Penguinbros.com

For this week’s antiART, we’re going to try something a little different. For your viewing pleasure, I submit an experimental video entitled Woodstock. It’s not very long – just a little over a minute. Headphones are strongly recommended. I hope you enjoy it, and that it brings a little calm into your world.

Today I woke up to some exciting news:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you personally for your submission for this year’s Mysterium logo, and also to extend my congratulations! Your Hollywood Walk of Fame star logo was selected for the official Mysterium 2007 logo! We truly appreciate your artwork, as well as all you have done over the years in the community. Congratulations and thank you!

What does this all mean? Mysterium is a convention of fans celebrating Myst, a computer game dynasty that has seen five games, several books, and more recently the online spinoff URU. More importantly, Myst – and the company behind it, Cyan – has been a great inspiration for me. Some of the first computer games I ever played were Cyan’s “The Manhole” and “Cosmic Osmo,” non-violent titles that valued exploration & imagination over mindless destruction (although there is a time and place for that as well).

I have been participating in the Myst community for a long time, but never in an outgoing way. Myst, as many know, was a groundbreaking title that broke records and set precedents for the computer industry. And it was made by a small team, led by the Miller Brothers, in a garage in Spokane, Washington. That brotherly/garage mentality greatly impacted my then six-year old self, and it can be argued that it was a major driving force behind the creation of Penguinbros.com.

Having my design chosen to represent Mysterium is to me an important achievement because it’s a real opportunity for me to give back to a company and a community as a way of saying, “thanks.” And we brothers Penguin will continue to give back to each of our supporters who make this endeavor all worthwhile.

Now I’m off to see my brother in the big city. Maybe he can tell you what’s going on in his life…