Holy crap guys, I’m getting lazy…

I know it already; and stop giving me that look, you know which one.

I CANT stop listening to Silver Jews Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea. holy shit it’s awesome.

:Open Field” especially, it’s so simple, and takes me along for an awesome ride. This would be a very worthy addition to my roadtrip collection….

speaking of roadtrips…
EVERYONE should be keeping tabs on Banksy’s road trip through the states.
For those that don’t know Banksy, is a political street artist of London fame.

If we wanna keep the road trip theme going… good road trip movie… hmm.

Well I am going to reccomend two that couldn’t be more opposite.

TOMMY BOY which documents Chris Farley being hilarious in ways I can never get sick of watching…

then Uh, WILD STRAWBERRIES which is definitely not as hilarious but a much more poignant look at the musings of a professor.

I miss blogging but after senior year this shit is on!  Understand?

Lackidasical regarding my laziness, not relating to my lack of interest of blogging otherwise we wouldn’t be here would we?

I’m tired, and the summer is going by way too fast.
I just watched a pretty dope movie (a little before my movie a day binge I recently started) called They shoot horses don’t they? A Sydney Pollack movie with a very young Jane Fonda. It was really intriguing that the story just started off innocent and became much more unsettling as the story progresses, it’s fascinating to begin with then it becomes much harder to digest.

See they look like they are having fun don’t they?
little do you know….

This idea of attraction vs repulsion is happening in a lot of modern art, there are these otherwise perplexing images, that have an frightening story to tell.. over here at MM ( again where I have been housed and interning over the summer) this is essentially everything on our first floor in our main gallery

But it really reminds me of an older exhibit that we had by Carsten Holler, Amusement park.

This is where Holler assembled an amusement park in building 5 and slowed it down to ridiculous lenghts (think a 3 inches every 10 minutes).  So at first glance it is familiar and friendly, but then later on it becomes frightening after time progresses.

A bit of a jump but really really neccessary song to listen to… not creepy whatsoever.

Like I said, I  am progressively getting to the point of exhaustion -for reasons unknown- but it is summer and highly reccomend everyone listening to Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, and specifically, their track “swimming pools”… Made of awesomenesss

palimpsest: a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

For me, this also means anything that has had left its mark,or better yet, an impression.

Not only that, but what you are looking at above is some bad ass work By Julie Mehretu currently on display at WCMA (pronounced WICK-MUH). I love this idea and how Julie showcasing all the layers beneath layers beneath layers. My favorite thing about this work is how you can see the older identities of these structures, remain intact through out the renovation, for an interesting juxtaposition of old and new.

The idea of palimpsest is one that lends itself all across the board. Especially with music. The palimpsest itself, might be attributed to genre, and even instrumentation in some cases. But with the whole phenomena of the “mash-ups” getting onto most if not all of the places in the blogosphere, I think it is refreshing to clearly see a broad range of sources compile into one flowing song.

Although for some it is understandably annoying to have the same source material repeated over and over. (i.e. this guy and his hatred towards Pachelbel)

Aside from that, the refreshing new source material I was talking about is…

M.I.A.

(In addition to sick beats.. she’s pretty hot)

20 Dollar

(Sorry I felt that was really really necessary)

It sneaks up on you. Oh yes it does.

I love M.I.A. because its a mind fucking/road trip. It takes you along for a ride regardless of if you enjoy or not, and even if you get a little nauseous on the way there, you’re GOING to enjoy it.

Not only do you have M.I.A. being ridiculous as usual, but you have the main progression from New Order’s Blue Monday, AND the chorus from the Pixies classic( and no doubt seminal); Where is my Mind? How you could you say no to any of that?

Moving on…

As easy as it is,

I think a really good example of this palimpsest idea in the film world, goes to PULP FICTION

the evidence of this palimpsest is added as a nice touch to this otherwise very nonlinear structure of a plot. You can see traces of elements ( added on later much more clearly)appearing in the scenes. Whenever this happens- which is a lot- you get a great sense of closure, as everything makes much more sense. (espeically wtih the outfits that Vincenet and Jules wear) I feel like the more and more you watch, the more and more you notice.

And as an added feature, tarantino has all the winks, nods, and “know-what-i-mean(s)” throughout all of the movies, as he has a couple steady ties… (think Red Apple Cigarettes)

On the poetry side. There is a poem by W.S. Merwin

“Now Renting”

Nobody remembers
the original site
of course
what was there to remember

somebody nobody remembers
wanted a little building
nobody knows why

on the original site
and cleared it
no doubt
had to

later somebody
wanted a little
more space
and set up a scaffold

around the first building
and built the walls higher
and then tore down
the scaffold

then in time somebody
put up more scaffolding
and tore down
the whole building

and dug a hole in the original site
and put up a bigger
building and tore

down the scaffolding
to the accompaniment
of music announcing
a golden age.

but somebody with vision
soon put more scaffolding
on top of the building
and raised the whole structure

even higher than before
and tore down the scaffolding
but a while after that
somebody put up more scaffolding
with glass pictures on it

all the way up
of a glass building
never built
on that site

with nobody
inside it
at all the windows
to see the motionless clouds
.

