Archive for the ‘cultural’ Category
Edith Piaf - La foule
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010The Wilderness Downtown
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
I already loved Arcade Fire and their new album ‘The Suburbs‘ before I stumbled upon this brilliant interactive video by Chris Milk and I love them even more now! Incorporating the viewers own home town imagery with the Arcade Fire track ‘We Used To Wait’ playing over the top really makes the subject matter and lyrics much more relevant. Visit: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ to see what I’m on about.
Sven Berlin
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
I recently posted about an autobiographical book by Sven Berlin named “The Dark Monarch” which had quite an impact on me. One of the reasons for it’s great effect on me was my great interest in the subject matter and St Ives (the place the book is set) not to mention the gut wrenching tragedy’s which were inflicted upon Sven in that part of his life.
Well I have just returned from another trip to St Ives with another book by Sven entitled ‘Virgo in Exile‘. Sven called these books “Autosvenographys” and even though I am only a quarter of the way through this one I think they are absolutely brilliant. The way they are written is beautiful and they are a great insight into an artists mind and artists of that period. “The Dark Monarch” was set almost solely in St Ives and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how he experienced the place. In the “Virgo in Exile” Sven is forced to leave St Ives and take residence as a sort of gypsy living in a forest. Simply the way Sven describes his surroundings and life in general is absolutely wonderful.
Another interesting thing about these books is the hardback covers… On the outside it looks exactly like what you’d expect a small artist’s publication to look like - a self portrait and some quite awkward large text with the basic author name and book title. However! When you take these plasticy covers off each one has a gold Sven Berlin logo embossed into a red hard back cover. I think the logo is Svens own invention and it really is quite a pleasant surprise after looking at the garish paper cover. Anyway there is no major point to this post other than I think Sven Berlin was a brilliant writer.
Beautiful Video of Japan
Thursday, June 10th, 2010Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.
Paul just sent me this video he found of japan, it’s absolutely beautiful.
The Dark Monarch
Friday, May 28th, 2010Early this year after a visit to St Ives Cornwall I read ‘The Darch Monarch’ by Sven Berlin and I absolutely loved it. The reason I came across the book was because of an exhibition of the same title in tate St Ives which was on at the same time as my visit. As explained in the video above the exhibition was about showing relationships between British modernism and the supernatural, the magical and the paranormal. The exhibition begins with a beautiful unicorn piece by Damien Hirst which leads you onto a bevy of mystical related pieces of modernism including a few pieces by Sven Berlin himself, I absolutely loved it, so I bought the book! The book itself is a kind of autobiography of Sven and life in St Ives at the end of the 2nd World War. The subject matter of the book was very controversial as many of the characters were depicted as comic but unsavory and were clearly based upon people Sven new whilst living in St Ives. Despite changing all the names of the central characters in a loose attempt to cover up their true identities Sven was sued and the following court battles bankrupted him and forced him to leave St Ives. The book is very well written with brilliant descriptions of St Ives as a place and the almost magical or supernatural feeling it has. The book is great in its own right however having visited St Ives on a regular basis for the past 15 years and having experienced what an impact it has on a person or an artist made the book all the more fantastic.
The Sartorialist
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Stumbled upon this blog: http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/ and I love it. The posts are really simple lovely shots taken of people the writer stumbles upon working in fashion, living in New York and travelling the world. I now follow ‘The Sartorialist’ on twitter and it’s great to get a simple fashion photo or two to look at each day.
A Touch of Tokyo
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
I’ve wanted to visit Tokyo for quite some time and this photo log book I’ve just discovered by Carolina Cwiklinska is full of great shots and stories which make me want to get on a plane right now! http://www.questcont-d.com
Tom Ford’s - A Single Man
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
A Single Man from Kennedy Byers-O'Brien on Vimeo.
Just come back from watching Tom Fords ‘A Single Man’ and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. Very well made, excellent imagery, lots of great perspectives on the important things in life and the acting was impeccable.
Hadrian’s Wall Illumination
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Illuminating Hadrian’s Wall from IHW on Vimeo.
Yesterday (13th March 2010) a line of light was created along the remains of Hadrians Wall to mark the 1600th anniversary of Roman rule in Britain. 500 lights were placed 250m apart along the 135km long path of Hadrians wall. Although I didn’t go to see the event I had thought it quite a magical idea really. A great way to promote tourism for British Tourism Week.
Thompson Brand Partners, just down the road from me developed a culturally relevant but friendly brand for the project. See more about the project here: www.illuminatinghadrianswall.com
