art : design
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Weblog> March 2004
040324: Thu
The web spinners
The SMH site has an article titled 'The web spinners' featuring 6 web designers, asking them what their working on, their education, their best work and their design research/influences.
Sixpence for starters
An article in the SMH on Amanda Lohrey and her new novel 'The Philosopher's Stone'. I thought it was pretty cool where she saved up enough money from a teaching stint at UTS that she decided to spend 6 years in Hobart writing full-time.
Writer spins intrigue of web
Article in the SMH about Matthew Reilly publishing his next book Hover Car Racer on the web in 8 downloadable instalments for free.
Joel and Nash Edgerton
Went to Popcorn Taxi on Monday night at the Valhalla, where Bec Smith interviewed Joel and Nash Edgerton and showed clips of their work. It was a good night. There were maybe around 100 people there and it started at 7.30pm and didn't finish till almost 11pm. They're pretty talented brothers who've created their own opportunities to get where they are today. They wrote, directed, edited, acted in their own short film projects to learn their craft and since then have done a number of commercial and other projects. Nash made 'Deadline' in a week and won the Tropfest short film festival in 1997. They told the audience about how they got into the acting (Joel), directing (both), stunt work (Nash), editing (Nash), talked about their projects, budgets, the process, getting out there and just making their own films and then getting commercial work, and were happy to answer questions from the audience.
Popcorn Taxi put some of the transcripts on their website. It'd be good if they put this one up. They taped it, but didn't allow anyone else to take any photos or recording devices of any kind.
040322: Mon
Sydney Style exhibition pics
Elvis Di Fazio
tshirts
The Sydney Style exhibition was presented by the Object Gallery and the Sydney Opera House, and the exhibition was held at the Opera House from 6 January - 14 March 2004.
Designers showcased were:
Bernabei Freeman | Elvis Di Fazio | Edols Elliot | Yuri Kawanabe | Jon Goulder | Stefan Lie | Korban/Flaubert | Alistair Trung | Zoe MacDonnell | Liz Williamson | Sheridan Kennedy | Ruth McMillan
There are some pics of the exhibition at: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/gallery/kirsten/sydney_style.
[I was going through the pics on the train on the way back, deleting the old images already downloaded off the camera, and accidentally deleted two of the Edols Elliot glasswork pics].
Weekend
Went to the Waverly Bowling Club for a friend's birthday on Saturday. It was a scorching hot day. The club has a bar with v.cheap drinks, lawn bowling was $5 each, and there was a bbq going. It was the first time I've tried lawn bowls. It was fun!
There was group of more mature aged people to the right who were all dressed in white and their bowling balls seemed very closely clustered together, and were positioned very close to the white ball.
Our group were dressed in all colours, and we had to go barefeet so as not to ruin the lawn, and some of our balls went into the 'ditch' and all over the field. Towards the middle to the end of the game, some of us beginners were starting to get the hang of the weighted balls and got closer to the white ball. It was a fun afternoon!
Went to Matsuri in Surry Hills for dinner. They make the sushi and sashimi fresh and it tastes really great! But because they had a full house, the waiting time for our sushi and sashimi ended up being over an hour. Maybe next time, I'll try and get there a lot earlier or go another night.
Went to the Red Carpet short film festival on Sunday night. That was great fun! There was a break where they needed to find the film guy to roll the next film and they asked Gaye Bell - producer of 'Bowled Over' to speak about her film. She just decided to make a film, so wrote the script and got it made over 3 months. The film was great! And it was her first film!
The blurb for 'Bowled Over' reads: "This is a true story of Rosie, a school girl bullied by a nasty classmate. Matters come to a head when both girls vie for the attention of the class hero. Rosie finally speaks up for herself, but with disastrous consequences."
Then we went to Flavour of India for dinner then onto Badde Manors for coffee. Fun night out.
Popcorn Taxi Screenings Program - Sydney
Email received Mon 22/03/04 10:44 AM
"NEW PROGRAMS ANNOUNCED!
