by Casey Holcomb

Norman is a growing city. In the past 20 years the population has increased more than 30 percent, to about 106 thousand people today. This growth potentially brings many benefits to Norman. When handled wisely, an expanding labor market and higher demands for goods and services can contribute to the prosperity of all of us…

Trent seems to divide his time between Norman and the West Coast, and he usually doesn’t tell anybody where he is going to be. If you see him one day, he’ll probably be gone the next. I guess it makes sense, in a way, that his low-fi black and white photography somehow manages to be chaotic and cohesive at the same time. Too bad he doesn’t have a website. That’s just what happens when you are oldschool.

Where are you from?
The open road…. I have spent most of my life looking through a car window from when I was two weeks old to 24 years. But the place I recognize most as my “home” is Oakland. I am who I am cause of that area.

What do you do?
Photographer and vagabond extraordinaire.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Pretty much the ruthlessness and the hagardness that living a life this way brings to your everyday life.

What artists do you respect right now?
Man I have such a weird taste in shit right now… I’m really digging this dude Wayne Martin Belger. He’s this crazy ass dude who builds his own cameras then uses them for the series he’s working on. Like one is a 500 year old Tibetan skull, then another is about HIV and he uses HIV + blood as a number 27 filter so every image has been influenced by HIV. That shit is EPIC! I’m digging some of the old masters right now too mostly Gustav Dore. Dude is tight. Locally in Norman: Old Curtis Jones for sure. Dude is way more sick than people think. He’s such a good incubator for local artists more than anyone even knows, he’ll go the distance for you if you commit. And some asian dude, I dont know his name though. You’ll know if you see his stuff though for sure. OHHHH and last but definitely the most important is DJ RED lite….RICK DEAN!

What are you sick of?
I don’t think you have enough space for this one. As it goes I’m just a curmudgeon. I know what I like and I know what I don’t like. That’s the thing that people don’t understand, you don’t have to like everything. If I’m a dick for knowing what I like and respect, than fuck it, that’s what I am. Life is way too short to sit around and try to please everybody. People who squander the gifts that they were given are really annoying too. You know what, I’m gonna turn a negative into a positive cause space ships don’t come equipped with rear view mirrors they dip! Everything is tight.

What music are you listening to recently?
Damn a lot of New Order and a shit ton of old rap, Biggie, 2pac, Ice Cube, and then sprinkled with a little old soul, Mo-town, Four Tops, Temptations, and the Crystals. Ohhhh and I almost forgot DJ RED lite.

What is your first creative memory?
… Read the full story

So, you might remember attending Jacob’s album release show a few months ago, and now you are hearing about another album release show for Jacob this weekend. Don’t be confused. Just go. There will actually be CDs this time. Thursday, at Brother’s, with Sherree Chamberlain. See you there.

Where are you from?
I was born in Norman, Oklahoma.

What do you do?
I work at Starbucks to pay those bills. When I’m not doing that, I’m probably having drinks with some friends. Oh, and I’ve been working on this record “Nothing But Gold” for the last two years.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
I find that the more art you take in, whatever the form, the more art you end up creating. So I try to listen, read and observe as much art as possible. Just paying attention to the people around me inspires me a lot as well. Lately, my friends have been my biggest source of creativity.

What artists do you respect right now?
Loving me some Early Beat. I’ve also been enjoying Gus Van Sant films lately. I really respect Beyonce for inviting Taylor Swift back on stage to finish her speech at the VMA’s (Kanye’s such an asshole).

What are you sick of?
Misinformed people who are too lazy to form their own opinions, and instead believe whatever someone tells them. All those people at the Tea Party protests and fundamentalist Christians are prime examples.

What music are you listening to recently?
I’ve pretty much been listening to The Beatles since the remasters were released. Other than that, a lot of Beach House and Passion Pit. And I’m really into whatever bands Pitchfork is into right now.

What is your first creative memory?
I used to write movie scripts when I was about ten. My cousin, sister and I would record them on this cheap video camera. I vaguely remember writing my first song when I was 11 or 12. I think it was a country song.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Perfect day: The Earth for breakfast. Pepe’s for lunch. La Luna for happy hour. Sweet Basil for dinner. Blu for drinks.

Anything else?
I really, really want you to come to my release show. We’re planning some cool shit.

Tyler is a Visual Communications junior, a photo kid, and an all around great guy. Check out his portfolio site, or is more expansive flickr.

Where are you from?
Tulsa…love that town.

What do you do?
Design, climb, hike, photograph, and live outdoors as much as I can. And I love that I can incorporate all of those things in one trip. Hopefully I will be able do them all professionally some day.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
The most recent bout of inspiration comes from a quote by Khalil Gibran. This quote has inspired the way I have lived (or tried to at least) for the past year or so:

“Or have you only comfort, and the lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and becomes a host, and then a master?…Verily the lust for comfort murders the passion of the soul, and then walks grinning in the funeral.”

