SiouxWIRE

HIERONYMUS BOSCH: Garden of Earthly Delights

2011-05-27T11:10:00.000+01:00

The multiple interpretations of Hieronymus Bosch's surreal, strangely modern Garden of Earthly Delights make interesting reading. A high resolution image of the piece is available HERE for your own review and the Wiki entry provides a solid starting point for your own exploration of the work. As usual, additional links are listed at the end of this post.

Links:
Garden of Earthly Delights Wiki
Hieronymous Bosch Wiki
The World of Bosch (Smithsonian Magazine, 1988)
Boschwebsite.com

Liger Tiger, Lion Dog

2011-05-26T04:34:00.001+01:00

Having seen the headline "Liger cubs nursed by dog in China's Xixiakou Zoo" on the BBC website, I couldn't help but be pulled in by this unexpected turn of events. Pregnant with metaphor, it's like a bit of living mythology.

Links:
Liger cubs nursed by dog in China's Xixiakou Zoo (BBC)

MALCOLM SUTHERLAND

2011-05-25T11:03:00.003+01:00

I really enjoy Malcolm Sutherlands animated shorts.

"Malcolm Sutherland is an animator / illustrator originally from Calgary, Alberta. He studied printmaking at the Alberta College of Art and Design before moving to Montreal in 2002 to direct a short animated film at the National Film Board of Canada. He also studied film at Concordia University. He has produced several comic books, including OOLA DUG in 2007. Malcolm currently lives in Montreal with his wife Anna."

Links:
Malcolm Sutherland
Malcolm Sutherland (Vimeo)
Malcolm Sutherland (YouTube)
Malcolm Sutherland Interview (Motionographer)

LARS VON TRIER vs. CANNES or "It's okay to BE fascist, but not JOKE about it"

2011-05-19T16:10:00.015+01:00

In his films, Lars Von Trier uses difficult and contentious elements as a lightning rod to bring to the surface hidden elements of ourselves. It's no different in his interaction with the press and public. And in this case, the reaction to the comments he made is far scarier than the comments he made.

It should also be noted that since, he has said "If I have hurt someone this morning by the words I said at the press conference, I sincerely apologise. I am not antisemitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi." It was an extension of the ethos presented in his film The Idiots challenging the establishment through provocation.

The recent decision by Cannes to expel him and label him a "persona non grata" is extraordinary and marks a downturn in the legitimacy of the festival itself. For some time it has been in decline, feeling more like a tradeshow than any sort of festival with artistic merit and this latest decision to expel one of its contenders doesn't sit right with its heritage as an open and forward thinking forum.

Von Trier's work is provocative and at times uncomfortable revealing truths that some want to deny, but he always serves up something to think about and his latest comments reflect his work in that it has brought to the surface reactions based on indoctrination rather than thought. I'm sure many who have spoken against him are just answering an inner call to prove themselves good people ("I don't like Nazis!") while actually feeding a fascist, mob mentality without even realising it--good intentions paving the road to hell.

People like to think in black-and-white and prefer it if people say what they mean, but there are gradations and using language to provoke either by sarcasm or tongue-in-cheek misdirection is valid. It's just a shame that the organisers of Cannes lost sight of that.

Links:
Cannes Bans Von Trier After Hitler Remarks (New York Times)
Witch Hunt or Wise Move? (Routers)
Cannes Film Festival Bans Lars Von Trier (Guardian)

OFER WOLBERGER

2011-03-04T11:16:00.006Z

Ofer Wolberger has a varied and consistent portfolio as well as an engaging blog. I found him via Conscientious where Jörg M. Colberg has a wonderful series on collage art.

"Ofer Wolberger (b. 1976) is an artist who lives and works in New York City. He is the recipient of The Humble Arts Foundation Spring 2008 Grant for Emerging Photographers. He was a finalist for both the BMW Paris Photo Prize in 2008 as well as the Prix HSBC pour la Photographie in 2009. His photographs have been collected and exhibited internationally. In 2009 his project Life with Maggie, was exhibited at Michael Hoppen Gallery in London and at C/O Berlin. Next year Life with Maggie will be exhibited at VU in Quebec. He is currently working on a series of 12 self-published artists books collectively known as The Photographic Book Project.

Ofer is a member of the POC Project."

Links:
Ofer Wolberger
Horses Think
Ofer Walberger (Conscientious) SOURCE

BRIAN DETTMER

2011-03-03T11:44:00.000Z

"The age of information in physical form is waning. As intangible routes thrive with quicker fluidity, material and history are being lost, slipping and eroding into the ether. Newer media swiftly flips forms, unrestricted by the weight of material and the responsibility of history. In the tangible world we are left with a frozen material but in the intangible world we may be left with nothing. History is lost as formats change from physical stability to digital distress.

The richness and depth of the book is universally respected yet often undiscovered as the monopoly of the form and relevance of the information fades over time. The book’s intended function has decreased and the form remains linear in a non-linear world. By altering physical forms of information and shifting preconceived functions, new and unexpected roles emerge. This is the area I currently operate in. Through meticulous excavation or concise alteration I edit or dissect communicative objects or systems such as books, maps, tapes and other media. The medium’s role transforms. Its content is recontextualized and new meanings or interpretations emerge.Explanation of Process

In this work I begin with an existing book and seal its edges, creating an enclosed vessel full of unearthed potential. I cut into the surface of the book and dissect through it from the front. I work with knives, tweezers and surgical tools to carve one page at a time, exposing each layer while cutting around ideas and images of interest. Nothing inside the books is relocated or implanted, only removed. Images and ideas are revealed to expose alternate histories and memories. My work is a collaboration with the existing material and its past creators and the completed pieces expose new relationships of the book’s internal elements exactly where they have been since their original conception."

Links:
Brian Dettmer
Brian Dettmer (Flickr)
Brian Dettmer (Toomey Tourell)
Brian Dettmer interview (YouTube)
Brian Dettmer (Wiki)

SubBlue

2011-03-01T00:12:00.003Z

SubBlue describes himself as a "laser physicist turned web developer with an interest in generative graphics programming" and his works are fascinating.

Links:
SubBlue.com
SubBlue (Vimeo)
SubBlue (Flickr)
SubBlue (Twitter)

PRIMA VISTA's Braille Music Scores for the Blind

2011-02-28T11:29:00.008Z

Hearing with touch. It's such a lovely and liberating concept.

Links:
Braille Music Scores for the Blind (Guardian) SOURCE
Prima Vista Braille Music Services
Royal College of Music

THE BACKWATER GOSPEL

2011-02-27T10:41:00.003Z

"The Backwater Gospel is the bachelor projects of eight students at The Animation Workshop. It's an animated short about a small, isolated community in the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, a minister hell-bent on ruling his flock and an undertaker who always precedes death."

Links:
The Backwater Gospel Blog
The Animation Workshop
The Animation Workshop (Vimeo)

MICHIO YAMAUCHI

2011-02-25T20:02:00.001Z

Michio Yamauchi's work has a brilliant off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment quality that's chock full of flavour and depth.

Links:
Michio Yamauchi
Michio Yamauchi (Asian Photography Blog) SOURCE
Michio Yamauchi (Facebook)

SANDRO MILLER & GENTLEMEN SCHOLAR's "Butterflies"

2011-02-24T20:24:00.002Z

This is an odd little short from Sandro Miller featuring John Malkovich.

"I have this idea in my mind for a painting about butterflies. Blue and green and yellow butterflies, tumbling out of my brain. I think it’s going to be good. I feel like I can almost touch them... like they’re right there for me to grab as they’re flying away... out of my skull and taking all those dark thoughts and little devils with them. Just fluttering away and leaving the good stuff behind. Butterflies. I’m going to get my canvas and my paints. I think I’m all better. I think I’m ready to leave."

Design/VFX - Gentleman Scholar
Creative Directors - Will Johnson & William Campbell
Producer - Tyler Locke
Executive Producer - Rob Sanborn

Editor - Josh Bodnar/The Whitehouse

Designers/Compositors - William Campbell, Will Johnson, Tommy Wooh, Daniel Blank, Paul Yeh, Heather Aquino, Claudia Yi Leon, Joseph Chan

Director - Sandro Miller

Music Composer - Matt Hutchinson

Links:
Sandro Miller
Sandro Miller Wiki
Gentlemen Scholar
Gentlemen Scholar (Vimeo)

ANDREAS WEINAND

2011-02-22T11:43:00.000Z

"My interest in photography arises from an urge for self-expression. It is the
product of my research into the search for identity. In reflection on my own
experience of life, I am moved to ask questions about the meaning of identity.
I ask, for example, how identity is expressed in our lives. I wish to explore the
relationship between the individual presenting his / her personality and the
society to which he / she presents it. As a being in society, I wish to use images
as a means of conveying impressions as I receive them, and open them to
discussion.

