not too silly or wild

Friday Flicks:

This week's Friday Flick is really Flicks plural. I want you to know about Art Babble, a website of short videos designed to educate on specific paintings.  Many are specifically arranged for children to tour artworks from collections in different art museums and galleries around the country.  The analysis is pretty basic and a great way to encourage and compliment a youngster's interest in art (or yours).

For example, below is a video on on Post Impressionist, Vincent Van Gogh's 1889 self-portrait.

It's not all dead white guys either.  They also have some videos on some contemporary art and artists as well.  

Here is Polly Apfelbaum installing "Blossom."

Certain works are specifically part of the Children's Video Tour, like this one:

Jan Steen's "The Dancing Couple" from 1663.





The style of the educational videos vary in the editing, the verbal aspect - lecture vs. thought-provoking questions - and music, so if you don't like one, you may still like others.  You can select specific channels on Art Babble's website to help guide you in your interests, too. 

This Friday Flick is not too silly or wild for turning over a new year, but hey, it could be.   Who knows where it could lead?

Check out Art Babble and Play Art Loud (click here)!

 

double dare

Friday Flick:

Double Dare stars Jeannie Epper and Zoe Bell. The movie shows the strength, warmth and resilience of the women stunt doubles behind characters like Wonder Woman and Zena.  Super heroes of their own kind, watch them totally kick ass and beat new paths in a male dominated industry while smiling and laughing along the way.

More:

The Double Dare website (click this).

Watch Double Dare on Hulu (click here).

p.s. I did my own stunt work for a short movie we made on film. We did several takes that didn't end up in the final bit, of course. It was a total blast but I didn't know what I was doing. I'd like to do more stunts and before I do, I plan to learn about proper stunt work.  Ouch!

shoes; a love story from salty snack studios on Vimeo.

snaps in the snow

We've gotten bundles of snow lately - a foot fell and accumulated over a few days.  

Because of it, I've been mostly huddled inside and peeking out the door.

Bruce lures me out for quiet walks in the snow.

The backstreets are still and it's a short serene walk to downtown. 

Our house looks smaller and cozier, like it's been carved out from under the snow.

The best walks are at night,

...when the snow glitters under the eerie blend of street and moonlight.

bravo to freakish success and to falling short of it

Being an artist:

Even though I did not like the book, Eat, Pray, Love, I respect Elizabeth Gilbert's voice, especially when so many women my age connected so deeply with it. In this 2009 TED video, she delivers a wonderful pep talk on nurturing creativity.  The TED blurb: 

"Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk."

in between all those things

Being an artist:

Gabriel Orozco speaks on sculpture, photography and "a total vision of something..."

artist Collette calls out Lady Gaga for being a rip off

In a previous post on the Lady Gaga phenomenon, I claimed "My only complaint about Gaga so far is that she seems to model herself after others so much." I wondered when, or if, Lady Gaga would find her own voice rather than borrow so heavily from other artists - pop and performance.  Apparently Gaga's really done it now. Her current window installation at Barney's in New York has insulted multimedia artist, Colette, because Gaga's window heavily replicates one of Colette's installations from the 1970s.

Gaga's recent television bits at the Times Square New Years event reinforced my  unease with her lack of authenticity.  I recognize that everything she does is a performance.  She's playing a persona at all times. Like Bowie, like Marilyn Monroe, like Madonna and so on and so on.  I get it.  I haven't done a blow by blow analysis of her costumes compared with artists through out art history, but I can discern the notes of Dadaism and camp 'influence'. Of course, a huge red flag shot up over her appropriation of Jana Sterbak's Meat Dress from 1987 for me.  Even so, I tried giving her the benefit of the doubt.  She's young and will mature, right? 

Looking for Lady Gaga by Josh Gilbert.

I've been hoping that Gaga's imitation of avant-garde artists throughout history would eventually shape her into one.  It's a standard art student task, like copying Degas paintings until you can paint as well on your own. Artistic influence is one thing, but eventually an artist must stand on their own. I appreciate how Gaga has pushed the ideas of performance art further into the main stream as mostly Pop seems to do in our culture, but it's time Gaga found a clearer way to recognize the artists she borrows from plus do something of her own.   In Camille Paglia's critique, "Lady Gaga the Death of Sex," she gives Gaga a righteous spanking that reduces her back to her schoolgirl self, Stefani Germanotta (Gaga's real name).   

It's time for Stefani to try something new. Step back from the artificial identity persona far enough to own something of your own.  She is overdue.  

  

Watch videos of Colette's early performances on the Colette Maison Lumiere YouTube channel and decide for yourself (click here).

Learn more about Colette:
Colette the artist website
Review by Edward Rubin in Sculpture magazine 2008.

My previous posts on Gaga.
Camille Paglia's, Lady Gaga the Death of Sex, The Sunday Times, 2010.
Lady Gaga, meat Jana Sterbak, Christopher Knight, LA Times, 2010.

the body as medium, Abramovic

Being an artist:

Marina Abramovic on The Artist is Present and how she came to working with the body in her art.  Via MoMA videos.