Observations on Art 4.22

I've posted a few timelapse videos over the years, they're something I really love, a love I probably picked up from my roommate in State College who was a film major. I never did anything with that love but maybe that will change next year. At the moment Geoff Tompkinson is one of the best timelapse video producers in the world and one of the few good hyperlapse producers. The now defunct website Inspiredology once called him the man who controls time. Next year he and his wife Liz will be giving one of their workshops in New York and I'm seriously considering attending.

The Independent described hyperlapse as basically "shorthand for large distance stop motion timelapse," hyperlapse is a much easier word to use. When asked the difference between timelapse and hyperlapse Tompkinson answered; "It’s quite similar in that the footage is a series of photographs that are put into sequence and sped up to play at 24 frames per second only, with timelapse it’s normally from a single static position or incorporating a small rail-based move. With hyperlapse, I’m moving the camera long distances during the sequence to offer a very different experience as we can journey around a place or through a building, as opposed to just seeing everything unfold all from one spot." The trick is to transition from photo to photo without the video looking jerky.

Below is Tompkinson's latest video, Moving Through New York.


Moving Through New York from Geoff Tompkinson on Vimeo.
Posted April 8, 2014

Here is a link to the Tompkinson film The Lake which was the overall winner of the 2013 Chronos Film Festival. The festival celebrates the art of altered time perception cinematography including time-lapse, slow motion, and stop motion photography.

Observations 3.13

If you're just a fan HBO's Game of Thrones it would be a dream job. Throw in being a fan of Annie Leibovitz, or just a fan of photography, or just a photographer and it becomes simply a dream. The cover story of the April issue of Vanity Fair, available March 13^th, is a GOT preview called "The Gathering Storm" and the cover was shot by Leibovitz in Northern Ireland.

One bit of trivia in the article is that President Obama, always known to be a GOT fan, receives early screenings of the show. In an e-mail to Vanity Fair the creators of the show replied, "One perk of being the most powerful man in the world: yes, you get to see episodes early."

Above the Leibovitz video is a link to a fourteen minute trailer for Season 4 of Game of Thrones which premiers April 6^th on HBO.

Game of Thrones Season 4: Ice and Fire, A Foreshadowing

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Published on Mar 10, 2014
Watch Annie Leibovitz photograph the cast in Northern Ireland.
Subscribe to the all-new Vanity Fair channel here.

Observations 11.4

The Winter Olympics in Sochi begin in 94 Days.

"Russia’s law makes it unclear whether public displays of affection, coming out on television by mentioning an athlete’s loved one, or even hugging your partner after winning the gold medal could result in fines or deportation. Putin would like us to think gays and lesbians are welcome during the Olympics, but no one will feel safe and welcome while this law is in place," Andre Banks co-founder of All Out.

What if living your dream meant living a lie?

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AllOutorg
Published on Nov 4, 2013

Russia is in the midst of a violent crackdown against lesbian, gay, bi and trans people - fueled by laws that make it a crime to be open about who you are and who you love. The Olympic games are our best chance to end to Russia's outrageous anti-gay laws -- but to do it, it's going to take lots more of us to hear about what's happening in Russia. Watch this beautiful 2-minute video, and please share it with your family and friends.

La Russie est en proie à une répression violente contre les personnes lesbiennes, gays, bi et trans -- alimentée par des lois anti-gays qui rendent illégal le simple fait de parler en public de son identité. Les Jeux olympiques sont notre meilleur espoir de mettre fin à ces lois anti-gays -- mais pour réussir, nous devons être beaucoup plus nombreux à parler de ce qui se passe en Russie. Découvrez cette magnifique vidéo de deux minutes et partagez-la avec votre famille et vos amis.

Observations on Art 9.25

I was beginning to think all the time lapse film makers out there had taken some sort of collective holiday because I hadn't seen any really good ones lately. Than I saw this. Photographer and filmmaker Jason Phipps and his crew climbed nearby Trego Peak to capture their unique view of this year's Burning Man.

