Monday, August 25, 2008
Fairground in Dun Laoghaire, 24/08/08
The last four images were taken by Dave, I took the rest myself.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Some Super Sweet Sites
http://sugarloop.blogspot.com/
Bernadette Sipkes' blog; she showcases her prints here, which are also available to buy.
images taken from her blog.
http://flickr.com/people/yvestown/ AND www.yvestown.com
In the blogger's own words (taken from her about me page):
My name is Yvonne Eijkenduijn, I live with Boris (who I affectionately call 'The Bo') and our cat Boo in an old house in Belgium close to the Dutch border. I was born and raised in The Netherlands but traveled and lived the world and a thousand seas. I've decorated quite a few homes, raised 12 kittens, fell in love only 3 times and baked a lot of cakes. I try to live each day like freshly shaven legs under clean sheets.
I'm a homemaker, lifestylist , blogger and photographer.
http://www.anknelandburblets.com/ AND www.flickr.com/photos/charlottefranklin
From the artist's about me page:
Hello. I’m Charlotte. Pleased to meet you!
Anknel and Burblets are my childhood fairies.
I remember the first time I met them; it was raining and thundering outside and I was watching my mother sew. I was not yet three at the time and they just appeared next to her sewing machine, saying hello, smiling and waving.
Since then I’ve joined them on many an adventure; planting our first yellow snapdragons under my bedroom window when we lived by the beach, writing poetry in the rain under the trees, running away from home with a chilli-bin full of grapefruit, climbing tall trees and taking aerial photos of our house, concocting luke-warm parsley soup for my grandmother, building a highway up in the trees for out cat Bodha, and making a nice milkshake for my brother out of plaster board scraps and weeds.
They showed me how to pat bumblebees, find magic in rain drops and talk to the trees and flowers.
Bernadette Sipkes' blog; she showcases her prints here, which are also available to buy.
images taken from her blog.
http://flickr.com/people/yvestown/ AND www.yvestown.com
In the blogger's own words (taken from her about me page):
My name is Yvonne Eijkenduijn, I live with Boris (who I affectionately call 'The Bo') and our cat Boo in an old house in Belgium close to the Dutch border. I was born and raised in The Netherlands but traveled and lived the world and a thousand seas. I've decorated quite a few homes, raised 12 kittens, fell in love only 3 times and baked a lot of cakes. I try to live each day like freshly shaven legs under clean sheets.
I'm a homemaker, lifestylist , blogger and photographer.
http://www.anknelandburblets.com/ AND www.flickr.com/photos/charlottefranklin
From the artist's about me page:
Hello. I’m Charlotte. Pleased to meet you!
Anknel and Burblets are my childhood fairies.
I remember the first time I met them; it was raining and thundering outside and I was watching my mother sew. I was not yet three at the time and they just appeared next to her sewing machine, saying hello, smiling and waving.
Since then I’ve joined them on many an adventure; planting our first yellow snapdragons under my bedroom window when we lived by the beach, writing poetry in the rain under the trees, running away from home with a chilli-bin full of grapefruit, climbing tall trees and taking aerial photos of our house, concocting luke-warm parsley soup for my grandmother, building a highway up in the trees for out cat Bodha, and making a nice milkshake for my brother out of plaster board scraps and weeds.
They showed me how to pat bumblebees, find magic in rain drops and talk to the trees and flowers.
Exhibition I'd Love to See: Cy Twombly
Cy Twombly at the Tate Modern, London
June 19- September 14, 2008
Tate Modern presents a major exhibition of works by Cy Twombly, one of the most highly regarded painters working today and a foremost figure among the generation of American artists that includes Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. Twombly rose to prominence through a distinctive style characterised by scribbles and vibrantly daubed paint. This is his first solo retrospective in fifteen years, and provides an overview of his work from the 1950s to now.
Twombly emerged as a painter at the height of Abstract Expressionism, then in 1957 he left America for Italy, where he drew inspiration from European literature and classical culture. At the heart of the exhibition is Twombly’s work exploring the cycles associated with seasons, nature and the passing of time. Several key groups are brought together for the first time, such as Tate’s Four Seasons 1993–4 with those from the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The exhibition also explores how Twombly is influenced by antiquity, myth and the Mediterranean, for example the violent red swirls in the Bacchus 2005 paintings which bring to mind the drunken god of wine.
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see the full range of Twombly’s long and influential career from a fresh perspective.
