When Prada met Yang...

Chinese video artist Yang Fudong recently did a video for Prada's 2010 Spring/Summer Collection. It's part film noir, part In The Mood for Love and part cheesy fashion video. It also reminds me of "Kung Fu Hustle" and "Lust: Caution" due to the same sets that were used in all 3 pieces.

Dr. Loon would say this is PoMo - just look at the collapsing of time and space - the conflation of different periods of Chinese culture and dress, fused with the globalizing world of fashion; finally putting this in the perpetual presence and eliminating historical fact/lineage.

ah yes.... his teachings still run deep within this brain of mine.

With all that said, the video does have some stunning visuals and some rather poignant moments - though it can be a bit laboured at times with the deliberately long gazes and pregnant pauses...

random list of movies that i like...

i'm in the process of building up my DVD movie collection, so i figured i'd pen them down here as a catalog of sorts... it might also reveal more about my eclectic character!

1. Band of Brothers
2. Saving Private Ryan
3. Infernal Affairs
4. Sister Act 1 & 2
5. The Little Mermaid
6. 300
7. A Time to Kill
8. Becoming Jane
9. The Devil wears Prada
10. SATC (the series and movie)
11. Family Guy
12. Center Stage
13. Pride and Prejudice
14. Tropic Thunder
15. The Sound of Music
16. Breakfast at Tiffany's

pass the paper bag please...

In the event that you got slightly queasy from looking at creepy people, let me lend you a helping hand and pass you a paper bag...(sorry for the lame joke)

not just any paper bag, but one that has been meticulously handled to form a 3D miniature of a tree that hangs delicately from the roof of the paper bag. From McDonald's to Tiffany's to any form of paper product, Japanese artist Yuken Teruya creates minute pieces of work that resemble shadow theatre and speaks very much of a Japanese aesthetic of intricate handiwork

more creepy people...

Today seems to be "celebrate creepy people day" on my blog... I've always had a fascination with the slighty macabre and bizarre and these sculptures by Kevin Francis Gray pretty much fit the bill. Saw them at this year's Armory show and I thought they were part kitsch, part glamour and part relic. Some of the works remind me of Bernini's Ecstasy sculptures and yet they look like they ought to belong in Michael Jackson's private art collection, or some cheesy Texan oil millionaire's souped up trailer trash mansion. Contradictory for sure, but beautiful to look at for sure... Kevin's work can be found at Goff + Rosenthal in NYC.





In other creepy people news - Evan Penny - the artist who never fails to make me giddy... not out of awe but because he works play so much with perspective that it makes my eyes go wonky. I first saw his work at a bank's gallery in NYC...i had an argument with my friend cos we couldn't figure out if the sculptures were deliberately skewed to reflect the different angles from different viewpoints or if the windows had some special film that skewed the perspective of the sculptures when you moved... eitherway.. it was unnerving and mesmerizing like watching a train wreck.. nevermind the fact that i was thisclose to fainting, i had to continue looking.

creepy old men...

Recently came across the work of Bernardi Roig...

all i can say is that it's creepy, but sublime in a 'Twilight Zone' kind of way. It's also kind of transfixing - maybe it's all the light. But i like it..in fact i'm fascinated by his work!

They are almost like happenings, yet at the same time they have a Dan Flavin quality to it - 'interventions' between the 2D and 3D plane I believe was what I got from that lecture on conceptual art... It's contemplative, eerie, voyeuristic in some sense and yet perfectly calming...

it's a hawt mess... in a good way.

Bernardi is represented by Claire Oliver in NYC

Logorama

Brilliant short film made with a whole slew of brand name logos. Absolutely brilliant, witty screenshot of contemporary pop culture. Totally deserved its win at the 82nd Academy Awards!