FAINT WAVES

Featured article image taken from my own collection. Tiled gallery images courtesy of the Vinegar Syndrome website.

Perhaps an odd, slightly oblique choice for an Aesthetic Appreciation, I wanted to celebrate the myriad of artwork produced for Vinegar Syndrome releases.

Vinegar Syndrome, a boutique blu-ray (and more) label, frequently commissions new artwork for the cases and slipcovers of the films they release. The original illustrations provide a fresh and aesthetically pleasing eye-catch, as well as an air of respect and effort, furthering the value and draw of the films themselves. From the lush, painterly covers of their Cinématographe sub-label releases to the more arousing, pulpy covers of the primary VS and VSA releases; artistically, there’s a lot to appreciate here. These illustrations set Vinegar Syndrome apart from other boutique labels and give these films something of a new lease on life, a new context in which they can be perceived, not just as a piece of entertainment but as a piece of history, or art, or both.

This will be a shorter aesthetic appreciation but I can’t leave you without mentioning some of these wonderful artists by name. What kind of patron of the arts would I be? Here are some of the artists who have contributed artwork to Vinegar Syndrome releases: Thomas Hodge, “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien, Sean Longmore, Nicole Rifkin, and Tony Stella, among others. While hardly comprehensive, these are some of my favorite contributors to the aesthetically pleasing gamut of Vinegar Syndrome releases. Check out their work, check out Vinegar Syndrome, and support physical media when you can.

Thanks for reading.