From the Tate Modern website,
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/cytwombly/explore.shtm
June 19- September 14, 2008
Tate Modern presents a major exhibition of works by Cy Twombly, one of the most highly regarded painters working today and a foremost figure among the generation of American artists that includes Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. Twombly rose to prominence through a distinctive style characterised by scribbles and vibrantly daubed paint. This is his first solo retrospective in fifteen years, and provides an overview of his work from the 1950s to now.
Twombly emerged as a painter at the height of Abstract Expressionism, then in 1957 he left America for Italy, where he drew inspiration from European literature and classical culture. At the heart of the exhibition is Twombly’s work exploring the cycles associated with seasons, nature and the passing of time. Several key groups are brought together for the first time, such as Tate’s Four Seasons 1993–4 with those from the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The exhibition also explores how Twombly is influenced by antiquity, myth and the Mediterranean, for example the violent red swirls in the Bacchus 2005 paintings which bring to mind the drunken god of wine.
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to see the full range of Twombly’s long and influential career from a fresh perspective.
From the Tate Modern website,
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/cytwombly/explore.shtm
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Killer of Sheep
Killer of Sheep- Charles Burnett
Trailer
From www.ifi.ie
CHARLES BURNETT’S LONG-UNSEEN 1977 PORTRAIT OF WORKING-CLASS L.A. RANKS AS THE GREATEST AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FEATURE EVER MADE—AND DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT, SINCE THE U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LISTED IT IN THEIR TOP 50 FILMS WORTHY OF PERMANENT PRESERVATION.
Shot over weekends on a micro-budget with a cast of friends and acquaintances, Burnett’s film school graduation project won much acclaim on the festival circuit on initial showings, only to fall into obscurity because he couldn’t afford the music he’d used from Earth Wind & Fire, Paul Robeson and others. Now that’s been taken care of (thanks in part to generous admirer Steven Soderbergh donating half the $150,000 licensing fees from his own pocket), this modern classic is ready to find the audience it has deserved all along.
Think 'The Bill Douglas Trilogy’ and ‘The Terence Davies Trilogy’ and you’re in the same terrain as this heartfelt encapsulation of the quotidian grind, narrow horizons and fleeting pleasures experienced by these hard-pressed ordinary folk. Burnett’s camera captures fragments of their dreams and schemes, kids at play in the low-rent neighbourhood, and sexuality as a refuge—a series of moments, significant in their seeming insignificance, rather than a conventional storyline. Yet the wonderful, instinctive editing interweaves a succession of old blues and pop numbers to bring out Burnett’s overriding message about black America’s soulful creativity being forged by its people’s history of hardship—an ongoing history manifested by the raw yet symbolic scenes of an abattoir slaughterman at work to the strains of Dinah Washington’s ‘This Bitter Earth’. Essential viewing, make no mistake.—Trevor Johnston.
Clips
A subtle film that mostly avoids the stereotypical portrayal of african-american ghettos by approaching its environments in a somewhat nonchalant rather than nihilistic or defeatist way. Although it shows a family's struggle to make ends meet, it never fails to interject humor into tragedy, a trait which this cinematic style seems to suggest it shares with its subject.
The subject of this film reminded me of a movie I watched a few months ago called Caramel - the lebanese name is Sukkar Banat - filmed in 2007, and the first feature film by Nadine Labaki. Set in Beirut, it depicts the lives of a group of women, exploring their sexuality, societal roles and their images, which have obvious conflicts between the traditional and the new (Western ideals play a huge part in this). Although stylistically very different from Killer of Sheep, it manages to carry a similar message: one of humble resolve in the midst of a society confronted with prominent ideological issues.
Trailer
From www.ifi.ie
CHARLES BURNETT’S LONG-UNSEEN 1977 PORTRAIT OF WORKING-CLASS L.A. RANKS AS THE GREATEST AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FEATURE EVER MADE—AND DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT, SINCE THE U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS LISTED IT IN THEIR TOP 50 FILMS WORTHY OF PERMANENT PRESERVATION.
Shot over weekends on a micro-budget with a cast of friends and acquaintances, Burnett’s film school graduation project won much acclaim on the festival circuit on initial showings, only to fall into obscurity because he couldn’t afford the music he’d used from Earth Wind & Fire, Paul Robeson and others. Now that’s been taken care of (thanks in part to generous admirer Steven Soderbergh donating half the $150,000 licensing fees from his own pocket), this modern classic is ready to find the audience it has deserved all along.
