14 August 2012

20 August 2013

18 Septmber 2013

Fit as a pancake

FIT from pinggui films on Vimeo.

16 February 2012

22 March 2013

12 June 2012

30 August 2013

12 August 2013

dinner

28 July 2013

Millepede Macro

Macro Millipede // Diplopoda (scientific name) // Macro Challenge from Reyernaldo Delva on Vimeo.

Foucault and Chomsky

I watched a wonderful documentary on Michel Foucault last night. I confess that I have never read his books nor knew much about his philosophy but I did have a kind of blind idea that somehow he was responsible for much of the thinking behind Contemporary art.

This, of course, gave me the willies and I put him into a place high on the bookshelf where I would probably never have to read him. And yet, to my great surprise, he was portrayed as a fascinating man full of life with an innate intellectual grasp of the difficult lines of thought in Philosophy and the contemporary life of humankind. This is but a teaser with the renowned thinker and philosopher Noam Chomsky. Its a great portrait of the (70's)? 
More to be revealed...

26 August 2013

The Great Carolyn Carlson speaks

Wonderful Leica Madness! (Thorsten von Overgaad)

Thorsten Overgaard Workshop 2014 from Thorsten Overgaard on Vimeo.

And his delicious photos....
(Leica M 240 with Leica 50mm Noctilux-M ASPH f/0.95.)

Wistlawa Szymborska (1923 - 2012)

This is one of my very favorite poets. 

Christian Martel (artist crazy for kites)

ai wei-wei (by the way)

Of course, he is one of the biggest art stars currently on the planet which doesn't say boo to me because I only look at the works of an artist, not the name. And I find this wood sculpture compelling, and quite moving in a way which cannot be qualified except that I simply like it very much.

l'air de rien #191 (Harry's dead)

tonight and tate from cloudsandsea on Vimeo.

l'air de rien #190 ('Holly, what fools we are')

'Holly, what fools we are' from cloudsandsea on Vimeo.

successful artist! #2 (Julian Schnabel) and Paulo Veronese

In London last week I went to see the latest show of Julian Schnabel of whom I wrote  after seeing a nice little film of him on Vimeo. But, after being so diplomatic, I have to confess that I came away from this exhibition with a few conclusions; but I shall be kind and simply wonder: What was he thinking?
I left shaking my head as I headed down to the National Gallery where there is currently a show of the great Paulo Veronese. Such magnificent things on the huge walls there that immediately erased the distaste from the previous show.

And Paulo Veronese, what a difference 450 years make!

Polly Morgon Death and art

successful artist! #2 (Julian Schnabel)

Here is a curious film about the very larger than life Julian Schnabel, the contemporary American artist. (link http://bcove.me/5igmdm3n) 

Regardless of what people think, (and it is a very diverse landscape of opinion) he is certainly a prolific artist who has created a successful career for himself. Despite that he irritates so many, perhaps by his success and hubris, he is nonetheless, an American artist with Brobdingnagian proportions. And because Americans generally have big imaginations, they usually make big things with them and their success is over-the-top as well. Alas, hype is both the fat and gristle for success in the US today.

This nation is still pushed and pulled by the notion of Manifest Destiny, and in the art world it is no different. Culturally speaking, across the board, everything has turned muscular.

In America, museums and galleries are now monuments to the large scale and ambitions reflecting large egos. 

So, Schnabel fits in. In fact, he is an incarnation of that Manifest Destiny in the American Art world of today. He is a worker, ceaselessly pushing the boundaries of his materials. He seems to have modelled himself after Picasso in many respects. Why not? Picasso was a clever entrepreneur he brought Madison Avenue into the art studio.  

Whether I 'like' or 'dislike' their work is almost beside the point. Success breeds success in this new media-driven world. In any event, this is a lovely little film. 

starlings

Before dawn breaks
Into shattered glass:
The starlings.

Raul Dufy forever!

Its May after all, so let there be joy too.

npr

5x5 My Commute with NPR from Mariann Davis on Vimeo.

sunflower shower head

This is an Australian classic which made me think of Vincent, of course.

shut

Sidney Nolan, revisited

What I find interesting about this painting is that all of its parts seem to work so well on both plastic and surface levels of painting. There is a marvelous light throughout. Aside from this 'Formal' side of the work it is an extraordinary image; an image worthy of Goya.