TONIGHT - MARCH 22ND
- VALHALLA - 7:30PM
NASH & JOEL EDGERTON IN CONVERSATION
Join us tonight at 7:30pm, for a very different Popcorn Taxi event, when we present an on-stage conversation with ACTOR / WRITER JOEL EDGERTON, and DIRECTOR, WRITER, STUNT MAN, and EDITOR NASH EDGERTON. In a Parkinson style interview with Journalist BEC SMITH (The Hollywood Reporter), the Edgerton brothers will casually talk about their experiences on and off the set making films, as well as their collaborative processes developing their latest feature film project. The program will include a selection of their work, including screenings of their early award-winning shorts.
MONDAY APRIL 5TH -
VALHALLA - 7:30PM
BUS 174
BUS 174 is a feature length documentary that tells the story of how a bus full of passengers was hijacked in Rio de Janeiro in broad daylight. The whole episode was broadcast live on Brazilian T.V, causing a revolt among the population. BUS 174 is a shattering piece of filmmaking that successfully ties the suspense of a real-time crime with the tragedy of a larger social ill. Interviews, images and events accumulate, driving the story to its sad end with the implacable momentum of a Greek tragedy. This film is an emotional cinematic experience you will want to share on the big screen. To provide further insight into the film, DIRECTOR JOSE PADILHA joins us 'live' via phone from RIO DE JANEIRO to take questions from the Popcorn Taxi audience. Full details about this program will follow shortly.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 7TH
- VALHALLA - 7:30PM
MEET HOLLYWOOD PRODUCER NEAL H MORITZ
Popcorn Taxi presents an on-stage conversation with NEAL H MORITZ, producer
of 42 features or television series in the last 10 years. Currently here
in Australia producing STEALTH, Moritz' credits include THE FAST AND THE
FURIOUS 1&2, SPY HUNTER, xXx 1&2, TORQUE, S.W.A.T., SWEET HOME
ALABAMA, SKULLS 1&2, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and many television
series including MR ED, STILL LIFE and GREG THE BUNNY.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 14th
- VALHALLA - 7:30PM
MEET DIRECTOR BRETT LEONARD
With a sneek-peek of never before seen clips from his new film MAN-THING
Director BRETT LEONARD (VIRTUOSITY, LAWNMOWER MAN, T-REX) joins us on
stage for a conversation about making films. The session will include
clips from his work, including a very special sneak-peek of "never
before seen" footage from his latest film from Marvel Comics MAN-THING
(to be released later in 2004). Brett will be joined by his long time
collaborator, producer GIMEL EVERETT to discuss his experiences telling
stories in the digital age. More details about this program soon!
WED APRIL 21ST + APRIL
28TH - VALHALLA - 7:30PM
SONY TROPFEST "BEST OF THE REST" PARTS 1 & 2
Popcorn Taxi, in association with SONY TROPFEST, presents BEST OF THE
REST, an exclusive showcase of the short listed films for Sony Tropfest
2004. This is your chance to see the films that almost made the final
16. Details of these programs will be announced soon!
Popcorn Taxi - Watch the films, Meet their makers!
POPCORN TAXI is made
possible through the in-kind and financial support of the following sponsors:
THE AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION, NEW SOUTH WALES FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE,
KODAK AUSTRALASIA, FOX STUDIOS AUSTRALIA, SONY AUSTRALIA, ATLAB AUSTRALIA,
SCREENSOUND AUSTRALIA and HOLDING REDLICH.
Popcorn Taxi
Ph. (02) 8353 2403,
Fax (02) 8353 2633, FSA #11, Driver Ave, Moore Park, NSW 1363.
http://www.popcorntaxi.com.au, contact@popcorntaxi.com.au
To SUBSCRIBE or UN-SUBSCRIBE
to the POPCORN TAXI EMAIL LIST
Go to - http://www.popcorntaxi.com.au.
Please forward this email to anybody you think may be interested in attending
Popcorn Taxi."
040320: Sat
Lucas Ihlein Interview and Online Gallery up on CG!
Bilateral exhibition,
Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide,
November 2002. Photo by Lara Thompson.
Lucas Ihlein is an artist who's interested in "art projects which draw attention to the elements of exchange and communication between people."