Think 'The Bill Douglas Trilogy’ and ‘The Terence Davies Trilogy’ and you’re in the same terrain as this heartfelt encapsulation of the quotidian grind, narrow horizons and fleeting pleasures experienced by these hard-pressed ordinary folk. Burnett’s camera captures fragments of their dreams and schemes, kids at play in the low-rent neighbourhood, and sexuality as a refuge—a series of moments, significant in their seeming insignificance, rather than a conventional storyline. Yet the wonderful, instinctive editing interweaves a succession of old blues and pop numbers to bring out Burnett’s overriding message about black America’s soulful creativity being forged by its people’s history of hardship—an ongoing history manifested by the raw yet symbolic scenes of an abattoir slaughterman at work to the strains of Dinah Washington’s ‘This Bitter Earth’. Essential viewing, make no mistake.—Trevor Johnston.
Clips
A subtle film that mostly avoids the stereotypical portrayal of african-american ghettos by approaching its environments in a somewhat nonchalant rather than nihilistic or defeatist way. Although it shows a family's struggle to make ends meet, it never fails to interject humor into tragedy, a trait which this cinematic style seems to suggest it shares with its subject.
The subject of this film reminded me of a movie I watched a few months ago called Caramel - the lebanese name is Sukkar Banat - filmed in 2007, and the first feature film by Nadine Labaki. Set in Beirut, it depicts the lives of a group of women, exploring their sexuality, societal roles and their images, which have obvious conflicts between the traditional and the new (Western ideals play a huge part in this). Although stylistically very different from Killer of Sheep, it manages to carry a similar message: one of humble resolve in the midst of a society confronted with prominent ideological issues.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Impressionist Interiors at the National Gallery
Went to the National Gallery earlier this week, and here are some artists that I particularly enjoyed.
Federico Zandomeneghi- In Bed
Degas- Yard of a House (New Orleans)
Maurice Denis- Crown of Daisies
Edouard Vuillard
Henri Gervex- Cafe Scene in Paris
Federico Zandomeneghi- In Bed
Degas- Yard of a House (New Orleans)
Maurice Denis- Crown of Daisies
Edouard Vuillard
Henri Gervex- Cafe Scene in Paris
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Save Polaroid Film!
Sign the petition please
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-polaroid-film.html
http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/save-polaroid-film.html
More Movies I have Watched Recently
Paris, 2008, Cedric Klapisch
Well-edited, brilliantly acted anthology of colliding lives in Paris. There's an obvious presence of nouvelle vague style throughout the film, from the cuts to the plot (references to Cleo de 5 a 7 has been made in one review I read). Although the multitude of characters could have been overwhelming and in a lesser director's hands most would have been explored only superficially, here they all take on a life of their own, allowing the viewer to believe in their existence off-screen. I was completely absorbed by their stories, at times moved, embarrassed, or saddened by their interactions. Similar to Du Levande in its occasional excursions away from reality, and comparable to the variety of stories presented in Paris, Je T'Aime, this film has a credibility to it that makes it a piece which was so easy to relate to, so easy to be swept into, that Du Levande didn't have because of its surreal tint which segregated it from reality, and Paris Je T'Aime didn't allow for because of its structure. Highly recommended.
Man on Wire, 2008, James Marsh
Documentary about a frenchman's successful attempt at crossing between the twin towers on a tight-rope. Switching between interviews with those directly involved and actual footage from the event which took place in 1974, the documentary has an obvious french style to it. Like in Paris, Satie is heavily present on the soundtrack and the overall presentation of the story is jovial, yet laden with emotions that are exposed through the faces of the members of the coup. Phillipe Petit is the main focus, although all those involved are given equal weight and responsibility in telling the story from each of their point of views, adding up to a complete picture of what it felt like to be part of this rebellion against the subduing nature of society. Petit knows how to tell a story, and although it is obvious he is aware of his image, he has a boyish charm which convinces you to take his hand and balance yourself on the rope, crossing over into his world.
Well-edited, brilliantly acted anthology of colliding lives in Paris. There's an obvious presence of nouvelle vague style throughout the film, from the cuts to the plot (references to Cleo de 5 a 7 has been made in one review I read). Although the multitude of characters could have been overwhelming and in a lesser director's hands most would have been explored only superficially, here they all take on a life of their own, allowing the viewer to believe in their existence off-screen. I was completely absorbed by their stories, at times moved, embarrassed, or saddened by their interactions. Similar to Du Levande in its occasional excursions away from reality, and comparable to the variety of stories presented in Paris, Je T'Aime, this film has a credibility to it that makes it a piece which was so easy to relate to, so easy to be swept into, that Du Levande didn't have because of its surreal tint which segregated it from reality, and Paris Je T'Aime didn't allow for because of its structure. Highly recommended.
