Emme was interviewed by Karen Ingram.


Name?
Emme Stone

Location?
Sydney, Australia

URL:
http://elephantcloud.com
http://neumu.net

How was Elephant Cloud born?
Elephant Cloud was birthed from the loins of Elephant Gazette - a site that concerned itself with such features as the Cut Out & Keep Wildebeest™ and a diary written from the point of view of a river. The Gazette eventually evaporated thus forming the pachydermal cumulonimbus we know today.

You used to have a "diary" section on Elephant Cloud, and state that you are "...partial to the nutritional elements contained in vowels, consonants and miscellaneous punctuation..." Are you still writing?
I have been working on my debut novel for over a year now and am still firmly ensconced in the first page of chapter one.

You display great talents as a visual artist, and a writer. How would you say the synergism of these skills play into each other?
Stories can be told in many different ways and sometimes combining these ways can increase the overall level of communication. For this reason I like to experiment with writing, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, film and many combinations therein.

Your older work incorporates a lot of Flash animation, but your newest work has a more comic-oriented, sketchy style--specifically Neumu's Underneath. Is there a reason why you've decided to take this route?
After reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud and Maus by Art Speigelman I became aware of the vast potential of static comics as a story-telling device, hence the absence of sound and movement. I also wish to publish Underneath in book format one day.

Do you feel that your natural illustration style is influenced by your usage of Flash?
It's tempting to try and please Flash with smoothed vectors and the like however I don't let this affect my work too much. My illustration style is probably more influenced by computers in general. In the analogue world I sometimes forget that there is no command-z so I take more risks based on the fact that I can supposedly go back and undo.

Can you talk a little bit about Ivy as a character? What inspired you to create her, as well as other characters you've created, like Ottergirl and Carlyle Tigerlily?
Ivy is a girl who lives in an abandoned subway tunnel. She is an artist and has two friends - an old man named Rutherford who likes to build miniature railways and his pet rat, Henry. I like to create characters who experience the world from a unique perspective. For Ivy, it's living underneath the city. For Ottergirl, it's living in a refrigerator freezer. For Carlyle Tigerlily, it's living in a monkey suit. I am often inspired by the art of story-telling itself. I enjoy constructing stories.

Tell us a little bit about the genesis of Neumu.
Neumu is a website that concentrates on art and music and words. My co-founder, Michael Goldberg, is a very talented fellow who once-upon-a-time hired me as an illustrator to create a web animation series for MTV Interactive. We have enjoyed a strong creative relationship ever since so when he came up with the concept of Neumu I was very keen to collaborate. Developing the site has been a slow but rewarding process. Simply put, Michael is responsible for the words and I am responsible for the pictures (although there is some cross-over as he is a gifted photographer and I write the occasional record review). Neumu has grown quite organically since it was first published a year ago with more and more folks contributing to it and a steadily increasing number of visitors.

Neumu has the delightful distinction of being a site that merges music and the visual arts in many different ways. Can you speak a little bit about some of the sections in Neumu?
Some sections of Neumu are purely musically minded (44.1kHz music reviews, Gramophone free MP3 library, Needle Drops electronic music column, Datastream music news, Inquisitive interviews) while others are predominantly concerned with film (Cinematronic film and DVD reviews, Continuity Error film column). Some sections are editorial based (The InsiderOne Daily Report, The Drama You've Been Craving weekly column) while others focus more on art (Captured weekly photograph, Exhibit art and design et al, Underneath weekly comics). There are also a couple of sections where sound and image co-exist (Depth Of Field photography exhibits feature musicians from time to time, the TwinklePop section features web-based music videos). We are hoping to add more visual content in the near future.

What's the theory behind the TwinklePop section of Neumu? How do you choose the artists you showcase?
The TwinklePop section was constructed by the very talented Annette Loudon of The Nifty Corporation. Her concept was to bring attention to unknown yet worthy musicians by teaming them up with professional web designers/animators to create promotional music videos. She researches artists that might be eligible as well as follows up referrals and suggestions from others.

It's apparent you have a passion for music--do you typically compose the music that you use for your animations?
Although I have tried in the past to compose music, I am very fortunate to have friends whose sounds please my ears ever so much more. Therefore, where possible, I collaborate.

Who and what are your influences, on & off the web, visually and otherwise?
My influences include: Cy Twombly; Chris Ware (the artist responsible for the Acme Novelty Library series of comics and its companion tome Jimmy Corrigan, The Smartest Kid On Earth); Michael Chabon (author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay); Markus Popp (Oval); Yoshitomo Nara; Matt Groening; and J.D. Salinger.

Any future plans for Elephant Cloud that you can share with us?
I'm hoping to publish some film projects I've been working on soon.

What do you know about Australian and New York designers?
They both tend to appreciate breakfast cereal, which is important to me.

Final comments?
"Comfrey is a very common but a very neglected plant: it contains very great virtues. Yea, it is said to be so powerful to consolidate and knit together, that if it be boiled with dissevered pieces of flesh in a pot, it will join them together again." - Culpeper Herbal 1653.

Thanks Emme!