It was a blast.
I think, in the future this period of time will be described as the Baudrillardian age. Our movies, all the stories we tell over and over seem to be posing and reposing the idea of a dream or a copy being more real than the original. Reality has been evicted from its former palace of glory. In Inception characters are conned and conned over again as to the nature of the real. Do we as audience members ever learn the real truth? No, the camera cuts away before we know for certain.
Movies are really the perfect medium for discussing these double, triple, let us just say multiple feints. One character says to another, do you remember how you got here? Of course (s)he does not. We just cut to this scene. Why would a film show a character getting to a cafe? what would be the sense in that? We assume that (s)he walked or drove, or rode a bike, or jumped on the back of Aslan the lion, or whatever. Characters are placed in scenes carefully crafted by the set designer, the writers, framed by the director and the camera man, and so on. What was I doing just before this scene? I was getting hair and makeup done and before that I was at the Craft food services table. Why?
I think though a current audience is much more able to accept a discussion of what is real now because their idea of what is real has been whittled away at by the internet for a decade or more. Who are your real friends? The people you hang with in meat space or your friends on Facebook, the ones you tell all your secrets to? I don’t know myself and I think rather quickly people’s ideas of what is just so won’t be just so any longer.
I haven’t spoiled anything. Go see it.
Did I ever tell you I used to be an artist’s model? Sounds so exciting doesn’t it? I guess it was in a way but it was about a million miles away from being an model like in an advertisement for underwear in some magazine. I had been taking for life drawing classes for years and somehow I got it into my head that I wanted to model for these same type of classes too.
If you have taken Life Drawing you know exactly what I am talking about. When it is done right it is the most perfect and special world all unto itself. Its not erotic. not porno, not hot, but terribly intimate. An artists model is giving you the most special gift that anyone could give a student of the arts. I suppose I wanted to rent my body to Art an hour at a time.
The thing about art modeling is the lean, perfect magazine underwear model I talked about would not have been a good art model. Perfection is some sort of fashion construct. The more curves and wrinkles you got, the more interest the drawing has.
That being said I was very skinny in those days, not a lot of interest. But I tried to be as interesting as possible with my poses. I tried to do the most difficult poses and hold them for 20 minutes (typically the longest amount of time for a single pose). Yes you have to hold as still as humanly possible. It’s not like a photograph where the person is still for a moment, or sometimes not even for that long.
One time my friend was modeling for our sculpture class. I was so happy and was just working as fast as I could. It was like a moment where everything fell into place and I was really really happy. For some reason one of my classmates started making rude comments to my friend. God why? I was thinking to myself. I told him to shut up. I may have even said shut the f up. but I doubt it. All I know is it was one of the rare, rare occasions that I would have happily punched someone in the face if it had been necessary. First of all you don’t speak that way to a woman and secondly don’t screw up my live model time. Sheesh.
Maybe I should go back to modeling. I certainly am more interesting now then I was then. Just have to explain it (or not) to my kids.
Oh and you are wondering was I naked? And the answer is sometimes yes, sometimes no. It was up to the instructor.
Apologies and much gnashing of teeth and wearing of sackcloth for not posting. It has been way, way too long since I did.
My aunt won a tour of Pixar Studios in Emeryville a while back and yesterday I was privileged to be able to attend. For a fan like me it was a once in a lifetime experience. I was really really happy for once instead of my usual somber morose self.
How many Pixar movies have you seen? fill in the circle completely with a number 2 pencil on your screen.
O A. All including the shorts
O B. I live in a cave with no access to a theater, DVDs, the interwebs, nothing. I stare at shadows on the cave wall only.
Anyway, I enjoyed the tour. It was great to meet Jason Katz and hear about the film making process. Did I learn anything new and secret, some film in development that we have never herd of? No. Even if I did I signed a NDA.
The Pixar walls have exhibitions and displays over every possible space. Storyboard art and fine art and sculpture and everything you can think of. They have a big theater to show source material movies (possibly The Great Escape) or anything else they want to including their own films of course.
I wish I could have taken pictures but I was expressly forbidden to do so. So I didn’t.
I also got two Hawaiian Pixar T-shirts. I think this the only place you can get them. One is Cars and one is Wall-E. Totally sweet. These look like the ones that Lasseter wears in his interviews.
Wish you could have been there.
Paintings and Assemblage - things thrown together.
Prints and Sketches - Intaglio Prints and Doodles
Collage - Hanna Hoch is my secret mistress
Black and White Photgraphy - yes with this thing called film.
Photos taken in Benicia - more film Tri-X to be precise.
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I love this movie.
I know I mentioned it earlier, but I am now mentioning it again. It is the best.
The American trailer
I think the movie is scary in Italian though I like Karloff’s performances in English quite well. His little narrarator sections are fairly silly. Almost postmodern in their exposition of the horror film. He frightens you then he teases you for being frightened.
It is my favorite from Bava. One of my favorite of all time.
