Welcome to my blog - a scrapbook of memories, ideas and inspirations.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Christian Boltanski’s Bonfire of Humanity in NYC

Christian Boltanski’s new project, No Man’s Land, fills 55,000 square feet inside the Wade Thompson Drill Hall at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Using 30 tons of discarded clothing in all shapes, colors and sizes, Boltanski piled a twenty-five-foot high bonfire pyramid, surrounded by 45 rectangular plots of clothing arranged in a mass grave fashion. 


This unusual graveyard is complimented by a 60-foot crane, which grabs and lifts garments up in the air, just to discard them back. The exhibit opens with a 66-foot-long crypt wall of rusty numbered tin cans and is accompanied by the sounds of 45,000 human heartbeats from around the world.


This exhibit challenges the futility of possession and explores the themes of individuality and anonymity in life and death.  
As part of the installation, visitors are invited to record their own heartbeat and offer it to the artist for his collection.
Christian Boltanski, “No Man’s Land,” 2010.
Curated by Tom Eccles.


Photos Courtesy of Park Avenue Armory
May 14 - June 13, 2010
Open Hours
Tuesday through Sunday (except Thursday): Noon – 7:30pm

Thursday: 2pm – 9:30pm






Monday, May 31: Noon – 7:30pm (Memorial Day)
CLOSED MONDAYS (except Memorial Day)

Admission






$12 General Admission (12 and older)





$10 Seniors (62 and up), Students (with valid ID), Groups (8 or more)
FREE: Children (11 and under)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The simplicity of watercolor

Watercolor is my favorite medium. When I meet artists who have perfected this medium, I bow in admiration.

One of my friends, Cynthia Bogart combines ink with watercolor to create simple and delicate imagery.  Below are two of my favorites by this New York born / Houston based artist / designer.






Monday, May 24, 2010

The Ghost Writer - a film review

Setting aside my negative sentiments about Roman Polanski, I went to see his new film. 


Based on the novel “The Ghost” by the best-selling English novelist Robert Harris, partially mimicking the life of real former British prime minister, Tony Blair, The Ghost Writer is a modern day political thriller re written for the screen by Harris with the help of Mr. Polanski.

Perhaps because I have not read the book, I thought that the Ghost Writer was a bit reminiscent of the British comedy Pulp, in which a writer is offered a large sum to ghostwrite the autobiography of a gangster and is transported to a remote island, where he plays an amateur detective after the murder of his subject.
However, this fictional satire is neither a traditional comedy, nor a simple murder mystery. Like other work by Polanski, it a film noir, which pokes fun of itself with light irony of a very menacing kind.
Ewan McGregor delivers one of his best performances as the Ghost, a compliant and suitable substitute ghost writer, with convenient lack of past and family, who is hired to finish an autobiography already written by a famous writer, who mysteriously drowns. The Ghost is given only four weeks, which later get cut down to four, to finish the memoirs of a former British prime minister, Adam Lang (played by Pierce Brosnan). To do this task, the Ghost is shipped off to the secluded Martha’s Vineyard, where he attempts to both write a bestseller and solve the mystery surrounding his predecessor’s unfortunate death.
The story itself may not be weighty, but Polanski certainly creates a heavy atmosphere - a dreary, colorless, and windy environment, in which the storm is imminent and anxiety builds over time, in a suspenseful veil of darkness equal to that of a Hitchcock film. 
The uncomplicated plot, coupled with monochromatic hues and subtle acting of other leading characters create an artful setting for Ewan McGregor’s shine as the Ghost Writer.
The Ghost Writer never lets off tension until it culminates at the very end, which is much anticipated but somewhat predictable. 
Despite the obvious ending, the Ghost Writer does not disappoint. It is masterfully crafted and  worth watching, if just for the sheer diversion of seeing a well directed creation with a thespian polish. 

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Art on tap - Linn Olofsdotter





Linn Olofsdotter is an illustrator and mixed media artist from Sweden. After getting her education in both advertising and graphic design in Europe and the US, she moved to Brazil to start up a motion graphics studio along with her husband and creative partner. More recently Linn worked as a senior art director at a Boston advertising agency and is now settled in the Portland area.  





