Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
DREAM 10.25.12: Rising Ocean
On vacation on a tropical island, I relax on the beach but the tide is much higher than it should be. Later, I get a cold drink at a palm frond-roofed snack shack on the sand, but now the water is lapping at the hut. It rises more, the snack shack comes unmoored, and is carried away on rough water. I jump out of the hut to try to get back to shore but it is suddenly night and I am disoriented. I try to swim toward some lights since I assume that is land but I don't seem to be getting anywhere. After a period of darkness, I am finally back on shore. The next day, the woman who owns the snack shack walks around town telling everyone that her place of business is gone, washed out with the tide. Everyone walks by me, acting as if I am not there. Did I drown? Am I dead?
Thursday, October 25, 2012
BEAUTY: Photography--Mikko Lagerstedt
Finnish photographer Mikko Lagerstedt beautifully captures what I imagine to be the mood and tone of his home country where winters are long and days are short. Cold, darkness, stars, moonlight, and mysterious figures. It feels like Romanticism from 1790...
http://www.mikkolagerstedt.com/index.html
http://www.mikkolagerstedt.com/index.html
BEAUTY: Art--Angela Palmer
Melding art with the medical sciences, artist Angela Palmer employs the results of CT and MRI scans to create compelling, haunting works of art. She etches the contours of soft tissue and bone onto glass plates and assembles them to mimic 3D images of the scans. She has used herself as a model for a series of self portraits but recently used the scans of author Robert Harris to create a 3D image of his skull and brain.
Palmer also created a very touching body of work based on a child mummy on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. She writes of this project on her website:
"Another recent project involved a 2000-year-old Egyptian child mummy in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Little was known of the child, who was presented to the museum in 1888 after being removed from its burial site in the Faiyum in Egypt by the archaeologist Flinders Petrie. In order to recreate the child without disturbing its bandages, I organized for the child to undergo over 2,500 CT scans at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. These were performed by one of the world’s leading radiologists, Dr Stephen Golding and his team. The doctors revealed the child to be a boy and declared pneumonia as the probable cause of death due to a thickening of his lung...
The recreation of the child on 111 sheets of glass was unveiled as part of the Ashmolean’s permanent collection when it recently reopened its new Egyptian Galleries. The glass sculpture lies in a special case next to the actual boy himself.
An exhibition of my work associated with this project can also be seen in the Ashmolean’s Cast Gallery until March 4 next year [note: 3/4/12...exhibition is closed]. This includes a film made during my visit to the child’s burial site in the Faiyum in Egypt; casts I commissioned of the child’s skull and his toes; linen bales dyed using ancient methods particular to the Faiyum; and sand I brought in my water bottle to ‘reunite’ the child with his homeland."
http://www.angelaspalmer.com/
Palmer also created a very touching body of work based on a child mummy on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. She writes of this project on her website:
"Another recent project involved a 2000-year-old Egyptian child mummy in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. Little was known of the child, who was presented to the museum in 1888 after being removed from its burial site in the Faiyum in Egypt by the archaeologist Flinders Petrie. In order to recreate the child without disturbing its bandages, I organized for the child to undergo over 2,500 CT scans at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. These were performed by one of the world’s leading radiologists, Dr Stephen Golding and his team. The doctors revealed the child to be a boy and declared pneumonia as the probable cause of death due to a thickening of his lung...
The recreation of the child on 111 sheets of glass was unveiled as part of the Ashmolean’s permanent collection when it recently reopened its new Egyptian Galleries. The glass sculpture lies in a special case next to the actual boy himself.
An exhibition of my work associated with this project can also be seen in the Ashmolean’s Cast Gallery until March 4 next year [note: 3/4/12...exhibition is closed]. This includes a film made during my visit to the child’s burial site in the Faiyum in Egypt; casts I commissioned of the child’s skull and his toes; linen bales dyed using ancient methods particular to the Faiyum; and sand I brought in my water bottle to ‘reunite’ the child with his homeland."
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
BEAUTY: Interiors--María Lladó
Spanish interior designer María Lladó expertly combines antique, retro, and modern in an exciting and energizing way. For Lladó, white walls function like the white walls of an art gallery: the objects become the focus. This is a home she designed in Barcelona. I love how everything is interesting, worthy of examination...
http://www.mariallado.com/
And then there is this splendid house in Madrid.
http://www.mariallado.com/
Just watched...
