 Beetlejuice, 1988
So I spent most of last weekend feeling like sick garbage. Thank god Beetlejuice was on TV....three times on three different days. And ya, I'll admit it, I watched them all, even though I own the DVD. Over the years I have probably watched the movie about a hundred times. And won't stop. It's just one of those movies that is perfect background noise for working on computer-y type things.
There's one scene in particular that I find myself watching for, then later thinking about for days. It's after the Deetz' move into Barbara and Adam's New England house on the hill (Tim Burton likes houses on hills, see Edward Scissorhands, Big Fish, Coraline (yes I know it's Henry Selick, but they have history), et al. Note his German Expressionism influence of extreme angles, high-contrast shadows and distorted perspectives) and have renovated it to fit Delia's post modern, big city taste.
The scene I am always taken by is the one where Charles, Delia and Otho are outside on the all white deck extension, finished with one lone white wall shaped like a classic house doodle, triangle roof line on top of a square. This wall is also cleverly clad with horizontal slat siding, the standard material of choice for many suburban homes. In a way this singular wall symbolizes the idea of idealized home and family (another Burton theme), something the Deetz' are definitely not, and is juxtaposed against a post modern take over of an old Victorian home. The window cutout nicely frames the scenery beyond, simulating a picturesque landscape painting. There's something very striking about the white architecture against the natural landscape and despite the colour, there is still a sinister feeling to the scene and the turmoil within that can't be whitewashed.
Still photos from Beetlejuice:
Here's a little excerpt of the movie, the famous Harry Belafonte 'Banana Boat' lip syncing scene (part 6).
Followed by my favourite scene at about 7 minutes in (part 7).
Enjoy!
*** Note: while I was writing this blog post Beetlejuice
was on TV again. Thank goodness for the Halloween movie line ups,
my Beetlejuice addiction is always satisfied.
|Grizzly Bear| l-r: Daniel Rossen, Ed Droste, Christopher Bear, Chris Taylor
Since hearing 'He Hit Me' from their Friend (2007) album, I was basically hooked and mesmerized. So when Grizzly Bear announced they were going to play at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver on October 14th (having missed their May performance at Commodore Ballroom), I jumped at the chance to see and hear them live. We arrived late and missed the opener, The Morning Benders, but I hear they were well received.
Pictures from the show: They played mostly songs from their new album Veckatimest (2009) but also a few from Yellow House (2006), most notably 'Knife'. Chris Taylor opened the song with scratchy, high-pitched vocals, immediately grabbing your full attention and made me feel like I was watching some ghostly 1950s prom band, (this is not an insult). Their use of echo-y vocals and guitars harken back to 1950s Doo Wop music, a style that came out of several cities, including Brooklyn, which is where Grizzly Bear is also from. During the show I was often reminded of the Beach Boys, with their harmonizing and a cappella style, a sound that is definitely favoured by Grizzly Bear.
Their performance was multi-dimensional and layered and kept you enthralled and entertained, and the hanging lights and coloured (orange!) spotlights added to the whole experience. Near the end of the show they sang 'Foreground', possibly the best song of the night. It was so simply haunting and emotional, the crowd was clearly captivated, myself included.
The thing that gets me excited about Grizzly Bear, over other popular bands, is their use of and skill with other instruments. It's really easy for bands to stick with the basics but Grizzly Bear pulls out a flute, bass clarinet, oboe, xylophone, autoharp, back up choirs and orchestras, on top of the guitars, keyboard, a myriad of drums and cymbals, and of course, not forgetting their voices, which have great range and add to their complexity. I think one accurate description of their music could be experimental, psychedelic, folk-harmony.
So the show was awesome but I was a little sad that they didn't play my favourite song from Veckatimest, 'All We Ask'. Maybe next time, that's all I ask..
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'Knife', Yellow House album
Live version of 'Fine for Now', Veckatimest album, The Town Hall, NYC (Vancouver show didn't have the back up choir unfortunately)
'Two Weeks', Veckatimest album
I came across this artist while surfing some blogs...Chilean artist, Livia Marin, is exhibiting at House of Propellers in London, England
from October 9 - November 7, 2009, curated by Cecilia Brunson.