Performance Art in the Flesh

Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
From March 14 through May 31, 2010,  the prolific performance artist Marina Abramović offered a retrospective exhibit The Artist Is Present to MOMA visitors.
Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
The exhibit featured approximately fifty of the artist's works spanning over four decades of sound pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances, and collaborative performances made with Uwe Laysiepen. 
Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
The most controversial works of the exhibit featured nude performers facing each other at a doorway 
Image contains nudity) Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
or lying under a skeleton 
Image contains partial nudity.)  Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
The Artist Is Present also included Abramović seating in the MOMA atrium for seven hours, five days a week, and for ten hours on Fridays. Visitors were invited to sit silently across from the artist for as long as they liked.
Overview of the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
Photographer Marco Anelli took these incredible photographs of all people who participated in Marina Abramović's art performance and posted them to Flickr.Artist Marina Abramovic (in red) performs during the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
 Each photo provides the duration of each participant's seating. Most staid only a few minutes but a couple of women sat with Abramovic for six and a half hours. Artist Marina Abramovic (L) performs during the "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present" exhibition opening night party at The Museum of Modern Art on March 9, 2010 in New York City.
Photos by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images North America

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

100 Best Films of all time

Let's not kid one another; all film lists are just as ridiculous as book lists.

Film is the dominion of poetry and all poetry is indescribable and subjective. Yet, every person has a list of favorite films, novels and poems, which he is eager to share with others.  Further, we judge people by the books they read and movies they watch, so why not share more than just a handful of favorites?

The process of picking favorite films turned out to be a cerebral exercise of double guessing myself, which was actually a lot more fun than I expected. It was hard to pick just 100 because I enjoy watching all kinds of films.

The only genre that does not appeal to me in any shape or form is horror. I prefer fables unquantifiable by time and space, films filled with beautiful imagery that floats through conscience like a song, bizarre comedies, and deep psychological classics that make me reflect on their meaning for many years to come.

Below, in chronological order, is my list of 100 films that stay in my memory and conscience, which I would like to own or own already.  Many of these are American films, but quite a few are foreign (with the majority being British or Russian):





