Russian photorapher, Alla Esipovich’s photo series “No Comment,” reminds me of David Lynch or Joel-Peter Witkin. Her unusual models and moody black and white images capture a bizarre, circus-esque world. I like them.
More of Alla’s work after the jump…
George Franju’s 1949 film Le Sang Des Bêtes (blood of the beasts) is one of the most beautiful and horrifying movies ever made. Filmed in the backstreets of Paris, Franju contrasts bucolic scenes of fog-shrouded streets, canals, deserted junkyards and children playing, with the nightmarish events taking place within two slaughterhouses. Marcel Fradetal’s stunning black and white cinematography turns the horrific into a brutal kind of poetry that if it had been shot in color would be unbearable.
Observing the workers going about their gruesome work with emotionless efficiency is the most disturbing aspect of the film for me. How much of our humanity is sacrificed for a plate of meat? Franju’s intent may have been no more than to compose a work of visual art, but as I watch Le Sang Des Bêtes I can’t help but be reminded of the fact that France was still reeling from the effects of years of war and in these images of animals being murdered I am aware of the thin line between man and beast, killing one is not so different from killing the other. Is not the abattoir a concentration camp for animals? Is the flesh of the beasts any less sacred than our own? Or have we arrived at the place where nothing is sacred? And if so, isn’t that hell?
Outside the walls of the abattoir we watch life go on, while inside we watch it come to a cruel and bloody end.
Parts two and three after the jump…
Jessicka Addams, What’s Behind the Bunny?
Dangerous Minds pal, Lenora Claire, a gal well-known around Los Angeles for curating sensational art exhibitions—and throwing wild parties—is presenting a new show, “Smile Even If It Hurts,” opening this weekend at the Dark Dark Science Gallery in Los Angeles.
“Smile Even If It Hurts” is a dual solo show featuring the work of two woman transitioning from the music world into the art world, Jessicka Addams (Jack off Jill, Scarling, early Marilyn Manson collaborator) and Lindsey Way (Mindless Self Indulgence). For the show, Way has created thirteen labor intensive dioramas, while Jessicka has collaborated with Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Elizabeth McGrath, Francis Bean Cobain (AKA Fiddle Tim), Tarina Tarantino, photographer Austin Young and others.
Opening reception Saturday, November 13th, 2010, 7pm - 10pm.
Dark Dark Science Gallery, 3245 W. Casitas Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90039
Lindsey Way, Hush.
Dangerous Minds pal Deborah Vankin published a terrific interview with the great Robert Crumb on the Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog today. Of particular note, the part where the expat artist discusses coming home and how he feels about American culture these days:
Deborah Vankin: You left the U.S. 19 years ago — how’s life in France?
Crumb: It’s good, life is good here. Good quality of life. All I can say is: You can keep Los Angeles. No, seriously, what’s not to like? You’re not constantly bombarded … there’s some room to breathe from that constant corporate propaganda that America is saturated with. You don’t know how saturated you are with that. Here it’s not to the degree that it is there. They resisted. The French hold onto their traditions. I was always so alienated in America. My work was this constant reaction to that. And I don’t have that here. So it’s different.
Deborah Vankin: That must have some influence on your work.
Crumb: Yeah, probably. I couldn’t characterize exactly how, but I’m sure it has. Maybe I’m less angry. I don’t know. Actually, I’m not less angry. When I go back to America, after a few days I am once again filled with this kind of angry alienation and disgust with this thing there that America has got – you have no idea how pervasive it is there. The public relations and propaganda put out by the corporate mono-culture there is so pervasive. When I’m over here, I look at America and think,‘Why are people not more angry about what’s going on? Why are the people not more up in arms?’ I mean the banks and all that stuff? Good God. How can they stand it? The thing about the corporate approach is it’s smart and it knows how to distract people really well with entertainment. It doesn’t just take, it gives back in this smarmy way… they give you this seemingly McDonald’s version of the good life which is completely phony and fake, from top to bottom. It pacifies the people.
Read more: R. Crumb on greed, senior sex and life in France: ‘I’m a lot less angry’ (Los Angeles Times)
The restored digital 4K version of Dr. Strangelove will be screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin November 15-18. The Alamo has installed a new 4K projection system and the results are awesome. I saw The Bridge On The River Kwai in a 4K presentation this past Monday and it was stunning. 4K is a 10 megapixel image with a native resolution of 4,096 x 2,400—more than four times the resolution of HD. If your local theater has a 4K system (they’re not cheap) and you have a chance to see a newly restored classic in that format, go for it. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly will be screening at the Alamo later this month also in a 4K restored version and in its original aspect ratio. The flies, the sweat, the squinting eyes, the dust, the nostrils…all digitally restored. I can’t wait.
Watching the restored The Bridge On The River Kwai was a reminder of just how breathtakingly beautiful technicolor films can be when presented in pristine condition. While the digital presentation is not quite the same as celluloid, I still felt I was viewing the film in all of its original splendor (I saw the film as a child and remember it well). The color, detail, depth of field were all enhanced and take on an almost lysergic clarity. And there’s still some grain. Simply gorgeous. Apart from the beauty of the film, the story is powerfully anti-war. Even as a child, I picked up on that. I’m quite sure that my father, a Naval officer, took me to the film expecting a patriotic message. Little did he know.
I’m hoping that this new 4K technology and the digital restoration of classic films introduces them to a new audience. There’s nothing like seeing a widescreen David Lean or Sergio Leone movie on the big screen, nothing.
Animated gif from IWDRM
Last night at Sotheby’s Andy Warhol’s black and white Coke bottle on canvas sold for $35 million. Warhol’s Campbell’s vegetable soup can is on the block at Christie’s tonight with an estimated sale price of $30-50million. I guess some things are recession proof.
Wow! Here are some amazing dollar bill collages by artist Mark Wagner. I really dig these. They’re like beautiful layers of tapestry. Go check out Mark’s website Smoke in My Dreams to see more detailed dollar bill art. It’s truly some fun eye candy.
“Breathing life into spray paint.”
Aerosol Amoeba, by Pahnl Whatnow, is simply beautiful and hypnotic. What a way to celebrate colors!
(via Wooster Collective)
Lucha VaVoom tonight at Webster Hall in NYC and the Park West in Chicago on Thursday. Miss them at your peril.
Lucha VaVoom combines burlesque and Lucha Libre-style wrestling with a post-modern spin. The wrestlers are experienced in the art of grappling as well as other things. In the words of Lucha Vavoom superstar Cassandro:
“I’m just a gay guy, and I wrestle in my hair and makeup and my feathers and the glamour — I’m like the wrestling Liberace. One of my moves is the lip lock. I like to kiss people, so you better watch it if you’re around there.”