I do not see photography as a means of describing objective truth. Rather, I see
subjectivity in selecting and constructing the content. I recognize that photography
always offers the possibility of multiple interpretations. The subjectivity of creating
construction combined with a recognizable reality tempts the viewer to forget the
mediating function of photography. One is tempted to believe that one sees the
situation itself with the help of the picture. But a photograph is a product of artistic
fiction.

For me, the most fascinating capacity of photography is its capacity to portray a
moment as a picture and to capture an essence of the event. My photograpic
series are composed of different fragments of reality put in relation to each other.
While photographing, I watch people very closely. I choose situations in which
I believe people are described in an honest way; but the fact remains that I do
choose the scenes I photograph, and what kind of message I construct by
combining these images. I feel a responsibility to the people I wish to portray,
and therefore I work very carefully, choosing the situations in which I photograph,
and selecting the pictures which I show in public."

Hide all
Links:
Andreas Weinand
Andreas Weinand (Conscientious) source

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER

2011-02-21T16:13:00.002Z

Another graduation film from a talented team of students from Gobelins, l’école de l’image. This 3-minute short has a sumptuous visual style and the team involved have documented much of their work in their individual blogs. It won "Best Graduation Film" at Annecy 2010.

Links:
The Lighthouse Keeper (Vimeo)
Baptiste Rogron
Gaëlle Thierry
Rony Hotin
Maïlys Vallade
Jérémie moreau
David François
Romain Gauthier

SAMMON HUNG KAM-BO & WOO-PING YUEN's "Magnificent Butcher"

2011-02-20T11:20:00.000Z

I stumbled across this gem at Franklin Einsbruch's blog (formerly ArtBlog.net). Enjoy. LINK.

Links:
Magnificent Butcher (IMDB)
Franklin Einsbruch source
Magnificent Butcher (Wiki)
Magnificent Butcher (LoveHKFilm.com)

DANIEL PALACIOS

2011-02-19T11:38:00.000Z

I find Daniel Palacios' work extremely beautiful, engaging, and thought-provoking. His work Waves has received a lot of attention in the blogosphere. Though not without reason, I prefer Intrusiones which illustrates sounds and its influence over time. That said, his entire catalogue is worthy of attention.

"The work of Daniel Palacios (Cordoba, 1981), an artist educated in sciences who graduated with a degree in Fine Arts, develops by applying the relations of art, science and technology to space and the perceptual systems as a result of his postgraduate studies which earned him Masters degrees in Art and Technology and Art in the Public Sphere.

Works such as ‘Waves’, ‘Outcomes’ and ‘Kill the Process’ have brought him to exhibitions like ‘Synthetic Times’ at the National Art Museum de China [NAMOC] and ‘El Discreto Encanto de la Tecnología (The Discreet Charm of Technology)’ at the Museo Extremeño e Iberoamerica of Contemporary Art [MEIAC] in Badajoz, the prestigious Neue Gallerie of Graz (Austria) and Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie [ZKM] in Karlsruhe (Germany), one of the main sanctuaries for electronic art on a global level, in addition to taking part in such international fairs as ARCO and festivals of the stature of ARS Electronica of Linz (Austria). His work has received major recognition, including the second VIDA9.0 Art and Artificial Life awards and support for production of his work from the PROPUESTAS programme of the Arte y Derecho Foundation, in addition to being awarded an artist residency at Casa Lutetia (Sao Paulo, Brazil), published in the MIT Press specialist magazine ‘Leonardo’ in “Art from Andalusia for the 21st Century’ coordinated by Ivan de la Torre Amerighi, and the recent Tames & Hudson publication of ‘Art and Science Now: How Scientific Research and Technological Innovation are Becoming Key to 21st-Century Aesthetics’ by professor Stephen Wilson.
He has also given workshops and conferences on the combined use of technology and plastic arts in such schools and centres as the FAAP School of Plastics Arts (Brazil), School of Fine Arts of La Laguna (Tenerife), CRCC (Palma de Mallorca), Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, IAAC (Barcelona), File Symposium at the SESI Gallery (Brazil), Science Week at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Malaga…

Concerning information and electronic technology as tools for creating a process more than achieving a defined representation. Although it encompasses different themes, his work is a set of relationships with the surrounding environment: whether with the physical space itself as we perceive it or what phenomena are happening in it. In a certain sense, he creates situations which invite reflection or represent his own reflections at a specific moment of his research concerning perceptions and the manner in which they influence the way we relate to them.
Contact with reality and plastic languages is a major aspect of his work, which seeks to create situations and not simulations, utilizing ‘reality’ in his installations with the goal of creating plastic, non-digital results. Technology allows him to control what factors come into play in that space, in what measure and what their effect will be. In this way, the public is an indispensable part of the work by participating in its process, while the artist in turn can study their reactions, the one factor he cannot control and the vital aspect of his work."

Links:
Daniel Palacios
Daniel Palacios (Vimeo)
Daniel Palacios

STEVE REICH's "Clapping Music"

2011-02-18T11:56:00.000Z

Peter Van Der Ham created this brilliant realisation of Steve Reich's Clapping Music from a concept by George Manak. An original rendition is below.

Links:
Steve Reich
Steve Reich (Wiki)
Peter Van Der Ham (YouTube)

SHOPLIFTER (HRAFNHILDUR ARNARDOTTIR)

2011-02-17T10:36:00.000Z

"For several years Shoplifter has worked exploring the use and symbolic nature of hair, and its visual and artistic potential. It started as a discovery in an antique shop, a lock of hair encased as a keepsake and shaped as a flower, and has since evolved as an exploration of hair’s meaning - from strength, self-image and beauty, to vanity, decoration and fashion.

Shoplifter has said of her work, “Vanity is to a different extent on the surface of my work and sometimes it appears only vaguely or in an abstract way, but it plays a role whether it is visible in the work or only in the air when I make it. I really respect the human need to decorate oneself and one’s environment, be it driven by vanity and obsession or sincere love for beauty, which in and of itself is vanity at its best.”

Shoplifter has often collaborated with Björk, who used her hair sculptures for the art for her album Medúlla. Other collaborations include Assume Vivid Astro Focus, , ThreeAsFour, and Victoria Bartlett’s VPL.

Shoplifter has exhibited extensively in the US and Europe, most notably at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where she was commissioned to produce a window installation in collaboration with a.v.a.f. Other exhibition venues include The Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland, White Columns, New York, Amy Smith-Stewart Gallery, New York, Colette Art Gallery, London, Deitch Projects, New York, Creative Time, New York, Gavin Brown Enterprise, New York and The Kitchen, New York."

Björk, wearable hair sculpture 2004

Links:
Shoplifter.us
Shoplifter (The Selby)
Hrafnhildur Arnardottir (Museum of Contemporary Craft)
Hrafnhildur Arnardottir (ArtNet)
Hrafnhildur Arnardottir (Under the Glacier)

WATARU ARAKAWA's Fireball Charming

2011-02-16T11:39:00.000Z

I've only just discovered this in an announcement of a second season of this collection of shorts. The new season comprises 13 two-minute episodes from writer/director Wataru Arakawa with music from Usui Yoshiyuki and animation from Jinni's Animation Studios.

The story centres around a female robot duchess named Drosel von Flügel and her guardian servant robot Gedächtnis.

The videos below contain the trailer for the upcoming season as well as a compilation of the freshman outing. Unfortunately, it's dialogue heavy and in original Japanese without translation. That said, the Chris Cunningham-influenced designs are fun and I like Usui Yoshiyuki's music.

Links:
Fireball Charming
Fireball (Wiki)
Fireball Charming (YouTube)
Jinni's Animation Studios
Usui Yoshiyuki(Grooveshark)

KATSUMI HAYAKAWA

2011-02-15T13:06:00.003Z

I'm fond of Katsumi Hawakaw a's paper sculptures and paintings.

* Top image: Lines, Acrylic on canvas, 28" x 27" / 73 x 69cm 2009

Links:
Katsumi Hayakawa
Katsumi Hayakawa (Winston Wächter)
Katsumi Hayakawa (ArtNet)

VIDEO EMBEDDING ISSUE

2011-02-14T13:56:00.003Z

Hello everyone. Just to give you a head's up that I've been having a video-embedding issue that's specific to Firefox which repeats the same embedded video across various posts. It is not a problem with the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Opera. That said, the Firefox issue is cleared up when the cache is cleared.