1.       Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
2.      City Lights (1931) dir. Charles Chaplin
3.      Modern Times (1936) dir. Charles Chaplin 
5.       The Wizard of Oz (1939) dir. Victor Fleming 
7.       Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), dir. Frank Capr
8.      Casablanca (1942) dir. Michael Curtiz 
9.      Hamlet (1948) dir. Laurence Olivier
10. The Bicycle Thief (1948) dir. Vittorio De Sica
11.  Singin' In The Rain (1952) dir. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly 
12. Les Diabolique (1954) (Diabolique) dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot
13.  Rebel Without a Cause (1955) dir. Nicholas Ray
15. Det sjunde inseglet (1957) (The Seventh Seal) dir. Ingmar Bergman
16.  Some Like It Hot (1959) dir. Billy Wilder
17. La dolce vita (1960) Federico Fellini
18.   Lawrence of Arabia (1962) dir. David Lean
19.  (1963) dir. Federico Fellini
20. Ya shagayu po Moskve (1964) (Walking the Streets of Moscow) dir. Georgi Daneliya
21. Goldfinger (1964) dir. Guy Hamilton
22. Mary Poppins (1964) dir. Robert Stevenson
23. A Hard Day's Night (1964) dir. Richard Lester
25. Doctor Zhivago (1965) dir. David Lean
26. Alfie (1966) dir. Lewis Gilbert
27.  Vojna i Mir (1967) (War and Peace) dir. Sergei Bondarchuk
28.  Midnight Cowboy (1969) dir. John Schlesinger 
29.  Briliantovaya Ruka (1968) (The Diamond Arm) dir Leonid Gaidai
30. Beloe solntse pustyni (1970) (White sun of the desert) dir. Vladimir Motyl
31.  A Clockwork Orange (1971) dir. Stanley Kubrick
32. The Last Picture Show (1971) dir. Peter Bogdanovich
33. A zori zdes tikhie (1972) (The Dawns Here Are Quiet) dir. Stanislav Rostotsky
34. Solyaris (1972) Andrei Tarkovski
35. Last Tango in Paris (1972) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci
36.  The Godfather Part dir. II (1974) dir. Francis Ford Coppola
37.  Jaws (1975) dir. Steven Spielberg
38. Zvesda plenitelnogo schastya (1975) (The Star of Fascinating Happiness) dir. Vladimir Motyl
39. The Irony of Fate, or "Enjoy Your Bath" (1975) dir. Eldar Ryazanov
41.  Taxi Driver (1976) dir. Martin Scorsese
42.  Annie Hall (1977) dir. Woody Allen 
44. The Deer Hunter (1978) dir. Michael Cimino
45. Obyknovennoe chudo (1978) (Ordinary Miracle) dir. Mark Zakharov
46. Tot samyy Myunkhgauzen (1979) (That very Münchhausen) dir. Mark Zakharov
47.  Apocalypse Now (1979) dir. Francis Ford Coppola 
48. Stalker (1979) Andrei Tarkovski
49. Moskva slezam ne verity (1980) (Moscow doesn’t believe in tears) dir. Vladimir Menshov
50.  E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), dir. Steven Spielberg 
51.  Blade Runner (1982), dir. Ridley Scott
52.  Vokzal dlya dvoikh (1982) (A Railway Station for Two) dir. Eldar Ryazanov
53. Scarface (1983) Brian De Palma
54. Zhestokiy romans (1984) (Ruthless Romance) dir. Eldar Ryazanov
55. This Is Spinal Tap (1984) dir. Rob Reiner
56. Amadeus (1984) dir. Milos Forman
57. The Terminator (1984) dir. James Cameron 
58. Idi i smotri (1985) (Go and look; also known as “come and see”) dir. Elem Klimov
59. A Room With A View (1986) dir. James Ivory
60. Blue Velvet (1986) dir. David Lynch
61. Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986) dir. Adrian Lyne
62.  Moonstruck (1987) dir. Norman Jewison
63. Der Himmel Uber Berlin (1987) (Wings of Desire) dir. Wim Wenders
64. The Princess Bride (1987) dir. Rob Reiner
65. Full Metal Jacket (1987) dir. Staley Kubrick
66. Zabytaya melodiya dlya fleyty (1988) (A Forgotten Tune for the Flute) dir. Eldar Ryazanov
67. Cinema Paradiso (1988) dir. Giuseppe Tornatore 
69. Rain Man (1988) dir. Barry Levinson
70. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) dir. Philip Kaufman
71. Dangerous Liasons (1988) dir. Stephen Frears
73. GoodFellas (1990), dir. Martin Scorsese
74. The Silence of the Lambs (1991), dir. Jonathan Demme
75. True Romance (1993) dir Tony Scott (written by Quentin Tarantino)
76. Short Cuts (1993) dir. Robert Altman
77. The Age of Innocence (1993) dir. Martin Scorsese
78. The Remains of the Day (1993) dir. James Ivory
79. Pulp Fiction (1994), dir. Quentin Tarantino
80. Twelve Monkeys (1995) dir. Terry Gilliam
81. Stealing Beauty (1996) Bernardo Bertoluci
82. Trainspotting (1996) dir. Danny Boyle
83. The English Patient (1996) dir. Anthony Minghella
85. Run Lola Run (1998) dir. Tom Tykwer
86. Fightclub (1999) dir. David Fincher
87. The Matrix (1999) dirs. Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski
88. Being John Malkovich (1999) dir. Spike Jonze
89. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) dir. Stanley Kubrickir
90. La vita e bella (1997)  ( Life is Beautiful) dir. Roberto Benigni
91. American Psycho (2000) dir. Mary Harron
92. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) dir. Ang Lee
93. Amelie (2001) dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
94. Shrek (2001) dirs. Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson
95. The Lord of the Rings (Trillogy)(2001-2003) dir. Peter Jackson
96. Lost in translation (2003) dir. Sofia Coppola
97. Closer (2004) dir. Mike Nichols
98. Bad Education (2004) dir. Pedro Almodovar
99. El laberinto del fauno (2006) (Pan's Labyrinth) dir. Guillermo del Toro
100.         Avatar (2009) James Cameron