Friday, 4 October 2013

Braquia Part I

This work is the first part of an installation that takes place in two continents at two different times. Namely, Australia and Europe and in that order. 
It was born on the preceding days to another birthday in which I sought to be mindful of the key moments, even brief lapses of time in every single day that were meaningful to my life and represent it with a bird. 
It was paramount for this project to resist the impulse of perfecting anything. Each one of the 31 birds is 'perfect' in their own right and difference was welcome as a natural element of life's own unpredictability.
By the end of the month, thirty one birds had been born out of inspiration. Now the second part is on its way.






Wednesday, 11 September 2013

Assembling memories

From the year 2000 until its completion in 2001 I devoted some very enjoyable time to writing my Bachelor's thesis dissertation "The filmic space"

The first chapters dealt with the evolution of film techniques. The second part evolved as an analysis of major film movements, their cultural and socio-political context and how these elements played a fundamental role in "the creation of filmic space" as the main academic contribution of my thesis.

Most of the thesis' sources of information were conformed by books, cinema journals and magazines, as well as the movies themselves and a few audio interviews, and to a lesser degree, information on the internet; rare at the time.

During the writing period which mainly took place in Guadalajara, México, finding documentation was a valuable and exciting experience because I had to explore places I had never been to before, such  as CAAV "Centro de Arte Audiovisual" (Centre for Audiovisual Arts)  An old house in the city centre. The moment you stepped into its luminous hallway you found yourself surrounded by huge framed posters of Peter Greenaway's movies and other film titans, so all in all, not a bad welcoming.
This place was an important revelation and soon after my first visit, I enrolled in several short courses and diplomas that nurtured my avidness for researching more on the seventh art.
CAAV also had a somewhat small library replete with extraordinary books that made up for the lack of actual space.
Down in the basement and with an independent entrance that had access to the street, there was/is a small theatre "videosala", where I first watched a whole lot of rare, auteur and independent movies; my first David Lynch's and other treasures by Stanley Kubrick, John Cassavettes, Wim Wenders, Ernst Lubitsch, The French New Wave, and countless more, including cult cinema not apt for the quizzical.

The excitement of these memories was recently stirred by a lucky finding on the internet. It is a masterclass by Film Director, Alfred Hitchcock who explains in a witty, easy manner of speech what editing means.

The time I've dedicated to the study of film analysis is an ongoing interest. I simply enjoy it but I could undoubtedly have done with Mr Hitchcock's  mentorship back in my uni days!

The material below has been found at Open Culture's website and if you also love film analysis, then you will enjoy!


http://www.openculture.com/2013/04/alfred_hitchcocks_seven-minute_editing_master_class.html





Wednesday, 21 August 2013

The artist's studio

Ozenfant's studio came to my attention a while ago and almost by mistake while searching on the net.

It was a very pleasant finding and I dare say, it made my idea of an artist studio take concrete form.
The studio had these great big windows which curved right up to the ceiling which most likely allowed for natural light variations and the screening of the seasons.

This image had another quality. It took me back in time to late childhood, when I begged my parents to go and knock at a complete stranger's house. What motivated me?
There was an unconventional house in our neighbourhood. It had some triangular shapes and interesting windows and through them, you could see a series of paintings on the walls.
I assumed that the person who lived there was a painter and I wanted him or her (turned out it was a man) to teach me how to paint.

My parents agreed and the afternoon came when we were knocking at his door.
The painter actually refused to give me lessons but I wondered what was at that point and time more attractive to me, was it the space or the actual interest in painting.…
Perhaps it was both.

Years later I had another experience with the perception of Studio space while visiting Mexican painter Frida Khalo's house-museum in México, City. La Casa Azul de Frida Khalo y Diego Rivera (The Blue House) It is a modernist construction with windows that face to the patio and the garden below. I loved it.

More recently I discovered another beautiful house-studio: That of Sophie Taeuber and Jean Arp which  paralleled with my increasingly interest in Taeuber's work.

Two notes to conclude: Ozenfant's studio was built by architect Le Corbusier, and Sophie Taeuber is the only woman to have ever appeared on a Swiss bank note.. and I guess this is an off-track way to finish this entry because both were Swiss and both appear on Swiss bank notes. Wonder what they'd think..


Picture of Painter Ozenfant's Studio

…I long to have mine, 
Hanka

Links:
Sophie Taeuber's & Jean Arp's studio

La casa Azul de Frida Khalo y Diego Rivera