Brief Christmas Reviews

Hello all! You probably read the Les Mis review but considering the scant amount of time I've had and the number of films I've seen, I'm going to present this post with a few brief reviews of what I've seen in the past two weeks. Don't fret, the prolonged format of the previous reviews will come to past:

1) Django Unchained.
  Once again, Tarantino has produced another cocktail of black comedy and hard violence. This time set in the style of western exploitation. Like Inglorious Basterds, he plays loose and fast with history. E.g. the titular Django and his partner Christoph Waltz are ambushed by klansmen......the film is set in 1858. While not as revisionist as the murder of Hitler, its more than enough to tic off a few history buffs. Tonally, the film bounces back and forth between gritty violence and slapsticky humor. Its not bad, but it can be a little jarring to see Waltz toy with a few slave owners and then seeing huge squibs of blood fly across the screen no less than five seconds after. Also, the film drags in the third act, I half expected the film to conclude but then it continued for another 20 minutes. But regardless, the film had some excellent performances from Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz and espescially Leonardo Di Caprio as the head of Candy Land (watch the movie). If you like Tarantino's output post Jackie Brown, this movie will not disappoint. 

2) Zero Dark Thirty

 My Kathrin Biegolow Cherry was popped and damn was it done right. A thriller that didn't move too fast or plod- it was just right. Jessica Chastain is a compelling protagonist and the heft of Boal's script get you enraptuered in this woman's quest to find Bin Laden. A personal highlight are the interrogation scenes, CIA operatives do not play when it comes to retrieving information. I will never put my child in a box ever again, or will I? Though what everyone is waiting for is of course the assassination. I won't divulge too much, but its a great example of an action film that gets the viewer excited, but doesn't treat him like an idiot. Go see it. 

Banksy- An artist by any other name

In the world of Art, one area of study that gets both maligned and praised is the graffiti scene.
     A notable artist from it is the imitable Keith Harring. With his bold outlines and loud colors, his art was very califorinian and bright. However, most Graffiti art is rough crude and in some cases, not even original. Here we go to the British Artist, Banksy.

Banksy represents a style of Graffiti art that focuses less on abstract art to more realistic stenciled style works. A good example of this is his piece of an ATM attacking a young girl:

A majority of his art is worked that is based on either subverting pedestrian ideas or if not that, usually it'll be something amusing like a hole that leads to a tropical paradise on a staid grey wall.
Art like his true to the art of Graffiti.

An upcoming local artist

Gino Volpe

Visual Aesthetics

4/10/12

Indie Artist (Musa Hixson)


Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing the chief artist at the Brooklyn Artist Incubator, the man in question: Musa Hixson. I met up with Musa at mu job







Musa was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1977. Around his tenth birthday, Musa and his family moved to New York City. In the spring of ’94 Musa traveled to Rwanda and Uganda as a US Delegate through an invitation from the 7th Annual Pan African Congress. While in Uganda he visited with a Tutsi family that informed of the genocide that was accruing simultaneously in Rwanda and Burundi. This trip inspired a life long interest in the artists’ role in social, economic, and environmental issues and changed his understanding of the power of the visual arts an s a toll to bring social and political issues to the forefront. In 1995, MUSA returned to Brooklyn, to attend the Graduate school at Pratt Institute and earned an MFA in sculpture, from there his work took off.

As far as the medium of his art, Musa has a preference for making pieces out of a bevy of natural and manufactured pieces. His selection includes steel and rope, as well as more natural sources like wood and soil. One of his pieces: Graines de Rêve is an excellent example of this mash up of materials. The piece includes two ropes in twined baskets, well one basket and one cornucopia. From out of the Cornucopia is a small pile of metallic balls. Strikingly enough, this amalgam of both synthetic and organic materials works, making something as innocuous as rope and silver balls striking to the individual.


In so far as a form of expression, Musa explains hat art for him is not form of personal expression of idea, rather a way for him to express a sentiment felt by the surrounding community. The feelings he shares in regards to his art is connected to his work, but not the feelings he shares himself.

Recently, he has taken a break from working personal art projects and has spent the last three months promoting the Cuban festival Soñando en Color (Dreaming in Color) The Soñando en Color project is part of the Havana Biennial, a Biennial Art festival that celebrates Cuban culture through a variety of artistic mediums. Musa’s involvement in this festival is through a promotional gallery in New York and a series of online promotional videos. For Musa, this is his pride and joy and the success of the event is paramount. If all turns out well, Musa will have the inspiration to work on more pieces.