...David Cronenberg's 2011 film "A Dangerous Method."
Freud and Jung. It seems like the men and their difficult relationship were and still are examples of how different we as human beings can be. Only Freud with his personality type and experiences could have created psychoanalysis, and only Jung, with his own personality type and experiences could have created analytical psychology.
Adapted from the 2002 stage play "The Talking Cure," which was in turn adapted from the non-fiction book A MOST DANGEROUS METHOD: THE STORY OF JUNG, FREUD, AND SABINA SPIELRIEN by John Kerr, Cronenberg's film captures a sort of short-of-breath tightness that creates anxiety and tension. As a film device, it works quite well. Of course Cronenberg started out as a gore director, then horror, then horror psychology, and now he is delving into a kind of dark psychology that clearly descends from his past films. This tightness could have something to do with the fact that this film adaptation comes not only from a stage play, but that the screenwriter, Christopher Hammond, is also the playwright. On a stage, there is no luxury of expansive locales, no enormous cast of featured actors and extras (generally speaking), and no sweeping sense of story. We are focused on a few places and a few individuals.
In this case, we are focused on Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Jung's first patient, Sabina Spielrien. The basis of the film is rooted firmly in fact. After treating Sabina for a while, Jung wrote to Freud in order to consult about Sabina and the psychoanalytical techniques Jung was using. They corresponded about Sabina's case and struck up a friendship. Freud considered Jung to be the heir apparent to psychoanalysis. But as the two continued to correspond and eventually meet, their differences in their personalities and experiences became more apparent to each of them, ultimately resulting in a contentious split. During this time, Jung "cured" Sabina of her emotional issues. She wished to be a psychologist, and with Jung's encouragement, she became his student and eventually his colleague.
But this is where things get a little dicey. It is now widely held that Jung and Spielrien had a sexual relationship. Her letters, discovered in 1977, mention such an affair. Letters between Jung and Freud also mention Jung's "indiscretion." But Hampton and Cronenberg do what Peter Schaffer did in "Amadeus." Did Salieri poison Mozart? There is no evidence to support or deny such a claim, but the play puts forth intriguing suppositions. As does "A Dangerous Method." Did Jung take advantage of an unbalanced young woman? Did he have a sado-masochistic affair with a patient? These are details we do not know. And I must say that although I understand the dramatic and artistic license that is being taken here, and do appreciate it on an artistic level, I regret that it colors the life, work, and legacy of Carl Jung. I will confess that I am a Jungian at heart; Jungian beliefs most closely match my own. And the fantastic work that Jung did not only in the realm of psychology, but in the realm of literature, the arts, of the study of global cultures and religions, and human development itself is a little overshadowed by this dark--and at times, lurid--fiction. The film leaves off at the beginning of Jung's personal breakdown and the start of his greatest work into the world of the unconscious. I am aware that this film is not a straight biography of Jung, but it leaves me wishing it were.
Having said that, the film itself, for what it is, works well. The period sets, costumes, and details are correct. As I mentioned earlier, this is a tale of anxiety and tension and Cronenberg directs it with an appropriate sense of anxiety and tension. He also gets the best out of his actors. Michael Fassbender plays Jung with a restrained subtlety and Viggo Mortensen plays Freud with a quiet prickliness. Here are images of the originals and their film counterparts:
But special mention goes to the talented Keira Knightley for her intense, agonizing portrayal of Sabina Spielrien: agonizing for viewers and for Knightley since she had to occupy a very dark, exhausting place for the duration of this project. Knightley had the unenviable task of being mentally unstable but all the while making complete sense. Her storyline and performance touch on issues of child abuse, sexual abuse, and the belittlement of women during that period. Spielrien became a psychologist despite--or perhaps because of--her mental instabilities. But more than that, she became a psychologist at a time when women were not thought to have the brain power to do much than play a pretty tune on the piano or to do some embroidery. Spielrien might deserve a film of her own.
Recommend? Yes, it is worth seeing for the performances and for a bit of historical background on the birth of psychology. But if you are not familiar with him, please do yourself a favor and discover the rich legacy of Carl Jung.
http://adangerousmethod-themovie.com/
Freud and Jung. It seems like the men and their difficult relationship were and still are examples of how different we as human beings can be. Only Freud with his personality type and experiences could have created psychoanalysis, and only Jung, with his own personality type and experiences could have created analytical psychology.