Lucas was a winner of the 2003 Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship for Emerging Artists. He presented a "kind of forensic analysis" of his "sabotage-by-bomb of Simon Barney's Briefcase Gallery, which took place a year earlier."
Lucas lived in a gallery for a month in an exhibition titled Bilateral, has been involved in Squatspace, and is currently involved with the development of NUCA, the Network of Uncollectable Artists. He's currently in Montreal researching "Expanded Cinema", Fluxus, social research projects, and more.
Read about Lucas's art projects, his philosophy on life and more at: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/lucas_ihlein.htm, and view his work at: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/gallery/lucas.
040319: Fri
Fashion House
This series starts tonight. Sounds like it may be an interesting series.
7:30pm - 8:30pm |
SBS
Genre: Real
Life
"This reality
documentary series is the ultimate battle of the frocks. Set over 7 weeks,
20 bright young fashion designers from 4 European countries (UK, Italy,
Sweden and France), with their base at the glamorous Accademia della Moda
in the heart of Rome, will stitch, cut, embroider and ruthlessly deconstruct
their way to fashion fame. They work, live, eat and sleep together and
the pressure is on in the fierce competition to win the coveted Gala prize
- an internship with a major European fashion house. In the tradition
of Big Brother and America's Next Top Model, young designers get voted
off by the audience until one single uber-designer prevails. Naturally,
in the world of fabrics and frocks, there's sure to be plenty of tears,
tantrums and bitchiness!"
Paycheck
Just saw the movie Paycheck with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman. It's a bit of fun action. John Woo's special effects makes the film bearable. Script, execution of the film and 'believability' factor not as high as MI2 nor Minority Report nor Face Off etc. I kind of 'noticed' Ben Affleck being in the film rather than just being able to watch the film and get absorbed by it. I'd still recommend it for some fun though. There's a fun review of it at Spliced Online.
Charlton, Abby and George
Saw Charlton Hill, Abby Dobson and George at the Eastwood Hotel Tuesday night. George were the headline act on this tour. I hadn't seen Abby Dobson perform since Leonardo Bride days. She was really great! She sang 'Don't Ask for More' - the song from The Secret Life of Us soundtrack. She said she doesn't usually sing that song. I'm glad she did. Charlton was looking very casual with a beret style hat on, a tie, short shirt etc. I thought his performance at the Vanguard in Newtown a while ago was much more 'involved'. George were good too. I'd only previously seen their music clips on TV.
It was great to be able to see the acts so up close. We were sitting literally a couple of metres away.
040316: Tue
Something's Gotta Give movie
Went and saw Something's Gotta Give starring Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves last night at Broadway. It's a great film. Funny script. Lots of laughs.
George: the unity tour
George are playing at a few venues this week. Special guests are Abby Dobson and Charlton Hill. Tix are $27.50. Will find out if any of the venues still have tix. It'll be a great show to catch. I really like all 3 acts. Gig dates are:
Tue 16: Eastwood Hotel
Wed 17: Harbord Diggers Club
Thu 18: Revesby WC
Fri 19: Parramatta Leagues Club
Sat 20: Campbelltown Catholic
040315: Mon
CG Zine #7 up soon!
Artist Lucas Ihlein will be featured on Chaos Generation zine #7. It's almost there!
040311: Thu
Making Venus on SBS - Friday 10pm (tomorrow night)
Popcorn Taxi enewsletter blurb:
"Making Venus, a documentary about the making (or un-making) of a low budget feature film called The Venus Factory has its TV premier on SBS this Friday night (March 12th) at 10pm.
Making Venus is a must see for anybody who ever thought filmmaking was easy! The film is an observational documentary that follows two first time feature film Producers, on their epic, roller coaster journey to make their first independent feature. From pre-production to the very end, Making Venus captures all the drama of making a low budget film, including disgruntled investors, removing a director, union troubles and a budget that sky-rockets out of control.
The film won prizes that include Australian Film Critics Circle Jury Prize for Best Documentary and Inside Film's Independent Spirit Award."
