Saturday, April 18, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Up Series
The Up series is a documentary following the lives of 14 British children every seven years since 1964. It was made by Michael Apted. The 14 children were choosen by their varuious economic status from poor to rich. The series reveals clues to questions, such as, do we really change? If you are born into a class system, are you likely to continue to be a part of it? If you appear in a documentary every seven years, is your life influenced by the thought of others judging you? I have only watched seven plus seven because that is all thats currently available on Google video. If you check on Wikipedia, up series, you can get some more ideas.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
We're All Gonna Die
A 100m. 78cm. long photograph comprised of 178 people photographed in the same location on a railroad bridge over the course of 2o days.
Check out this and other amazing photography projects by Simon Hoegsberg at:
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"SCINTILLATION" : A Gift to the Senses
SCINTILLATION from Xavier Chassaing on Vimeo.
"This is an experimental film made up of over 35,000 photographs. It combines an innovative mix of stop motion and live projection mapping techniques. Directed by chassaing.xavier@gmail.com
Monday, March 23, 2009
"WALLS AND EGGS"
Recently the famous author Haruki Murakami recieved an award in Jerusalem. He said
“Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.”He goes on ,"Bombers and tanks and rockets and white phosphorus shells are that high wall. The eggs are the unarmed civilians who are crushed and burned and shot by them. This is one meaning of the metaphor.
But this is not all. It carries a deeper meaning. Think of it this way. Each of us is, more or less, an egg. Each of us is a unique, irreplaceable soul enclosed in a fragile shell. This is true of me, and it is true of each of you. And each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is confronting a high, solid wall. The wall has a name: it is “The System.” The System is supposed to protect us, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own, and then it begins to kill us and cause us to kill others--coldly, efficiently, systematically."
I think its quite wonderful that he is using his own language, the language of his novels, to describe injustice. His words are indirect, a little abstract, "walls and eggs". By using these abstract words I think that those who read them think about their meaning for themselves. Everyone has to think about whats behind them because we do not normally think about injustice as walls as eggs. The language of diplomacy is often highly rational, and therefore is bound to rationality whereas I think the language of novels or poetry allows one to take a step back and see things in a new way.
A few months ago I saw an interview with Patti Smith from back in the 70s. In talking about systems, she says that systems like religion limit us and bind us. And when alternatives like women's liberation or punk rock tries to break those limits, it also starts to become a system when it create its rules. She says we shouldn't just break through to the other side, but once we're on the other side we got to keep going and going and keep on breaking down walls. I think there is a strong relationship between Patti Smith and Murakami's words.
Please read his speech here. I think its the best anti-war statement for our generation.
And here's that interview with Smith.
“Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg.”He goes on ,"Bombers and tanks and rockets and white phosphorus shells are that high wall. The eggs are the unarmed civilians who are crushed and burned and shot by them. This is one meaning of the metaphor.
But this is not all. It carries a deeper meaning. Think of it this way. Each of us is, more or less, an egg. Each of us is a unique, irreplaceable soul enclosed in a fragile shell. This is true of me, and it is true of each of you. And each of us, to a greater or lesser degree, is confronting a high, solid wall. The wall has a name: it is “The System.” The System is supposed to protect us, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own, and then it begins to kill us and cause us to kill others--coldly, efficiently, systematically."
I think its quite wonderful that he is using his own language, the language of his novels, to describe injustice. His words are indirect, a little abstract, "walls and eggs". By using these abstract words I think that those who read them think about their meaning for themselves. Everyone has to think about whats behind them because we do not normally think about injustice as walls as eggs. The language of diplomacy is often highly rational, and therefore is bound to rationality whereas I think the language of novels or poetry allows one to take a step back and see things in a new way.
A few months ago I saw an interview with Patti Smith from back in the 70s. In talking about systems, she says that systems like religion limit us and bind us. And when alternatives like women's liberation or punk rock tries to break those limits, it also starts to become a system when it create its rules. She says we shouldn't just break through to the other side, but once we're on the other side we got to keep going and going and keep on breaking down walls. I think there is a strong relationship between Patti Smith and Murakami's words.
Please read his speech here. I think its the best anti-war statement for our generation.
And here's that interview with Smith.
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