Adapted from the 2002 stage play "The Talking Cure," which was in turn adapted from the non-fiction book A MOST DANGEROUS METHOD: THE STORY OF JUNG, FREUD, AND SABINA SPIELRIEN by John Kerr, Cronenberg's film captures a sort of short-of-breath tightness that creates anxiety and tension. As a film device, it works quite well. Of course Cronenberg started out as a gore director, then horror, then horror psychology, and now he is delving into a kind of dark psychology that clearly descends from his past films. This tightness could have something to do with the fact that this film adaptation comes not only from a stage play, but that the screenwriter, Christopher Hammond, is also the playwright. On a stage, there is no luxury of expansive locales, no enormous cast of featured actors and extras (generally speaking), and no sweeping sense of story. We are focused on a few places and a few individuals.
In this case, we are focused on Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and Jung's first patient, Sabina Spielrien. The basis of the film is rooted firmly in fact. After treating Sabina for a while, Jung wrote to Freud in order to consult about Sabina and the psychoanalytical techniques Jung was using. They corresponded about Sabina's case and struck up a friendship. Freud considered Jung to be the heir apparent to psychoanalysis. But as the two continued to correspond and eventually meet, their differences in their personalities and experiences became more apparent to each of them, ultimately resulting in a contentious split. During this time, Jung "cured" Sabina of her emotional issues. She wished to be a psychologist, and with Jung's encouragement, she became his student and eventually his colleague.
But this is where things get a little dicey. It is now widely held that Jung and Spielrien had a sexual relationship. Her letters, discovered in 1977, mention such an affair. Letters between Jung and Freud also mention Jung's "indiscretion." But Hampton and Cronenberg do what Peter Schaffer did in "Amadeus." Did Salieri poison Mozart? There is no evidence to support or deny such a claim, but the play puts forth intriguing suppositions. As does "A Dangerous Method." Did Jung take advantage of an unbalanced young woman? Did he have a sado-masochistic affair with a patient? These are details we do not know. And I must say that although I understand the dramatic and artistic license that is being taken here, and do appreciate it on an artistic level, I regret that it colors the life, work, and legacy of Carl Jung. I will confess that I am a Jungian at heart; Jungian beliefs most closely match my own. And the fantastic work that Jung did not only in the realm of psychology, but in the realm of literature, the arts, of the study of global cultures and religions, and human development itself is a little overshadowed by this dark--and at times, lurid--fiction. The film leaves off at the beginning of Jung's personal breakdown and the start of his greatest work into the world of the unconscious. I am aware that this film is not a straight biography of Jung, but it leaves me wishing it were.
Having said that, the film itself, for what it is, works well. The period sets, costumes, and details are correct. As I mentioned earlier, this is a tale of anxiety and tension and Cronenberg directs it with an appropriate sense of anxiety and tension. He also gets the best out of his actors. Michael Fassbender plays Jung with a restrained subtlety and Viggo Mortensen plays Freud with a quiet prickliness. Here are images of the originals and their film counterparts:
But special mention goes to the talented Keira Knightley for her intense, agonizing portrayal of Sabina Spielrien: agonizing for viewers and for Knightley since she had to occupy a very dark, exhausting place for the duration of this project. Knightley had the unenviable task of being mentally unstable but all the while making complete sense. Her storyline and performance touch on issues of child abuse, sexual abuse, and the belittlement of women during that period. Spielrien became a psychologist despite--or perhaps because of--her mental instabilities. But more than that, she became a psychologist at a time when women were not thought to have the brain power to do much than play a pretty tune on the piano or to do some embroidery. Spielrien might deserve a film of her own.
Recommend? Yes, it is worth seeing for the performances and for a bit of historical background on the birth of psychology. But if you are not familiar with him, please do yourself a favor and discover the rich legacy of Carl Jung.
http://adangerousmethod-themovie.com/
Just watched...
..."Pollock," a biographic film of modern artist Jackson Pollock starring Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden.
Ed Harris had been wanting to make a bio-pic of the life of Jackson Pollock for nearly ten years when all the moving parts of the pre-production phase of a motion picture came together to allow him to star in and direct "Pollock." The film opens in 1941, when Pollock was just another unknown artist in Manhattan, drunk, living with his brother and sister-in-law. Enter Lee Krasner (played by Marcia Gay Harden, a role which earned her a Best Suppoprting Actress Oscar!), the future Mrs. Jackson Pollock. We see their marriage, his rise in the art world, and his eventual artistic breakthrough of "drip paintings," all the while drinking, grumbling, smoking, and suffering what might now be diagnosed as manic depressive or bi-polar episodes.