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Burning Man 2013 Time-Lapse:
Seen Miles Away From A Mountain Top
by Jason Phipps
Published on Sep 14, 2013

This video captures Burning Man 2013 from an elevation of 5495 feet above sea level and over 4 linear miles from the center of Black Rock City. Old Razorback, aka Trego Peak, provides a unique vista of this incredible annual event. Climbing to the peak of Old Razorback has become a challenging and rewarding tradition for our team. This is a view that most will never experience in person. It is our passion to share it with the world through the lens of a camera. Climbing 1,888 feet in less than a mile over steep, unstable mountainside is a dangerous and exhilarating mission. This year we deployed cameras during the build week, capturing the growth of the city and ending it the night of the burn. We express gratitude to the family and friends that joined us for this epic climb. We could not do it alone. Many thanks to our team this year: Mark Phipps, John Phipps, Dallon Phipps, Kevin Johnson & Meghan Johnson. We also offer heartfelt thanks to OpenOptics (Inspired Flight) and Dusty Nix for designing such an incredible sound score for this year's rendition.

Observations 8.28

Now this is an idea whose time has come, start naming hurricanes after climate change deniers. I first saw this video on Joe My God.


Published on Aug 26, 2013
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"If you agree that it's time for a naming system that names extreme storms caused change after policy makers who deny climate change sign the petition at ClimateChange.org, before John Boehner blows your entire city away."

note - I stopped using the tag 'global warming' a bit ago and switched to climate change. Rather than have a mess noting that fact here and tagging this post with global warming. If you want to see previous posts on the subject, including those during Sandy, click that tag.

Observations 8.19

This is just an addition to yesterday's post. It's a second video Dior film from Versailles with more outside shots and less of the Hall of Mirrors.


Dior - Secret Garden 2 - Versailles
from Inez & Vinoodh on Vimeo.

"Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin disclose Versailles is a more intimate way. The chateau and its park abound with well-kept secrets. The heart of the royal lands conceals an extraordinary world of poetry and color: in the depth of its mysterious woods a secret garden blooms out of sight, inhabited by flower-women. From the Petit Trianon to the enchanted forest, the Top-model, Daria Strokous becomes the reincarnation of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, of fashion and elegance. The painting “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe” of Edouard Manet becomes the picturesque backdrop of the dreamlike tale embodied by Daria and transposed at the Château de Versailles."

Observations from the Window 8.18

I suppose I could say I'm officially obsessed. Not that I haven't to some degree been obsessed with France, more specifically with Paris, my whole life. At the moment it's worse than it's ever been, much worse.

I just finished reading The Story of Paris and now have Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution, Charles Dukeyonge's The Life of Marie Antoinette, Jeanne Louise Henriette Campan's Memoirs of the Court of Marie Antoinette, and François Auguste Marie Mignet's History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814 all lined up on my Kindle.

Add to the reading list the course I'm registered for at NYU, Women Writers in France (12^th century to the present), and you begin to see what I mean by obsession.

How bad is it? I can watch this short film and not see the models or hear one of my favorite songs. All I see is Versailles' Hall of Mirrors which is something I neglected to see last year. I won't make that mistake next time.


Christian Dior - Secret Garden - Versailles
from Inez & Vinoodh on Vimeo.

"Secret Garden - Versailles"
A film by Inez and Vinoodh
Starring Daria Strokus, Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju in La Galeries Des Glaces - Château de Versailles.
Music by Depeche Mode: 'Enjoy the Silence'

"Before the camera lens of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, the looks from the fall 2012 collection are brought to glorious life. In a deserted Versailles, as if plucked from a fantasy, the model Daria Strokous invites you to follow her on a wondrous path that winds through the Galerie des Glaces, through the palace's endless interconnecting salons, as far as the grand tree-lined walks that sweep through the classic parkland à la française.

Along the way she's joined by fellow models Melissa Stasiuk and Xiao Wen Ju for a dreamlike fashion show where Versailles is transformed into Christian Dior's secret garden, his emblematic château. D'or et Dior."

Observations on Art 8.7

You know by now that I love timelapses and this one is just stunning. I probably use the word stunning too much but I can't think of a better way to describe this film. Nightvision was created by Luke Shepard, an American student videographer studying at American University of Paris. He raised the money to do it with a kickstarter campaign last year. I'm not sure what does it for me, the song, the simple beauty, or the fact that I studied a few of the buildings. The buildings themselves range from the most modern through gothic and baroque to almost ancient. It really is stunning.