Yahoo TV program blurb:
"In 1997, two cousins (Jason and Julian), felt it was time to change their lives. Armed with $100,000, a three-minute film idea and an award-winning film director, they decided that their script, The Venus Factory, was too big to be told in three minutes. So they decided to produce a feature film. This program documents a journey through pre-production, union trouble, a script being re-written only days before the shoot, and escalating costs. Four and a half years, two directors and more than a million dollars later, Jason and Julian have discovered that the glamorous world of filmmaking wasn't quite what they thought it would be."
Leah Purcell doco
There was a doco on Leah Purcell - well-known Aboriginal singer, actress, director ... on Message Sticks, SBS, 6pm a couple of weeks ago. One thing she did was to make a list of things she wanted to achieve and it didn't matter if she didn't know how to achieve it or whether she could at that point. Anyway a few years later, she ticked off all the items on that list. She made another one. Now she's almost completed that list too. So she's about to make up another list.
I've read that point before. Basically if you don't have any goals etc, then you don't know what you're aiming for so you'll never 'achieve' it so to speak. Kind of like driving aimlessly without any destination/s in mind.
040310: Wed
Camp - the movie
Saw Camp last week at the Dendy Newtown, courtesy of the Cyclic Defrost tix giveaway. The movie was like watching a double episode of Dawson's Creek with some singing and dancing. Daniel Letterle's character Vlad reminded me a lot of James van der Beek's character Dawson.
040305: Fri
Suburban Edge
- talk at the ACP
(Australian Centre of Photography)
Saturday 6 March, 2004, 1.00pm FREE
Exhibition curator Alasdair Foster discusses the work in Suburban Edge with a number of the exhibiting artists. Exploring the subcultures that exist on the fringes of the suburbs this informal gallery floortalk will span skating, hooning, tattooing, piercing, teenage sexuality and much more. A contemporary conversation in which the audience is very much involved.
Further information at: http://www.acp.au.com/edge
Edge Play
- forum at the ACP
(Australian Centre of Photography)
Saturday 3 April, 2004, 2.00-4.00pm FREE
Skating a derelict warehouse, permanently inscribing the body with a tattoo, hooning and radical surfing. In our increasingly ordered and secure society what is it draws us to explore the edges, to challenge our comfort zone. In this free-ranging cross-disciplinary discussion forum we discuss the edgier practices of suburban life as a means to defining our own humanity. And explore the role of art in that experience.
Further information at: http://www.acp.au.com/edge
Exhibition at the ACP
I went to ACP last Saturday to buy Photofile #70 and had a look at the exhibition that was showing at the time. It featured some of Nat Paton's work and other photographers' work.
One guy's photos featured his headshot in all the photos but the cool thing about it for me was the way the photos were hung up. His work was printed on a bubblejet printer and pinned up on the walls using push pins. I loved that! It's so simple and cost effective - no need for expensive framing costs etc. Plus if those photos were lost, I'm sure the artist could just print off another set of photos.
Bairro Portugueês
- Petersham Food and Wine Fair on this Sunday
They'll be Portuguese
food, wine, music, entertainment and other activities.
Time: 1-6pm.
Where: Audley St, Petersham, Sydney
W: http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au
040304: Thu
Lysistrata - Play
at the Burton Street Theatre, Darlinghurst
Opens Thursday, 11th March 2004 at 8pm
"Impulse Theatre Company is proud to announce a Grotowski Workshop production of Aristophenes' classic war of the sexes comedy, Lysistrata. Director: Stephen Wallace, Producer: Michael Gillett.
Synopsis: Like you would expect of any self-respecting Greek chick, Lysistrata is totally over the fellas of Hellas and their testosterone fuelled polis politics. She and her suffering sisterhood of the other waring city-states are sick of the never-ending succession of wars being fought throughout the land for the usual, lame, territorial excuses masquerading as moral high ground. The reality is their husbands are never home, their sons are being slaughtered and there is constant hardship on the home front.
Under the leadership of Lysistrata, the spunkiest of the Athenian women, they all decide to take matters into their own hands. They capture the Acropolis and declare that they will not have sex with their men or release Treasury funds from the Acropolis until peace is negotiated.
The men, however, don't take this lying down. The lines are drawn. Battle has begun....