The film looks great. It works as a period piece and of course Harris looks like Pollock... take a look below at the real Pollock dripping paint and Harris dripping paint (Harris actually did all of the art work seen in the film).
Harris and Harden are splendid as Jackson and Lee. And the film works quite well as an art history lesson. Pollock's contribution to the direction and evolution of modern art cannot be exaggerated--Amy Madigan plays Peggy Guggenheim, art collector extraordinaire, who commissioned Pollock to create a massive mural for her home in New York. However, I am puzzled by one thing: from the film, I do not know why Lee Krasner loved Pollock so and stood by him through binge drinking, affairs, and abusive behavior. Krasner was a very strong woman and seemed to be able to live a self-determined life. The film showed us nothing of what might make Pollock a lovable--or even sympathetic--character. Could she have been passionate about him simply for the art itself? It is possible that Krasner saw the revolutionary style Pollock was creating. Perhaps she believed in the art and not the man, although it is true that she promoted him fiercely. From what we are given in the film, it is hard to say. In fact, the whole film, while interesting and well done, is told with a curious sort of detachment. And I think it was a deliberate choice on the part of Harris to direct the film with a little bit of distance and a chill... perhaps to recreate Pollock's personality for us, the viewers.
Recommend? Yes, I think so. But see if you can find any redeemable quality in Pollock besides his art...
Ed Harris had been wanting to make a bio-pic of the life of Jackson Pollock for nearly ten years when all the moving parts of the pre-production phase of a motion picture came together to allow him to star in and direct "Pollock." The film opens in 1941, when Pollock was just another unknown artist in Manhattan, drunk, living with his brother and sister-in-law. Enter Lee Krasner (played by Marcia Gay Harden, a role which earned her a Best Suppoprting Actress Oscar!), the future Mrs. Jackson Pollock. We see their marriage, his rise in the art world, and his eventual artistic breakthrough of "drip paintings," all the while drinking, grumbling, smoking, and suffering what might now be diagnosed as manic depressive or bi-polar episodes.
The film looks great. It works as a period piece and of course Harris looks like Pollock... take a look below at the real Pollock dripping paint and Harris dripping paint (Harris actually did all of the art work seen in the film).
Harris and Harden are splendid as Jackson and Lee. And the film works quite well as an art history lesson. Pollock's contribution to the direction and evolution of modern art cannot be exaggerated--Amy Madigan plays Peggy Guggenheim, art collector extraordinaire, who commissioned Pollock to create a massive mural for her home in New York. However, I am puzzled by one thing: from the film, I do not know why Lee Krasner loved Pollock so and stood by him through binge drinking, affairs, and abusive behavior. Krasner was a very strong woman and seemed to be able to live a self-determined life. The film showed us nothing of what might make Pollock a lovable--or even sympathetic--character. Could she have been passionate about him simply for the art itself? It is possible that Krasner saw the revolutionary style Pollock was creating. Perhaps she believed in the art and not the man, although it is true that she promoted him fiercely. From what we are given in the film, it is hard to say. In fact, the whole film, while interesting and well done, is told with a curious sort of detachment. And I think it was a deliberate choice on the part of Harris to direct the film with a little bit of distance and a chill... perhaps to recreate Pollock's personality for us, the viewers.
Recommend? Yes, I think so. But see if you can find any redeemable quality in Pollock besides his art...
Monday, October 22, 2012
"Americans Who Tell The Truth"
Robert Shetterly is an amazingly inspiring man. He is a political activist and a self-taught artist who has created a series of portraits of people in the United States who believe in true democracy and work for the betterment of the world. The portraits are gathered on the "Americans Who Tell The Truth" website which displays the following mission statement:
"Americans Who Tell the Truth is dedicated to the belief that a profound sense of citizenship is the only safeguard of democracy and the best defense of our social, economic, and environmental rights. Through portraits and stories of exemplary American citizens, both historical and contemporary, AWTT teaches the courage to act for the common good. Its powerful educational programs promote our country’s ideals, illuminate the necessary work of the present, and inspire hope in the future."
Here is a small sampling of the portraits of amazingly inspiring Americans who dare to speak the truth.