If anyone is familiar with this issue, assistance would be welcome. I'll be working on it and will post an update as soon as it is resolved.

all the best,
Sioux

BEN REUBOLD's "Solar"

2011-02-14T13:29:00.002Z

Ben Reubold's short Solar would make a nice diversion on your break. See it in full resolution HERE.

Links:
Ben Reubold (Vimeo)
Ben Reubold
Ben Reubold (Flickr)

The Curious Lure of PROFESSOR LAYTON

2011-02-14T11:50:00.005Z

I think I've been overlooking games on the WIRE for far too long. It has taken some time to digest what is on offer and swimming upstream against media questioning the merits of the medium has stymied my progress.

And so I start with the puzzle-based series of games centering on the adventures of Professor Layton and trusty apprentice, Luke. As this last Christmas approached, the seventh for my son and with an unwieldy collection of action figures, bricks, vehicles, and boardgames, we decided to get him a Nintendo DS XL along with a pair of Professor Layton games.

This was spurred somewhat by the following from Charlie Brooker's blog at The Guardian:

"Don't be fooled by the children's book presentation: this is essentially an interactive detective story, although the story is just an excuse to present you with a series of increasingly challenging puzzles, some of which could cause even the most sophisticated brain to overheat. If I had children, I'd force them to play this on the basis that it would almost certainly turn them into geniuses."

Now, it's two months later and the entire household often spend spare moments working through the games. Across age and gender, these games have drawn us into its charming pan-European vision of England with its Japanese sensibilities.

It's greater than the sum of its parts which all work toward enhacing the other. The puzzles, animations, music, voice acting and quirky storyline is at once familiar and comforting while likewise presented in such a incongruous ways as to make something new. For example, accordian music which we tend to associate with France serves as the base of much of the soundtrack. It's a bit like giving Tolstoy a soundtrack of steel drums. Odd, but it works in this context.

The puzzles themselves remind me of puzzles that various teachers throughout my schooling would bringe in a couple times of year to challenge and delight, but each Professor Layton has 100+ enigmas. Each is delightful with a good balance of challenge(and occasional frustration) while offering an endorphine-releasing payoff that spurs the player on to the next puzzle.

Recently, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva was released which is an animated film based on the series. Not as compelling as the games themselves, it does serve to buttress the series without detracting from its achievements. My son in particular was charmed by it.

Most of all, it is something that takes the medium and makes the most of its abilities and has a broad appeal, particularly among those who find little to no appeal in the usual fare offered by video games while likewise drawing in veteran gamers more accustomed to shooting zombies.

Links:
Professor Layton (Wiki)
Professor Layton (Official Website)

MOTOHIKO ODANI

2011-02-13T11:44:00.000Z

Motohiko Odani has an interesting collection of work though I find the titles of his creations tend to fall short.

"Motohiko Odani has been celebrated for his meticulously crafted objects and visions of utopia and dystopia since the late 1990s. A main theme underlying his sculpture, photography, and video work is mutation of humans and animals. In his celluloid-colored video Rompers, a computer-graphic-enhanced mutant girl sings, idyllically, while eerie insects crawl around her. She is indifferent to them and seems to accept that she is becoming something other than herself. The work comments on the mutation of nature in an age of bioengineering while appropriating the innocent setting of the children’s TV program, Romper Room that originally aired in the United States in the 1950s. On the Japanese version that was shown during the late 1960s and the 1970s, toy bees and cute animals frolicked with children.

Motohiko Odani was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1972 and received an MFA from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1997. In his sculpture, photography, and video works, Odani mingles human, animal, and futuristic anatomy, exploring the boundaries of reality and myth, and the physical and the spiritual. Odani’s creations are eerie, yet visually stunning. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts. Odani’s works have been shown in various solo exhibitions, including “SP4 ‘The Spectator’ in Modern Sculpture,” Yamamoto Gendai Gallery, Tokyo (2009); and “En Melody,” Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milano (2001); as well as group exhibitions that include “MI VIDA: From Heaven to Hell,” MUeCSARNOK, Budapest (2009), and “Skin of/in Contemporary Art,” The National Museum of Art, Osaka (2007)."

* Top image: Fingerspanner, 1998, Photo:HIROMOTO Hideki (Takamoto Gendai)

Links:
Motohiko Odani (Phantom-Limb.com)
Motohiko Odani (Tamamoto Gendai)
Motohiko Odani (Go Figure)
Motohiko Odani (ArtNet)

JITKA HANZLOVÁ

2011-02-12T12:10:00.000Z

"Born 1958 in Nachod, Czechoslovakia, Jitka Hanzlová is currently resident in Essen, Germany. She studied photography at Essen University and has since worked as a photographer on her own projects. She was awarded the Otto Steinert Photography Prize in 1993 and European Photography Prize in 1995 and was shortlisted for The Citibank Private Bank Photography Prize 2000 and 2003. Hanzlova's work on “Rokytník” depicting the small Czech village where she grew up and her portraits of women in various countries in “Female” have won her acclaim in Europe and America. "

Links:
Jitka Hanzlová (Sutton Lane)
Jitka Hanzlová (Conscientious) source
Jitka Hanzlová (Steidl Books)
Jitka Hanzlova (Artforum/BNET article)
Jitka Hanzlová (ArtNet)

RICHARD AYOADE's "Submarine"

2011-02-11T13:55:00.000Z

"I have been waiting too long for the film of my life. My name is Oliver Tate. This film will capture my particular idiosyncrasies, for example, the way I seduce my classmate Jordana Bevan using only my mind. Also, since my parents’ marriage is being threatened by a man who runs courses on Mental and Physical Wellbeing, the film will probably feature some elaborate set-pieces of me taking him down. There will be helicopter shots. There will be slow-mo, but also transcendent moments, like when I cure my father's depression. Knowing me as I do, I will be surprised if this film runs to less than three hours. Note to the press: appropriate adjectives to describe this film include "breath-taking" and "irresistible" as well the phrase: "a monumental achievement”."

Links:
Submarine (Warp Films)
Richard Ayoade interview (Guardian)

HIROYUKI MASUYAMA

2011-02-10T11:15:00.007Z

"In this work, Masuyama engages in an exploration of passages across time, space and art history. These photomontages are made after the 19th Century painters Caspar David Friedrich (German, 1774-1840) and J.M.W. Turner (British, 1775-1851), who both traveled widely across Europe and documented their journeys in paintings. Returning to the sites that Friedrich and Turner captured over 160 years ago, before the invention of the camera, Masuyama takes several thousand photographs. With these images, he composes reproductions of the original paintings out of thousands of images, building the painterly atmosphere and light out of his contemporary photographs. The finished photomontage is mounted on a lightbox, illuminating his composite image from within.
Masuyama animates these historical, often iconic artworks with a new contemporary resonance, calling upon their shared universality while simultaneously pointing to the unique, individual lens of his own time and place. "

Links:
Hiroyuki Masuyama (official site)
Hiroyuki Masuyama (Galerie Sfeir-Semler)
Hiroyuki Masuyama (Studio La Città)
Hiroyuki Masuyama (ArtNet)
Hiroyuki Masuyama (Conscientious) source

SPIKE JONZE's "I'm Here"

2011-02-09T13:16:00.010Z

If you have yet to see Spike Jonze's short, "I'm Here", do not hesitate to put aside a half hour for this charming love story. See it HERE.

"I’m Here is a 30-minute love story about the relationship between two robots living in L.A. Andrew Garfield and Sienna Guillory are in the lead roles, and the soundtrack includes original music by Sam Spiegel and original songs by L.A.-based art musician Aska Matsumiya and other emerging musicians."

Links:
Imheremovie.com
I'm Here (Wiki)

MOVING HOUSE

2010-08-27T09:10:00.002+01:00

I'll be moving house so there will be around a one week break on the WIRE until everything gets settled. In the meantime, follow the links to our friends or why not browse through the archive.

Thanks again for your support and enjoy the twilight of the summer.

MYUNG SOOK YOON - 제목: 윤명숙의 바다(The Sea)

2010-08-26T09:50:00.000+01:00

It's difficult to find much information on Myung Sook Yoon and the diminutive displays of her work online do little justice to her creations. Also, I've found that many South Korean photographers are poorly represented in the west which is a shame. We'll have to see what we can do about that.

"The sea accompanied by typhoon or hard rain is dreadful but makes my heart flutter with a new hope.

Sometimes a strong wind shaking my windows makes me sit up all night but with a happy expectation that a new day will come with clear and beautiful scenes newly born after the rain.

Whenever I take pictures, there is not myself, there is only a person who feels cold and hungry.

After the stay in big Jeju Island where I have no acquaintances for about two weeks, I can hear a sound from deep in my heart.

It is my voice of yearning to talk to someone. Yell!