The bigger you watch it the better.


NIGHTVISION from Luke Shepard on Vimeo.

"Nightvision is a celebration of the brilliance and diversity of architecture found across Europe. Over the course of three months I journeyed with a friend through 36 cities in 21 countries with the ambition of capturing some of the greatest European structures in a new and unique way. Comprised of thousands of carefully taken photographs, strung together and stabilized in post-production, Nightvision aims to inspire appreciation for these man-made landmarks.

Nightvision would not have been possible without my Kickstarter backers, the support of the American University of Paris community, everyone who helped along the way, and of course, those who designed and built these architectural masterpieces."

Director: Luke Shepard

AD: Henry Farrow Miller
Music: "Outro" by M83
Equipment: Canon 5D Mark III, Zeiss 18mm f/3.5, Zeiss 21mm f/2.8, Zeiss 25mm f/2, Zeiss 35mm f/1.4, Canon 8-15mm Fisheye f/4, and Canon 24-105mm f/4
Software: Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Bridge

update - I just wanted to add this link to Luke Shepard's website which has a list of the buildings and cities of Nightvision. Personally I like the sweeping shot of Rome's Trevi Fountain best. Anyway, I know you were guessing, now see how many you had right.

Observations on Art 8.3

Court is always fond of saying a good short film doesn't need a soundtrack or narration, it tells its story with no sound at all. That is the case with this short bio of Danish artist, designer, and self proclaimed "creative madman" Dennis Seide.

The film is by Mads Jeppesen and I found it while trying to find out if Jeppesen every finished his documentary on New York's underground art called Somewhere In The Dark. The concept trailer of that film is also below. As far as I can tell Somewhere In The Dark was never finished as he only raised $600 on indiegogo and the trail seems to have stopped at the end of 2012. Too bad.


Dennis Seide - No refund from Mads Jeppesen on Vimeo.
Filmed, edited and directed by: Mads Jeppesen.
Vocal mix: Jens Sejersen
Produced by: Mifune Film


Somewhere in The Dark - Concept trailer
from Mads Jeppesen on Vimeo.
Directed by: Mads Jeppesen and Betty Kaye

Observations 7.18

When I first saw it this video from Wednesday night's The Daily Show it made my morning. I've watched it a few times since than and if anything I like it even more now. There is a back story to this, which you can get by watching the full segment here, but I think it's perfect stand alone for so many reasons. Especially given Rick Perry signed Texas' draconian anti-abortion bill into law today.

"Don't mess with Texas? No, don't f*ck with New York.
I'm Lewis Black and I approve this message."

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

If you want to have some real fun Google Texas' reaction to the video. The San Antonio Express had this gem; "People come here (Texas) from all over the world because we've got all of the nation's jobs, for the ability to park your car anywhere you want, but most of all, for the fact that it's not the rat-infested, overbuilt, overpriced, concrete craphole that is New York City."

update - There is also a twitter hashtag, #NYmiddlefingerTX, and a website,  nymiddlefingertx.com, for your entertainment. The website is paid for by "New Yorkers who think Texas blows."

Observations 7.2

From Huffington Post Gay Voices; "Whether "Same Love" hits number one as a result of the Supreme Court rulings and the general feelings towards gay marriage in the United States remains to be seen, but if its leaps up the charts is any indication, "Same Love" may be a gay marriage wedding present from the unlikeliest of places: the hip hop world."

I can honestly say I've never been much of a hip-hop fan but I suppose I can evolve too. Just watch.

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Observations on Art 6.18, the Rain Room

© kane in the rain by Katie

The Rain Room is a thousand square foot installation that allows a person to walk through a simulated rain storm without getting wet. It was created by rAndom International which is a studio known for its experimental interactive projects.


