JOANIE 4 JACKIE

Women film makers have had something of a raw deal and to address this, Miranda July(pictured below) has created the concept that is Joanie 4 Jackie. It's something of a video chain letter among lady directors. It seems to be restricted to those in the US though I may be reading the somewhat oblique descriptions from the wrong perspective.


Drawing further, selections of films are compiled in Co-star Tapes which are curated by inspired, cinematic women. The latest curator is Astria Suparak (pictured in the post title) and her Joanie 4 Jackie Co-star Tape is the third titled Some Kind of Loving featuring works from Karen Yasinsky, Jane Gang, Jennifer Reeder, Stephanie Barber, and Peggy Ahwesh.

The Yerba Buena Center for The Arts in San Francisco will be featuring some work and an "explanatory video" regarding Joanie 4 Jackie in their exhibition, The Way That We Rhyme: Women, Art & Politics until June 29, 2008. Chain letters and Co-star Tapes are for sale and are available by emailing joanie@bard.edu.

Links:
Joanie4Jackie
Miranda July
Astria Suparak
Yerba Buena Center for The Arts

Featurette: MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO

click image to go to the interactive panoramic

Michelangelo Pistoletto has from the beginning of his career to his latest installation worked with mirrors. From his paintings on mirrors (see below) to infinite environments (see above), he has engaged with communities and experimented with a broad range of means and methods.

It's also refreshing to find an established artist who actually has a website. Follow the links below for more.

Links:
Michelangelo Pistoletto (Official)
Cittadelarte - Fondazione Pistoletto
Guggenheim Biography
Pistoletto - A Reflected World (Walker Art Center)
Pistoletto (La Scultura Italiana) - Italian
Pistoletto article (ArtForum)
Pistoletto RadioBooks (deBuren.eu)
Michelangelo Pistoletto Wiki (Italian)
Interactive Panoramic

LEONARD COHEN & FLORIA SIGISMONDI: My Secret Life

Another tasty lozenge for Friday. This is the video for Leonard Cohen's My Secret Life produced by Revolver Films and directed by Floria Sigismondi. The flash version is available below or alternatively right click on THIS LINK and save it to your hard drive for the higher quality Quicktime version.

The song is typically great Leonard Cohen and though the video is interesting, it doesn't entirely mesh with the music. That said, both elements stand quite well on their own even if they don't entirely compliment eachother. By definition, I suppose that makes the video a failure yet I'm still drawn towards its imagery; interesting nonetheless.

Links:
Leonard Cohen
Floria Sigismondi
Revolver Films
Leonard Cohen Wiki
Floria Sigismondi Wiki


**Thanks to Brody_Dalle at Antville videos

CLARE DITERZI - Tableau de Chasse

I just discovered this video for Clare Diterzi's Tableau de Chasse directed by Patrick Volve. The video has an interesting aesthetic and the song sounds vaguely reminiscent of Kate Bush. Just a sweet lozenge for a Friday afternoon.

Claire Diterzi - Tableau de chasse
Uploaded by naiverecords

Links:
Clare Diterzi MySpace
Clare Diterzi (LastFM)

SOURCE: videos.antville.org

Sound from Soot: The Oldest Recording

A recording from 1860 that was never intended to be played has been heard thanks to the work of sound historians Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni of First Sounds.

The machine for which it was produced in 1860 was created by Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville and called a phonoautograph. It's original intention was to produce a visual representation of sound on soot-coated paper rather than as a means to playback audio.

Roughly ten seconds in length, the recording is of a person singing “Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit” – a snippet from a French folksong. Listen to it HERE.

Links:
First Sounds
Oldest recorded voice sings again (BBC)

Starting FIREs

Just a head's up that the address for SiouxWIRE will be switching over at the weekend to www.siouxwire.com though the current address (siouxwire.blogspot.com) will be forwarded. There is a horrific backlog of interviews and posts to come. As I'm splitting my time between work, family, SiouxWIRE, and the upcoming relaunch of Siouxfire.com, things are getting quite hectic though (I hope) worth the wait.