Keep going to and out of the coast in the rain for several consecutive days, I just wait for the rain to stop.

And finally I see the sun coming out, I just feel like running away when I stand in the piercing wind at the rainy coast of Jeju Island in mid winter.

But those that are not frequently seen I want to take.

Time does not exist when I think in which angle I should see the sea, where between the sky and the sea I should put the horizon, etc.

In Seoul, electric cables in the street sometimes remind me of the horizon.

The sea shows a desperate, dark appearance but a hope suddenly comes out of it.

I felt desperate about the fact that I am a woman before.

I also felt bad about myself that I am small, silent and not social.

As time went by, I understood those things have made myself.

Now I found myself enjoying taking landscapes into the photos alone.

The sea is always there, showing its appearances as it is and I see the appearances of the sea the way I want to see it.

This is my relation with the sea.

I become the richest of all in the world when I take the photo of the sea that I wanted after a long waiting.

I am just happy that I have stood before the sea."

-Myung Sook Yoon
Summer 2003
'Listening to the rain'

Links:
Chaotic Harmony: Contemporary Korean Photography

We have lost SATOSHI KON

2010-08-25T07:39:00.006+01:00

Satoshi Kon, director of the superb films Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, and Paprika has succumbed to cancer at the age of 46. (Just two months short of his 47th birthday).

From the psychological thriller Perfect Blue to the epic drama of Millenium Actress, Satoshi Kon stood as one of the top film makers in the world creating several classics in his all too short repertoire. If you have yet to see his work, do not deny yourself.

Satoshi Kon was featured earlier on the Wire in a feature on Paprika and on our list of world cinema directors.

Links:
Décès de Satoshi Kon (Allocine.fr) source
Satoshi Kon Wiki

'Ground Zero mosque'? The reality is less provocative

2010-08-24T08:44:00.000+01:00

"When I heard about it – in passing, in a soundbite – I figured it was a US example of the sort of inanely confrontational fantasy scheme Anjem Choudary might issue a press release about if he fancied winding up the tabloids for the 900th time this year. I was wrong. The "Ground Zero mosque" is a genuine proposal, but it's slightly less provocative than its critics' nickname makes it sound. For one thing, it's not at Ground Zero. Also, it isn't a mosque.
Wait, it gets duller. It's not being built by extremists either. Cordoba House, as it's known, is a proposed Islamic cultural centre, which, in addition to a prayer room, will include a basketball court, restaurant, and swimming pool. Its aim is to improve inter-faith relations. It'll probably also have comfy chairs and people who smile at you when you walk in, the monsters."

Read the full article HERE.

Links:
Charlie Brooker (The Guardian)

1st AVENUE MACHINE's "Sixes Last"

2010-08-23T10:03:00.001+01:00

"Sixes Last" for musician Alias' track from his album Muted was created by 1st Avenue Machine in 2005. Directed my Arvind Palep and produced by Serge Patzak, it's beautifully strange.

1stAveMachine-Sixes Last from MotiongraphicLAB on Vimeo.

"It is about how artificiality is creeping into the modern day world," said director Arvind Palep. "We were looking at a merge between synthetic biology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and what could spawn from them."

-CG Society, 22nd September 2005

Links:
Sixes Last (CG Society)
1st Avenue Machine

BROKEN IDOLS: Sting

2010-08-23T09:08:00.001+01:00

Under the intense microscope of Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, "Sting" appears as shallow as a typical politician if not plain stupid.

Links:
Sting vs. Paxman (NoRockAndRollFun)
Jeremy Paxman bio (BBC)
Newsnight
Jeremy Paxman Wiki

WILLIAM LAMSON

2010-08-22T08:24:00.000+01:00

I like William Lamson's quixotic outlook.

Links:
William Lamson
William Lamson (Pierogi)
William Lamson (Robischon Gallery)
William Lamson (20x200)
William Lamson (Fette's Gallery)
Marty Walker Gallery

Good news for MOOMIN fans

2010-08-21T18:50:00.004+01:00

With the release of the film Moomins and the Comet Chase in cinemas and with the republication in english of The Dangerous Journey (4 Nov 2010 - UK), it is a good time to be a Moomin fan. As an added bonus, Björk has done a track on the film with frequent collaborator, poet and writer Sjón.

Happy 65th anniversary to the Moomins!

Links:
Moomins and the Comet Chase
Moonins and the Comet Chase (IMDB)
Grand Old Aunt Björk (Reykjavik Grapevine)
More Moomin Magic (Publisher's Weekly)
Tove Jansson's Moomins (SiouxWIRE)
Sjón Profile

The Lost (and Retained) Honour of JULIAN ASSANGE

2010-08-21T17:58:00.005+01:00

At the end of a day that started with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange being accused of rape and molestation in Sweden, Sweden's Chief Prosecutor, Eva Finne has now stated, "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape." Prior to this withdrawal of an arrest warrant, Assange had stated, "The charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing" and "We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."

So this leads one to ask the obvious question: Who was behind these allegations?

Here's another interview with Julian Assange:

Links:
Julian Assange hits out at smears (Guardian)
Julian Assange (SiouxWIRE)
WikiLeaks
Julian Assange (TED)
Julian Assange (The Guardian)

*Photo detail - Andrew Winning/Reuters

JULIE TAYMOR's "The Tempest"

2010-08-21T08:38:00.000+01:00

For Julie Taymor's latest film, she returns to her first work on stage, Shakespeare's The Tempest though in this adaptation, Prospero has been cast as a woman, Helen Mirren. Her earlier adaptation of Titus Andronicus, Titus (also by Shakespeare) is among my favourite films so I am anticipating great things from this.

The Tempest will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September with general release scheduled for 10 December 2010.

Links:
The Tempest (film) Wiki
Julie Taymor Wiki
The Tempest (IMDB)
Julie Taymor's The Tempest to close Venice Film Festival (Guardian)
Helen Mirren in lead role in Julie Taymor's The Tempest (USA Today)
Julie Taymor's Titus (SiouxWIRE)

MONIKA FORSBERG Photography

2010-08-20T09:18:00.000+01:00

Dear friend, Monika Forsberg has been putting together a sublime portfolio.

Links:
Monika Forsberg(Animus Films)
Monika Forsberg interview (SiouxWIRE)
Monika Forsberg (Global Study Magazine)

DARREN ARONOFSKY's "Black Swan"

2010-08-19T07:42:00.001+01:00

The trailer from Darren Aronofsky's follow-up to The Wrestler, adult thriller Black Swan looks promising in this newly released trailer. See it HERE in high resolution. The film is due to be released in December 2010.

"BLACK SWAN follows the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her."

Links:
Black Swan
Black Swan trailer (Apple)
Darren Aronofsky Wiki

HARRY HILL's paintings

2010-08-18T09:48:00.000+01:00

“The act of laughing is considered kind of a low-class, working-class activity — a form of entertainment — and you know, it’s not something you do in art museums,” says Sheri Klein, author of the book “Art and Laughter.” Because of this association, she says, the role of humor in art is “terribly misunderstood.”

-Sharon Mizota, This contemporary art really is laughable
LA Times

"I usually work from photos in magazines – Hello!, OK! – and the Daily Mail is a particularly good source. When I see a photo I like, I tear it out and put it in a folder, and when I fancy doing a painting, I go through the folders and find a good image. I’m very fond of the picture of a dog called Solomon. His owners were on holiday on the Isle of Wight and he went missing. He was found – after he had swum from the Isle of Wight to Southampton. These paintings are sort of what Solomon might have been thinking on that swim. "

-Harry Hill, Tate Etc.

Links:
Harry Hill: Paintings
Harry Hill, Occupational Therapy (Tate Etc)

JUULIAN ASSANGE: Why the world needs WikiLeaks

2010-08-17T09:03:00.000+01:00

"The controversial website WikiLeaks collects and posts highly classified documents and video. Founder Julian Assange, who's reportedly being sought for questioning by US authorities, talks to TED's Chris Anderson about how the site operates, what it has accomplished -- and what drives him. The interview includes graphic footage of a recent US airstrike in Baghdad."

Links:
WikiLeaks
Julian Assange (TED)
Julian Assange (The Guardian)

BAE BIEN-U

2010-08-16T10:12:00.001+01:00

Bae Bien-U's large-scale works (which I can't reproduce here) are not served well by the representation above. You can see his portfolio HERE split between the natural and artificial in higher resolution.

