Watch Exit Through the Gift Shop, an absolutely fascinating more-or-less-documentary about graffiti and street art and a videographer who gets caught up in that world. The film is created (or salvaged?) by Banksy, the famous and very accomplished street artist. The movie slows a bit in the middle (after the elephant!) but stick with it, because the end is one of the best parts.
It talks about... well, everything: what's art; who makes it; how; why; how money and art collide or connive or...
Watch and report back! Lots to discuss.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Film Fest
In this here Film Fest there seems to be a strong revisiting-the-'80s thread.
Wall Street is 1980s to its core... yet still proves the enduring lure of greed. I think I like it better than the latest riff, though mostly for the crazy joy of the period costumes. And there was a great interiordesecrator, um, decorator part where Daryl Hanna's character "decorates" ("designs" is sooo the wrong word here) the young greedy guy's condo. (Condos - so '80s) She has fake brick put over the real wall, then fake plaster fakely cracked over that, so there are just layers of faux all lovingly documented by the camera. Perhaps that symbolism is a trifle heavy-handed? But then, there was nothing subtle about the '80s either.
Wall Street is 1980s to its core... yet still proves the enduring lure of greed. I think I like it better than the latest riff, though mostly for the crazy joy of the period costumes. And there was a great interior
Friday, February 4, 2011
Film Fest Continues... SNOWED IN!
Through snow and hail and dark of night and... (I forget what all)... anyway, the mailman made it through Dallas' freak snowfall to bring the latest Film Fest Flick: the original Wall Street with Michael Douglas.
Recently saw the sequel - pretty good - so got curious to see the '80s original.
What better way to be shut in than with a movie and popcorn?
Recently saw the sequel - pretty good - so got curious to see the '80s original.
What better way to be shut in than with a movie and popcorn?
Thursday, February 3, 2011
SNIPPET #8
And from the "Design Methods" chapter of the soon-to-be-published-if-formatting-it-doesn't-kill-me-first Alice Through the Proscenium:
Comparables - A kind of go-by… Look for solutions to parallel problems. Say your solution must do two things at once; well, what other designs do that? A toaster toasts two sides at once. A pencil can draw and erase, it’s built-in. Some unrelated design may hand you a clue to your problem.
Talk – Kick ideas around with the director, other designers, or friends. With the right company you find yourself designing (and laughing) until quite giddy. Nothing is more fun than a design party! Sadly it’s also rare, because finding someone with the required quick wit, joy de vivre, and lack of ego is tough. You must respect your sparring partner (and vice versa). Treasure those you find.
Otherwise, be cautious. Directors may take your unconsidered comments or first ugly scrawls seriously. Try not to frighten them; you artists are notoriously weird and dangerous people.
Office Environment
Reading Seth Godin's blog (always an interesting take on business), today he talks about the importance of environment - of an inspiring space for creative meetings or your work. Good point.
Take a look around your work area...
Comfortable? Convenient? Efficient? What do you, personally, need? Think through practical requirements: chair, work surface, lighting, tools, equipment, lay-out space, storage/filing, extra seating... Are there meetings or public interactions here? Does your area present your public business "face"? Or is it purely private?
Your environment should help you do your best work by providing pragmatic and mental/emotional support. What distracts you or helps you concentrate? Beyond efficient and pleasant, make your workplace quiet or stimulating or... inspiring.
Corporate businesses will dictate a style (that lamp like a lady's leg in a fish-net stocking is OUT) and someone has to sit in the cubby under the stairs (H. Potter CPA), but there is always some improvement or claim-marker you can place. At least you can have the classiest coffee mug at IBM and a great frame for your permitted 3x5-photo-of-appropriate-spouse. Sometimes you can change more than you expect. Most folks waste this opportunity on knic-knacs. Get daring: hang real art, grow a real plant of some size and majesty, paint that wall!
But a home office can be as individual and satisfying as you choose to make it. Even if it's the laundry room. Why not? Design a great office to share with Mr and Mrs Whirlpool from Facilities. Not quiet cubical mates exactly, but they never steal pens. The most inspiring "home office" I know was sculptor Alexander Calder's studio: in a rustic barn, he had dozens of mobiles flying overhead like birds and outside his windows was a field where, among his bronzes, sheep grazed.
(My own studio is an enclosed back porch: brick, wood siding, art junk, lots of books, and lots and lots of glass with a view of squirrels. No bronzes... but I gotta Styrofoam TM carving of a sea god from an old show, does that count?)
Take a look around your work area...
Comfortable? Convenient? Efficient? What do you, personally, need? Think through practical requirements: chair, work surface, lighting, tools, equipment, lay-out space, storage/filing, extra seating... Are there meetings or public interactions here? Does your area present your public business "face"? Or is it purely private?