As a person moves through the Rain Room multiple 3D cameras and ceiling mounted sensors track their location and turn on or off jets of water as they do so creating the impression of repelling rain. The room uses over 200 gallons of water a minute but it is quickly filtered and reused to be environmentally friendly. The Rain Room is part of  "EXPO 1: New York," a festival of new ideas in art and ecology that includes an exhibition at MoMA PS1, whose director Klaus Biesenbach curated the project, and other activities located under a geodesic dome in Rockaway Beach, Queens.

Rain Room was first shown last year in the Curve Gallery of London's Barbicon, it closed in March 2013. In May it opened in a lot next to New York's Museum of Modern Art and will be there until July 28^th. Current wait times for non-members are running 4-6 hours and 2 hours for members. If you want to go, and you should, here are a few hints. Go as early as possible, MoMA opens at 10:30 but the lines start forming as early as 8. Sunday and Tuesday are the least busiest days, Friday is the worst. This may say stupid but if you have a choice go on a sunny day because people don't seem to want to stand in simulated rain on a nice day.

I have been to the Rain Room a few and while Ash and others describe it as surreal what I remember more than anything else is the sound. This video from the Barbicon gives you a good idea why.

Rain Room at the Barbican, 2012 from rAndom International on Vimeo.

rAndom International was founded by Stuart Wood, Flo Ortkrass and Hannes Koch in 2002. The studio was set up to extend the perspective of contemporary artistic practice. Working from the fringes of art, design, science and architecture, rAndom develop projects and installations that re-interpret the 'cold' nature of digital-based work and emphasize the interaction between the animate (audience) and the inanimate (object), bringing the two into a powerful relationship of performance. The studio's work has won many awards in the fields art, architecture and design. rAndom are represented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London.

Observations on Art 6.8

Miya Ando

Brooklyn based artist Miya Ando has a fascinating bio if there ever was one. Ando was born in America of a Russian father and Japanese mother but was raised in a Nichiren Buddhist temple on Okinawa where her grandfather was head priest. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in East Asian Studies, studied Buddhist imagery at Yale University, and apprenticed with Taro Hattori in Japan. A trained metallurgist Ando uses chemicals and dyes to create the same patterns Japanese sword makers used to give each sword a character all its own.

Ando's most famous work, called After 9/11, can be seen in London's Battersea Park and is a sculpture made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11^th attacks. For a more recent project she spent six months making 1,000 hand-painted resin and phosphorescence coated skeleton leaves. Called Orbon it symbolizes the ancient Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 crane leaves to be granted a wish. Orbon was floated for 24 hours on a pond at Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico.


Miya Ando - Changing all the Rules
from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

For her intriguing artwork the descendant of a Japanese Sword builder clan uses two materials, which couldn't be any more different, metal and flowers. More on The Avant/Garde Diaries. The Avant/Garde Diaries is an online interview magazine and global event series initiated by Mercedes-Benz in 2011.

Directed by Takeshi Fukunaga / Cinematography by Ryo Murakami / Music by Ken Kaizu / Special Thanks to The Kitano New York Hotel & Ellie Grace

Observations on Art 5.30

Late year the Museum of Modern Art caused a major art controversy when they added the first 14 video games to their collections. The controversy involves whether video games should be considered art at all. I've said before that if Damien Hirst's spots can be considered among the greatest art ever video games can be considered art too. But that's just my humble opinion. The late Roger Ebert once said "video games can never be art" but again that was just one man's opinion. You can form you own opinion but I needed a little background as an introduction to this TED video of Paola Antonelli.

Antonelli is the senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA and has been at the museum since 1994. Though not on their latest list Art Review once rated her as one of the hundred most powerful people in art. In the video she explains why adding the video games was important and also separates design from art.

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Now something a bit more personal coming out of the same talk. At one point Antonelli says this; "EVE Online is an artificial universe, if you wish, but one of the diplomats that was killed in Benghazi, not Ambassador Stevens, but one of his collaborators, was a really big shot in EVE Online, so here you have a diplomat in the real world that spends his time in EVE Online to kind of test, maybe, all of his ideas about diplomacy and about universe-building, and to the point that the first announcement of the bombing was actually given on EVE Online, and after his death, several parts of the universe were named after him."

