Thursday, February 28, 2008

Black Eyed Dog


"Heath Ledger had directed a relatively unseen video for Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog," a song titled after Winston Churchill's term for depression. Ledger created the video for an exhibition paying tribute to Drake's work ([whose life] was cut short by an antidepressant overdose [in 1974, at the age of 26]). In the time since, Heath's self-described "obsession" and unfortunate similarities with the singer-songwriter have been drawn out and explored, as has most every other detail speculative or otherwise of Ledger's life. Bits of the video are now available, bundled into this newscast circulating on YouTube. In it, Ledger directs himself spinning in a field and drowning in a tub."
At first I appreciated how the reporters provided some context for the video, but they just dragged on and on and on. Stop milking it.

Source: Stereogum

Monday, February 25, 2008

Accompanying Viddies

LOVE is a DESERTER


U R A FEVER


CHEAP and CHEERFUL

Some People are Just Born Cooler Than Others

Fashion Rocks! 2005 - Prada/The Kills

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Wood Suits by Michael Rea


What kinds of projects can we expect to see from you in the near future?
I am currently working on a piece involving carbonite and myself. I am also interested in making a piece that deals with exorcism. I just confirmed that I will be traveling to Germany this summer to build a time machine. I feel in the new global theater, America should give back. While we received so much help from German scientists in building the first nuclear bomb. The least we could do is help them build a time machine.
hahaha

Artist Statement
Standing on the shoulders of other people's dreams could perhaps be the most pathetic of all dreams. The intent of my work is to create something short of its outcome. My goal is to create the idea of an object that remains a dream. The objects I create are based on fictions, rather than realities. I have always been interested in the ephemeral worlds established in film, or even in popular culture. Fictions or established hearsay allow for a flawed interpretation, which leads to a flawed result. The sublime is unattainable, and not an option. I further amplify this experience by only using my memory to construct my images. Failure is imminent. I find humor allows me to enjoy this experience, and I in turn build humor into the worlds established by my work. I have chosen to depict these states with unfinished wood, and other materials which convey a sense of the temporal. I find the beauty in life lies in between moments. My work offers a sense of what could be and what could never be simultaneously.
Source: Fecal Face + Michael Rea.com

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Billie Holiday - Fine & Mellow

Nina Simone - Ain't Got No...I've Got Life


Nina Simone, in Harlem 1969

The 50s-60s seem like a cool time to live in. People were just so involved in the anti-war, civil rights, counterculture movements. Music was reactive and provided meaningful social commentary.

Got hold of the Feb issue of Mojo, was an interview with Joni Mitchell:
There's a strong undercurrent of discontent in Shine [her recently released album]. What are your feelings about the government these days?

I was angry at the handling of New Orleans and how quick the American people were to impeach a man for sex and how slow to move on other things that made everyone in the world want to nuke America. I was also angry at the inability of this generation to know what to do; their inability to move at all, which is an unusual thing for youth.

What do you mean?

In their youth, my generation was ready to change the world, but when the baton was passed to them in the '70s they fell into a mass depression because all the revolutionaries are quick to demolish and slow to fix. When handed the baton to fix it, they didn't know what to do so they kind of degenerated into the greediest generation in the history of America - the hippy, yippie, yuppie transition from the '60s to the '70s to the greedy '80s and Ronald Reagan.

[...]

Machiavelli said, "People don't know what to do with peace. It always degenerates into fashion and fornication," and that's what we have.
EDIT: Nina Simone - Ain't Got No...I've Got Life (megaupload)

Room in a Box

Hidden inside Casulo:
"An armoire, a desk, a height-adjustable stool, two more stools, a six-shelf bookcase, and a bed with a mattress."

Size:
31"x47" OR 80x120 cm

(Dis)Assembling time (by 2 people):
~10 min

Additional tools needed:
None

Designed by:
Marcel Krings & Sebastian Mühlhäuser

- Can serve as emergency packages that can be sent to crisis-stricken areas.
- Concern: Whether those materials last long, especially when the design targets those who move around a lot.

Take Away Shows presents Sidi Toure



Sidi Toure strolls down the streets of his hometown, Bamako in Mali. As captured by the Take Away Shows series.