“The oldest picture in my memory is a crayon drawing, which was hung on the back wall of the classroom when I was in the second grade of elementary school, that showed a low tiled house crouching under a big tree on a hill, with the sea visible in the background. I seem to have lived my whole life with this image stuck in my mind. It may even have been this image that influenced my interest in such subjects as the sea, pines and rock formations”. *

Links:
Bae Bien-U
Bae Bien-U (Galerie Poller)

*Koreana, Korean Art & Culture quarterly

THE ICELANDIC LOVE CORPORATION: TIGHT

2010-08-16T08:50:00.001+01:00

The Reykjavik Grapevine have an interesting article on our friends, The Icelandic Love Corporation and their upcoming show, Tight.

Links:
The Icelandic Love Corporation (Reykjavik Grapevine)
The Icelandic Love Corporation
The Icelandic Love Corporation interview (SiouxWIRE)

OTTO DIX Portraits

2010-08-15T09:44:00.001+01:00

Otto Dix(1891-1969), contrary to many portrait painters stressed the importance of first impressions preferring to paint strangers. He is quoted as saying, "You know, if one paints someone's portrait, one should not know him if possible." It's an interesting approach and in his portraits, there is exaggeration, miniaturisation, and caricaturisation of his first impressions enveloped in the style of the Old Masters.

"Everybody thinks they know what art should be. But very few of them have the sense that is necessary to experience painting, that is the sense of sight, that sees colors and forms as living reality in the picture. "

Links:
Otto Dix
Otto Dix (.org)
Otto Dix Wiki
Otto Dix (Mess.net)

Vintage Tokyo Subway Manner Posters

2010-08-14T09:41:00.001+01:00

Pink Tentacle have a wonderful collection of vintage Tokyo Subway manner posters. Explanations of their meaning and high resolution versions of these and many more can be seen HERE.

Links:
Vintage Tokyo Subway Manner Posters
Pink Tentacle

DJ OF HAPPINESS blasts BIG SCARY MONSTERS

2010-08-14T04:55:00.000+01:00

Here's a dose of undiluted video joy for your Saturday.

Links:
DJ of Happiness (YouTube)
Big Scary Monsters
Big Scary Monsters (MySpace)

HOMELESS MUSTARD

2010-08-13T20:22:00.003+01:00

A song cover isn't a cover unless you make it your own. Enjoy these tunes from Homeless Mustard of Greenwich Village.

Links:
Homeless Mustard
Homeless Mustard (Facebook)
Homeless Mustard (MySpace)
Homeless Mustard (LastFM)

NAOYA HATAKEYAMA

2010-08-11T08:33:00.008+01:00

Naoya Hatakeyama's painterly portfolio has an otherworldly quality. See more of his work at the links below.

Links:
Naoya Hatakeyama (L.A. Galerie, Frankfurt)
Naoya Hatakeyama (artnet)
Naoya Hatakeyama (Taka Ishii Gallery)
Naoya Hatakeyama (Prix Pictet 2009)
Naoya Hatakeyama (Michael Hoppen Gallery)

THE FRAGILE BLUE CRESCENT

2010-08-10T09:39:00.001+01:00

I saw this image at No Caption Needed of Camp Hansen in the Helmand province of Afghanistan and it reminded me of a quote from Carl Sagan, "National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars."

See the full-size image on this page (photo 15) and read the full quote from Carl Sagan's Cosmos below:

"The choice is with us still, but the civilization now in jeopardy is all humanity. As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky. In our tenure of this planet we've accumulated dangerous evolutionary baggage — propensities for aggression and ritual, submission to leaders, hostility to outsiders — all of which puts our survival in some doubt. But we've also acquired compassion for others, love for our children and desire to learn from history and experience, and a great soaring passionate intelligence — the clear tools for our continued survival and prosperity. Which aspects of our nature will prevail is uncertain, particularly when our visions and prospects are bound to one small part of the small planet Earth. But up there in the immensity of the Cosmos, an inescapable perspective awaits us. There are not yet any obvious signs of extraterrestrial intelligence and this makes us wonder whether civilizations like ours always rush implacably, headlong, toward self-destruction. National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. Travel is broadening."
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)

Links:
No Caption Needed, Mythic Visions in Afghanistan
Boston Globe: The Big Picture
Carl Sagan Portal
Carl Sagan Wiki

LES BONZOMS "Baby in the Sky" for BORNHIVFREE

2010-08-09T08:35:00.002+01:00

This gem from French animators Jack, Kalkair, Pozla, Waterlili and Moke. crafted for the BornHIVFree project is a wonderous, hopeful beacon for a worthy project. The Les Bonzoms team have worked on a series of feature projects including Persepolis and earlier this year were offered the chance to pool their talents under the Bonzom name by Passion Paris (Passion Pictures' Paris based studio). Be sure to add your name in support.

“The purpose of the Born HIV Free campaign is to encourage millions of people to support The Global Fund so we can finally put an end to the tragedy of 430,000 babies being born HIV-positive every year, when we have the means and the expertise to prevent this.” says Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Global Ambassador for the protection of mothers and children against AIDS. “Hopefully this beautiful film will reach a wide audience because of its creative ingenuity, and inspire millions of people to support The Global Fund so we can finally put an end to this terrible injustice.”

“Baby in the Sky” is a highly creative and imaginative animated film that conveys the beauty of life ahead for an unborn child. The film artistically portrays an imaginary journey in a world full of adventurous landscapes and fantastic creatures. It ends with a call from Carla Bruni-Sarkozy for an HIV-free generation in which she says “Life is a beautiful journey. Don’t let AIDS kill it.”

The film owes its powerful soundtrack to multi-award winning and singer/songwriter artist Amy Winehouse, who offered the pro-bono use of her “Back to Black” song for the film.

“It was a question of finding a true resonance with the images in the film created by Bonzoms”, says musician / producer Julien Civange, who conceived the Born HIV Free campaign, about the use of Winehouse’s music. “We wanted to find a piece that was modern but also well known, something that carried the same sensibility as the film. The magic came with the soundtrack by Amy Winehouse, an artist that Carla considers one of the greatest and most talented of her generation and who was generous enough to participate in the campaign.”

Credits :

Commissioners :
The Global Fund

Julien Civange manager of the campaign
for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

Production Company :
Passion Paris Production
Director :
Jack-Antoine Charlot/Bonzom
Executive Producer :
Marc Bodin-Joyeux
Claire Potel

Animation Production :
Je suis bien content
Production manager :
Marc Jousset
Perrine Capron
Script & original idea :
Olivier Bardy & Jack Antoine Charlot
Storyboard :
Kalkair
Animation :
Guillaume Delaunay
Dimitri Lecoussis
Damien Barrau
Davy Durand

Compositing :
François Leroy
Jimmy Audoin

Sound Design Studio
Sound designer :
Michael Fakesch & Stéphane Papin

Voice-over : Carla Bruni Sarkozy

Music : Amy Winehouse/Universal “Back to black

Links:
BornHIVFree
BornHIVFree (YouTube)
BornHIVFree (Facebook)
Passion Paris
The Global Fund
BornHIVFree Wiki

SHAUNA RICHARDSON's "Crochetdermy"

2010-08-08T08:37:00.001+01:00

"When say that I crochet animals, it often creates a stereotypical image in people’s minds. Although I enjoy playing with this image it is a preconception that’s hard to shift. Aesthetically, the animals I make are more akin to taxidermy than anything else so I came up with the term Crochetdermy to better describe what I do.
My background is in conceptual art. In an attempt to find new ways of exploring the 'Anything can be art' theory, I make work that combines uncomfortable themes such as accessible objects, nostalgia, traditional craft and realism."

Links:
Shaun Richardson - Crochetdermy
Lionheart Project

LITTLE SISTER FILM's Interactive Zombie Adventure for Hell Pizza

2010-08-08T08:34:00.000+01:00

New Zealand's Hell Pizza have an interesting bit of promotion in the form of a tongue-in cheek interactive zombie film from Little Sister Films which is a lot of fun. The mission starts below.

Starring DJ IWIKAU, BEN EDWARDS & EMILY TRENBERTH
Producer KATIE O'BRIEN
Writer, Director & Editor LOGAN McMILLAN

Art Direction BRYCE HOLTHOUSEN
Production Manager FLIP GRATER
Camera Op DAN WATSON
Grip / B Camera ANDREW DEAN
VFX DAN WATSON
Practical Effects CHESTER DEXTAR
Data Wrangler SIMON RYAN
Makeup LUCY HARVEY
SFX Makeup BRAE TOIA
Makeup Assistant JULIE CLARK
Pyrotechnics FIREWORKS PROFESSIONALS
Audio Post THE SITTING ROOM

Links:
Little Sister Films
Hell Pizza (YouTube)
Hell Pizza

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS

2010-08-07T08:36:00.001+01:00

From the grassroots goodness of Home to the epic short film for Kisses Over Babylon, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros demand attention.

Links:
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (MySpace)
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (YouTube)
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (Wiki)

Thanks, Penny.

