Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Visit to Museum of Photography in The Hague, 27/09/08
We went to the museum mainly to go see the Erwin Olaf exhibition, a cumulative collection of 4 of his photographic series, Rain, Hope, Grief and Fall. There were 2 video pieces as well, one accompanying Rain and one as an individual piece satirically commentating on fashion and plastic surgery.
The first series on show, Rain, was initially meant to depict American culture, read 1950's ideals, in all its glory. Instead, in the process of taking the photographs, he experienced a disconnection between the idea and the subject. Thus he decided to use rain as a visual metaphor for this break between the ideal and the people it was supposed to envelop.
The second series, Hope, basically takes off where Rain ended. It offers similar scenes, yet instead of the photographs demonstrating a static image, they lend themselves to storytelling and 'reaching beyond' the photo. Their meant to be seen as a window into a story, and it is left up to the viewer to carry the plot forth. Also, unlike the previous series, this one includes individual portraits, allowing to develop characters further.
My favorite series of the lot is Grief, capturing moments before the explosion of emotion. It also examines how one's identity, how you dress, body language, etc, is relational. The pictures are all named after famous American figures, such as Troy and Grace.
The final series, Fall, just like Rain, stumbled upon it's intent by accident. Olaf caught one of his models during a photoshoot blinking, creating an imperfect image in one which was so tweaked otherwise that it became an interesting relationship. By catching the moment of blinking, the models were left expressionless, negating any hint of emotion or awareness of surroundings. Interesting concept, although I thought it was slightly over-stylized.
Here's his website: http://www.erwinolaf.com/
We also saw an exhibition by Thorsten Brinkmann, a German artist working with found objects, using them to comment on the relationship between man and object, and the disposability of present day products. True Romans was a collection of found objects coupled together, for example a glass with a rose-shaped candle turned upside down into the glass. There was also a photo series called Variable Sturktur 1-8, which cataloged a few possible ways of assembling a set of objects including a cooker. There was also an isolated room which you had to enter through a wardrobe; it contained a number of (self?) portraits in which the human subject was 'wearing' things such as lampshades. There was also a video piece entitled "gut Ding will es so' which saw the artist interacting with things in a way which didn't cohere with their intended function (for example, he crawled through the arms of an office chair, subsequently shuffling around on all fours with a chair around his waist. Also, he smacked four pieces of polystyrene foam against his head whilst wearing a motorcycle helmet).
The first series on show, Rain, was initially meant to depict American culture, read 1950's ideals, in all its glory. Instead, in the process of taking the photographs, he experienced a disconnection between the idea and the subject. Thus he decided to use rain as a visual metaphor for this break between the ideal and the people it was supposed to envelop.
The second series, Hope, basically takes off where Rain ended. It offers similar scenes, yet instead of the photographs demonstrating a static image, they lend themselves to storytelling and 'reaching beyond' the photo. Their meant to be seen as a window into a story, and it is left up to the viewer to carry the plot forth. Also, unlike the previous series, this one includes individual portraits, allowing to develop characters further.
My favorite series of the lot is Grief, capturing moments before the explosion of emotion. It also examines how one's identity, how you dress, body language, etc, is relational. The pictures are all named after famous American figures, such as Troy and Grace.
The final series, Fall, just like Rain, stumbled upon it's intent by accident. Olaf caught one of his models during a photoshoot blinking, creating an imperfect image in one which was so tweaked otherwise that it became an interesting relationship. By catching the moment of blinking, the models were left expressionless, negating any hint of emotion or awareness of surroundings. Interesting concept, although I thought it was slightly over-stylized.
Here's his website: http://www.erwinolaf.com/
We also saw an exhibition by Thorsten Brinkmann, a German artist working with found objects, using them to comment on the relationship between man and object, and the disposability of present day products. True Romans was a collection of found objects coupled together, for example a glass with a rose-shaped candle turned upside down into the glass. There was also a photo series called Variable Sturktur 1-8, which cataloged a few possible ways of assembling a set of objects including a cooker. There was also an isolated room which you had to enter through a wardrobe; it contained a number of (self?) portraits in which the human subject was 'wearing' things such as lampshades. There was also a video piece entitled "gut Ding will es so' which saw the artist interacting with things in a way which didn't cohere with their intended function (for example, he crawled through the arms of an office chair, subsequently shuffling around on all fours with a chair around his waist. Also, he smacked four pieces of polystyrene foam against his head whilst wearing a motorcycle helmet).