Also, I'm having some troubles with Firefox dislaying the Siouxfire.com splash. If anyone out there can see the splash screen using Firefox following the link, let me know.

Featurette: TOKYO PLASTIC

Tokyo Plastic will soon be premiering their new short, The Electric Koi soon. If you haven't seen their work or recently explored their site, I highly recommend that you do so. The studio was founded by Sam Lanyon Jones and Drew Cope and excels in the innovative and odd.

Despite many of their animations being available on YouTube, the interactive element involved is so vital to the effect that I've simply left them out of this post with the exception of what you see below. Click on any of the pictures or the link below to visit and explore their site.

Short clip for Zune

Links:
Tokyo Plastic
Tokyo Plastic (BBC Film Network)
My Plastic Heart (TP merchandise)
Interview (Jaded Expressions)
Interview (Swiftdev)
D&AD Interview (YouTube)
Tokyo Plastic Toys (Tokyo Cube)
Sam Lanyon Jones
Nick Faber, music

Wellcome Image Awards 2008

A fly on sugar crystals -Dave McCarthy & Annie Cavanagh

The Wellcome Image Awards gallery for 2008 is online. The images come from various scientific branches with most displaying subjects which are invisible to the naked eye. Each image is accompanied by information about its subject as well as that of the scientist(s) involved and the methods used. It's a fascinating collection of typically invisible organics.

Visit the homepage HERE.

crystals of oxidised vitamin C - Spike Walker

Ruptured Blood Vessel - Anne Weston

Links:
Wellcome Image Awards

** Images displayed with the kind permission of Wellcome Images

Featurette: REBECCA HORN

Rebecca Horn's works have a consistent thread through them with her creations taking what preceeded it and developing the concepts. Creating installations, performances, films, sculptures, drawings, and photographs, her early explorations between body and space still echo in her latest work.

At 20, Rebecca contracted severe lung poisoning. Living in seclusion at a sanatorium, this isolation was compounded by the death of her parents. Working from her bed, she started working with coloured pencils and developed the first of her body extensions from balsa wood and cloth.

Returning to Hamburg Academy, she further developed the body extensions for which she is most known creating cocoon-like wraps, elongated and supplemental limbs as well as performances built around these creations. And despite her methodical approach, she hasn't been averse to whimsy or humour which adds to weightless, ethereal feel to some of her works.





Links:
Rebecca Horn (official site)
Rebecca Horn Wiki
The Bionic Woman (Guardian Unlimited)
Rebecca Horn at the Tate Modern

MAINTENANCE Check

After going through the posts thus far and ensuring that all the links and embedded video are operating as they should, the following amendments have been made to the specified entries...

Introducing Raoul Servais - Updated + New video (Chromophobia)
Phoo Action - New video (trailer)
Yannick Puig - Additional video (Krapooyo)
Santamaria - Embedded video
Anders Rønnow Klarlund's Strings - trailer
Jonas Odell's "Ali in the Jungle" - Updated video
P.T. Anderson's "There will be blood" - Updated video
Cory McAbee's "The American Astronaut" - New video
Jesca Hoop - New video (Money)
Nicole McDonald's "Una Favola" - Embedded video
A Surreal Visitation from Tarako - New/fixed video
October le Chat - Full video now available
Catfish Hotel - Embedded video
Bjork - "Earth Intruders" - updated video
Aleksandr Petrov - New video
Sankai Juku - New video
Nina Simone - New video (If you knew)
Persepolis - New video + links

PHOTOGRAPHER'S RIGHTS

The subject of photographer's rights and their infringement has been blogged quite a lot. I have lived, worked, and photographed a lot in the UK (London in particular) for more than a decade. I've never had any problems in the street though to be safe I always carry THIS with me though apparently this doesn't always help.