ERAN HILLELI's "Between Bears"

2010-08-06T08:18:00.000+01:00

Eran Hilleli's new animated short, "Between Bears" is beautiful, haunting, and mystifying. See it HERE.

Links:
Eran Hilleli
Between Bears, Motionographer (source)

DANGER MOUSE & SPARKLE HORSE's "Dark Night of the Soul" with DAVID LYNCH

2010-08-05T08:24:00.003+01:00

Written by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul features the talents of James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

Mark Linkous, lead of Sparklehorse never lived to see the release of the album. He committed suicide in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 6, 2010.

Despite this and the title of the album, I found it a strangely soothing and uplifting narrative. Here's a taste.

Links:
Dark Night of the Soul
Sparklehorse
Danger Mouse
David Lynch
Sparklehorse Wiki
Sparklehorse(MySpace)

ZOE CROSHER

2010-08-04T22:05:00.000+01:00

Zoe Crosher's work is so wonderfully varied while remaining defiantly hers. See more of her work HERE.

Links:
Zoe Crosher
Zoe Crosher Wiki

The Strange Case of HOT CHIP

2010-08-03T08:34:00.000+01:00

Having discovered the video for Hot Chip's "I Feel Better" at Ticklebooth, I rummaged through their back catalogue and found a clever little collection of videos. I Feel Better is a real sucker punch that gets stranger and stranger. See it HERE.

Also, check out the videos for Ready for the Floor, Over and Over, Arrest Yourself, One Life Stand, and One Pure Thought. They remind me of our friend Bobby Conn.

Links:
Hot Chip
Hot Chip (MySpace)

Hot Chip (LastFM)

HUGLEIKUR DAGSSON

2010-08-02T19:01:00.002+01:00

Hugleikur Dagsson's raw comics are sprinkled with moments of genius among the carnage and full frontal assaults on political correctness. He has two books currently available in english from Penguin, Should You Be Laughing At This? and Is This Some Kind of Joke?

Links:
Dagsson.com
Hugleikur Dagsson (Penguin Books)
Hugleikur Dagsson (MySpace)

Featurette: ANDREW CRANSTON

2010-08-01T13:00:00.000+01:00

I find Andrew Cranstons' dense, often literary and historical works haunting.

Links:
Andrew Cranston (Culturehall)
Andrew Cranston (Guardian)
Andrew Cranston (Hamish Morrisson)
Andrew Cranston (ArtReview)

STEVEN MOFFAT & MARK GATISS' "Sherlock"

2010-07-31T07:17:00.002+01:00

Premiering on BBC1 in the UK, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss' excellent adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is both modern and strangely more atune to the source material than Guy Ritchie's kinetic big screen version.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson, the series is set in compemporary times to great effect. While Holmes is contemplating the scene of a crime, we are brilliantly clued into his thoughts(and text messages) via some pleasing fontography.

Unfortunately, the series has one of the most off-the-mark trailers I've seen in a long time. To give you more of a flavour, here are two clips from the BBC on the making of the program. Highly recommended

Links:
Sherlock (BBC)
Sherlock Wiki

TOKUJIN YOSHIOKA

2010-07-30T09:07:00.000+01:00

Tokujin Yoshioka's synthetic creations of natural elements in flux are like sculptural photographs, a bit like hitting pause on the world and walking among an avalanche or through the surf. Wonderful.

Born in Saga, Japan in 1967. Worked under Shiro Kuramata in 1987 and Issey Miyake since 1988 and established his own studio, Tokujin Yoshioka Design in 2000.

Some of his most important works are displayed as a part of permanent collections in the world's well-known museums such as Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Centre National d'Art et de Culture Georges Pompidou, Victoria and Albert Museum, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and Vitra Design Museum.

Links:
Tokujin Yoshioka
Interview (DesignBoom)
Super Fiber Revolution (DesignBoom)

Favourite Scenes: MAGNOLIA

2010-07-29T08:17:00.001+01:00

The opening to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia is sublime not only for its hypnotic content, but the way in which it establishes the rules of the world in which the film is set (which is our own). Complicated though coherent with numerous characters who have more depth than others given ten times the screen time, it is a modern masterpiece.

Links:
Magnolia Wiki
Paul Thomas Anderson Wiki

Featurette: JOHN GRADE

2010-07-28T18:40:00.000+01:00

John Grade's organic sculptures milk stunning beauty from geometry and decay. Absolutely spellbinding.

Links:
John Grade
John Grade (Davidson Galleries)
John Grade (ArtDaily)
John Grade (Cynthia Reeves)

ALEX ROMAN's "The Third & The Seventh"

2010-07-27T07:50:00.001+01:00

This beautiful, unbelievably fully CG film from Alex Roman takes a sometimes surreal journey through the art of architecture. Wonderful. Check it out HERE to see it in its intended full-screen glory.

Credits:

CG
-Modelling - Texturing - Illumination - Rendering| Alex Roman

POST
-Postproduction & Editing| Alex Roman

MUSIC
Sequenced, Orchestrated & Mixed by Alex Roman (Sonar & EWQLSO Gold Pro XP)

Sound Design by Alex Roman

Based on original scores by:

-Michael Laurence Edward Nyman. (The Departure)
-Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns. (Le Carnaval des animaux)

Directed by Alex Roman

Done with 3dsmax, Vray, AfterEffects and Premiere.

Links
The Third & The Seventh (Vimeo)
Compositing Breakdown (Vimeo)
The Third & The Seventh (Motionographer)
Alex Roman - CG Portfolio (CG Society)

Featurette: RACHEL GOODYEAR

2010-07-26T09:58:00.001+01:00

"Rachel Goodyear’s drawings present captured moments where characters reside within an existence where social etiquette no longer, or maybe never, applied. Many are seemingly devoid of emotion or stare blankly in resignation. Each physical piece of work and the occurrences and characters they deliver are preoccupied with their own individual existence within the boundaries of the surface they are drawn upon. Therefore, when groups of drawings are shown together, further relationships start to occur, creating an ever-evolving disjointed narrative as pieces are added and taken away.

She looks for unlikely relationships in everything she encounters and an idea is just as likely to be sparked by a peculiar happening that interrupts the mundane, as a major event that changes the way she lives, as a few words lifted from an advert for car insurance. From this constant everyday cross-referencing she creates carefully constructed coincidences that are delicate in their nature and unsettling in their content."

Links:
Rachel Goodyear
Artist of the Week (Guardian)

DAVID FINCHER & BLUR STUDIOS present ERIC POWELL's "The Goon"

2010-07-25T09:49:00.000+01:00

Combining the talents of David Fincher and Blur Studio to bring Eric Powell's The Goon to the big screen with Paul Giamatti and Clancy Brown sounds like a perfect storm scenario. Click on the movies below to get a taste of some supernatural, depression-era high jinks.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Links:
THEGOON.com
The Goon (Darkhorse Comics)
The Goon Wiki
Eric Powell Wiki
David Fincher Wiki
Blur Studio
Paul Giamatti Wiki
Clancy Brown Wiki

MASSIVE ATTACK: Saturday Come Slow

2010-07-24T09:53:00.000+01:00

This short film featuring Massive Attack's "Saturday Come Slow" with Damon Albarn packs quite a punch. The track is from their album Helgioland and the video is directed by Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin of Chopped Liver.

Links:
ZeroDB (Music Against Torture)
Massive Attack
Chopped Liver
Damon Albarn Wiki

LAURENT CHAMPOUSSIN: J'ai vu des écrans qui ne s'éteignent pas

2010-07-23T12:20:00.000+01:00

Rene Champoussin's portfolio is worth a look. My favourite is her series, J'ai vu des écrans qui ne s'éteignent pas which roughly translated is I have seen the screens that don't go out.

Links:
Laurent Champoussin

DANIELLE VAN ARK

2010-07-22T13:18:00.000+01:00

Danielle Van Ark has some interesting work in his porfolio. In particular, his series of taxidermied animals, The Mounted Life, is captivating though that may be influenced by my predilection for fur and eccentricity.

Links:
Danielle Van Ark
Danielle Van Ark blog
Mrs. Deane (Source)

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS

2010-07-22T10:24:00.000+01:00

On of my favourite discoveries this year, Crystal Fighters' sound is fresh, diverse, and ornate. Their debut album is due for release in September 2010 and I can't wait to hear what else they've got up their sleeves.

Here are a few samples:

Links:
Crystal Fighters (Official Site)
Crystal Fighters (MySpace)
Crystal Fighters (Facebook)
Crystal Fighters (YouTube)

WANDERING EYE PRODUCTIONS' "Becoming"

2010-07-21T11:18:00.002+01:00

This short-film from Wandering Eye Productions is a story of man v. nature masterfully combining stunning cinematography with sublime choreography. See it HERE.