Your environment should help you do your best work by providing pragmatic and mental/emotional support. What distracts you or helps you concentrate? Beyond efficient and pleasant, make your workplace quiet or stimulating or... inspiring.
Corporate businesses will dictate a style (that lamp like a lady's leg in a fish-net stocking is OUT) and someone has to sit in the cubby under the stairs (H. Potter CPA), but there is always some improvement or claim-marker you can place. At least you can have the classiest coffee mug at IBM and a great frame for your permitted 3x5-photo-of-appropriate-spouse. Sometimes you can change more than you expect. Most folks waste this opportunity on knic-knacs. Get daring: hang real art, grow a real plant of some size and majesty, paint that wall!
But a home office can be as individual and satisfying as you choose to make it. Even if it's the laundry room. Why not? Design a great office to share with Mr and Mrs Whirlpool from Facilities. Not quiet cubical mates exactly, but they never steal pens. The most inspiring "home office" I know was sculptor Alexander Calder's studio: in a rustic barn, he had dozens of mobiles flying overhead like birds and outside his windows was a field where, among his bronzes, sheep grazed.
(My own studio is an enclosed back porch: brick, wood siding, art junk, lots of books, and lots and lots of glass with a view of squirrels. No bronzes... but I gotta Styrofoam TM carving of a sea god from an old show, does that count?)
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Spoilers
The internet sure makes it easier to find news of up-coming movies/books/etc. or to follow a favorite star or author.
With a mere click the movie fan can check progress of The Hobbit (endless pre-production - director sick) or the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean (Penelope Cruise as a pirate - perfect). You can track the progress-to-DVDs of TV shows like Dexter or True Blood (none, apparently). Or watch for new books: a Charlaine Harris comes out May 3rd, latest in the series which inspired TV's True Blood. Diane Gabaldon's 8th book (still untitled) is still... unpublished. She takes a long time between books, but then, they're very long books. Lois McMaster Bujold is adding to her Vorkosign series, starring Ivan (yes! finally). And so on.
In the last century - no the one before that one - crowds used to wait on the docks for the latest chapter of Charles Dickens' serials...
No doubt but I'd have been there pacing.
With a mere click the movie fan can check progress of The Hobbit (endless pre-production - director sick) or the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean (Penelope Cruise as a pirate - perfect). You can track the progress-to-DVDs of TV shows like Dexter or True Blood (none, apparently). Or watch for new books: a Charlaine Harris comes out May 3rd, latest in the series which inspired TV's True Blood. Diane Gabaldon's 8th book (still untitled) is still... unpublished. She takes a long time between books, but then, they're very long books. Lois McMaster Bujold is adding to her Vorkosign series, starring Ivan (yes! finally). And so on.
In the last century - no the one before that one - crowds used to wait on the docks for the latest chapter of Charles Dickens' serials...
No doubt but I'd have been there pacing.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Film Fest
Watched the latest version of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde's spooky tale of the always-young man who hides a deal-with-the-devil-portrait in his attic.
Appropriately spooky... though maybe relishing all the debauchery a bit too much? (The feeling Anne Rice's books give me too. Interview With a Vampire was very effective, but read a few more and then a sort of spiritual indigestion starts to set in.) I can see exactly why Colin Firth took the role of the older man who first seduces Dorian to the dark side. A juicy role. Playing depravity must be fun, especially as counterpoint to the stiff Mr. Darcy. But like most stories about rakes, wastrels, and evil doers... well, none of that's really a spectator sport, is it?
Appropriately spooky... though maybe relishing all the debauchery a bit too much? (The feeling Anne Rice's books give me too. Interview With a Vampire was very effective, but read a few more and then a sort of spiritual indigestion starts to set in.) I can see exactly why Colin Firth took the role of the older man who first seduces Dorian to the dark side. A juicy role. Playing depravity must be fun, especially as counterpoint to the stiff Mr. Darcy. But like most stories about rakes, wastrels, and evil doers... well, none of that's really a spectator sport, is it?
Netflix
Don't you love Netflix?
While I DO miss wandering the aisles of a video store looking for a film to fit tonight's mood, after being abandoned by both Hollywood (my fav) and Blockbuster (unfav - remember them dumpstering all older titles? for shame), I didn't have that option. Now, instead, I get to haggle between rival picks and then about what order to order 'em in. An embarrassment of riches.
While I DO miss wandering the aisles of a video store looking for a film to fit tonight's mood, after being abandoned by both Hollywood (my fav) and Blockbuster (unfav - remember them dumpstering all older titles? for shame), I didn't have that option. Now, instead, I get to haggle between rival picks and then about what order to order 'em in. An embarrassment of riches.
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