In short, Musa Hixson is an example of contemporary artists at their finest, if not for the drive of people like him, we would not have a successful artistic movement.

Memorial sites

My family isn't the most sentimental when it comes to memorials. We're fairly typical, a few pictures of the kids, a wedding photo here and there. You get the idea. However, you have to make due and here I think I my have a one that fills the quota.

Here, we have my parents, happily married.


Next, are the various news clippings my parents took of the various news pieces made by the Staten Advance at the time of their engagement and wedding. It was interesting how then the news had interest pieces on engagements, let alone marriage.





Finally,we have the hutch ( the area over the fireplace) that has mostly hummel and precious moment dolls, I'm not too sure if this holds significance, but it makes an adorable set piece for the living area.



Finally, towards the end we have a more traditional area, my communion gallery. Several photos of myself, nothing really to note but its a really cute array of pictures.

Film for discussion

Darren Aronofsky, filmmaker, directyor, artist, writer, autuer. What more can you say to describe the man. Despite having only five films under his belt, the impact he's left on the cinematic landscape is incredible and quite a feat for someone with very little in the ways of higher education. While most remember him getting notice for Requiem for a Dream, Aronofsky made his feature debut with the 1998 thriller Pi. Co-written with the film's star Sean Gullete, Pi lays down the foundations of a contempary tech thriller with some grainy cinematography, taut dialogue and an atmospheric score.

the film deals with our protagonist, Max, a brilliant Mathematician. Max's goal: find the key number to help sove the universal equation regarding life. Here, he is torn between aiding that of a group of Hasidic Jews and a Wall Street firm that intends on using his talent for financial gain. Along the way, MAx deals with fixing his supercomputer, coping with visions of a disembodied brain, and various stomach churning moments of cinematography.

The best aspects of Pi is that it shows a budding Darren Aronofsky laying the groundwork for his iconic techniques. The stomach churning camera rigs, bizzare imagery, a haunting score and so on. His dierection of actors is alsdo impressive, Sean Gullete makes you feel for him, his paranoia, confusion, you feel just as disoriented as Max thanks to Gullete's facial expressions and body language.
On a final note, the techno driven score by Clint Mansell is just to die for, with heavy influences from NIN, it effectively gives you chills as well as allowing you to ump your head along.

Overall, a good first outing for a fantastic director. Til next time folks.
- Til next time folks.

Film as art

Film as Art
For a film to transcend from its classification, as a film to a work of art is tenuous process that often uses time as its judge. Does the message of the film hold up, are the characters still relevant, how well written is the story, etc. For me, one film that lives up to those factors is the Gene Kelly classic Singin in the Rain. Singing in the Rain is the story of the classic Hollywood film that tells the story of the industry’s transition from silent films to talkies. The people concerned by this the most are the silent film stars, namely leading man Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly), his sidekick Cosmo Brown (Donald O’ Connor in a stellar performance) and Lockwood’s leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). As mentioned before, the conceit of the film is the conflict between Lina’s transition from silent to talkies, due in part to her squeaky voice. To combat this, Lina enlists Don’s budding love interest, Katy (Debbie Reynolds) to dub her in the moving picture. From there, people clash, dance, argue and sing. Oh how they sing.
Metatextuality is now common place in the entertainment today, shows like 30 Rock and Community frequently reference films and television shows within their programs, sometimes even lifting tropes from a genre and milking it for a whole episode. While Singin in the Rain doesn’t necessarily reference specific Hollywood films, the film instead pokes fun at the overacting of the silent often to great comic effect. Also, Singing in the Rain holds the distinction of being a jukebox musical, for which the film does not have any original songs; rather it uses preexisting songs during its musical sequences. Even the titular Singin in the Rain, did not originate from this film; the film that holds that distinction is The Hollywood Music Box Revue, circa 1929. However, one of my favorite songs, from the film, also holds the distinction of being in one my favorite scenes in from the film. That would be O’Connor’s Make Em laugh, which holds the distinction of being the lone original song from the film (but don’t let Cole Porter hear you say that).
The scene in question has O’Connor describing his love for comedy. OF which he dictates that his main goal in Hollywood is to “Make me laugh”. O’Connor’s physicality as a dancer is impressive and his athletics don’t slouch either. Aside from traditional dancing, O’Connor shakes, flips, stumbles, hops up and down, pantomimes a date, and my personal favorite, runs up the fake wall of a Hollywood set. Granted he lip-synched his song, but regardless, his performance hides this fact and makes you truly believe this man is singing and dancing at the same time. O’Connor was an entertainer true and true and he took it all the way to the hospital. Literally, he was hospitalized after filming because his cigarette habit killed his stamina. But to go back on point, this scene stands as my favorite because of the purity of it. An entertainer is in his element, he’s happy and he does not want to do anything else but make people happy. For me, that is true pure, jubilance right there.
All in all, Singin in the rain has been and will always will be, one of my favorite films. From the song and dance numbers, the sharp script, beautiful cinematography, it is pure cinema right there.