What artists do you respect right now?
Boone Speed for his awesome climbing photos and the way he picked what he loved and ran with it.

What are you sick of?
Nothing comes to mind quickly…I guess I would have to say I am sick of how superfluous human lifestyles have become.

What music are you listening to recently?
I have really gotten into the bluegrass/folk scene. I am really digging Railroad Earth, Punch Brothers and all of Chris Thile’s stuff. But I constantly go back to Anathallo, they are musical geniuses.

What is your first creative memory?
I remember drawing a picture of spiderman at a really young age and my mom being blown away by it.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
The snowcone stand on Lindsey street!

Anything else?
Nope.

Photo by Chia Yi Lin.

Morgan is the first local artist to ask to be featured on the House. Hopefully he won’t be the last. His portfolio website is full of gorgeous, candid photos. Check it out here.

Where are you from?
I was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

What do you do?
I take 35mm photographs and travel the world.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Being completely lost in an area where I don’t know the language, the street names, the people, etc. I tend to get my best pictures when I have a clear head and I have tunnel-vision on my subject.

What artists do you respect right now?
Henri Cartier Bresson, Terry Richardson, Ryan McGinley, Jakob Lodwick, Chiamattt, Breakbot, Demetri Martin.

What are you sick of?
Party pic dudes that snap a picture of you and then twist their cameras around while the shutter is still open so their pictures look like they have more energy in them than meets the eye. Expensive cars, Facebook, cocaine, Jesus, and Lady Gaga.

What music are you listening to recently?
The sound of my girlfriend having an orgasm, Breakbot, RATATAT, Treasure Fingers, Joe Walsh, Sebastian Tellier, Mr. Oizo, Francis and the Lights, Animal Collective.

What is your first creative memory?
Probably the first time I got baked I wrote, “Why aren’t waves considered musical instruments?” I’m sad to say I haven’t had a creative memory since.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
This super indie place I get my bacon-cheeseburger on called “Chili’s”.

Anything else?
If you’re an artist living in Oklahoma, and you complain that this place sucks balls because it’s Oklahoma…get the fuck out ‘cause you’re not an artist, you’re a bitch.

After sitting in on critiques with Bekah for three years, I can say with no doubt that she is one of the most talented, sincere people I know. Check out her Etsy shop for more of her illustration work.

Where are you from?
Originally, the suburbs of Michigan outside of Detroit. Or, if you’d prefer, the wilderness of Northern Michigan. I can’t decide which since my childhood was split between both.

What do you do?
I go to school for graphic design and pretend that a degree will actually get me somewhere. I work at the University of Oklahoma Press as an intern and do illustration and freelance design on the side. I enjoy the freelance and illustration jobs more, but I get to design a book cover here and there at the Press which is actually more satisfying in a certain way. I mess around with music but haven’t been motivated of late to actually do much with it. I like to stay under the radar with most everything I do.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Nature and simplicity mostly. I know, pretty cliche, but I have a deeply rooted respect and awe for all living things, so I’m inspired by subtleties and simple truths.

What artists do you respect right now?
Right now… I love the photographs of Sharon Montrose and Erin Tyner, the jewelry design of Nervous System, the screenprints of Diana Sudyka, and the paintings of Lindsey Carr, Betsy Walton, and Matte Stephens. I also respect, and always will respect, my mother, who is well-versed in a menagerie of artistic mediums, and both of my sisters, one a fiber artist/photographer and the other a metalsmith/muralist. In terms of designers, Isaac Tobin and Alvin Lustig interest me.

What are you sick of?
I’m not sure that I know how to answer this question. I suppose I’m sick of hatred, refusal to recycle, and animal cruelty. Also, dependence on other people for anything (my exception is my counterpart, Drew, who is really the better part of myself anyway). In design: most anything arbitrary.

What music are you listening to recently?
A lot of Django Reinhardt, because I can’t help it at all.

What is your first creative memory?
Due to the first years of my life being almost completely documented on videotape, I’m not even sure if I remember this or if the memory has been fabricated via video, but I did draw on the hallway walls with markers, some of said markers being permanent.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Food: our garden??? I guess I don’t eat out much because I’d much rather grow my own food. But I do enjoy The Earth. Also, Native Roots because they carry Coconut Bliss and they’re into promoting local goods, Forward Foods for their cheese bar, and Taste of India (but please don’t do buffet, ever; that is shameful). As for drank: Brew it yourself and it’s better.

Anything else?
Surely not.