A Few Links
http://coilhouse.net
blog/magazine about alt culture. Here follows an excerpt from their mission statement:
COILHOUSE is a love letter to alternative culture, written in an era when alternative culture no longer exists. And because it no longer exists, we take from yesterday and tomorrow, from the mainstream and from the underground, to construct our own version. We cover art, fashion, technology, music and film to create an alternative culture that we would like to live in, as opposed to the one that’s being sold or handed down to us. The result, in the form of articles, features and interviews, is laid out on our blog and in our print magazine for all to see. If our Utopia is your Utopia, then welcome! Anyone can contribute, and we encourage you to go to our submission page and get in touch.
http://dazeddigital.com
Dazed & Confused magazine's site. Interesting profiles and articles on photographers, designers, and artists.
blog/magazine about alt culture. Here follows an excerpt from their mission statement:
COILHOUSE is a love letter to alternative culture, written in an era when alternative culture no longer exists. And because it no longer exists, we take from yesterday and tomorrow, from the mainstream and from the underground, to construct our own version. We cover art, fashion, technology, music and film to create an alternative culture that we would like to live in, as opposed to the one that’s being sold or handed down to us. The result, in the form of articles, features and interviews, is laid out on our blog and in our print magazine for all to see. If our Utopia is your Utopia, then welcome! Anyone can contribute, and we encourage you to go to our submission page and get in touch.
http://dazeddigital.com
Dazed & Confused magazine's site. Interesting profiles and articles on photographers, designers, and artists.
Another one of my blogs
pencilledin.blogspot.com
I'm going to be doing a lot of drawing on this one, basically I started this project to motivate me to take pencil back in hand and practice my sketches. Although I might broaden the medium and add in photography, making it a blog about portraiture...
I'm going to be doing a lot of drawing on this one, basically I started this project to motivate me to take pencil back in hand and practice my sketches. Although I might broaden the medium and add in photography, making it a blog about portraiture...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Movies I Have Watched Recently
The Chaser (2008)- Hong-jin Na
An excellent film hailing from South Korea, it mixes seemingly out-of-place humor with stylized gore in this suspensful piece. Focusing on an ex-detective-turned-pimp's search for his missing girls, the movie moves along like a ticking time bomb, the viewer and the actor both aware of the imminent conclusion that is looming, pressing on every participant in the viewing of this film to pray for a just ending. Interesting flow between suspense and relief, this movie had me closing my eyes and sitting on the edge of my seat simultaneously. Usually not my favourite genre, but this is an impressive piece of work by any standard.
The Pope's Toilet (2007)- César Charlone & Enrique Fernández
Documentary-like film based on events surrounding a Papal visit to a Uruguayan town. Depicting the every day struggles of the villagers, one family and its neighbors in particular, this film shows the interesting relationship between religion, or maybe even fame, and money. As the villagers prepare for the Pope to come, the focus is mainly on how they can earn good money by catering for the expected crowds which supposedly will follow the Pope to their rural location. You see how good, poor people gamble everything they have on a seemingly infallible plan to riches. Moving film, told for those who struggle to make ends meet and who survive through determined hard work and the occasional, opportunistic dreaming.
Dekalog (Part 1) (1989)- Krzysztof Kieslowski
A Polish series of shorts initially shown on a TV network, these 10 pieces are based on the 10 commandments. I have so far only watched the 1st short. Although the technology and some of the imagery is quite dated, the emotion depicted is still viable and still connects with the audience.
An excellent film hailing from South Korea, it mixes seemingly out-of-place humor with stylized gore in this suspensful piece. Focusing on an ex-detective-turned-pimp's search for his missing girls, the movie moves along like a ticking time bomb, the viewer and the actor both aware of the imminent conclusion that is looming, pressing on every participant in the viewing of this film to pray for a just ending. Interesting flow between suspense and relief, this movie had me closing my eyes and sitting on the edge of my seat simultaneously. Usually not my favourite genre, but this is an impressive piece of work by any standard.
The Pope's Toilet (2007)- César Charlone & Enrique Fernández
Documentary-like film based on events surrounding a Papal visit to a Uruguayan town. Depicting the every day struggles of the villagers, one family and its neighbors in particular, this film shows the interesting relationship between religion, or maybe even fame, and money. As the villagers prepare for the Pope to come, the focus is mainly on how they can earn good money by catering for the expected crowds which supposedly will follow the Pope to their rural location. You see how good, poor people gamble everything they have on a seemingly infallible plan to riches. Moving film, told for those who struggle to make ends meet and who survive through determined hard work and the occasional, opportunistic dreaming.
Dekalog (Part 1) (1989)- Krzysztof Kieslowski
A Polish series of shorts initially shown on a TV network, these 10 pieces are based on the 10 commandments. I have so far only watched the 1st short. Although the technology and some of the imagery is quite dated, the emotion depicted is still viable and still connects with the audience.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Movement Project Research
I was perusing style.com and found this piece directed by Liz Goldwyn, entitled 'Underwater Ballet'. I included it here because I want to start a project shortly studying facial expressions and movement in slow motion. I found this piece somewhat relevant.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Project Golden Arches: New Blog
Here's a new blog I created to keep track of my project, Project Golden Arches. Please send in photos if you can!
projectgoldenarches.blogspot.com
projectgoldenarches.blogspot.com
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