Sometimes I feel this is the most appropriate example of how difficult it is to get others to understand what seems blatantly obvious to everyone else.
One last question: "How do you make white 'whiter' in a design?" The answer is that you can't!
Friday, September 22, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Drawing Restraint 9 (Trailer)
I recently went to see Matthew Barney's new film Drawing Restraint 9 at a local screening room. I was quite excited to actually get to view the latest work of an artist I have increasingly grown to admire. Having taken quite an interest in his prevoius Cremaster Cycle, I wondered what he had in store for me this time around.
Much like his earlier films, this piece featured many scenes of
ritual or what hink of as "the practice of process." There are many things we take for granted in our everday lives which could be considered ritual: getting your morning coffee, shaving for work, preparing your tools for whatever job you do, or even eating a meal with your friends. Whereas the Cremaster Cycle, to me, seemed to focus on the rituals of American culture and in another aspect on the rituals involved in the making and appreciation of art; Drawing Restraint 9 began to use these ritual narratives to support a dialogue between what we do for spiritual reasons and what we do for material needs.
I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't seen it, but there were several scenes that I found to be quite interesting. The first was the scene in which a large tanker truck is lead toward the shipyards in a mock-parade. It is preceded by two large animals and a calvacade of celebrators. Looking upon this as a praise-giving event in these peoples lives, I found the juxtaposition of the beasts of burden, modern and primal, to be very well shown. Shortly thereafter Barney arrives to the large whaling vessel and looks like, quite frankly, either an unshaven beast or how I think Hemmingway would have dressed in his prime. His large fur coat and lengthy beard present him as either a savage or perhaps a once civilized man returning from a lengthy journey. He is then shaven by the ship's barber and proceeds to take off his coat to reveal the somewhat common dress of a denim shirt and denim pants. I see this as a direct connection to Cremaster 2 and the Western "cowboy" imagery shown throughout. The shaving ritual, done with such care and precision, made me instantly think of the transformation of self and as well the cleansing rituals needed to enter into a new state.
The other sequence of scenes that I truly found exciting were the transformation of the two guests into mythological beings. Through alteration of dress, customs, and in the end form; the two main characters express a natural process (mating) through a carefully executed ritual (tea ceremony/body mutilation.) In a cacophony of blood, tea, and petroleum jelly a ritual is completed that at the same instantly repulses and compels our senses into looking. There was something unsettling about the petroleum jelly filling the enclosed space and most probably forming into a gel around them. The globules of blood gracefully dancing in their secluded primordial environment, became frightening but yet delicately beautiful.
All in all I was delightfully inspired and wished that I could have seen the physical works and photos immediately after the viewing.
I recently went to see Matthew Barney's new film Drawing Restraint 9 at a local screening room. I was quite excited to actually get to view the latest work of an artist I have increasingly grown to admire. Having taken quite an interest in his prevoius Cremaster Cycle, I wondered what he had in store for me this time around.
Much like his earlier films, this piece featured many scenes of
ritual or what hink of as "the practice of process." There are many things we take for granted in our everday lives which could be considered ritual: getting your morning coffee, shaving for work, preparing your tools for whatever job you do, or even eating a meal with your friends. Whereas the Cremaster Cycle, to me, seemed to focus on the rituals of American culture and in another aspect on the rituals involved in the making and appreciation of art; Drawing Restraint 9 began to use these ritual narratives to support a dialogue between what we do for spiritual reasons and what we do for material needs.
I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't seen it, but there were several scenes that I found to be quite interesting. The first was the scene in which a large tanker truck is lead toward the shipyards in a mock-parade. It is preceded by two large animals and a calvacade of celebrators. Looking upon this as a praise-giving event in these peoples lives, I found the juxtaposition of the beasts of burden, modern and primal, to be very well shown. Shortly thereafter Barney arrives to the large whaling vessel and looks like, quite frankly, either an unshaven beast or how I think Hemmingway would have dressed in his prime. His large fur coat and lengthy beard present him as either a savage or perhaps a once civilized man returning from a lengthy journey. He is then shaven by the ship's barber and proceeds to take off his coat to reveal the somewhat common dress of a denim shirt and denim pants. I see this as a direct connection to Cremaster 2 and the Western "cowboy" imagery shown throughout. The shaving ritual, done with such care and precision, made me instantly think of the transformation of self and as well the cleansing rituals needed to enter into a new state.
The other sequence of scenes that I truly found exciting were the transformation of the two guests into mythological beings. Through alteration of dress, customs, and in the end form; the two main characters express a natural process (mating) through a carefully executed ritual (tea ceremony/body mutilation.) In a cacophony of blood, tea, and petroleum jelly a ritual is completed that at the same instantly repulses and compels our senses into looking. There was something unsettling about the petroleum jelly filling the enclosed space and most probably forming into a gel around them. The globules of blood gracefully dancing in their secluded primordial environment, became frightening but yet delicately beautiful.All in all I was delightfully inspired and wished that I could have seen the physical works and photos immediately after the viewing.
Monday, September 11, 2006
BBC NEWS Programmes The Power of Nightmares: Baby It's Cold Outside
Sometimes it's scary to think what is really going on behind the scenes in our governments--well in the world in general. I think there is some truth to this notion and perhaps an even greater truth in that our reliance on keeping faith has crippled our development as a proactive society. I mean if we can still have "experts" who debate evolutionary theory with the stern belief that Adam and Eve is the most plausible cause, or that Noah and the Ark could truly explain the phenomenon of extinction, is it so hard to believe that similar minds couldn't conjure a scary terrorist Bogey-man?
"At the heart of the story are two groups: the American neo-conservatives and the radical Islamists. Both were idealists who were born out of the failure of the liberal dream to build a better world. These two groups have changed the world but not in the way either intended. "
Too scary to fathom.
Friday, September 08, 2006
Japanese Case Mod
I don't know why but this reminds me of Dr. Who. I must admit I would love to have such a case for my PC but then again that may be because I watched too much of the Woodright Shop as a kid.
I don't know why but this reminds me of Dr. Who. I must admit I would love to have such a case for my PC but then again that may be because I watched too much of the Woodright Shop as a kid.
Paris Hilton wants a burger...
CNN.com - Hilton: Hurt by events 'blown out of proportion' - Sep 8, 2006
"I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out burger," she said.
Quite possibly the worst cover up for "I was high on Vicodin and Colt 45" ever. Granted normal rational thought is as difficult for Ms. Hilton as a hurdles course for Stephen Hawking.
But then again America loves a ditsy blonde, I mean look how well Tom Brokaw has done for himself.
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Gorillas are just shark food...
So we may actually get to see a gorilla get eaten by a shark after all.
Here we go againCNN.com - Scientist: Planet going back to dinosaur era - Sep 7, 2006:
Here we go againCNN.com - Scientist: Planet going back to dinosaur era - Sep 7, 2006:
Not only would some species simply find no suitable space to live anymore, but there would be confrontations with invasive species being forced to move their territory. This would produce not just wipe-outs but species' mixtures never seen before.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
I decided to start a new blog for myself as my other blog on this site is now being tested for professional library use. This is to be a place for me to record my findings in the world of the bizarre, amazing and down-right excellent.
It will also be a place for me to vent steam without offending my fellow employees.
The first fun thing:
http://www.giantmicrobes.com/venereals/clap.html
I found these in a little import toy shop in Shadyside. They are plush toys depicting some of the nastiest little organisms. Well for all of you that know me you can already have guessed my reaction-sheer and utter delight. Of course my wife was slightly less than amused but I was ready to buy the whole lot. I just wonder what the appropriate card would be for giving someone a plush Gonorrhea?
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