Time for a little culture.

This past break I made two trips into Manhattan. Did I go exploring? Not necessarily, I did however visit two museums based off the two periods based off of the visits I made. For the 1910- 1950, I went traversed to midtown and went to the MoMA. On the following day, the upper East side was calling my name and I paid a visit to the Frick Gallery on 70th street.

While at the MoMa, I was privy to the works of two artists, I blogged -is that even a word-about, there I got to see the works of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Matisse. Lets start first with Dali.


Unfortunately, I was unable to find most of the pieces I used in the blog, so instead I went with some substitutes. Whislst at the Dali exhibit, I saw two of his works, Persistence in Memory and Illumined Pleasures. From what I saw online, I was not aware of how much detail Dali put in Persistence in Memory. The ants were surprising factor to me, the black of them on the clock popped out much more so in person than online. Also, the blue hues on the clocks and amber tones of the cliff in the background were of a richer quality. Definitely was much more appreciative of it in person than online. Also by Dali, I got to see a more recent work of his, Immortal Pleasures, published in 1929. Like his latter works, Dali utilizes a desert as his main area for his subjects. Here he showcases an abstract array of objects and figures all enacting in pleasure. Two faces are conversing on the top of an aquarium, a nymph blowing bubbles and other bizarre figures. Following Dali, I ran into Matisse, not of the latter blog but from the prior. Again, I was unable to find the work I blogged but I stumbled upon a piece that was covered in class several weeks ago. They had the Red Studio piece there and as just the word “Red” is one heck of an understatement. The color of the whole set pops out right at you as does the green leaves on the wine bottle. Other than the pallete, not much is different online as it is in person but otherwise it’s a fantastic piece. Also by Matisse was the women on a high stool. Drab greys abound in the one, but the draftsmanship in is remarkable with bold outlines on the table and the woman herself. One thing I would say that applies to all the pieces seen in the past visits are that online, you can’t get a clear view of the brushstrokes. In person, all of the pieces I’ve observed save for Dali’s have very pronounced strokes that look positively awesome. Seeing them up close is gives you a true sense of appreciation for the time and effort put in by the artist.


Finally, from MoMa, I happened upon the Picasso gallery, from there I happened upon Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Out of all the pieces in the exhibit, this one was the most striking. First of all the piece is gigantic, certainly the largest I saw at MoMa’s save for the Jackson Pollock piece. My friend and I had to stand back in to completely see the piece in its entirety. The different tones such as the reds and pinks also stood out to me in person. Even the strokes left by Picasso stood out, especially on the nudes, every little finite little stroke of the brush was there in full detail.
The next day, I went uptown and went to the Frick to check out pieces by Reńoir and Manet. As previously stated, I was unable to find the exact pieces I used in the blog so I used what was available at the exhibit. There was privy see Reńoir’s the umbrellas. Like with Picasso’s piece one of the highlights of seeing a piece right in front of you, you can see every bit of detail used such as the brush strokes and such. The umbrellas also showcased Reńoir’s transition of human figures, with the three woman in the front are fully realized and detailed while the figures in the back or more abstract characters without any real definition to them. The hues of indigo and blue were quite a standout.


As for Manet, I capriciously found a lone Manet in the whole Gallery. The piece in question, Manet’s “The Bullfight” from 1863. The bullfight represents a few things about Manet, which I do enjoy. One of which is his use of primary colors especially dark re on the arena and the yellow on fighter’s capes. A highlight of the piece for me was the fresh look of the paint, it still looked like it was just dapped right out of the pallet and put on the easel, most notably the blacks on the bull and the toreador’s hats. However. One thing I noticed from seeing online as well as in person is the awkward stances of the toreador’s. They look very staged and not so much in the moment of the fight.