Links:
Wandering Eye Productions
Becoming (Video)
Becoming (Homepage)
Ayelén Liberona(producer/director/choreography)
Joseph Johnson Cami(producer/director)
Guy Godfree(cinematography)
Colin Penman(makeup)
Ticklebooth (source)

Favourite Scenes: THE BIG LEBOWSKI

2010-07-20T11:10:00.000+01:00

The Big Lebowski split critics and audience as it was released. Of its ample clutch of standout scenes, the Gutterballs sequence harkens back to MGM's classic musicals and Looney Tunes with several twists and bowling imagery. While others may try to combine disjointed elements like this, the Coen brothers do so deftly to create classic scenes like this.

Links:
Gutterballs (YouTube)
Big Lebowski Wiki
Dissertations on his Dudeness (NY Times)

LANDSAT-7 SATELLITE: Ocean Sand, Bahamas

2010-07-19T14:41:00.000+01:00

This detail from a satellite image of the sands and seaweed of the bahamas being sculpted by currents much like the wind sculpts sand in the desert, is intriguing. See more satellite images like this on Earth As Art.

Links:
Earth as Art: Ocean Sand, Bahamas
High Resolution Image
Earth As Art (homepage)

TRAN ANH HUNG's Adaptation of HARUKI MURAKAMI's "Norwegian Wood"

2010-07-18T19:47:00.003+01:00

From director Tran Anh Hung(I Come With the Rain, Scent of Green Papaya) comes the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's classic novel Norwegian Wood.

I love Murakami and look forward to his upcoming novel 1Q84 (a play on the Japanese pronunciation of 1984) which has been released in three volumes in Japan. 1Q84 volumes 1-2 translated by Jay Rubin are due for release in the USA in September 2011, with volume 3 translated by Phillip Gabriel following thereafter.

Below is the synopsis and bite-size teaser trailer for Norwegian Wood.

“I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me.”

The melancholy tune and sentiment of this classic Beatles song seems to have taken the life of Toru Watanabe (Kenichi Matsuyama), who is similarly uncertain as to how he should view his relationships. At heart, a quiet and serious young Tokyo college student in 1969, Watanabe, is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi), a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their mutual passion is made by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere, while Naoko feels as if some integral part of her has been permanently lost. On the night of Naoko’s 20th birthday, they finally made love to each other. However, shortly thereafter Naoko decided to quit college and become a recluse. It is at that time Midori (Kiko Mizuhara) – a girl who is everything that Naoko is not -- outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident – marches into Watanabe's life and he has to choose between his future and his past.

Links:
Norwegian Wood (offical film site)
Norwegian Wood Stills (Wildgrounds)
Tran Anh Hung Wiki
Haruki Murakami (Random House)
Haruki Murakami: After Dark (SiouxWIRE)
1Q84 Wiki

Amanita Design's MACHINARIUM

2009-10-29T22:13:00.001Z

Our friends over at Amanita Design have released their first full length game in the form of the visually intriguing and mentally taxing Machinarium. Try it out HERE for free by way of the first three levels and visit the Amanita website to try their other classics.

Links:
Machinarium
Introducing Amanita Design (SiouxWIRE)
Amanita Design

MIKE BOOTH, Graham Murkett, and the Bolex Brothers

2009-10-26T22:04:00.004Z

Animator and director Mike Booth's work crosses boundaries often times with thoughtful and downright funny results. See some of his work below or follow the links as usual at the end of this post.

NOTE: Some his material is certainly not "work-friendly".

From Screenplay Productions Ltd. UK...

Mike Booth began working in animation in 1995 at Aardman Animations, and since then has worked as a freelance stop-motion animator on numerous commercials, short films, and a few children's series. In 1996 he wrote and directed The Saint Inspector, a short film produced by BolexBrothers that won twelve international awards and was nominated for a BAFTA. In 1998 he directed another award-winning short for Channel 4, Little Dark Poet, and was later one of the scriptwriters on Angry Kid, a series of comedic sketches that appeared on BBC3. He has written four feature film scripts of varying degrees of terribleness, and several sitcom pilots that were just too weird to ever see the light of day. Since 2000 Mike has been working more on 2D animated projects using After Effects and Flash. His series of animated vlogs Some Grey Bloke, voiced by Mike, has appeared fortnightly on YouTube since the summer of 2007.

What Facebook is for (2009)

Little Dark Poet (1999)

My ExWife 3 (2009)

The Saint Inspector (1996)

Links:
SomeGreyBloke (YouTube)
Graham Murkett & Other Odditites (Blog)
Bolex Brothers
Screenplay Productions Ltd.
Mike Booth (IMDB)

VEOLIA Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009

2009-10-22T22:35:00.006+01:00

The winning shot The Storybook Wolf from José Luis Rodríguez (Spain) for Veolia's 2009 Wildlife Photographer of the Year is stunning.

EDIT: José Luis Rodríguez was disqualified which in the terms laid down for this particular contest clearly detract from its achievement. That said, it still evokes a lot of feeling though, perhaps, with a little less dimension. How sad. LINK

"When José Luis realized he had got the shot of his dreams he couldn't believe it. His fear had been that the wolves would be too wary. Iberian wolves have been persecuted by people who see them as a threat to game and livestock and because of ignorance about the supposed danger they pose. Even though they have always lived close to humans, there are no verified incidences of them attacking people. In Spain, the population of Iberian wolves - a subspecies of the grey wolf - is thought to number 1000-2000 in the north, with a few tiny, isolated populations in the south. José Luis risked a slow shutter-speed to reveal the moonlit sky and conjure up the atmosphere of the place. He switched from using his Nikon D2X to a Hasselblad so he could get the exact framing that he had in mind. What José Luis hopes is that his picture, 'showing the wolf's great agility and strength,' becomes an image that shows just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud of this emblematic animal."

Links:
Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009
Wildlife Award Stripped (Guardian)

Leaping Wolf Snatches Photo Prize

HELMO: Colored Smoke

2009-10-21T22:49:00.002+01:00

I am fond of this image from graphic designers Thomas Couderc and Clement Vauchez (HELMO) from their series Colored Smoke.

Links:
HELMO

NUJABES - Luv (Sic)

2009-10-20T22:17:00.001+01:00

This video for Nujabes' Luv(sic) off the album Metaphorical Music is simple yet incredibly endearing. Watch it.

Links:
Hydeout Productions
Nujabes (MySpace)
Nujabes (Facebook)
Nujabes (LastFM)
Nujabes - Love(sic) (YouTube)
Nujabes Wiki

RINKO KAWAUCHI

2009-10-19T22:25:00.006+01:00

RINKO KAWAUCHI
Untitled, 2007
C-print, flush mounted on Plexiglass. 101.6 x 101.6 cm

I find Rinko Kawauchi's work meditative, beautiful, and infused with melancholy.

RINKO KAWAUCHI
Untitled, 2001
C-print on aludibond. 20 x 19.7 cm

RINKO KAWAUCHI
Untitled, from the series "the eyes, the ears", 2005

RINKO KAWAUCHI
Untitled, from the series "Condensation", 2009

Links:
Rinko Kawauchi (FOIL Gallery)
Rinko Kawauchi Interview (kopenhagen.dk)
Rinko Kawauchi (DesignBoom)
Rinko Kawauchi (ArtNet)
Rinko Kawauchi (Galerie Priska Pasquer)
Rinko Kawauchi (Photographer's Gallery)
Rinko Kawauchi (International Center of Photography)
Rinko Kawauchi Wiki

Asian Photography Blog (source)

CRAIG STOKLE's "Bearing Darkness"

2009-10-16T22:47:00.000+01:00

Craig Stokle's photographic series Bearing Darkness is worth a look. Potentious headlights shining in remote scenes at night from the likes of the Coen Brothers and David Lynch spring to mind.

I've experimented for some time with flash photography at night with some interesting results, but the apparent use of headlights in these images makes the unseen vehicle a part of the scene. See the whole series on Craig Stoke's site HERE.

Links:
Craig Stokle
wan.der.lust.ag.ra.phy (source)

MARIA FRIBERG

2009-10-15T22:58:00.006+01:00

Maria Friberg is known more for her more literal studies into masculinity often featuring men in business suits, but I find her more oblique works to be more potent.

Links:
Maria Friberg
Maria Friberg (Conner Contemporary Art)
Maria Friberg (ArtNet)
Maria Friberg (Robischon Gallery)

Featurette: SJORS VERVOORT

2009-10-14T22:14:00.000+01:00

Sjors Vervoort's student graduation animation is an enjoyable spectacle full of invention and a palpable sense of the work involved.