From the House of Propellers website:“Broken Things” highlights the meticulous work of Livia Marin, a process–oriented approach,
which appropriates mass-produced and mass-consumed objects, turning them into precious
and uniquely, handcrafted art objects. For this exhibition, Marin finely sculpts everyday
objects – cups, bowls jars and plates – modeled with ruptures, splits and crevices. The
fractures represent fatality and loss, but in repairing and keeping the object she stresses the
relationship of care and continuation. Surreality and repetition are important procedures in
the artist's work, creating a mechanization of the intimate relationship we have with objects
of everyday use.
What also fills these pieces with a unique essence is a printed ‘Willow Pattern’.
This Willow Pattern, copied from fine hand-painted Chinese pottery was manufactured in
the UK using transfer prints signaling a transformation to industrial mass–production. Marin
plays with the dignity and uniqueness of the original –but also with its dissemination into
universal consciousness via industrialization. In the artists own words “I see my work as
situated within a more formal Minimalist agenda. Equally, however, I would want to extend
that agenda to include the more ‘impure’ aspects of things that have been handled and used
bearing a trace of a social history.”
.......................
Livia Marin was born in 1973 in Chile; she lives and works in London. Trained as a sculptor,
Marin earned her MFA from Universidad de Chile. She is currently completing her
MPhill/PhD in Arts at Goldsmith College, University of London. Recent exhibitions include
“El lugar de lo invisible”, Sala Gasco, Santiago, Chile; “Manuf®actured: The Conspicuous
Transformation of Everyday Objects”, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Portland, Oregon, USA (2008);
“Poetics of the Handmade”, The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA,
“Maximinimalist”, Institute of Visual Arts (Inova), Milwaukee, USA (2007); “Multiplication”. Museum of
Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile (2006); “IV Bienal MERCOSUR”, Puerto Alegre, Brasil (2003). Marin was nominated on five occasions to the National Fund for the Arts and Culture (FONDART), Government of Chile.
Cecilia Brunson is an independent curator based between London, New York and Santiago.
I've been noticing some interesting trends lately...shoes
sure have come a long way in the last couple years...
Some of them are definitely innovative and inventive but I'm still not sure that I would go so far as to actually buy or wear them. I'd have to say after looking up several designers, Marloes ten Bhömer's designs are probably my favourite. Her shoes look more like sculptures, where she uses a single piece of material and sculpts it into a conceptual shoe form. I like how she uses material to create overlapping planes and forms, akin to origami...engineered origami. Her black carbon fiber shoe (below) would be my top choice. Minimal, sleek, architectural, black, all things that catch my eye.
I just watched the trailer for this movie and am really excited to see the
whole film. I love Julius Shulman's photography, his photos are among
some of the most recognizable because of subject but also because of
his clarity and precision.
Julius Shulman (October 10, 1910 - July 15, 2009)
American Architectural Photographer
WATCH THE TRAILER AND SEE MORE PHOTOS AT:
http://www.juliusshulmanfilm.com/
one of my favourites...
Duffield's Continental Showroom
Long Beach, 1963 | Killingworth Brady + Associates, Architects |
The lines of the building create a frame within the frame on the right, and the
shadow cutting the rectangle on the bias at the left, brings the focus to the
figure standing in the shadows, which gives a sense of scale to the architecture.
Shulman stands in the perfect position to connect the vertical and horizontal,
creating a continuous line that draws the eye through the photo from corner to
corner. So simple, yet, so incredibly effective.
this 'how to' is floating around and i can't help but agree with the points.
although, i think it applies to most people, not just introverts...
my friend sent me this link and i thought i should share it...
this camera takes a picture, turns it to half tone then punches
out the dots to produce the image with holes. pretty rad.
click on any of the links and go to the gizmodo.com blog by jesus diaz.
.......................This is the Punch Camera by designer Matty Martin, which was featured at the Intel University Design Expo. And I want it. Instead of using ink, it actually punches images on blank paper. And that's just the beginning of it. After converting the image into a half-tone, the puncturing mechanism moves dot by dot. When all dots are precisely aligned reproduce the image, the camera screen tells you it's ready. Insert the paper in the slot, punch firmly as instructed, and get this: Not only that, but apparently you can show the photo to a webcam, and it will automatically take you to a gallery with more—normal—images associated with the paper one.
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