APPart Mini – Featuring Mobile Artist Michael “Bonabo” Stone

Please enjoy our second post to our new section within our APPart Column entitled – APPart Mini. This time our editor Bobbi McMurry talks with Michael ‘Bonabo’ Stone to find out more about his work, over to you Bobbi. (Foreword by Joanne Carter).

Apps: FingerCrop, Union, Repix, Glaze, DXP, Vintage Scene

For our second AppArt Mini, I’ve selected a fabulous photo collage created by Michael “Bonobo” Stone who created this piece in a manner that retained the look of traditional collage (those created pre-digital). He is a fan of some of the all-time greats, Hannah Hoch, Jesse Treece, and Joseph Cornell.

The very nature of collage can open up a huge can of worms in regard to copyright laws. The vast sharing of imagery on the web, the collaborations we do, and the ease with which we are able to download other artist’s work has made this an even more sensitive topic. To me, the bottom line is this, create your own work, if you do incorporate someone else’s image into your own, you need prior permission to do so, and you need to give the originator credit.

The shirt in Michael’s piece was “appropriated” from one of my favorite artist’s Rogelio Manzo. Michael did the right thing here by asking Rogelio’s permission – which was granted. We’ve included Manzo’s piece here so that you can see how Michael has incorporated the shirt and made it his own.

A little sidenote: Manzo thought Michael’s final image was great  who knows where that might lead?

Bonobo Stone:

When I began shaping, where Collage, Photography and Painting meet my objective wasn’t to disguise a finished tableau that could pass either as a photo or a painting. I wanted the viewer to see the process in the work, to showcase the digital tools that I use and how truly unique the digital medium is.

In my humble opinion, mobile art is the ultimate mixed media hybrid. It’s essentially a sophisticated form of finger-painting. No studio is required. The only tool I need is the iPod Touch I carry around in my pocket!

To me mobile artists are part of an evolutionary leap in collage. The apps on my mobile device are the scissors and glue that make my work possible.  During the construction ofWhere Collage Photography and Painting Meetthe apps I employed included:FingerCrop- for cutting and pasting – Union -to double expose images – Repix -to add painterly effects -Glaze – for texture -DXP -to create blends – andVintage Scene -to create a distinct photographic feel.