Thanks to everyone who has shown an interest in my blog experiment. This will be the final post. I just don't have the time or energy to keep things up to date. I will keep the pages online for a little while more in order to spread this message, but then I will take down what is here.
I hope you all make time to seek out worthwhile movies, books, plays, music, dance performances--whatever is out there. It's important in your life.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
Gail Werner: Paintings at Stone Rose Gallery from September 15 to October 13
Long Beach artist Gail Werner will have a solo show of her paintings at the newly-opened Stone Rose Gallery in downtown Long Beach, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 15th from 7 to 9PM. The gallery is located at 342 East 4th Street in Long Beach.
Here's Werner's Artist's Statement:
"Desert Wash II," oil and pencil on wood panel, 36"x 24" 2011
My work reflects the
landscape and cultural imagery related to my Native American background. My tribal affiliation is with the Cupeño, Luiseño, and Diegeño tribes
located in southern California. Many of
the elements found in my work such as color, light, and plant and animal life
are influenced by the southern California desert and mountain landscape. Native
American rock art, pottery and basket designs specific to this area also make
their way into my work.
"Bird Dreams VI," encaustic on wood panel, 12"x 9" 2012
Here's Werner's Artist's Statement:
I am currently
working in oil paint on wood panel, sometimes incorporating pencil and
Prismacolor. At times I work from a
small quick sketch or painting, but at other times I lay down thin washes of
color, and the painting evolves from there. Seeking to find a balance between
the abstract and representational, I apply paint expressively while, at the
same time, rendering some of the images more realistically.
My work is also
influenced by southern California Native American stories and songs, especially
the creation stories and traditional “bird songs.” These stories and songs
often incorporate plant and animal life as the characters. They reflect a dreamlike, evolving world
telling how the world came to be and how the people came to be where they
are. My paintings reflect that
world: images appear to float, or their
scale is exaggerated.
Landscape, color,
light and imagery, abstract designs, stories and songs—all of these elements
merge together for me to evoke a sense of place.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Student's Choice: The Holy Mountain
I need your help.
The Guardian newspaper in London has had a number of series in which their writers or members of the public write an entry with titles like "My Favourite Film " or the more limiting "My Favourite Hitchcock Film ." On Studio 360, there's a feature called "AHA Moments ," in which writers or artists talk about one particular work of art (a book, a movie, an album, a photograph, whatever) that had a major impact on their lives. Then there's KCRW's Guest DJ Project, in which well-known people in the arts get to choose five pieces of music to share and discuss.
I'm looking for similar entries from YOU, my present and past students, about one particular cultural work that matters to you. Try to sell the rest of us on it. Email me something, and I'll begin posting the best entries in my sporadic fashion. There's just one catch: it has to be 200 words or less.
I'm waiting.
To kick things off, we start with a post from former student Zachary Rex about Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 avant garde Spanish-language film La Montana Sagrada (The Holy Mountain). This film is not for the easily offended, so sensitive viewers might want to avoid clicking on the video clip below. You have been warned. Now here's Zachary's entry:
The Holy Mountain (1973)
The Guardian newspaper in London has had a number of series in which their writers or members of the public write an entry with titles like "My Favourite Film " or the more limiting "My Favourite Hitchcock Film ." On Studio 360, there's a feature called "AHA Moments ," in which writers or artists talk about one particular work of art (a book, a movie, an album, a photograph, whatever) that had a major impact on their lives. Then there's KCRW's Guest DJ Project, in which well-known people in the arts get to choose five pieces of music to share and discuss.
I'm looking for similar entries from YOU, my present and past students, about one particular cultural work that matters to you. Try to sell the rest of us on it. Email me something, and I'll begin posting the best entries in my sporadic fashion. There's just one catch: it has to be 200 words or less.
I'm waiting.
To kick things off, we start with a post from former student Zachary Rex about Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 avant garde Spanish-language film La Montana Sagrada (The Holy Mountain). This film is not for the easily offended, so sensitive viewers might want to avoid clicking on the video clip below. You have been warned. Now here's Zachary's entry:
The Holy Mountain (1973)
Dir.
Alejandro Jodorowsky
By
Zachary Rex
I used to have no interest in “art films.” I held the same picture of them that
many have: pretentious, weird for the sake of weird, really nothing more than a
novelty.
Then
I found The Holy Mountain.
Championed
by John Lennon, adored by Marilyn Manson, The Holy Mountain has drawn quite
a diverse group of admirers (and detractors).
It
is an onslaught of disturbing, surreal imagery. Words cannot really do it
justice. Take a look at the trailer and see for yourself:
The
film follows a loose narrative of a Christ-like spiritual seeker, which is told
through use of a plethora of symbols drawn from mysticism and the occult.
