We’ve discussed Layer Tennis before: it’s a live online competition in which graphic designers trade art back and forth, building upon and changing the art during each fifteen-minute turn, in a kind of graphic design Battle Royale. You may say: huh? Well, here are some sample layers from last week’s match between Brooklynites Armin Vit and Sam Potts. In the opening salvo, Vit introduces a wrestling/typography theme:
Potts responds with a beautifully-executed discus-related diss. Is he fronting?
By the penultimate layer of the match, various new themes (Jell-O, birth and death, crotch-kicking, Photoshop abuse) have been added, and the match has become very personal. In the ninth layer, Vit responds:
In the tenth and final layer, Potts wraps things up with illustration layered over a very lovely (and heavily discounted) bridge:
New Match Tomorrow!
The next live Layer Tennis match begins tomorrow (Friday, March 27) at 3pm Eastern. Contestants are Jason Santa Maria (East Coast) and Derek Powazek (West Coast). Which man will dominate? Tune in to find out….
Season tickets are free, and ticket holders can join in the action — by voting, commenting, remixing layers, and more. For more info, just check out the Layer Tennis site. For past matches, check the archives. (I recommend the psychedelic Owens vs. Gnewikow match from December 2007.)
Comments (4)
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Huh? I don’t get it. How is it a competition and how do you win? And what do you mean by “build upon and change the art”? The second one doesn’t appear to share anything in common with the first, except that they both have illustrations of athletes. It doesn’t look like it has anything to do with layers. I’m totally baffled by this.
posted by Craig on 3-26-2009 at 4:46 pm
Craig – the artists share a source file (like a Photoshop source), emailing it back and forth. Each can choose to build upon the previous one directly (by adding/altering layers) or make something that’s completely new but (hopefully) thematically linked.
posted by Chris Higgins on 3-26-2009 at 4:52 pm
This falls into the “it’s art because I did it and I’m an artist” category. Nothing to see here, move along.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 3-26-2009 at 7:25 pm
PartiallyDeflected – As a Graphic Artist, I am unfortunately used to the idea that most people choose to look down or discredit our Art. That does not, however, make it any less frustrating. Just because it does not suit your fancy, certainly does not mean it is not artistic or creative. Take the time to try to come up with something visually stimulating that ALSO COMMUNICATES AN IDEA. I suspect you’d find it harder than you might think.
posted by christie on 3-27-2009 at 11:45 am