Lysistrata opens at the Burton Street Theatre in Darlinghurst on 8pm, Thursday, 11th March.
We hope that has got you aroused - but if you want to be satisfied come to Impulse Theatre's new production of Lysistrata. Tickets are available at the box office at Burton Street Theatre, 39 Burton Street, Darlinghurst (corner of Palmer Street, opposite the Tap Gallery). Or to pre-book your tickets, call 9660 5725. Tickets are $20, concession tickets are $15 and Wednesday discount tickets are $12.
For more info on the play go to: http://www.chaosgeneration.com/lysistrata.htm.
For Media Enquiries,
contact Sarah Runcie on 0402 107 043 or email sarahruncie@hotmail.com."
040303: Wed
Redcarpet Night - Sunday 21st March 2004
When: 7:15pm Sunday
21st March 2004
Where: Valhalla
Cinema, Glebe
Come see some of the talents of the short film industry, from first time beginner to the established filmmaker in a showcase of drama and comedy. Featuring the following shorts:-
Kook Kanook
The Third Corpse
Collared
The Path
Bowled Over
One Shot at Life
Another blind date
Cry Baby
The Visitor
Guys Life
Eating Out
This screening is proudly supported by Australian Screen Directors Association (ASDA)
WHERE: Valhalla Cinema,
Glebe
WHEN: 7:15pm 21st March 2004
BOOKINGS: (02) 9970-8101 - tickets available from the 8th March
COST: $13 a ticket (no concessions)
PROFITS: All profits for the night go to registered charity Northern Beaches
Interchange who provide respite care for disabled children
For further enquiries
please do not hesitate to either email us at redcarpetnight@hotmail.com
or phone on 0425 757 468
Step
Inside Design magazine - Jan/Feb 04 issue
http://www.stepinsidedesign.com
Saw a copy of the January/February 2004 issue of Step Inside Design at the newsagent in the Broadway shopping centre. There was an article in it titled: "The STEP Field Guide to Emerging Design Talent 2004". They asked 'esteemed design practitioners and critics' they knew to recommend one or two emerging designers under 35 yrs and went from there. They ended up with a list of 25 designers across the U.S. and beyond. Will post more once I've had a chance to read the blurbs about them and go to their websites.
Reading a Digital 'print' version of a magazine - Zinio reader
I went to the Step Inside Design website and found that you can subscribe to a digital version of the magazine. You could download a sample copy for free. You download a Zinio reader (http://www.zinio.com) and you also get the November/December 2003 issue of Step Inside Design. It took a couple of minutes to download on cable and then I was able to read it.
Advantages:
I appreciate the fact that if the designers'/editors' intention is to provide the same visual/ graphic layout experience as the hard copy magazine, then that objective has been achieved. You can click on an article title in the contents page and it jumps to that article. You can also manually click each page so the 'page' looks like it's turning over to the next double page spread in the magazine. You can zoom in on part of the story so you can read the text more easily just like using a magnifying glass. Also, If you print a story, the printout retains the graphic layout of the magazine so it's like you're printing the article directly from the magazine.
I guess if you're a print designer and you want to maintain absolute design control over what the reader sees, then this is probably about as close as you will get to delivering that experience. Also, if you've already designed the files in Quark for example, it's probably more cost and time efficient to be able to save those files to be readable online without needing to redesign the pages.
Designing for the web
But most people don't want to try and 'read' a magazine on their screen as it's hard on your eyes to try and read columns of text on the screen. There's too much scrolling involved and involves using the magnifying glass feature and the hand cursor feature to be able to read and move to different blocks of text.
If you're designing articles for the web user, then simple, uncluttered layouts enable the audience to quickly skim the text for the main headings, read text grabs and view images. You can also hyperlink to further references on the web quickly and easily. Also if you provide access to print friendly versions, it means the user can print out an article without wasting lots of ink on printing graphic intensive pages.
Therefore, rather than trying to replicate print exactly online, content providers could perhaps look into designing and publishing a 'web version' for easy 'reading' of their articles online.
