read it here
Yahoo! gets it wrong again.
Yahoo! really has it wrong this time. Well maybe not for the first nine movies, but to call 2001 one of the most historically wrong films ever is just plain wrong. It was not made as historic fiction. It was filmed in 1968, a film about the future. To then evaluate this film on the basis of whether or not it was good historical fiction is not only unfair but silly. Who is the nincompoop who compiled that list? Yes, the future did not happen as Clarke, rest his soul, envisioned it. But he had nothing but his imagination to create his idea of the future. All those other films about the PAST were made after the events happened. The directors etc. could have done a little more research.
This is just further evidence of how stupid Yahoo! can be.
Wood Bolt Stool
First thing I have welded in a while. Overall I am happy with the design. Some of the welds are kind of manky as I haven’t welded in a while and not used to the welder. Not many settings on it. For some reason I like figuring out something to make with spare parts, more than making something with parts I have specifically chosen for that project. Maybe that is the improviser in me.
Technique vs. Style
I find what this guy to be doing pretty amazing, though I do not like the song.
Sentimental Pussyfooting
This is something I wrote to Rita Feliciano, a dance critic in the Bay Area, about my upcoming show, Sentimental Pussyfooting – a study in plagiarism. She was wondering how the show fits into the concept of dance.
“This work fits right into dance. In this show, I am
using works by Yoko Ono, Trisha Brown, John Cage, Jess
Curtis and Paul Taylor as points of departure.
The idea behind the show is to use structures that
have been created by and are attached to specific
artists and re-use/reclaim/re-examine them. The way I
see it dance, or most dance, has the same structure.
Lights go on, music and movement start. It’s
essentially the same skeleton every time. Whether
it’s ODC or Scott Wells, the skeleton is the same.
Just the meat around the bones has changed. The
costumes are different, the music is different etc.
But still essentially the same piece. Or is it?
The piece by Yoko Ono that I will be examining is her
“Cut Piece”. First done in ’64, she sits on stage and
audience members come on stage and cut her clothing.
In my show I will do this piece again. I will sit on
stage, audience members will come on stage and cut off
my clothes. Some people will say that I am doing
Ono’s piece again. But am I? The scissors are
different, the clothes, the audience, the location,
the pathways cut into the clothing will be different.
If ODC and Scott Wells are different pieces then Ono’s
piece and mine are different. In both cases, the
costumes are different. The people executing the
movements are different. The pathways of the bodies
and scissors are different. The lighting is
different. The soundscore is different. Yet the
skeleton remains the same.
People are more likely to say that I am repeating
Ono’s piece because it is a different enough of a
skeleton from the basic dance skeleton. No one says
to ODC or Paul Taylor – “Oh lights, movement, and
music…that is So and So’s piece” Why not? Because
that skeleton is from time immemorial. And most dance
I see is just repeating the same skeleton over and
over again. And dance is so rich because we keep
investigating the same skeleton over and over again.
Where would dance be if people stopped making dances
to music because that had already been done?
By keeping certain structures identified with certain
artists, the collective artistic investigation is
limited. By saying – Oh we can’t do that because that
is So and So’s piece – we cut ourselves off from so
many possibilties. Every piece in this show that I am
relating to, I consider a door that was created when
the pieces were originally made, a door for us to walk
through. Those artists pointed us in new directions.
It is up to us to continue in those directions and
continue their investigations.”
Art Theft
In a case of slight exaggeration-
Julian Radcliffe, chairman of the Art Loss Register, which operates a database to help recover lost and stolen art equated art thieves with murders and child slavers.
Now, I am all for art, but to equate people who are basically fancy shoplifters with murders…that is a grand exaggeration. I think it is another case of someone whose vision has become so myopic, so involved in one’s field that s/he has lost perspective.
Magnets
First Fridays took place or is taking place right now in Oakland. Saw a bunch of work. Most of it didn’t hit me. But liked some paintings and sculptures by Michael Meyers in the Johansson Projects gallery. The paintings were of trucks, reminded me of a video I made a while ago, part of the Half Breed series. Hmm…thought it was on my site but guess not. What was the point of this entry? Not sure. Well after seeing a lot of work, I think 5 galleries, and didn’t recognize anyone. Funny how the dance world and “visual” art world don’t seem to be connected. Dance is a visual art. Kinda useless to the audience if they are blind. But after seeing work and not liking most of it, made me want to put more of an effort into getting my video work out there. Packing it well and sending it out.
Packaging I thought of involves climbing rope, magnets and Fritos. Looking for magnets online led me to a cool page. I’ve got 8 magnets coming my way.
Hungry
talk about serious core strength
She would make a kick ass climber.
But why did she drop the swan lake? I think she could have stuck with that and had a stronger piece, a more interesting juxtaposition of elements. She was, however, probably not going for that, though. I would love to do a piece with 5 of such dancers. Such extroverted performance quality, but not much connection to the music. Well not that really but, could use a little subtlety…such a snob I am.
Children of Men
Music is fascinating not just for its own sake, but also for its effect on the listener. And when coupled with visuals the effect can be intense. But sometimes music is over used. Take the show “Grey’s Anatomy”. The first few (I am ashamed to say it) seasons I watched, I felt bombarded by music. Almost more music than dialogue. And intense scenes were ruined by the added music. We were not allowed to observe the naked suffering but the director had to indicate to us that the scene was sad and intense by adding the music.
Such is the case with the scene from “Children of Men”, based on the book by P.D. James. I did not read the book, but have read her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, which are damn fine. Read them. I meant to read the book before I saw the movie, but forgot that she had written the book. I do not like to read a book after seeing the movie. My mind’s eye is too influenced by the movie and I can’t build the scenes and faces of the character after seeing how the director of the film imagined them.
Anyways…the scene would have been much stronger, his agony more intense if there were no music. Too many spices spoil the flavor. Music is the MSG of movies. Instead of cooking well, directors, Alfonso Cuarón in this case, just dump in some MSG to make it good. Too often the scenes are spoiled, the emotions indicated instead of felt.
Ingrid Michaelson
Never heard of her until today. Heard her big hit, that I guess is part of an Old Navy ad (the new way to fame getting a song in an ad for cheap clothes made to last a season), “The Way I Am” Cute, catchy 2 minutes of fluff.
I was humming along with it until I heard the line about Rogaine. Any song that has Rogaine in it has got to go. And what the hell is indie-pop anyways. If it is pop, it’s not indie. Independent popular music makes no sense.
Some of the side effects of Rogaine include hair loss and difficulty breathing. I tried some free samples in highschool. A friend’s dad was a dermatologist. But after reading about the side effects of difficulty of breathing while lying down…forget it.
Be a man, take baldness in stride.