That said, I have heard about some bad experiences and seen the proliferation of CCTV. Here's an example I found via Conscientious:

Unfortunately, things are not that much better where I come from in Washington State:

In New York where I attended the School of Visual Arts, there are moves to ban public filming and photography, and the police don't seem to be taking heed of their own printed guidelines. This editorial describes a worrying trend stemming from Guiliani's administration.

In an ideal world, all citizens would know the law of the land (and we wouldn't need lawyers) but we're aware that the volumes that make up our legal framework are too cumbersome. Still, what was once a specialist area of the law in regard to the rights of a photographer are now mainstream as cameras proliferate into our phones, laptops, and other mobile devices. These are rights for which we should all be made aware particularly those in law enforcement.

And then there are examples of photographer's being seen as a security threat in the wake of 9/11. NPR news have some examples of this(audio), also HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Increasingly, it's members of the public who instigate incidents involving the police, suspicious citizens worried about anyone with a camera. I can't help but wonder if it came to referendum, are there enough of these people to vote in favour of restricting the rights of photographers?

The links below have more detailed information on photographer's rights and THIS ARTICLE from USA Today is an interesting read. EDIT: Here is another worrying entry from Conscientious.

Links:
UK Photographer's Rights
USA Photographer's Rights
Photographer's Rights (various regions)
Photography & the Law (worldwide)
NSW Photographer's Rights (Australia)
Photographer's Rights Overview

The Enigmatic Journey: MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI

Working on their 17-minute stop motion short Madame Tutli-Putli for five years, filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski have created a masterpiece in their first professional film. Described as an "existential journey", it is set in an exquisite, lovingly crafted and animated world which is both beautiful and beastly. It is ripe with meaning and full of heart.

Produced by the National Film Board of Canada, Lavis and Szerbowski's Clyde Henry Productions created the film with Jason Walker(special visual effects), Laurie Maher(choreography/costume design), David Bryant(musical direction/sound design), and Jean-Frédéric Messier(musical director). The film has won a string of awards and was nominated for an Oscar.

Ideally suited to a big screen, screening schedules as well as the DVD are available on the official site.

Animating Madame Tutli-Putli

More interviews and background from the creators are available HERE.

Links:
Madame Tutli-Putli official site
Clyde Henry Productions
Clyde Henry MySpace
Interview (Twitch)
Interview - Visual Efects (USC)
Jason Walker
Laurie Maher

Gillian Armstrong's DEATH DEFYING ACTS

Since her debut film in 1970, Australian director Gillian Armstrong has been a strong and varied body of work from her first foray in Hollywood with Mrs. Soffel(1984), The Last Days of Chez Nous(1992), her most successful and well-known film to date, Little Women(1994) to the enigmatic charm of Oscar & Lucinda(1997).

Her latest film, Death Defying Acts tells the story of Harry Houdini in the height of his career in the 1920s and stars Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Timothy Spall. The screenplay is by the frequent Terry Gilliam collaborator, Tony Grisoni. Here is the trailer:

The synopsis is as follows:

It is 1926, and Harry Houdini is the most famous performer in the world. Audiences flock to watch him perform his amazing stunts. But the man behind the legend is a tortured soul, having been unable to hear his mother’s dying words. He offers a $10,000 reward to anyone who can contact his mother from beyond the grave. When a beautiful but deceptive psychic, Mary McGregor, and her sidekick daughter, Benji, take the challenge, Harry is initially skeptical, but is soon captivated by her charms. The more time he spends with the mysterious woman, the more attracted he is, and what began as a con soon evolves into a passionate and complicated love affair, as Houdini attempts the most dangerous stunt of his career.

Death Defying Acts is due to be released in the UK in August 2008.

Links:
Death Defying Acts (Myriad Pictures)
Death Defying Acts Wiki
Gillian Armstrong (Senses of Cinema)
Gillian Armstrong Wiki

Introducing MATTHEW BARNEY

Matthew Barney has described his motivation for his Drawing Restraint series as a means of exploring the concept that “resistance as a prerequisite for development and a vehicle for creativity.” As the series has progressed, it has become increasingly fascinating, unpredictable and at times frustrating.