David Carson Interview in Step Nov/Dec 03
Sidenote: The Nov/Dec 03 issue of Step has a Q+A interview with David Carson. It's a great article! Carson didn't know the 'rules' of graphic design when he first started, and so just designed the pages. It seems that without those 'constraints', he was able to design freely and in the process, invented his own unique style, which everyone else thought of as innovative, breaking new ground etc. He also worked with almost no budget on his earlier magazines and so had to find innovative, creative ways to design with what materials and resources he had available to him.
Sidenote: The Zinio website has a list of other publications which use the Zinio reader to offer a digital magazine version of their publication. There's also a list of freebie trial ones you can download including titles like Architectural Record February 2004 issue.
National Trust Heritage
Festival 2004: Photographic Competition
http://www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/photocomp1.html
"The National Trust is running a state and regional photographic competition inspired by the Year of the Built Environment, Trust properties, their histories and surroundings. Each property is associated with a theme and has plenty of scope for creative interpretation. Themes range from sanctuaries to borders, shopping to housing.
Regional finalists entries will be exhibited at either a National Trust property or community venue during the Heritage Festival with a prize awarded for each theme. Winning regional entries will be exhibited at the beautiful National Trust property Lindesay, at Darling Point, Sydney and published in the National Trust magazine Reflections. Regional finalists will be in the running for a major state prize and the winning image will be reproduced on a postcard with acknowledgement."
|
|
The
National Trust Presents: The Many Faces of Luna Park040302: Tue
Harvie Krumpet - oscar winning short film!
Adam Elliot is the
writer, director and animator of Harvie Krumpet. This claymation short
film has won an Oscar®
in the Short Film - Animation category at the 76th Annual Academy Awards®.
Harvie Krumpet website: http://harviekrumpet.com.
AGE
article on the Oscar win.
Story
"HARVIE KRUMPET is the biography of an ordinary man. Brought up in a Polish forest with his father, (a lumberjack), and mother, (suffering from lead poison), we observe a person seemingly cursed with bad luck. Born with Tourette’s Syndrome, Harvie is marginalised from the rest of village and gets used to having stones thrown at him as a child.
At the age of eighteen his parents are found frozen to death on their bicycles, just as the Germans invade and force Harvie to flee to Australia where he works in a rubbish dump. Bad luck follows him to Australia where he goes in and out of hospital on a regular basis; from being struck by lightning to having his testicle removed, his misfortune seems unending.
He does, however, find love when Nurse Valerie Burstall walks into his ward. They get married and move into Val's flat with her two cats and diseased parrot. They adopt a little girl called Ruby, (when Harvie is diagnosed sterile), and many happy years follow.
On Harvie's 65th birthday, Val suddenly dies, leaving Harvie alone in life again. He quickly ages, is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is shifted into a nursing home after a neighbor finds him trying to withdraw cash from the microwave.
Instead of withering away, Harvie finds rejuvenation and excitement with a fellow Alzheimer's patient, Hamish McGrumbel. Together they entertain the other residents with their mischievous acts; getting drunk, practical jokes, escaping from the home and naked puppet shows.
Despite these high jinks, Harvie's condition worsens and he falls in and out of hallucinations and depression, almost opting for suicide before being saved by a very special woman who enters his life and steers him to a new realization about life."
You can watch two short films: Harvie Krumpet + Roy Hollsdotter Live at the Dendy Newtown in Sydney. Check the Dendy website for session times: http://www.dendy.com.au.
It
will screen on SBS on Monday 8th of March 2004 at 9.00-9.30pm.
Details: http://www.sbs.com.au/whatson/index.php3?progdate=08:03:2004.
Also be sure to check
out Simon Sellars interview with Adam Elliot at Sleepybrain.net:
http://www.sleepybrain.net/adam.html.
It's a really interesting interview!
You can also buy Harvie
Krumpet merchandise over at the ACMI shop at:
http://www.acmi.net.au/85FBB3C84C9045008BC13F68808C7D2E.htm.
Weblog
Index
February 2004
January
2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
About CG | Editor: Kirsten Lowe | PO Box 559, Broadway 2007, Sydney, Australia
Ph: 0410 310 238 | Fax: +61 2 9555 1752 | Email: info (at) chaosgeneration (dot) com