Bill Ayers
Educational Theorist, Professor, Writer, Anti-War and Civil Rights Activist: b. 1944
"There is, after all, no basis for education in a democracy outside of a faith in the enduring capacity for growth in ordinary people and a faith that ordinary people … can, if they choose, change the world."
Ella Baker
Civil Rights Organizer : 1903 – 1986
"In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become a part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed. It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you can change that system. That is easier said than done."
Frances Moore Lappé
Writer, Activist : b. 1944
"What an extraordinary time to be alive. We’re the first people on our planet to have real choice: we can continue killing each other, wiping out other species, spoiling our nest. Yet on every continent a revolution in human dignity is emerging. It is re-knitting community and our ties to the earth. So we do have a choice. We can choose death; or we can choose life."
Paul K. Chappell
Army Captain, Peace Activist, Writer: b. 1980
"When people in a democracy are not educated in the art of living --- to strengthen their conscience, compassion, and ability to question and think critically --- they can be easily manipulated by fear and propaganda. A democracy is only as wise as its citizens, and a democracy of ignorant citizens can be as dangerous as a dictatorship."
Sue Coe
Artist : b. 1951
"We despair for the fate of animals, the senseless cruelties inflicted upon them by our species, their and our own helplessness in the face of mass slaughter--all this is true. And if we could really see what we have done to the earth, we would go mad. Alongside that is yet another truth: there is a palpable goodness all around us, even in the most terrible times, that all things point to, like the north star. "
Wendell Berry
Farmer, Essayist, Conservationist, Novelist, Teacher, Poet : b. 1934
"The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful."
http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/
"Americans Who Tell the Truth is dedicated to the belief that a profound sense of citizenship is the only safeguard of democracy and the best defense of our social, economic, and environmental rights. Through portraits and stories of exemplary American citizens, both historical and contemporary, AWTT teaches the courage to act for the common good. Its powerful educational programs promote our country’s ideals, illuminate the necessary work of the present, and inspire hope in the future."
Here is a small sampling of the portraits of amazingly inspiring Americans who dare to speak the truth.
Educational Theorist, Professor, Writer, Anti-War and Civil Rights Activist: b. 1944
"There is, after all, no basis for education in a democracy outside of a faith in the enduring capacity for growth in ordinary people and a faith that ordinary people … can, if they choose, change the world."
Civil Rights Organizer : 1903 – 1986
"In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become a part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed. It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you can change that system. That is easier said than done."
Writer, Activist : b. 1944
"What an extraordinary time to be alive. We’re the first people on our planet to have real choice: we can continue killing each other, wiping out other species, spoiling our nest. Yet on every continent a revolution in human dignity is emerging. It is re-knitting community and our ties to the earth. So we do have a choice. We can choose death; or we can choose life."
Army Captain, Peace Activist, Writer: b. 1980
"When people in a democracy are not educated in the art of living --- to strengthen their conscience, compassion, and ability to question and think critically --- they can be easily manipulated by fear and propaganda. A democracy is only as wise as its citizens, and a democracy of ignorant citizens can be as dangerous as a dictatorship."
Artist : b. 1951
"We despair for the fate of animals, the senseless cruelties inflicted upon them by our species, their and our own helplessness in the face of mass slaughter--all this is true. And if we could really see what we have done to the earth, we would go mad. Alongside that is yet another truth: there is a palpable goodness all around us, even in the most terrible times, that all things point to, like the north star. "
Farmer, Essayist, Conservationist, Novelist, Teacher, Poet : b. 1934
"The most alarming sign of the state of our society now is that our leaders have the courage to sacrifice the lives of young people in war but have not the courage to tell us that we must be less greedy and wasteful."
http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/
BEAUTY: Art--Charlotte Caron
French artist Charlotte Caron paints animal faces over photographs of her models, masking and disguising them, but ultimately creating a symbiosis between the man-made and the natural world.
Besides, regular readers know I am such a sucker for humans with animal heads...
Top to bottom: Sardine; Ours-Polaire (Polar Bear); Renard (Fox); Écureuil (Squirrel); Chenille (Caterpillar)
http://charlottecaron.fr/
Besides, regular readers know I am such a sucker for humans with animal heads...
Top to bottom: Sardine; Ours-Polaire (Polar Bear); Renard (Fox); Écureuil (Squirrel); Chenille (Caterpillar)
http://charlottecaron.fr/
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