to prove it.
Google celebrated Bíró's birthday with a Google Doodle, their search engine graphics which change daily to honor the honorable. Bíró's Doodle shows a hand holding a ballpoint pen writing 'Google' in cursive lettering onto lined looseleaf paper. They even animated the flow of ink from the reservoir through the ball point and onto the paper (pictured), cramming a bit of grade school penmanship and basic engineering into a tribute with some educational value...
Sunrise, September11, 2001. During a montage sequence presenting early-hour views of New York City such as iconic bridges and skyline silhouettes at dawn, Twin Towers included, three men are shown going through their own separate morning routines heading toward jobs in in the city. Portraying two of the men are the familiar faces of Nicolas Cage and Michael Peña as John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, respectively. Less familiar is Armando Riesco as Antonio Rodrigues. We later learn that the three men are Port Authority police officers all stationed at Manhattan's Port Authority Bus Terminal, and all three will be called upon to assist after the first plane hit WTC's North Tower...