(click on image to enlarge and read) This article is from the NY times about a week ago. At first glance I was excited to read about a pastoral take on Bambi. However the article isn't specifically about aesthetics... which is what I love about Bambi. In 2005 I went to a residency in Florida that had state-of-the-art media facilities. Our "master artist" Fiona Rae made us watch the remastered version of Disney's Bambi digitally projected on a large screen. It was (and is) visually breath-taking. The forest scenes are richly layered and saturated with real pigments. The layering of frames to create depth is actually a technique used by Hitchcock in many films such as the Birds. In addition to layering film he would paint directly on the actual celluloid. Bambi is much more a painters film than an animation film to me. I especially enjoy the lush fires and "man's" violent chaos on nature in a form that would have put any abstract expressionist to shame. This article is not about that. It's more about the Disney's "Disney" version of a comment on the lack of compassion and conservation of habitat, animal rights and moral responsibility. If you get the chance, rent it and watch on a big beautiful screen.
Raging Bull Blade Runner Until The End of The World Vertigo A History of Violence/Eastern Promises Manhattan/Annie Hall/Stardust Memories Spinal Tap One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest The Good The Bad and The Ugly Dark Days
The Cronenberg films are together because they're both great and have the same lead actor. I have no definitive favorite Woody but those three are the tops. The fantasy Frankenstein scene in Stardust Memories sort of describes a lot of my romantic troubles. I've been on a massive Netflix binge these last few months... okay, the whole winter. I've watched about three movies per week (in addition to being nearly half way through The Wire). My favorites are still my favorites. I wonder if they will stay that way? Is it possible my personality, likes and aesthetics are all worked out now? I like change, I need change (sometimes), change is healthy. However, there is something comforting about knowing my favorites. Some runner-ups are: Citizen Kane (the first and last 3 minutes are the most beautiful in cinema), Little Miss Sunshine, The Bad Lieutenant and Happy Together.
Tree Whispering Conscious Horseback Riding Our Lady of Weight Loss The Tai Chi Golf Swing Happy Anyway! Mediating Dangerously Tango With the Buddha Crazy Sexy Cancer Boot Camp Mating in Captivity Flying Trapeze Tap Dance in Fun! I Thought It Was Just Me Momfulness What’s Next? Death & The Art of Dying Advanced Shapeshifting Being With Flowers
These titles are the names of workshops at the Omega retreat in Rhinebeck, NY. I selected my personal favorites from a huge catalog overflowing with them. If you think these titles are bizarrely hilarious, request a catalog and read the descriptions. Or maybe it's just my own silly sense of humor that finds delight in this stuff. Next blog entry I'll be listing my top 10 movies thus far.
On the way walking from the subway to my studio this morning I was wondering if my creativity peeked at about age 4 and I'm spending the rest of my life trying to tap back in to that time.
And here's what else... This month in particular has had extreme ups and downs for me personally but also for what seems like everyone else and the country in general. While I spent my first week back from London assembling nearly 1,000 balsa wood airplanes and cutting wood for a window display project for Bergdorf Goodman I listened to more news than I usually care to. Who could escape it though? Spitzer resigning, Obama's (possibly) racist pastor and Obamas's following career-saving speech from Philadelphia, Bear Sterns collapsing, the economy diving... am I forgetting anything? I swear though, everything will be so much better when Spring finally gets here!
So aside from some of the art fair stuff I've been rock'n out in studio again and catching up with my favorite radio personality Terry Gross (Fresh Air on NPR out of Philly). A while back she interviewed Steve Martin about his new book "Born Standing Up" which I finished in London (more about that in a minute). I have to say that most of the books I've read in recent years have been because of her interviews. In fact many of the people that interest me no matter what subject have been due to public radio programs. Funny because I'm a visual artist. I get so much useful stimulation from listening to writers, directors, actors, comedians, doctors, scientists and leaders talk about their craft. I don't look towards other visual (fine) artists or critics essays or art in general for inspiration. I'd rather read Oliver Sacks, look at botany and listen to an interview with John Waters. I'm not even a big fan of John Waters movies but I love his stories, opinions and musical taste (not to mention his frankness). Which leads me back to Steve Martin... who happens to be a huge art collector. "Born Standing Up" is about his childhood leading up to the end of his stand-up career. Ironically I don't like his "wild and caraaaazy guy!" material but one of his album covers is one of the first I remember from my childhood. Steve Martin started out as a magician. His magic act took on such a unique performative quality that it became more like performance art. While comedy venues in the 60's were generally the same as folk venues, his magic act was somewhat squeezed in between the two. Neither a "joke" comedian or a musical act, he was naturally inclined to do both plus magic at the same time. On top of that he started writing for t.v. comedy shows to make ends meet. Strange place to be huh? He had to find his own way creatively. I don't think he would haven ended up being such a great performer without incorporating all of those interests and coming to terms with them as active ingredients in his own craft. Read it.
And now on to my latest obsession also courtesy of Terry Gross and HBO: The Wire. Yes, I'm a little late considering the series just ended. But what better time to start netflixing from the beginning? All I have to say about that is 10 episodes in 10 days. I'm hooked. Especially since LOST isn't back on for another month. This is a layered program. The characters and story lines unfold in to politics, education, psychology, ethics, compassion, hate, philosophy... and then keep on unfolding! The characters multiply but somehow I feel invested in almost every single one. My current (and I have a feeling constant) favorite is Omar. Omar robs drug dealers. He's also gay. He also is one of the most interesting characters ever created for the screen.