Privy to my viewing at the other exhibit were some other pieces I thoroughly enjoyed. One of these were the portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein. The portrait has a photogenic quality to it, More appears as if he is right there in the frame just waiting for me to talk to him. The highlights of the piece are definitely More’s attire, the ruffles on his sleeve and his fur cuirass are meticulously detailed to the point that I could almost touch them. The second, more recent piece was Otterhounds by Edwin Landseer. Done in a draftsmanship style, the water colors of the piece give it a faded quality which went hand-in-hand with the the shadows on the figures of the dog. And finally, a sculpture caught my eye ( Bust of Antoine Cosevox). Like the portrait of More, it was eerily lifelike, with realistic whirls and a pronounced nose.


All in all, I had a fantastic time in the city at these galleries. I hope to see these again soon. Come the film screenings I think I may have something more precise in mind for a future trip.

1910-1950

1910-1950
Hello and greetings once again to the arts and aesthetics blog. We move from the broad strokes of expressionism to surrealism and even Dadaism.


Exhibit A: Matisse’s the knife thrower.



Part of a gallery of cutouts done by Matisse, These cutouts have a Hawaiian influence to them with the rounded coral patterns and hourglass figure on the volunteer. I also like the pallet used, light greys and whites with the highlight being the mauve knife thrower. It has a jazz influenced feel to it which I find quite soothing.


Exhibit B: Dali’s Metamorphosis of Narcissus. An example of Dali’s mind bending period, the use of parallel structure in the painting is inspired. On the left is a golden depiction of Narcissus kneeling in the pool, on the right is a much more decayed figure, which looks suspiciously like a finger grasping an egg. Contrasting with the left figure’s golden veneer is a grey one. Residing in the background is a crowd of nude figures, another recurring theme of Dali. As with the rest of Dali’s paintings, a surreal atmosphere pervades the proceedings.


Exhibit C: Kandinsky’s White II . A splash of colors is all over this with a variety of shapes as well. I can see triangles, circles, and straight lines, parallel lines, all of which make the display look insane. Its manic in tone but simultaneously subdued. Kudos to Kandinsky for adding detail like the bean shaped ellipsis on the lower triangle and grid patterns on the right of the painting.
This is the end of section 3 of this blog, stay tuned for more next week.
Over and out.

3 Artists.

In class this past week, we discussed artists from varying time periods, namely from the 1860s to the early 1910s. This covers a wide array of movements from impressionism to cubism with a slew of contributions made by varying artists.

Our first subject: Luncheon at the Boating Party by Pierre Renoir, is a great example of impressionist art. This beautiful painting is an exemplar of Impressionist art with its warm color pallet and quick brush strokes, especially on the attendees. Another plus are the subjects of the party, they all have an everyman quality, they are neither exceptionally beautiful nor are they slovenly. They have a very earthly quality to them which is just wonderful.

Exhibit two: “Boating” by Manet. Like other impressionist art, its painted with very quck and fast brush strokes with little detail made on the subjects in the boat. I love the utilization of lighter colors with the blue in the water as well as voguish shade of the woman’s dress. Finally, like the garden party painting, the subjects look like real people.

Last but not least, we have “The Old Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso. Painted in Picasso’s blue period, the subject is consistent with others in the blue period, vagrants and other poor individuals. What I love about the painting is the haggard appearance of the guitarist; his wrinkles, the receding hairline as well as the awkward way he plays his guitar, adds to the depressing atmosphere of the piece. And lets not forget the blue hues, which give the character piece a gloomy mood, as if his position in life could not be any lower, his world is just as gloomy as he is.

That’s my piece. Over and out!

TRUE Definition of Art

Definition of Art- a brief dissertation by Gino Volpe.

 

the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or more than ordinary significance.

- Dictionary.com  

 

To me, Art falls under the category of expression via different mediums. S far there are there several accepted mediums of art: Film, Paintings, Sculpture, Music, Architecture, etc.  With mediums such as these, “artists” can convey their emotions, ideas and expressions with these different mediums. Oliver stone rocked the film world in 1994 with the film Natural Born Killers, a surreal, energetic, film that satirizes the media’s then fascination with violence with a mockumentary on Micky and Mallory Knox. In the realm of music, the classical movement with Beethoven and Mozart wrote symphonies and musical pieces that evoked their own inner rages, feelings, etc. Finally, there is the typical ideal of “Art”- Paintings. From the Renaissance to Cubism, to post modern movement, different techniques from realistic depictions, to bizarre shapes, all of these helped depict what artists such as Davinci, and Picasso felt at the time.

 

And compared to their contemporaries, they stood out to their fans by portraying something more than ordinary Something significant, something beautiful.

Definition of Art