#buchino

[buchino]

Exploding Whale by Michael Buchino - $24 Original hand-printed linocut art, edition of 28. 10" × 8" Perfectly imperfect: these were printed on my kitchen counter and pressed with a wooden spoon. Some look pretty sharp. Others may be off-center, lopsided, splotchy, messy or all of the above. Prints come in teal, blue or black.

buchino

A whale explodes off the coast of Oregon Chunks of rotten cetacea soar through the air, smashing cars and dusting observers.

[buchino]

I made an animation for Our Children’s Trust.

 The short and the long of it is: the climate crisis is only getting worse. Heating is the symptom; increased concentrations of greenhouse gases is the cause. We need to enact policy that is tied to variables we control—the amount of carbon in the air (350 parts per million), not degrees of temperature (1.5°C, 2°C, etc.).

If you wax nostalgic for Paul Rand and mid-century nuclear fallout animations like I do, you’re gonna love Why 350 ppm?!

Written by Our Children’s Trust & Michael Buchino Art direction, production, illustration by Michael Buchino Animation by Michael Buchino & Ryan Tiszai Narration by Sarah Hovermale Voice Recording by Groundswell Studios Music by Michael Buchino & Yoko Silk

Our Children’s Trust is a non-profit law firm that represents and supports youth in demanding an end to government sanctioned climate destruction and judicial enforcement of their constitutional rights to a safe climate.

Their documentary, Youth v. Gov, is streaming now on Netflix.

[buchino]

Logos are full of contradiction. They need to be fresh and new while maintaining historical equity. Keep it simple and make it say everything. They need to be bold and agile. It has to look good tiny, but make it bigger. The logo needs to be a tangible memento that captures [an] ineffable spirit.

Michael Buchino, “Rethinking Louisville’s soccer brand”

[buchino]

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on healthcare systems worldwide, but it’s also led to health interventions that can be applied to prevent future health crises, including outbreaks of NTDs.

I created the illustrations for this video.

[buchino]

Spent a term teaching special projects a the Creative Academy.

[buchino]

I made this video—concept, art direction, illustration, lettering, animation, sound design and captions—for Global Citizen. It is my first swing at Ae in earnest.

Reid Miles’ Blue Note album covers may have been an influence.

[buchino]

“Not all arsonists!”

A few of the compelling arguments I’ve heard defending the status quo.

I’m sure this could be about any number of issues, but it was drawn¹ ² from my experience throughout 2020 hearing counterarguments to defund the police.

Occupy was admonished for its lack of a pithy message. But, now, the critics want nuance. “Defund the police” is simple, straightforward and digestible. I think people are feigning ignorance, but I’ll spell it out:

Imagine any cause you’ve ever donated to. Your tax dollars didn’t fund it & *you* had to donate because police & military budgets already looted the coffers. They starve everything you’ve ever cared about. And literally get away with murder.#DefundThePolice #BlackLivesMatter

— Michæl Buchino (@buchino)

June 10, 2020

I heard the both sides-isms, which I haven’t understood from the start. One side wants no one to get hurt or die, the other side wants to get paid to hurt and kill people with impunity. Where’s the moral compass?

Some say “Not all cops are bad—it’s just a few bad apples!” Missing is the rest of that expression, which continues “…spoils the barrel.” Police unions make it impossible to get rid of individual bad apples. Donning a police badge means standing with and standing for those bad apples. Every cop is complicit.

Language and decorem are often cited as resonable justifications for eschewing the plight of the suffering. Indeed, “ACAB” and “fuck the police” are offenses equivalent to, if not more egregious than, militarized goons terrorizing, gassing, beating, shooting and killing the citizens they’re sworn to protect.

And, lastly, a criticism I didn‘t expect from a source I didn‘t expect: “You’re not suffering or disadvantaged in any discernible way; this doesn’t affect you directly; why do you care?” It’s such a selfish, privileged and oblivious sentiment. As if caring for the well-being of others is a bad thing. How callous.

There were a bunch of other apologist arguments absolving police culpability—what about-isms and false equivalencies that ran the gamut from past convictions to damaged property to thrown water bottles—that assume the duties of police encompass judge, jury and executioner. Some are quick to embrace wrong place/wrong time collateral damage—positting that trained and paid officers cannot be expected to be perfect all the time, but the hoi polloi must be on their best behavior, steadfast and vigilant. Still, others are willfully ignorant of historical context among an abundance of data—like why which people are policed or the perceived necessity of security theater. Crime is a construct.

But the thing I keep returning to is how we collectively just accept that a city can spend a third of its budget on a gang of outsiders to harm city residents while evading duties, bemoaning violence prevention and just not solving crime in general. Why are so many people fighting to preserve this?

Further listening:

Behind the Bastards by Robert Evans “The Worst Police Union in History”, Pt. 1 “The Worst Police Union in History”, Pt. 2

Politically Re-Active with W. Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu “Defund the Police 2021 + Trump’s Twitter”

1. Cartoon originally posted to Instagram on 27 December 2020.

2. Pun intended!

[buchino]

I think people put too much stock in simply recognizing things are bad.

Eleven days after I initially published this cartoon¹, the USA experienced an attempted coup d'état and talking heads incredulously asked “why?” and “how?”

The future has been foreshadowed—just follow the tracks. To descry the condition is a necessary first step, but it will not be the thing that saves us.

Further reading:

Hiding in Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior (library, book store)

Further listening:

Gaslit Nation by Sarah Kendzior and Andrea Chalupa “Clear Intent”

1. Originally posted to Instagram on 26 December 2020.