Links:
Sjors Vervoort
Sjors Vervoort (YouTube)
Wooster Collective (Source)

COMPAGNIE TRANSE EXPRESS

2009-10-13T22:09:00.001+01:00

The creation of Brigitte Burdin and Gilles Rhode in 1992, the Company Transe Express perform in unusual public spaces. My favourite is their Celestial Art or theatre in the sky favouring gigantic mobile constructions. Similar to La Machine and Royal de Luxe, their Gilliam-esque shows are wonderous and uplifting in their scope and execution.

« Celestial Art »… A Baroque or naïve expression ? A bazaar of accessories? Of too-heavy Angels hissed by groaning pulleys, blue golden skies, cotton clouds stuck to Columbus of escaped voices from the Sistine Chapel. Celestial fireworks? Machinery invented to overcome the Peasants? Plumes of nacre or the first wings of articulated wood… A genius deployed to rule the surrounding space does not escape the burlesque. Could this be a dare for space shuttles or sputniks?

- Sylvie Meunier,
Extract of book L’Art Céleste, théâtre au-dessus de la ville

Links:
Compagnie Transe Express (EN)
Transe Express (LeFourneau)
Transe Express (Flickr)

HUANG YONG PING

2009-10-12T22:40:00.008+01:00

I wish I had more opportunities to experience Huang Yong Ping's works including walking through his Tower Snake installation.

Links:
Huang Yong Ping (Gladstone Gallery)
Huang Yong Ping (Walker Art Centre)
Huang Yong Ping Wiki

TAISUKE KOYAMA

2009-10-11T20:04:00.009+01:00

I had seen and liked Taisuke Koyama's work before and struggled to get to grips with them, looking for something outside their titles (when there is one) to help sharpen them. I found the following statement from his site which aligns the compass somewhat...

"My works can be described as 'the organic abstract photography'. I shoots surface of the artifacts and the state and the details of the phenomenon as a part of the metabolism of the city, with my own perspective that the city changing every moment is an organism just like creature and nature."

Links:
Taisuke Koyama

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus TRAILER

2009-10-10T20:40:00.003+01:00

The trailer for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus promises so much and advance word thus far is very, very good. I can't wait.

Links:
doctorparnassus.com
IDP Blogspot
Trailer (YouTube)

Thanks to those faraway

2009-10-09T22:25:00.000+01:00

In the last year while things have been sporadic at best and static at worst as far as updates are concerned, things have been ticking over thanks to all of you visitors. The Imaginarium is nearing visitor 100,000 which is a humble milestone relative to some blogs but it wouldn't have happened without the unsolicited support I've received from around the globe.

Trawling through the visitors data, I wasn't surprised to find that our old friend Dek has contributed heavily toward traffic numbers on the Imaginarium from his site NoFatClips. I was also astonished to discover new and wonderful sites such as THIS, Sãosócoisas, and Zivvoug. Despite being non-English sites, through their links and media I've found kindreds; so heartening.

Also, thanks to all the other sites, subscribers and passers by who keep me going on fatigued, flu-burdened nights like this one.

JOCKUM NORDSTRӦM

2009-10-08T22:05:00.000+01:00

I really enjoy Jockum Nordström's work and his varied expressions and media which include writing children's books, animation and designing album covers. There's a flavour in his work which reminds me of my friend Monika Forsberg's creations; perhaps Swedish?

Links:
Jockum Nordström (David Zwirner)
Jockum Nordström (ArtNet)
Jockum Nordström (Galleri Magnus Karlsson)
Jockum Nordström Wiki

Update: EDUARDO RECIFE

2009-10-07T22:41:00.004+01:00

So much new work from sketches to fonts to be seen at Eduardo Recife's Misprinted Type 4.0. As my first interview for the Imaginarium, I was particularly gutted to learn that I missed his recent visit and exhibition in London.

Links:
Misprinted Type 4.0
Misprinted Type 3.0
Eduardo Recife (SiouxWIRE)

Introducing: ERNESTO NETO

2009-10-07T14:28:00.006+01:00

Ernesto Neto's organic, epic and sensory works are intriguing, delicate worlds that demand to be explored.

Ernesto Neto was born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he has exhibited since 1988 and from where he continues to work.

Links:
Ernesto Neto (Park Avenue Armory)
Ernesto Neto (Galeria Fortes Vilaça)
Ernesto Neto (Tanya Bonakdar Gallery)
Ernesto Neto (Universes in Universes)
Ernesto Neto (ArtNet)
The Malmö Experience (Dexigner.com)
Ernesto Neto Interview (Kultureflash)
Ernesto Neto biography (BAM-PFA)
Ernesto Neto (Wiki)

Featurette: TIM MINCHIN

2009-10-05T20:37:00.002+01:00

Imagine an Australian combination of Woody Allen, Frank Zappa and Eddie Izzard and you might get something close to the brilliance of Tim Minchin.

Links:
Tim Minchin
Tim Minchin YouTube
Tim Minchin Wiki
Tim Minchin MySpace

Introducing CARRIE SCHNEIDER

2009-10-01T19:47:00.007+01:00

Carrie Schneider enigmatic and playful works seem to all have contrasts and contradictions.

From Carrie's biography:

Carrie Schneider earned her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2001 and her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007. Upon graduating, Carrie attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and the Kuvataideakatemia (Finnish Academy of Fine Arts) in Helsinki, on a Fulbright Fellowship. Carrie lives and works in Chicago.

Links:
Carrie Schneider
Weloveyouso (source)
Carrie Schneider (Frieze)
Carrie Schneider (TimeOut Chicago)
Carrie Schneider (Frame)
Carrie Schneider interview (YouTube)

SiouxWIRE Snippets 10

2009-10-01T16:42:00.000+01:00

Revealed: millions spent by lobby firms fighting Obama health reforms
Chris McGreat, The Guardian
Six lobbyists for every member of Congress as healthcare industry heaps cash on politicians to water down legislation

Free will is not an illusion after all
Anil Ananthaswamy, New Scientist
Champions of free will, take heart. A landmark 1980s experiment that purported to show free will doesn't exist is being challenged.

Reading Kafka 'enhances cognitive mechanisms', claims study
Alison Flood, The Guardian
Subjects who had just read Kafka's The Country Doctor were better at recognising patterns in grammar test, psychologists found

Artists Test Limits as China Lets (a Few) Flowers Bloom
Ian Johnson & Sky Canaves, The Wall Street Journal

How the Internet strengthens dictatorships
Evgeny Morozov, TED

Featurette: MANDY GREER

2009-09-30T22:42:00.006+01:00

Mandy Greer's work is living, warm, natural, social, and magic. Having just discovered her, I am still taking it all in and will in time post a more substantial post(including an interview) on this artist and her bewitching work.

In the meantime, click on these images to see more of her work or follow the links below. Her blog, A Quickening is also worth a look if you enjoy the Imaginarium.

Links:
Mandy Greer
Mater Matrix Mother
Mandy Greer (Flickr)
A quickening

Featurette: KAZUKI TAKAMATSU

2009-09-28T23:15:00.000+01:00

Kazuki Takamatsu's jade-digital-x-ray-like gouache paintings are eye-catching.

Links:
Kazuki Takamatsu
Kazuki Takamatsu - Lines & Colors (source)
Gallery Tomura

NIKO TZIOPANOS' "Ink"

2009-09-28T22:33:00.003+01:00

This ink-in-water effort from Paris-based Troublemakers.tv and director Niko Tziopanos for Chinese broadcaster CCTV is inspiring. See it HERE along with a brief making-of video further down the page.

Links:
Stashmedia TV (Source)
Troublemakers.tv

Featurette: RAQIB SHAW

2009-09-26T10:58:00.000+01:00

Opulant. indulgent, ornate, somewhat debauched and betraying his Kashmiri roots, Raqib Shaw's works are like tide pools left behind from the dreams of the night before.

Links:
Raqib Shaw (White Cube)
Raqib Shaw (MOMA)
Raqib Shaw (ArtNet)
Raqib Shaw (Daily Telegraph)
Raqib Shaw (Everyone Forever)

Sydney Dust Storm photography

2009-09-26T07:44:00.000+01:00

There are some nice pictures of the Sydney dust storm on Flickr. Among them, Tom Coates has gathered together a nice collection.

Links:
Flickr
Red Dust(Tom Coates)

Featurette: AXEL ANTAS

2009-09-25T21:06:00.006+01:00

Finnish-born Axel Antas's photography juxtaposes the natural with artifice to create some compelling stories in his work.

Links:
Axel Antas
Axel Antas (Rokeby)
Pruned (source)