form&funk

FORMat: A lovely 2.35:1 aspect ratio

2009-03-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's not really about the aspect ratio...

Phriday Photo

2009-03-06T12:17:00.001-08:00

Form: Less is More

2009-03-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

The Charles is playing all of the Oscar Nominated Shorts from this year. Given the Oscar's history of tear-jerker, feel-gooder nominees, I was skeptical of what I was going to see, but I shouldn't have been.
Whoever set the standard for a movie length at 90 minutes may have made a mistake. These compressed stories were haunting, hysterical, beautiful, depressing... whirlwinds of excellence. I left the theatre feeling a bit like I had been emotionally traumatized, but in a really good way. They weren't all great, some were just ok, but they were short so it didn't matter. I wasn't resentful of the lost time. Easy to move on. No hard feelings.

The show times are here...
If you can't make it before Thursday, they are available for DL on iTunes.

When art meets science, giant spiders form.

2009-02-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

For five days last fall, there was a gigantic spider roaming through the streets of Liverpool.
(The brains behind it)

Form: In the beginning there was Macintosh. (If I recall correctly)

2009-02-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

The Funk We're In

2009-01-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

Baltimore is taking detrimental cultural blows.

Thankfully, for the moment this image is a quite dramatic Photoshop rendition of the currently still alive-and-kicking Senator Theatre, no doubt designed to tug at the heartstrings of all who treasure this theatre. Heartstring-tugging is old hat for the owner of The Senator, who has been able to keep the doors open after being on the verge of closing countless times, thanks to contributions from many sources. Baltimore has a sky-is-the-limit love for The Senator, but this time (thanks to the economy of course) the money we have to save it is limited to virtually nothing. In the case of The Senator, money actually can buy you happiness.
As we speak, The Senator Theatre is holding a press conference so that the public can show their support in it's transition to a non-profit 'Arts & Entertainment' venue. This appears to be the only way to save it. What this means is that The Senator won't end up looking like the above photo. But the classic movie theatre tradition of The Senator as we know it will probably cease to exist over the course of the next two years. For an idea of what to expect, think The Patterson... Not that there is anything wrong with that, but, there kind of is. So continue to support The Senator. Bookmark it and remember to place priority on The Senator over Muvico Egyptico. They will still be showing movies for some time to come.
This means that if you really want to see the Wrestler, don't go see it at the Landmark. Hold your horses and wait until it comes to The Senator. It should be there in a couple weeks.

F|O|R/M : New Identities

2009-01-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

Originally I was going to post something b-flat about the new PEPSI packaging and logo redesign. Something along the lines of...
'new packaging AGAIN?', or
'was that intended to boost the American morale?', or
'in this economy do we really need PEPSI spending millions of dollars on new super graphics for the sides of their truck?' and so on....
But instead, I thought it was about time (though I am 9 months late), to give some props to MICA for redesigning their identity.
They went from old-timey and BLAND:

To -sorry I have to say it- GRAND almost over night:

Though it was a bit of a slow process, I'm proud to see that the school is evolving with the rest of the art world. Most artists are all too familiar with the fact that art school does a sub-par job of preparing them for the real world. Maybe MICA will be different.
This new identity spans across the entirety of the school's reach, from the website to the admissions package, even to their strange, white, windowless vans, with the new logo emblazoned on the side, though I haven't quite figured out what the purpose could be for all of those strange, white, windowless vans... Unless it's a mobile method for showing off the new logo.
The new identity is solid, classy, and unlike PEPSI, there will be no need for a redesign in ten years. It is timeless. If I come back to Earth in 200 years, I hope to still be seeing it on the sides of their strange, white, windowless spaceships.
Though the design of the new identity was OUTSOURCED(!)(Would it would have made too much sense if all of this had been designed by MICA students, and thus providing testimony to the school's ability to prepare their students for the real world?) But who am I kidding... art school will never do that. Anyway, it was designed by Pentagram, a nice, very well rounded design firm.

Form: In Praise of Shadows

2008-12-23T12:35:00.000-08:00

Eugene Sakhnenko is the kind of photographer whose work I view and think, 'I remember having that idea once kindof... I just figured someone else had done it so it never materialized....' These are the photographers who inspire the rest of us when we've been convinced that all the ideas had finally been taken.
Especially when you get an idea such as... a series of portraits of the backs of people's heads... And 6 months later, there's someone who did it faster then you, and it's better because the subjects are birds. http://www.audreycorregan.com/ (click on 'obviously').
So they take the cake. And I'm sure there is someone out there cursing Eugene as I cursed Audrey's lovely portraits.
Although Eugene's website is a work in progress and his artist statements are a bit cute in their simplicity, when I see his work I am reminded of something that seems to be a bit of a phenomenon. And this is that the nationality of a photographer is captured on a camera sensor as if it were just another color in the spectrum of light passing through the lens. It is impossible for a photographer to attempt to hide their nationality through their images. The camera never lies. We could both photograph the same subject side by side, and he would capture it differently through his Ukrainian eyes. Surely it is somehow related to the complexity of the relationship between our eyes and minds. And it doesn't help that most of the time they communicate without our conscious knowledge. So the idea that a moment of this communication could be captured with the click of a shutter... That doesn't seem very easy to conceal. That's not just an accent.

