Grey.....

I watched Grey Gardens recently and I'm struggling with writing a post on it. Mostly because both the movie and documentary horrified me so much, I had nightmares for two nights in a row! This is not to say that these aren't good or even great films. The documentary was stylistically wonderful but it left me with the stinging realization that some people don't get a chance.

Edith Bouvier Beale and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale

From the broadway musical based on Grey Gardens.

However, after watching the movie and reading the epilogue text before the credits, I realized that Little Edie did get her chance eventually...

Grey Gardens inspired photo shoot from Vogue.

I like Drew but I must admit I cringed a tad bit when I saw her on the front cover. I swear her Boston accent disappeared for entire chunks of the movie!!

Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange as the Edie Bouvier Beales

Incidentally, I also recently watched Factory Girl.

This world is full of sad Edies.

And as always, the Cocteau Twins provide a lovely backdrop for this grey midwest winter.

I wish I had 2,010 dollars...

I hope everyone had a blast ringing in the 2010! I attended a party filled with lovely ladies and danced myself into exhaustion...a lovely way to start a new year!

Speaking of new, I nearly ran myself ragged trying to find the perfect pair of heels to caress my feet on the big day. Sadly, I found a bunch online that were a little out of my price range. I primarily drooled over these:

And these:

It would be real nice to afford $300 shoes.

Anyway I finally had the opportunity to see Dante's Inferno last week. What I thought would be a movie with ok puppets and a bunch of dick and fart jokes ended up being a movie with amazingly detailed puppets, a well thought out script, and a bunch of dick and fart jokes. The story follows Dante, a young man who wakes up in a drunken haze in another dimension and meets Virgil, a mullet - toting poet from ancient Rome. They travel together through all the dimensions of hell ending with an encounter with the Dark Prince himself. It's definitely worth a look for the charming, well- choreographed puppets and all the political figure/ pop culture icons dispersed though out Hades. Incidentally, one of the head puppeteers is Paul Zaloom of Beakman's World fame and my friend's puppetry teacher in college.

So that's that. I leave you with this wonderful piece of art from Michel Gondry and Lauri Faggioni. Enjoy.

A Red Ribbon. Music by Devendra Banhart

Olaf, Ghosts, and Dance

I first saw this video 6 years ago at the Skin Tight exhibition at the MCA. It was being projected on to the back wall and was the only thing that captured my attention (besides the robot dress). Mostly this video is creepy and disturbing but there's an element of playfulness to it. I went through hell and high water to find and post this but now that I have, I'm as happy as a pig in excrement! Excuse the video's poor quality but try to enjoy it none the less.

Ghosts, 2003 by Olaf Breuning and Bernhard Wilhelm

Speaking of being insanely happy, I just found out The MCA will be hosting the Akram Khan Company in February! They'll be performing Bahok and if you are a loyal reader of this blog (and I know you are) you'll know that I posted about them way back in December of last year!!

A little taste of Bahok:

I hope everyone else is having a nice low key day!

Black Black Red

For some reason, it's impossible for me to complete a drawing in one sitting. I obsess over it for a few weeks and collects tons of images, then I eventually sketch out the basic ideas. I tend to forget about it for about a month and then come back to it later to add the ink and detail. A hint as to what I'm currently drawing:

I watched District 9 last night and it's still sitting heavily with me. I'm not sure how I feel about the movie as a whole but it made some very valid points about how the government sections off certain groups with the intention of keeping order but it ends up making things more chaotic. The whole film is a very obvious metaphor for the apartheid and racial relations in Johannesburg which seem to be far from resolved. In spite of the film's message I couldn't help but think to myself how gross and scary the aliens looked and how I wouldn't be able to bring myself to interact with them.

I thought a little bit of Nathalie Djurberg's work. She is a Swedish artist that uses detailed plasticine puppets to make stop motion animation videos. Her work is a mixture of sweet and sadistic and she frequently explores the darker aspects of humanity using this seemingly "low tech" medium. The only aspect of her work that makes me a little apprehensive is her portrayal of minorities. Most of the black people in her animations appear as if they have on black face (black skin and big red lips) and they usually wind up being the sexual play- thing of the seemingly white puppets or they terrorize the predominantly white cities and eat bananas.

still from Badain, 2006

still from In Our Own Neighborhood, 2007

I understand that this is not to be taken literally. But I don't think it's enough these days to say "This is a commentary" without understanding who it's a commentary for and with what purpose. Most of the interviews I've read with her discussing her art, she does not touch on its racial elements. None the less, her puppets are beautiful and I feel as if she's living my dream.

I'll eat you up. I love you so.

"You are now, the King."

I recently saw Where the Wild Things Are in theaters early on a Sunday morning. I felt myself spilling over with excitement as I sat patiently in my red seat. It's a dreamy story about being misunderstood and learning to control your anger. I was expecting to be a *little* bit more into it. I wanted to bee woooed and taken away to another place that wouldn't allow me to think about the weather or what I was planning on cooking that evening...but alas, I was not. It was a wonderful movie, don't get me wrong, with potent emotional moments, dance-worthy music and a beautiful backdrop but something was...lacking. Perhaps I feel this way because I believed the Wild Things hype and expected too much. Perhaps I wanted more of a lucid, emotional, Gondry-esque experience. But it was definitely worth seeing for the wonderful back drop, costumes, and moody music. It made me want to run through a forest and scream.


I for one was very excited about the objects and the props but unfortunately there weren't too many things that read as organic or distinctly hand made. Most things in the movie were CG, which was a total buzzkill. The actual body suits worn by the Wild Things were made by Jim Henson's creature shop but the facial expression were computer animation. Max's costume, however, totally rocked. Too bad I couldn't acquire one in time for Halloween. Perhaps next Halloween I'll make one, along with a paper crown and golden staff.

LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!!!

Check out Spike Jonze's blog following the Wild Things Progression


.. oh, and also the Amazing Soundtrack. Did I mention it's AWESOME! Karen O's crazy screechy voice is a perfect compliment to the film and the lovely chorus of children.

January, February, March, April, May...

I was searching for art about letting go and found these images.

I'm supposed to be drawing a shack and a forest but I can't bring myself to do it. Too many things running around in my brain.

Creepy aimation makes the world go round.

From "The Adventures of Mark Twain".