Merwin is of course notorious for no punctuation, so sorry if that was hard to follow.

Either way we have the literal description and the aesthetic one in which the text is shaped to form a building going up and down and up again.

It’s important to know that the sky is motionless at the end because as much as man changes with the palimpsest ridden landscape, the natural world is not affected, at least in this circumstance..

trying to imagine what I will leave behind, aside from empty beer cans and dvd cases.

Jordan

I swear to God I’ve been thinking about this blog. Like when I’d hike to my babysitting job every morning until that stint ended this past Thursday. I would have tried to write a post at the house where I’ve been babysitting, but once when I sat at the computer glued to Etsy for 20 minutes, the toddler I watched had gotten into the baby powder and poofed it all over the upstairs, in mommy and daddy’s room. Okay, so there’s my summer in a nutshell. Sorry, I felt the need to explain myself. Also, I’m hoping that if I ramble a little, I’ll remember at least one of the dozen or so ideas that have been floating through my head…nothing’s coming…

I have to second Jordan’s Scarlet bashing. Who the hell does she think she is, covering Tom Waits? And what is with these hipsters buying into it? If you actually like music, you would just buy some Tom Waits albums and actually enjoy his music the way it’s meant to sound- the jagged, gravelly voice of a deranged pianist, not some actress singing from the bottom of a tin can, or a toilet. There’s a reason they had Scarlet singing karaoke in Lost in Translation. It was karaoke. She isn’t a real singer. Get over it.

I guess I’m only partially surprised that the album hasn’t flopped completely. Scarlet is Woody Allen’s new muse, apparently. And before that, she starred in the aforementioned Lost in Translation, so she had that working in her favor.

(Unless we mention The Perfect Score…but I guess hipsters forgive her?)

Honestly, the carelessness of indie music is starting to bother some people (i.e. my boyfriend, Alex, who argued with me about the state of indie music for 45 minutes the other night). I figured that I could segue way into this since I think it’s safe to say that Scarlet is not a classically-trained singer, unless we map her progress from Obama’s “Yes We Can” video in which she made an appearance. But I digress…

Position 1: I stumbled upon MGMT and The Black Kids recently. I don’t really think it’s music to live your life by, but I think it’s fun to dance to.

Position 2: Alex thinks that this careless attitude has started to infiltrate a lot of the music that is a part of the whole indie genre, and that it instills this sort of hipster attitude in you if you listen to it.

I agree with Alex’s first point in his position, not only because I understand that Alex comes from a musician’s perspective (he goes to school for Music Therapy, with a concentration in guitar), but because I can honestly say that there isn’t a hell of a lot of spectacular talent in a lot of indie genre bands. I used to like Tilly and the Wall, and it’s still a fun idea, but the only thing setting them apart at all is, well, tap-dancing. This whole shouting thing on the other thing, a la Black Kids “DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!” has become sort of a trademark (at least in what I’ve heard) and annoyingly non-musical.

But! I am not inclined to go around wearing day glo kerchiefs and sweatbands screaming “DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!” to people on the street. I like to think that my musical taste has some integrity. (Hence preferring Tom Waits, to backtrack a little bit. I’m not trying to toot my own horn here because I would hope that everyone would prefer Tom Waits). But c’mon, I worshipped Zeppelin when I was eleven!!!

I don’t even know, guys. I’m still confused about the exact definitions of the indie genre. I know that indie (as in on independent labels, THE WAY IT WAS ORIGINALLY INTENDED) artists should be set apart not only for innovation, but for their talent (in my opinion, Joanna Newsom, Cocorosie, Deerhoof, Neutral Milk Hotel). Obviously, you can argue my tastes. I’m just a confused, artsy little gal who is attracted to the indie movement, but frustrated by its definitions. I won’t even really get into the other aspects of the indie movement, like fashion (BIRD TATTOOS, BIRD TATTOOS, BIRD TATTOOS) and the minimalist (silhouetted) artwork

that keeps showing up as prints or on shirts (that makes my panties a little wet). I’m just gonna end this by saying that, you can’t entirely define a culture when you’re in the midst of it, and it’s still going on. Do you really think people would have worn leggings and headbands in the 80s if they had actually thought about or understood the culture of the time?

Oops.

Man, it has been an intense couple of weeks so far at my internship, but it’s been a lot of fun.