On entering Yale University, his original intention was to study medicine but his interests turned toward art and in 1989, he received his B.A.. His work would quickly garner Barney considerable amounts of praise and controversy.

Working with film, video, installations, sculpture, photography, drawing and performance art, his approach is equally diverse and often times incorporates an element of resistance both in terms of physical impediments on himself and more subtle challenges to the viewer.

The following is an introduction to and interview with Matthew Barney filmed during the preparation of his exhibition for The Cremaster Cycle at Astrup Fearney Museum of Modern Art in Oslo.

Links:
The Cremaster Cycle
Drawing Restraint
Matthew Barney Wiki

Mick Bunnage and Jon Link's MODERN TOSS

From journalists Mick Bunnage and Jon Link, Modern Toss is a Channel 4 series adapted from their independent comic and website. Making use of both live action and animation, it's one of the best British comedy sketch shows to appear in years.

Alan


Space Argument


Mr. Tourette

The second series is currently airing in the UK on Channel 4 and on Bravo UK's Adult Swim. Series 1 is available on DVD. In America, the Modern Toss books are available (though without the word 'whore' on the cover)

Links:
moderntoss.com
12foot6
Spy Pictures
Modern Toss (Channel 4)
Modern Toss (Wiki)

19th/20th Century JAPANESE TOY DESIGNS

BibliOdyssey have provided a link to the Kyosen Guangucho portion of the Ningyo-Do Bunko database of late 19th and early 20th century toy designs. The samples on show here are from the dozens of albums available. Having been cropped and cleaned up, these give some indication of the beauty and breadth of what is on offer.

Links:
Kyosen Guangucho
Japanese Toy Designs (BibliOdyssey)

Biography of the PEACE SYMBOL

The National Geographic Society Press is releasing a book in time with the 50th Anniversary of the peace symbol. Peace: The Biography of a Symbol traces its development from the pinnafore symbols for N and D (Nuclear Disarmament) with a circle to symbolise the globe through its five decade history.

Here is the full press release:

PEACE: The Biography of a Symbol

Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Sign

WASHINGTON (Dec 21, 2007) -- The peace symbol. It is recognized around the globe. It has become an enduring cultural icon. For five decades, millions of people worldwide, regardless of race or religious beliefs, have looked to the peace sign to unite them. And the symbol's appeal continues with each succeeding generation.

In April 2008 the peace sign turns 50. To commemorate this anniversary, National Geographic Books is publishing a tribute that traces the world-famous pictogram as it evolved from a 1950s anti-nuke emblem to a defining icon still widely seen and used today. PEACE: The Biography of a Symbol (National Geographic Books; ISBN: 978-1-4262-0294-0; April 1, 2008; $25 hardcover), by Ken Kolsbun, with Michael Sweeney, is a one-of-a-kind story about the origin of the peace sign, the man who created it and its enduring relevance through the past 50 years.

The story of the peace sign began in the spring of 1958 when peace activists, clergy and Quakers in Great Britain organized a rally to draw attention to the testing and stockpiling of nuclear weapons by some of the world's most powerful countries. Gerald Holtom, a textile designer and commercial artist from Twickenham, suggested the demonstrators carry posters and banners with a simple visual symbol he had designed. He created the symbol by combining the semaphore letters N and D, for nuclear disarmament.

On April 4, 1958, 5,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square to show support for the Ban the Bomb movement, then walked the few miles to the town of Aldermaston, site of an atomic weapons research plant. The first peace signs appeared during that march and a second Aldermaston march the following year. From there it took flight, appearing on flags, clothes, even scratched on walls and signposts, all over Europe.

Easy to remember and reproduce, the symbol soon crossed borders and cultures in a phenomenal way. It became a classic symbol, an icon of peace for the people. Like a chameleon, the symbol took on additional meanings during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the environmental movement, women's and gay rights movements and the two Iraqi wars.