Jodorowsky
plays with many different emotional tones here, from the dark and disturbing to
the spiritually uplifting. There is even a stroke of absurd humor.
It
is, if nothing else, two hours of eye-porn. It really shows what is possible
visually through the medium of film. Even if “surrealism” isn’t your cup of
tea, no visual artist can see The Holy Mountain without leaving inspired.
If
you want to see a movie that is at once trippy, funny, terrifying, and
enlightening, go and see this film.
Marjane Satrapi and a DJ/rupture Remix Challenge on Studio 360
For years, one of my favorite podcasts has been the one for Studio 360, the weekly, NYC-based public radio show about "pop culture and the arts" hosted by novelist Kurt Andersen. (Download it for free from iTunes.) Here are a few people who have been guests:
Her latest film, Chicken with Plums, is live-action rather than animation, and she discusses the challenges of collaboration for a normally solitary graphic artist. (You can listen to the interview HERE .)
One of the other interviews last week was with ethnomusicologist and DJ (and former Harvard English major) Jace Clayton, better known as DJ/rupture.
There's a nice interview with him, along with a video of his turntable skills, HERE . And, if you're up for a challenge, you can download tracks, create your own remix, and submit the results to be judged by DJ/rupture himself. HERE's all the info. But hurry! The deadline is midnight on Sept. 2.
At the beginning of each week's podcast, a woman's voice always reminds us that they "have a great website too." And they do. They're at http://www.studio360.org/
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The Moth: "True Stories, told Live and Without Notes"
For some time, I've been listening to the free weekly podcast of "The Moth" (available on iTunes).
What is "The Moth"? Here's what Wikipedia says: "The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It was founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales. George and his original group of storytellers called themselves "The Moths", and George took the name with him to New York. The organization now runs a number of different storytelling events in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and other American cities, often featuring prominent literary and cultural personalities."
Back in March, I attended a sold-out evening of "Moth" storytelling at UCLA's Royce Hall that featured amazing true stories, hilarious and sad, told by a wide range of people--from writers to a professional poker player to a hand surgeon (and the surgeon told the best story of the evening). There are nearly 100 videos of "Moth" stories on You Tube HERE .
"The Moth" also holds StorySLAMs, open mic storytelling competitions where anyone can show up to tell a five-minute-long story that relates to the evening's chosen theme. The storytellers put their names in a hat, and ten are chosen. Judges score the stories, and the evening's winner moves on to compete at the semi-annual GrandSLAM. There are plenty of StorySLAMs coming up for you to attend (see "The Moth"'s WEBSITE for more information). Generally, tickets are $8 (and if you go to one of the shows at Busby's East, near LACMA on Wilshire, you can get half-priced food and drinks before the show--it's Happy Hour).
A couple weeks ago, I went to the GrandSLAM at a very packed Echoplex near Echo Park. That night's winner was Jessica Lee Williams. Here's a video of a story she told at a previous competition, when the night's theme was "Fight or Flight":
And here's a video of a previous GrandSLAM-winning story from Caltech neuroscientist (and regular L.A. slammer) Moran Cerf, about his bank robbing days back in Israel:
There are about three StorySLAMs each month in the L.A. area. There's one tonight, but the next one is at my favorite "Moth" venue, Busby's East, on August 14. HERE is that website again.
What is "The Moth"? Here's what Wikipedia says: "The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. It was founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales. George and his original group of storytellers called themselves "The Moths", and George took the name with him to New York. The organization now runs a number of different storytelling events in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, and other American cities, often featuring prominent literary and cultural personalities."
Back in March, I attended a sold-out evening of "Moth" storytelling at UCLA's Royce Hall that featured amazing true stories, hilarious and sad, told by a wide range of people--from writers to a professional poker player to a hand surgeon (and the surgeon told the best story of the evening). There are nearly 100 videos of "Moth" stories on You Tube HERE .
"The Moth" also holds StorySLAMs, open mic storytelling competitions where anyone can show up to tell a five-minute-long story that relates to the evening's chosen theme. The storytellers put their names in a hat, and ten are chosen. Judges score the stories, and the evening's winner moves on to compete at the semi-annual GrandSLAM. There are plenty of StorySLAMs coming up for you to attend (see "The Moth"'s WEBSITE for more information). Generally, tickets are $8 (and if you go to one of the shows at Busby's East, near LACMA on Wilshire, you can get half-priced food and drinks before the show--it's Happy Hour).