The diplomat Antonelli mentions was Sean Smith and while chatting on EVE the night of the Benghazi attack he sent this eerie message, "assuming we don't die tonight." My brother plays EVE and had actually chatted with Smith a few times. He tells me that thousands of in-world stations have been renamed in honor of Smith or the 'Vile Rat' as he was known.

Small world.

6/1 update - Here is a good clip tho go with the first part of this post. Paola Antonelli appearing on The Colbert Report back in February and explained applied design to Colbert. The best quote in the clip is from Colbert himself who asks Antonelli "what are we now? Are we modern, post-modern, or are we pre-future?"

Observations on Art 5.24

This. This just fascinates me.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei released this video for the song "Dumbass" on his website Wednesday morning and I've watched it a few times since then. The video, which is blocked in China, is meant to represent the artist's 81 day detention in 2011. Ai Weiwei said the video shows an exact recreation of the cell in which he was held down to the wallpaper. "Music is a kind of self-therapy and at the same time helps the public to see. Even conditions like these can still turn into a positive effort," he told The Guardian. The song will be released on an album titled Divina Commedia on June 22^nd which is also the anniversary of his release from prison. Ai Weiwei wrote all the lyrics and does all the singing on the album which he says was inspired by the public support Elton John gave him.

The New York Times thought the lyrics too vulgar to print but I don't have their constraints so here they are:

"When you're ready to strike, he mumbles about non-violence.
When you pinch his ear, he says it's no cure for diarrhea.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass! Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass!
Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass! Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass!
Lalalalala, lalalalala Lalalalala, lalalalala
Lalalalala, lalalalala Lalalalala, lalalalala

Stand on the frontline like a dumbass, in a country that puts out like a hooker.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
The field is full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere."

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Ai Weiwei
Published on May 21, 2013
Music video for Dumbass by Ai Weiwei. Song by Ai Weiwei with music by Zuoxiao Zuzhou. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle.
© 2013 Ai Weiwei.

Observations on Art 5.22

There are a few reasons I studied art history and didn't get a fine arts degree. The one I've always mentioned is that I think there are too many rules when you study fine arts. This video shows another. Maybe Hyperallergic is right and perhaps "we've been had, and this is some high-concept work masquerading as viral fodder." If that is the case we can debate whether or not the video itself is art. Whatever the video's authenticity I can relate because I've been known react to criticism in much the same way. However with me the criticism is usually my own and I could never bring myself to use the dreaded 'fashion designer' line.

A slight warning is called for, you may want to turn down the volume.

link
via Hyperallergic

Observations 5.17

It's been a long time since I mentioned my alter ego and totally fictitious long lost step sister Sara. I only bring her up now because along the way she seems to have dyed her hair blonde and found a new career. Girl is still wearing my jackets though.

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Observations on Art 5.13

I don't think I've ever seen a video quite like this before. I've seen music videos done to art and art videos with soundtracks but this is a classic format music video that was painted. Canadian artist Carine Khalife created the landscape by painting on glass while an overhead camera captured the changing images of flowing oil. The images were than transferred to her computer where she edited them with Stop Motion Pro. Khalife explained the process on her website.


BLOWN MINDED from Carine Khalife on Vimeo.

'Blown Minded' is from the album SHAPESHIFTING,
by YOUNG GALAXY on Paper Bag Records!
Produced, directed, animated and editited by Carine Khalife.
Carine Khalife
Young Galaxy
Paper Bag Records
Paint on glass animated short film

Observations on Art 4.29

A quick Monday morning post maybe which may into the "is it art?" category. I don't know if it is or isn't art, I suppose if a tattoo is art this is art, either way it's pretty damn cool. It's semi-nsfw but just say it's art and wave off whoever is looking over your shoulder.


Calligraphy on Girls // Shura from Fierce Frog Films on Vimeo.

Shura Chernozatonskaya is a Brooklyn painter who was born in Moscow. Shura has an MFA from the New York Studio School, had a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum 2012, and has work on display at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Observations on Art 3.30

Vincent Willem van Gogh was born 160 years ago today in the Netherlands. To celebrate here is a little something to watch while you throw around the egg dye this Easter weekend. What? Doesn't every family do that?

The Power of Art - Van Gogh

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the complete series