I have new stuff to talk about, in spite of the fact of how tired I am.

Get ready for awesomeness…

Anselm Keifer awesomeness that is!.

so so good.

This is from his “… Narrow are the Vessels” instillation at my museum. This specific one is titled.” Let the Earth Be Opened and Send Forth a Savior”( referencing the resurrection of christ in Isaiah 45:8). His art conveys a lot of religious, themes. This is due to his own involvement as a post-war german (literally born a couple days after the third reich). This painting shows, hope and renewal with the flowers, in an otherwise landscape full of doom. The mere size of this piece alone is more then enough to leave you awestruck (9 by 25 feet) Highly recommend checking this out.

This will be weird but watch what happens next.

Yea, I’m surprised too. But really when i see Keifer’s work, I immediately think of the massive shot of all the bodies lined up. Obviously with the flowers this would be he aftermath. Death always means renewal, to some extent at least. There is one landscape Keifer does that is just the doom and gloom of the war, that I see the shot even more clearly, (the difference being, Keifer’s landscape encapsulates the horrors and the view of the warfield.

The song that makes me think of these battles??

 
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Ants of the Sky P.1

right, I know this is of guitar hero, but its a much much better quality, don’t you agree?

especially during the “victorious riff” (1:30-1:50) you will hear it) , I feel that the battle is raging on but there is a moment of hope. ( I hear this riff and I think of a couple guys climbing over bodies and holding their flags high over head. I probably alienated the hell out of some listeners of the indie things I normally do, but I just am focusing on the most convincing war elements I have seen/ heard… ( without talking about a certain band I cannot talk about {see earlier posts})

Oh yeah, and ants of the sky, is a pretty sweet name too,

Sorry it was awhile but I am actualy being productive this summer. So I shall see what else shall come from this… But keep the fight alive! (assuming you’re actually fighting something)    

I’m not gonna lie i’m pretty sure I alienated some people with Between the buried and me, but think about it.  I have yet to really find an indie band that really nails down what it ounds like in a battle, (let’s just imagine for  half a second an Architecture in Helsinki, song about victorious battles and marching through the dead bodies… Hilarious) oh well… anyway

Lastly….

Yes it’s a book that everyone has read. I know that, again though middle ground.

I keep thinking about Mary Anne and her necklace of human tongues. That image, has probably forever warped me. But that’s okay. I imagine war as a horrible, disgusting, unfathomable tragedy, and so far, this is what I believe has been the best example in Lit of war that is cohesive with my beliefs on it, (granted Im in a much more movie watching state and desperately need to catch up on my readings. ) Mary Anne goes into Nam a relatively normal girl and then we see this is how she comes back. Powerful powerful stuff.

( for the one person that reads this Christina, I have probably disappointed you… and I apologize for doing so)

and so it goes…

Jordan

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Sometimes everything in life just goes in a downward spiral straight to hell. For some, this is rare, but for some poor bastards, this is every time they wake up. In honor of some of these bastards, I feel like stringing together some of my favorite dystopian art.

First off, let’s look at a sculpture…

Kumi Yamashita’s Shadow Works

breath-taking work.

Kumi, (to me at least) is making a statement about humanity. When I look at this and think of the whole “god made man out of his own image” thing that’s been forced down our throats for I don’t even know how long, I just laugh. It forces us to take a look at humanity, and question what are we really comprised of?

-onward to more depressing/intriguing subject matter-

When I think of Dystopian film, I easily think of Brazil.

- Another one to mention with high honor is Gattaca, but for the purpose of the depression inherent with all these dystopian arts, I can’t tie in a movie that ends on a high note now can i?

Brazil is out of the crazy mind of Terry Gilliam, who is of former “Patsy” fame in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Man where do you even start with this? Okay, take a breath.

Loosly based off another dystopian fav 1984, Sam Lowry is essentially trying to get a girl he dreams about, while being trapped in a monotonous 9-5 lifestyle. This movie mainly is a dystopian black comedy that parodies capitalism and escapism. This also features Robert De Niro as Harry Tuttle, a renegade heating engineer that tries to help Sam achieve his dreams. Confused? You should be. Now watch the damn movie. With all the crazy art design that helps this film be recognized as one of the best sci-fi movies ever, you will be left with your mouth agape, trying to formulate the words “What the fuck just happened?” but you won’t be able to.

Alright now onward to music.

sigh.. It was bound to happen because i’m pretty sure everyone with a music blog, at least at some point and time has wrote about the Arcade Fire. Don’t get me wrong these guys are on rotation for me ad nauseum, and I love them, I’m just sick of myself talking about them. ( and, Sarah Neufeld is tied in a threeway with Giada De Laurentis and Christina Ricci for hottest woman ever)

vs… vs…. WHO WILL WIN???

