gerhard richter

Being an artist:

 

A video from Nowness on Gerhard Richter:

Gerhard Richter Painting on Nowness.com.

my advice on aluminum storm windows

don't have them.

take a load off Mac-ee

Last winter my Mac G5 desktop died. Luckily I didn't need to panic.  Months before  I had bought a laptop so I could work with more flexibility as we travel more and more, so it wasn't a crisis.  But I was left with a big heavy pile of metal. 

I researched what to do and found Apple does have a reuse and recycling program.  On a web page you enter the type of computer to be recycled into a form which calculates what the machine may be worth for a store credit.  Sounded fine by me.  Mine was worth nothing.  At best it might have brought $50 if it weren't dead.  Sheesh.  Even worth nothing, the recycling program was willing to take this model and they pay for the shipping as long as I packed it up.  I couldn't find the stupid box.  Our basement is like a museum of boxes, but apparently I didn't hang on to this one, or even one box big and stable enough for this towering heap.  

Determined to get this big ass metal box out of my office right then but not just stick it on the curb for the trash, I called the guys at Recompute Missoula, to beg them to take it.  They said, "Yes!" 

I bagged the installation discs and the power cord and hauled it out and over there immediately.  After leaving their store, I felt so relieved with just the possibility of parts being salvaged and reused. 

No shit, while I drove away "Take a Load Off Maggie" was playing on the radio!  So, I tried harmonizing with my own variation, "Take a Load Off Mac-ee."  Ha!  

Yeah, okay, this might by my dorkiest confession on this blog yet. 

glorious 39

Friday Flick:

First of all, the film has Bill Nighy in it. We are fans in our household, so he's enough for us.  The drama has a strong cast overall, led by Romola Garai's passionate performance, but all helping to illustrate the emotionally (and politically) contrasting time for the youthful main characters just before WWII in England. The camera work is lush and gently moves the suspenseful story along through a rich English landscape and into grand vacant interiors.  It's been twenty years since I've been in that landscape, and I found myself wanting to strap on some Wellies and walk through the screen right into it.  While a nostalgic depiction of the setting, the film treats wartime corruption with scrutiny and critique. 

The story surrounds a female lead who's personal discovery takes a dark turn into a conspiracy theory of the English upper class's conspiring efforts with Hitler to buy a version of peace for themselves.  Ultimately the film could have been smarter, I imagine with the cast, and faster like modern thrillers as critics have said rather than the slower, naive old-school unfolding that it is. In the end though, I think it is well done and the departure from common patriotic nostalgia into the shushed decomposition of wartime is worth exploring.

 

jane lynch's happy accidents

Happy Accidents: My Gleeful Life by Jane Lynch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


While painting kitchen cabinets, I listened to Happy Accidents read by Jane. Working with Jane in mind was a perfect match. Not big on flash, just good stories. She makes plain, humorous and positive company. Thank you, Jane.



View all my reviews

elizabeth murray

Being an artist:

Elizabeth Murray spoke at my graduation from the School of Art Institute in Chicago in the early 90s. While I appreciated her work then, I was not particularly a big fan or anything. However, when she spoke at our graduation ceremony, I felt more like I met her personally and found a deeper appreciation for her work.  I find this happens a lot in the arts.  Meeting the artist can - it doesn't always, but it can - give a new connection to the work.  Her positive and grounded attitude stayed with me.

Here is a trailer for the Elizabeth Murray movie by Art:21, a series of movies about artists produced by PBS.

el bulli

Friday Flick: 

If you love to cook, and if you also love art, you must watch this movie documenting the avant-garde cooking at a restaurant in Spain of the same name, El Bulli.  It's about the art of experiencing food. I'm still thinking about the water, the ice and the frequent obsessiveness that comes with creativity.  And the moments of absurdity and grace found in its pursuit.

 

As an aside, we saw El Bulli in Portland at the very comfy Living Room Theater.  We had just eaten dinner, so I only gobbled down a Lion Bar.  Next time I plan to enjoy a taste from their tapas menu and a glass of wine with my movie.

El Bulli is by archaeologist, language teacher, author and filmmaker, Gereon Wetzel.

david lynch on being an artist

David Lynch, being an artist:

Video from Álex Hernández-Puertas, dequesi's channel

shellac and helen money

This past Sunday we shot video of Shellac playing in Missoula for Sustain, the Travis Bean Guitar Doc that we've been making.  

I met the guitarist, Steve Albini, when we interviewed him in Chicago but this was my first time seeing the band perform live and these guys know how to put on a show.  As ambivalent in attitude as they may seem in some of what I've read about them, their show absolutely pays attention to the audience with banter, momentum and  intensity.  At one point, Albini gnaws at his guitar strings as if it were a chicken leg.  But watching him, and I was directly in front of him zoomed in on the guitar strings at this moment, and hearing the sounds that result, he's almost elegant about it. Considering his straightforward, confidence and enjoyment making well-prepared food for his wife (I follow his cooking blog, 'Mario Batali voice',) his performance with a guitar makes sense.  Like he's lapping at a bowl of three-minute gazpacho.  He makes and enjoys his soup, and he'll share with you how to make it, too.     

Any decent footage that comes out of that dark, low-ceiling den called the Palace will be saved for our movie.  For now, here is a still photo of the band setting up.  Albini is in front wearing his trademark mechanic's jumper.

   

The opening act rocked too

Helen Money, a one-woman electrical cello band, opened for Shellac.  Her weighty notes were a revelation for me.  I bought her latest cd, In Tune, to ruminate over as autumn settles in.  

Here is 'Mondo' by Helen Money with animation by Nelson Chan.

To learn more about the movie we are making on Travis Bean Guitars click here. 

Both bands will be performing in California, Oregon and Washington in the coming days.  Please report back to me if you catch a show.

bleary eyed travelers return home

from tabling for Submishmash at a lively and friendly Wordstock Fest in lovely (and this past weekend, rainy) Portland, Oregon. 

Photo taken and adjusted using Tiltshift Generator App on my iPhone.

the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian

Goodreads Update:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't usually feel this way about Audio books, but I highly recommend the Audio version of this book. Read by the author, the main character's American Indian voice is beautiful, rich and full to hear and much of the tone would possibly be very different (lost) when simply read in one's own voice/head.

View all my reviews