Sunday, July 29, 2012

Rather be a bandit than a lover




A Perfect Day Elise
 


See you on a dark night









Bombay - El Guincho






"I worry, primarily, about whether there are nightclubs in Heaven."
- Tom Waits

Musician Tom Waits in a classic 1979 Australian television interview.  Rumoured to be Heath Ledger's inspiration for the Joker in Batman.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Mother Nature’s sun


A colleague recently returned from Tibet with some incredibly beautiful photographs.  I will never cease to be astounded by the pure beauty of nature.

 
Sunrise at Mount Everest base camp

 
Lake Namtso


Friday, July 20, 2012

I can smile about it now...


But at the time it was terrible.









Shrigley is my saviour.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Train heave on to Euston









 Self described visual poet, 
Austrian artist Anatlo Knotek creates art with the alphabet. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Through the Looking Glass


Glass with son in Nova Scotia
Last night I got to enjoy the truly inspiring documentary GLASS: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts (2007) as part of the SLVs outside-in cinema program.  Directed by Scott Hicks the film covered all of my favourite bases: Film making (cameos with other favourites Martin Scorsese & Woody Allen), Art making (Chuck Close is one of his best friends), brilliant writing friends (Allen Ginsberg), collaborations (one with my other life hero – David Bowie), SoHo in the 70s, spectacular coastlines (Nova Scotia), a pervading interest in the soul and spirit and the brilliant way in which this great man has learned his guts out (Juilliard as a teenager no less), mentors like legendary Nadia Boulanger and sitar star Ravi Shankar, practiced like all get out and is living out his own dreams.


Also to my original life hero – 
Happy Birthday HST, your genius is missed x  

 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

MIFF 2012

Here's my MIFF hit list - shaping up to be a pretty grand festival methinks.  Also hoping cutting down on the number of films jammed into the festival this year might reduce the exhaustion of last years MIFF extravaganza...
Shut Up And Play The Hits
Searching For Sugar Man
The Ambassador
Crazy Horse
Faust
Bad Brains: A Band In Dc
Sleepless Night
The House I Live In
Gainsbourg By Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self-Portrait
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Something From Nothing: The Art Of Rap
Caesar Must Die
Beware Of Mr. Baker
Damsels In Distress
Marina Abramovic : The Artist Is Present
The Fortune
“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration's shove or society's kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
― Susan Sontag
ph: Sasha Kurmaz
 
 

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

There's more to life than books you know


But not much more.


As Kansas City appreciates.


Part of the revitalization project for the downtown precinct, the facade for the new library's car park is clad in iconic book bindings as voted on by local residents, celebrating literature in it's physical form, this lovely literary homage was designed by Dimensional Innovations.

We create worlds from words


Last week I was lucky enough (thanks Jess!) to catch Roland Schimmelpfennig's deconstructed play The Golden Dragon at the MTC Lawler Studio theatre (as translated by David Tushingham).  Reading every word of the play – short pause – numerous plot lines were developed in a series of vignettes as actors jumped frantically from scene to scene in Andrew Bailey's brilliant abstract set.

 

It must be said that this set truly enhanced the production - a closed shipping container that is unpacked in the opening scene, the stage shifts from apartment, to restaurant, to kitchen and back.  Through deft lighting cues and clever design, this singular structure adapted as the actors brought each character and thus story to life in the space

 
The only disappointment was having to watch the actors pack it all up at the end...



Alison Croggon’s review.
An interview with Andrew Bailey.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Concepts create idols

 



Concepts create idols -
only wonder understands anything
- Gregory of Nyssa