Form: Merry Gigahertz

2008-12-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

It took me a couple minutes to figure out what was going on, but in the end it's quite amazing.

Phorm: Phriday Photo

2008-12-12T18:10:00.001-08:00

shameless self promotion.

Form: Ponderosa Paper

2008-12-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Yulia Brodskaya has created a niche for herself by, simply put, curling thousands of pieces of paper to form typographic illustrations. She has harnessed her talent quite well, and as you look through her site thinking the next piece couldn't possibly get any more interesting then the last (because what else could anyone do with with curled pieces of paper) it does! Though they are a bit feminine, they are very inspiring.

Form&Funk: Gem Sweater Genius

2008-12-12T11:07:00.000-08:00

I was happy to see that the Gem Sweater gallery has not died out, and though it is a few years old, it's worth revisiting because of it's legacy - like quality. Check out the rest of the site, especially the Gold Pants music video. Leslie Hall is a genius.

Funk: X Mas shopping. Blegh.

2008-12-05T11:39:00.001-08:00

If you're one of the unfortunate folks who have to buy a bunch of stuff and junk during the holidays, don't look to lame places, or even sort of lame places. You know what I'm talking about.
Shop local and support the Charm City Craft Mafia. This weekend there are a couple craft fair sorts of things you can go to. It will be like elementary school when they had santa's workshop, and your mom gave you $2 to buy her a christmas present, and you bought a 25 cent glittery tree ornament that said #1 MOM, and then you kept the $1.75 for yourself and bought a reeses peanut butter cup and a weird eraser to go on the top of your pencil......

.... Except it won't be like that at all because it will be cool. You'll be able to find all kinds of classy, stellar gifts stuff for everyone, including your #1 MOM. So turn blegh into bleghctacular!

Funk: A movie at 12am? What a novel idea.

2008-12-05T08:35:00.001-08:00

Midnight movies are back in style. Tonight, it's Robocop at The Charles.

2008-12-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

It's time for a couple BALTIMORE tidbits.

In the late 1800's, the USS Constellation, that 'ole boat parked in our harbor, intercepted slave ships in the Congo river and freed 705 slaves.

That restaurant that our parents all boohooed about when it closed, Haussner's, used to have whale on the menu. And sometimes moose. And once my Gramma told me giraffe, but I don't buy that. Apparently there was also a ball of string made by the employees for 'generations' that weighed 825 pounds and was four feet tall and they actually auctioned it off and it actually sold, for over $8,000, actually! Believe it or not. But I checked these tidbits to make sure they were true. Except the giraffe thing.

Funk: The revolution will not be televised

2008-12-02T14:37:00.000-08:00

There isn't much live footage of Gil Scott-Heron performing as a young man...
But I found this video of the album cover with a lonely record playing in the foreground to be quite a well composed (and due to the syncopated lighting in the background somewhat amusing) ambient accompaniment to the music. There is a series of these on youtube....

Form: One of those truely timeless classics

2008-12-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

You can even buy a Powers of 1o flip book.

Form: Ode to Otl

2008-11-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

Otl Aicher's beautiful ( and very comprehensive) identity design for the 1972 Munich Olympics remains one of best and most timeless works of art in the world of design. 36 years later, it's still inspiring.

form: Avedon for Everyone

2008-11-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

The Corcoran has pulled together a remarkable collection of Richard Avedon's photographs pertaining to politics, war, government, power, these sorts of things...
You don't have to love photography to appreciate the man's work.
The show is a bit steep, $14, but a collection this comprehensive doesn't come along every day.... Click here for info about the Corcoran and the show.

form&funk: Memorializing Zorak

2008-11-17T10:23:00.000-08:00

Glass sculptures of the life (and death) cycle of one of mother earth's most intriguing inhabitants.

While these are truly genius, they also make me giggle.
To purchase one, click here.

Funk: BarrackArt

2008-11-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

Original Barrack action figure art.
Buy the doll and make your own.
See the rest of them.

Form: Quay Friday

2008-11-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

Since the late 70's/early 80's, The (identical twin) Quay brothers have been creating animated shorts that are uniquely beautiful and haunting, perfectly paired with commanding original scores. No words. Just puppets, dolls, dirt, rust, and Dracula music. They will convince you that somewhere near Transylvania exists a lost, decaying puppet world caught in perpetual rainy twilight.
You can rent 'The Brothers Quay Collection' from Video Americain on St Paul Street.

2008-11-13T12:29:00.000-08:00