Man on Wire, 2008, James Marsh
Documentary about a frenchman's successful attempt at crossing between the twin towers on a tight-rope. Switching between interviews with those directly involved and actual footage from the event which took place in 1974, the documentary has an obvious french style to it. Like in Paris, Satie is heavily present on the soundtrack and the overall presentation of the story is jovial, yet laden with emotions that are exposed through the faces of the members of the coup. Phillipe Petit is the main focus, although all those involved are given equal weight and responsibility in telling the story from each of their point of views, adding up to a complete picture of what it felt like to be part of this rebellion against the subduing nature of society. Petit knows how to tell a story, and although it is obvious he is aware of his image, he has a boyish charm which convinces you to take his hand and balance yourself on the rope, crossing over into his world.
IMMA 08/08/08
Went to IMMA yesterday, and saw some great work by an brazilian-german artist called Janaina Tschape. I loved her drawings and photography, but above all I was blown away by her video piece. Unfortunately a video which featured her piece on youtube was taken down, so I don't have access to anything but stills from it.
It was an underwater piece with four different panels playing simultaneously. In one part of the sequences, she was wearing a quite abstract black dress which reached out and flowed like tentacles across the screen. In another, she was wearing a similar dress but in contrasting palette; instead of black it was mainly white and almost transparent, and it became evident that the awkward shape of her body was due to the attachment of coloured balloons and other ambiguous shapes and entrapments.
Her work focuses on the idea of the myth, jumping from the natural to creatures that can be conjured up consequentally from its innate beauty. Find more information on her work on her website: www.janainatschape.net, where you'll find photographs of the exhibition at IMMA and accompanying writings. Also have a look at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.: http://www.sikkemajenkinsco.com/janainatschape_works.html. For her exhibition at imma specifically, go to http://www.modernart.ie/en/page_170733.htm.
Another artist I saw at IMMA yesterday was the spanish artist Miquel Barcelo. The exhibition was centered on 'The African Work' which demonstrates the influence his African surroundings have on his work when he goes there. He first went over, to Mali, in 1988. Although I did not enjoy his large scale paintings that much, I loved his use of mixed media and especially the water colour observational drawings that make up the majority of the work exhibited. Although the figures in the drawings are fairly abstract, they're still recognisable but stripped down to the bare essence of their form and colour. I was taken aback by the vibrancy of the colours, and his technique to suggest pattern and texture was impeccable. The pictures depicted women bathing, or washed over images of a crowd approaching the viewer on a presumable desert landscape. He also interfered with the physicality of the surface, such as what seemed to be burn holes, to suggest the texture and colour of smoke ascending from ashes. Here's his website: http://www.miquelbarcelo.org/ and here's IMMA's page on him: http://www.modernart.ie/en/page_170642.htm
It was an underwater piece with four different panels playing simultaneously. In one part of the sequences, she was wearing a quite abstract black dress which reached out and flowed like tentacles across the screen. In another, she was wearing a similar dress but in contrasting palette; instead of black it was mainly white and almost transparent, and it became evident that the awkward shape of her body was due to the attachment of coloured balloons and other ambiguous shapes and entrapments.
Her work focuses on the idea of the myth, jumping from the natural to creatures that can be conjured up consequentally from its innate beauty. Find more information on her work on her website: www.janainatschape.net, where you'll find photographs of the exhibition at IMMA and accompanying writings. Also have a look at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.: http://www.sikkemajenkinsco.com/janainatschape_works.html. For her exhibition at imma specifically, go to http://www.modernart.ie/en/page_170733.htm.
Another artist I saw at IMMA yesterday was the spanish artist Miquel Barcelo. The exhibition was centered on 'The African Work' which demonstrates the influence his African surroundings have on his work when he goes there. He first went over, to Mali, in 1988. Although I did not enjoy his large scale paintings that much, I loved his use of mixed media and especially the water colour observational drawings that make up the majority of the work exhibited. Although the figures in the drawings are fairly abstract, they're still recognisable but stripped down to the bare essence of their form and colour. I was taken aback by the vibrancy of the colours, and his technique to suggest pattern and texture was impeccable. The pictures depicted women bathing, or washed over images of a crowd approaching the viewer on a presumable desert landscape. He also interfered with the physicality of the surface, such as what seemed to be burn holes, to suggest the texture and colour of smoke ascending from ashes. Here's his website: http://www.miquelbarcelo.org/ and here's IMMA's page on him: http://www.modernart.ie/en/page_170642.htm
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