The symbol "continues to exert almost hypnotic appeal. It's become a rallying cry for almost any group working for social change. I'm fascinated by the simplicity of the peace symbol and how people have used it, worn it, adapted it. Each iteration of the symbol seems unique, because it bears the artistic touch of the person replicating it," writes Kolsbun.

PEACE takes readers on a journey through five decades as Kolsbun presents 50 years of history in pictures and words to tell the fascinating story of mankind's elusive pursuit of peace and the symbol that represents that quest. The book contains iconic images from Kolsbun's own collection as well as a variety of historical archives, illustrating both the symbol itself and the larger history it helped shape. Many of the photographs have seldom been seen before.

Kolsbun recounts the controversy inspired by the peace symbol, including several legal trials that challenged its very existence, and he debunks a number of incorrect theories about the sign, such as its being a symbol of the devil.

Although it's a sign that baby boomers identify with, it has cross-generational appeal. "Children of today easily identify it. They may not know its original meaning, but they know it stands for good things -- be nice to friends, be kind to animals, no fighting. This is a marvelous achievement for Gerald Holtom's simple design. Peoples around the world have marched with it, worn it, displayed it during combat, held it high on banners, and been arrested in its name. Ask any man, woman, or child, 'What one thing would everyone in the world want more than anything else?' The answer would surely be world peace," Kolsbun concludes in his epilogue.

Kolsbun, a self-described Jack-of-all trades, is a photographer, writer, historian, peace activist, game inventor, landscape architect, horticulturalist, baseball fan, mail-order catalog designer, husband and father. He continues to be active in the peace movement and is an authority of the peace symbol. He lives in Forestville, Calif.

Sweeney is a professor of journalism at Utah State University. He is the award-winning author of "Secrets of Victory," which was named 2001 Book of the Year by the American Journalism Historians Association, of the National Geographic book "God Grew Tired of Us," with John Bul Dau.

Links:
BBC Online article
A tribute to the peace symbol
DesignBoom article
National Geographic

Kindle

Moving from the Czech Republic to the UK has been more work than I had anticipated though this does put me in a better position from which to expand SiouxWIRE. The foundations are not fully laid to make it as comfortable as I'd like and most of my work on the site will be done in the wee hours of the morning but given the sustained number of visitors the site has been getting in my time away, I'm pleased to be back.

Thanks again.

ANTHONY MINGHELLA

"The feeling of not belonging, of not being entirely worthy, of being sometimes hostage to your own sensibilities. Those things speak to me very personally."

Links:
Favourite scenes - The English Patient (SiouxWIRE)
Guardian Unlimited Obituary
Remembering Minghella - Michael Covenay (Guardian Unlimited)
Anthony Minghella Wiki
BBC4 Interview (audio)
Anthony Minghella - Screenonline

Featurette: JOCHEM HENDRICKS

Jochem Hendricks highly conceptual pieces have a playful quality reminiscent of compatriot Rebecca Horn. Jochem has used a wide variety of media and methods including painting, sculpture, eye drawings using a specially designed interface, taxidermy, performance, and lawbreaking.

Exploring the boundaries of society, testing them and crossing them, he seems to be asking us to question societal paradigms as well as hisself. For example, his work 3,281,579 grains of sand is based on his affirmation that he has counted the individual grains of sand. Did he really? Can it be proven? Does it really matter?




Links:
JochemHenricks.de (English)
Guardian Unlimited article (2 September 2007)
Media Art Net (Eye Drawings)
Interview with Jochem Hendricks (Yuki Aruga)

Featurette: DON HERTZFELDT

Don Hertzfeldt's irreverent and funny animations have been met with unprecedented acclaim and popularity for an independent animator. The following Oscar-nominated animation, Rejected, is a sharp pastiche on television, advertising, and artists' sometimes troubled relationship with capitalism.

Rejected (2000)

Links:
Bitter Films
Don Hertzfeldt Wiki
Interview (Bridgerack)