Monday, February 22, 2010

Papa Was A Rodeo

Papa Was A Rodeo Kelly Hogan & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts... Papa Was A Rodeo (.mp3 audio 04:29). From the album Beneath the Country Underdog (2000, Bloodshot Records BS062).

A Pictorial History of Victorian Wisconsin

A Pictorial History of Victorian Wisconsin at the WHS. "...The Annie Schildhauer collection provides an intimate look at family, architecture, interiors and fashion in Victorian Wisconsin (between 1885 and 1900). Public interest in photography grew exponentially during those years. Previous conventions established the practice as mere documentation, however with its growing popularity photography gradually grew into a new venue of artistic interpretation. Technological advancements such as the transition from glass plates to flexible film prompted simpler methods and smaller cameras, which paved the way for many individuals, men and women, to dabble in the new art of photography.
Late 19th-century Wisconsin boasted a plethora of Victorian details. With memories of the Civil War still fresh, the style of the time was playful — with whimsical ornamentation, and a taste for the eclectic."

Southern Depictions

Southern Depictions - photographs by Donna Pinckley at Lens Culture. "...Earlier this year, I was invited to be the sole juror in a photography competition sponsored by The Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado. I was especially pleased that this competition was limited to only black-and-white photography, which holds a special place for me.
As part of my assignment, I was asked to select one 'personal favorite' portfolio, which I would be able to present in Lens Culture, as well. I chose these wonderfully rich and quirky portraits by Donna Pinckley of young kids at leisure. They seem absolutely real, alive, a bit quietly suspended in time, and surreal all at the same time. And I love the incidental objects that fill each of the surroundings."

Beth B - Three Films from 1991

Beth B - Three Films from 1991 at UbuWeb Film & Video. "...Working in a variety of art forms and media, including video, feature film, and installation, Beth B creates provocative narratives that mine the violence below the surface of contemporary life. A forerunner of the explosive New York New Wave/punk scene of the late 1970s, B first garnered critical acclaim with her short films and features produced with Scott B. Presented here are three films from 1991: Thanatopsis, American Nightmare and Stigmata."

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Aya Fujioka — from I Don’t Sleep

Aya Fujioka — from I Don’t Sleep at Japan Exposures. "...Aya Fujioka was born in Hiroshima, and attended Nihon University’s College of Art. She has been exhibiting her work since 1996, and in 2005 she won the Visual Arts Photo Award given to promising young photographers and judged by Daido Moriyama, Yoshihiko Ueda, and Masato Seto, among others. The prize was awarded for her work entitled Comment te dire adieu, which was then published by Visual Arts.
Her work watashi wa nemuranai, or 'I Don’t Sleep'), from which this photo was taken, was published as a book in late 2009 by Akaaka Art Publishing. Fujioka currently divides her time between New York City and Japan."

Change Game

Dale Hawkins... Change Game (1997, MYSTIC 54322-2 .mp3 audio 03:39). RIP: Dale Hawkins.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Iko Iko

The Dixie Cups... Iko Iko (1965, Red Bird 10024 .mp3 audio 02:01).

Larry Jordan: Hamfat Asar

Larry Jordan: Hamfat Asar (1965) at UbuWeb Film & Video. "...Animation. The strangeness of this film is laced with carefully molded apocalypses as the filmmaker explores a vision of life beyond death - the Elysian fields of Homer, Dante's Purgatorio, de Chirico's stitched plain. A moving single picture.
Evolving the structure or script for the film involved a process of controlled hallucination, whereby I sat quietly without moving, looking at the background until the pieces began to move without my inventing things for them to do. I found that, given the chance, they really did have important business to attend to, and my job was to furnish them with the power of motion. I never deviated from this plan."

Robert Voit: New Trees

Robert Voit: New Trees at Amador Gallery in New York. More... Works by Robert Voit at his personal site.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

A Record of Emotion: The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans

A Record of Emotion: The Photographs of Frederick H. Evans at the Getty Center. "...Frederick H. Evans (British, 1853–1943) was best known for his photographs of medieval cathedrals, such as the image at right of England's Wells Cathedral—arguably the best-known example of his work. Yet Evans was also accomplished in the areas of portraiture, landscape, and photomicrography (photography made using a microscope), and he brought to each subject the same intensity that characterizes his cathedral images. He believed firmly that only a good negative would yield the perfect print, and his high standards for presentation extended to the elaborate mounting of the actual photographs. Using both a "straight" approach (not altering his negatives) and pictorial sensitivity to subject and style, Evans's work, created more than 100 years ago, continues to move and inspire."

Monday, February 01, 2010

Boil The Kettle, Mother

Boil The Kettle, Mother The Id... Boil The Kettle, Mother (.mp3 audio 03:01). From the album The Inner Sounds Of The Id (1967).

Worldstar with Miroslav Tichý

Trailer (Flash Video 01:58) for Worldstar with Miroslav Tichý. "...A film about an old man with no needs and a remarkable past, facing the hype as an artist against his will."

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House at the Criterion Collection. "...An exhilarating grab bag of visual tricks, a disturbing satire that turns the giddy sheen of pop culture against itself, and an oddly moving coming-of-age allegory. I think it’s easy to praise the film as surreal, weird, etc., and leave it at that, but it’s a very carefully crafted work, and reveals a new layer with each viewing."

Per Barclay: Canon

Per Barclay: Canon at Galerie Guy Bärtschi in Geneva.

Prophetic Pictures from Menomonie, Wisconsin

Prophetic Pictures from Menomonie, Wisconsin at the WHS. "...The Visual Materials Archives of the Wisconsin Historical Society holds a most unusual photograph album that takes one back to the future — an imaginary future, that is. The album comprises 32 photographs taken in 1905 of graduates of Menomonie High School in Dunn County. It doesn't describe the students' extracurricular activities nor does it reveal their hopes, dreams and aspirations upon leaving high school. Instead, photographer Albert Hansen and 'prophet' Sarah Ana Heller, both 1905 class members themselves, portrayed imaginary futures for their classmates in words and pictures."