A couple weeks ago, I went to the GrandSLAM at a very packed Echoplex near Echo Park. That night's winner was Jessica Lee Williams. Here's a video of a story she told at a previous competition, when the night's theme was "Fight or Flight":
And here's a video of a previous GrandSLAM-winning story from Caltech neuroscientist (and regular L.A. slammer) Moran Cerf, about his bank robbing days back in Israel:
There are about three StorySLAMs each month in the L.A. area. There's one tonight, but the next one is at my favorite "Moth" venue, Busby's East, on August 14. HERE is that website again.
Friday, July 27, 2012
"Shallow Grave": a "full-throttle bit of Hitchcockian nastiness"
In 1994, before he directed Trainspotting or Slumdog Millionaire or 127 Hours (AKA the movie where James Franco cuts off his arm), Danny Boyle directed Shallow Grave--now out on a Criterion Collection DVD.
Here's Criterion's blurb:
"The diabolical thriller Shallow Grave was the first film from director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, and screenwriter John Hodge (the smashing team behind Trainspotting). In it, three self-involved Edinburgh roommates—played by Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, and Ewan McGregor, in his first starring role—take in a brooding boarder, and when he dies of an overdose, leaving a suitcase full of money, the trio embark on a series of very bad decisions, with extraordinarily grim consequences for all. Macabre but with a streak of offbeat humor, this stylistically influential tale of guilt and derangement is a full-throttle bit of Hitchcockian nastiness."
Here's part of what Tom Charity said about it in his Time Out review:
"This impressively assured, highly accomplished British feature doesn't dwell on moral niceties, but goes straight for the gut. John Hodge's screenplay has the kind of unrelenting forward momentum and close-to-the bone sense of purpose which sees you safely through a good many logical minefields, even if nagging question marks occur in retrospect. Given that most of the action takes place in the flat, it's remarkable how agile and invigorating Boyle's direction is. As the friends fall out, the movie loses some of its black comic edge, perhaps, but only to gain in sheer, back-stabbing, bloody-minded mayhem."
The Criterion disc contains some great extras, including recent interviews with the cast and a behind the scenes documentary that shows how 20-something producer-wannabe Andrew Macdonald spent years trying to get financing to make John Hodge's screenplay into a movie. After financing was in place, they interviewed various directors, ultimately choosing the 37-year-old Boyle. While Shallow Grave is his first theatrical film, he already had years of experience directing in the theater, along with years of directing TV shows and TV movies in England.
Here's one of Criterion's fun "Three Reasons" videos for the film:
If you're someone who insists that you must like the characters to like a movie, book, or play (I guess that means no Macbeth or Othello for you), you might want to skip this one. Everyone here's a nasty piece of work.
Here's Criterion's blurb:
"The diabolical thriller Shallow Grave was the first film from director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew Macdonald, and screenwriter John Hodge (the smashing team behind Trainspotting). In it, three self-involved Edinburgh roommates—played by Kerry Fox, Christopher Eccleston, and Ewan McGregor, in his first starring role—take in a brooding boarder, and when he dies of an overdose, leaving a suitcase full of money, the trio embark on a series of very bad decisions, with extraordinarily grim consequences for all. Macabre but with a streak of offbeat humor, this stylistically influential tale of guilt and derangement is a full-throttle bit of Hitchcockian nastiness."
Here's part of what Tom Charity said about it in his Time Out review:
"This impressively assured, highly accomplished British feature doesn't dwell on moral niceties, but goes straight for the gut. John Hodge's screenplay has the kind of unrelenting forward momentum and close-to-the bone sense of purpose which sees you safely through a good many logical minefields, even if nagging question marks occur in retrospect. Given that most of the action takes place in the flat, it's remarkable how agile and invigorating Boyle's direction is. As the friends fall out, the movie loses some of its black comic edge, perhaps, but only to gain in sheer, back-stabbing, bloody-minded mayhem."
The Criterion disc contains some great extras, including recent interviews with the cast and a behind the scenes documentary that shows how 20-something producer-wannabe Andrew Macdonald spent years trying to get financing to make John Hodge's screenplay into a movie. After financing was in place, they interviewed various directors, ultimately choosing the 37-year-old Boyle. While Shallow Grave is his first theatrical film, he already had years of experience directing in the theater, along with years of directing TV shows and TV movies in England.
Here's one of Criterion's fun "Three Reasons" videos for the film:
If you're someone who insists that you must like the characters to like a movie, book, or play (I guess that means no Macbeth or Othello for you), you might want to skip this one. Everyone here's a nasty piece of work.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
"A Blessing" by James Wright (1927-1980)
Just off the highway to
Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth
on the grass.
And the eyes of those two
Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of
the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire
into the pasture
Where they have been grazing
all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can
hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans.
They love each other.
There is no loneliness like
theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young
tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the
slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to
me
And nuzzled my left
hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her
forehead,
And the light breeze moves me
to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin
over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my
body I would break
Into blossom.
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