But you’ll see, it all ties together so nicely.

“Intervention”~ Neon Bible

Easily my favorite song on this cd. When you hear the explosion of that organ with that first demonic chord, cling on to your favorite blanky because it’s going to be a frightening ride. I’m getting fucking chills just typing this. (Ridiculous, right?)

with lines such as. ” Every spark of friendship and love will die without a home” and “Hear the solider groan, “We’ll go at it alone”"

Win literally gives you what this soldier, (and perhaps many other soldiers) are thinking. Then especially “Working for the church while your family dies.” Is beautiful and chilling in it’s irony.

One of the reasons for my fascination with this song, is how uncomfortable it makes you. You cringe, you get paranoid, nervous and afraid, just due to this song. Oh, and The Arcade Fire covers the theme song to Gilliam’s Brazil. Good luck finding it!

If there is anyone ever within the music blog realm that hasn’t heard of these guys or this song. Then I Beg you listen to Intervention and tell me what you think!

Finally, my favorite Dystopian prose… Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.

A parody of communism mainly, you can see Vonnegut’s undercutting already with the infamous opening line. “The year was 2081 and everybody was finally equal.” <– Added empahsis, ooo they so sensitive. –> {I sincerely apologize to anyone offended by that Kanye reference.}

Anyway, hilarity ensues in a future where everyone is forced to be equal. If they have great vision, they are handicapped with glasses that make their vision worse, so that everyone is on an equal playing field.

In spite of how funny it is, it is also a very sad and poignant story especially with the parent and son thing going on through out.

mandatory reading for everyone!

Either way, guys it’s been a fun long blog, and if you actually read all of it. Kudos to you.. (seriously, I can see your IP address and I will send you the candy Kudos)

Sorry for length, and seemingly random hottest girl contest.

Candy coming regardless if you want it or not,

Jordan

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have to tell ya, for the little i know about England’s Art Brut, i’m hooked. they’re like that cute boy you see in the cafeteria who reminds you of your heart-breaking ex love. Art Brut is the cute caf boy to my punk rock. i wouldn’t go as far as to say that they’re the nirvana of punk rock, but definitely an adequate reincarnation. anyway, i happened upon them last year while listening to yahoo!’s indie radio station- fuckin’ Emily Kane. there it was, that sort of first-love jerkin’-it guitar riff that i got listening to The Damned and Screeching Weasel in high school. so i got my hands on “Bang Bang Rock And Roll” and was mildly obsessed with the song “Bad Weekend” and put it on every mix cd i made for like a month.

THEN i started taking this asian culture class and had to define culture in some way and share my definition with the class- preliminary stuff- and i stumbled upon this sweet article in JSTOR about, you guessed it, art brut. apparently the band gets its namesake from this art created by the fringes of society- jailbirds and hobos and the psychotic. as an art student, i think this is all kind of redundant. i’m a creative person and thus, i am a tiny bit psychotic. but i guess what differentiates art brut artists, or who i will from here on out refer to as art brutists, is their bizarre array of subject matter and materials (media). these artistic heroes threw popular artistic conventions out the window and sought out their own rhythms and styles. i think this is what most artists should be doing, but of course the ones who actually create different and cutting-edge art pieces are disregarded because they don’t have NYC studios or degrees or their work is not blood-splattered with the artistic paradigm created by whatever art critic is fucking everything up with their inane ideals and shitty taste at the time.

i’m sorry. obviously there is need for artistic paradigms and rhyme and reason in art. the subjectivity of the art world tends to drive me a little bit psychotic (see earlier). in one way, a person can create conceptual art with fucking 3 fluorescent lights on the floor of a museum (the FUCKING guggenheim) and be considered genius. in another, a misfit is invalidated because their art is part of an anti-cannon. i dunno. seems to me that a miscreant, psychotic hobo would have a lot more pain and truth to reveal in his art than the hobo-chic art student (let’s pay $60 for a tattered, Free People vest that LOOKS like it’s from goodwill) who comes from money piled into a house with greek columns. to be honest, i think my art is more validated when i practice my drawing and painting. but i’ve come to value art that feels real and is based in truth. i guess for me, it’s a constant struggle between skill and untrained talent. if something is poignant and beautiful but the artist is untrained, can we overlook training and revel in something new or refreshing?

i’m going to swing this on back to the band Art Brut. their hearts probably broke just as mine did when everyone started to utter “punk rock is dead.” but they refused to let it die, and they picked up punk’s sun-bleached skeleton so that they could make bouncy music. hey, i’m listening. you should too. be a nut job, a punk rocker, and fuck the ebb and flow of the paradigms.

blue moon & burritos,

sara

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