I'm a fan of lots of different kind of artwork, particularly artwork that isn't strictly digital. I like variety, I like people to mix things up and I encourage getting down and dirty with your work.

I found a Finnish artist by the name of Sami Havia who paints album covers on cassette tapes and wow, does he goes all out. A couple of his images are below, but a lot more can be seen on his website.

One of the comments left today by someone on an art forum was this, "I'm all for art but I really dislike the idea of turning old tapes into canvas. It's trying too much and focusing in on the wrong thing."

I completely disagree with that.

I think that the combination of not only medium and style, but the concept and intent behind it is actually quite beautiful. Sami doesn't ignore the medium he's utilizing, instead he's incorporated it into his art and made the two separate elements meld together almost seamlessly in many instances.

Perhaps my reason for liking Sami Havia so much is that he plays on my desire to take an object and completely turn it on its head so that its original meaning isn't showing through at all. Cassette tapes are for the art of sound, and have never really been seen as having a visual connotation at all. Sure, the packaging was the art, and the sound that came from it was art as well, but the physical item really was never considered a canvas for anything.

I was reading an article earlier today that gave strong evidence to the idea of constraint for artists. The more restrictions, the more ability for an artist or a creative person to bloom and really explore the possibilities. It sounds contradictory, but pushing the elements within specific guidelines actually helps far more than complete creative freedom does.

For example, the Google homepage is limited to 28 words; Piet Mondrian pushed modernism because of his restraint in only using primary colors and sticking to 90-degree angles; the iPhone bases it's complete trademark simplicity on the dominate usage of the touchscreen and a single physical button.

And just like the aforementioned people and companies have shown, strong limitations actually push boundaries and stimulate the mind. Sami Havia's limitations of only using cassette tapes and album covers for his artwork in this series force us to revisit the idea of what something is, and what it's purpose can be. Not what it is, but what it can be.

Draw encourages you to push those boundaries with your own limitations and of course,
Draw.

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