G-4
P-1
Penelope by Mark Palansky
Love this movie. Ok maybe I was just tired of watching movies that did not happy endings… maybe I was int he mood for a fairytale I hadn't heard a million times, either way, I think this was a great movie. Wonderful visuals, great acting, good story. it was well done and had all the elements that a good fairytale has. It made me think… I haven't given my protagonist enough depth, not to mention I think I hate my story. Rewriting it completely will change everything.. is that ok? Not the point, though christina ricci was wonderful and her character was everything you want a fairytale princess to be, the character max/johnny had so much more depth to him I felt that my male character is lacking.
The Fountain by director Darren Aronofsky
I watched the Fountain for the spiritual aspect of the movie. The ideas behind reincarnation, living forever, the rebirthing place… the love story was less than stellar, and High Jackman was rather week i this role. The aspects of spirituality however were beautiful in their detail and ironic nature.
Swimfan directed by John Polson written by Charles F. Bohl &
Phillip Schneider
A newer, younger version of Fatal attraction, this movie deals with obsession with another person to the point of murder. As many of these movies are, it was kinda campy at times and lacking in detail about certain aspects. It was obsession in concentrate, dilute before using. I jokingly refer to Madison Bell as my new heroine, but it is the similarities between myself and these overwhelmingly disturbed characters that prompts much of my work at time. THe ability to COMPLETELY loose yourself in your own reality, the knowledge that you ARE right about the situation and they need only admit that. Its a certain insanity, but also a freeing experience to have absolute certainity about your world (even if it is wrong.) I think the example of swimfan and Fatal Attraction are extreme examples, but I would not doubt the validity of the stories as purely false.
Valley of the dolls directed by Mark Robson, writen by Jacqueline Susann (novel)
Helen Deutsch (screenplay)
Speaking of personal obsessions, this movie has so many "coincidences" it was almost scary… Jenifer and Tony… My own personal obsessions other name and my other name, the directors name so amazingly close to his, and of course the general drug usage, sex for money, lost love… This was an amazing movie without the correlations to my own life… Of course I'm not famous, have never struggled through that situation, but I think this movie can be related to without the stardom. Unlike the other movies I've watched lately this one was well thought out, well written, well directed… They just don't make movies like this anymore… I lost count of the number of famous artworks I saw in the movie. Jennifers character in particular was very strong for me, though she didn't star as much as the others. Her own personal hell of mother, sister-in-law, sick husband, and unable to live the life she truly wanted. I felt her pain more so than the others, but the view of addiction from the different characters was a great way to approach a similar situation from different points of view. The different paths that they followed are the three most typical paths of addiction, but even in the "Good" outcome there was a loss there that was very deep. I would like to find an account of addiction that isn't completely negative. There has go to be a way to view addiction not as a negative part of someone life but as a characteristic. This needs more thought.
G-3
P-5
HellBoy 2 And Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro is one of my favorite directors. I’ve mentioned him in past semesters, but forgot in this one. I watched hellboy 2 last night which I did not think would end up in this packet in anyway. But I was really wrong. Apart from the movie being pretty great in my opinion (thought I am a but biased being I love hellboy) there was an awesome animated sequence and the behind the scenes footage was worth renting the movie even without the movie to watch.
First del Toro is a favorite for many reasons. He stands by his ideals. He turned down numerous offers to direct big hollywood movies in order to make hellboy and hellboy2. He fought for 7 years to get Ron Perlman as Hellboy. He said he would not shoot it without him. It’s a good thing too. I can’t imagine that movie with anyone else. He has the greatest voice. He’s funny, in his gag reels and behind the scenes, he’s the first to crack a joke. He believes in the healing power of fairy tales an despite having a trying life have overcome and down what he wants to do with his life. His work is amazing and with the exception of Mimic, doesn’t compromise or cut corners, (and he blames the disaster of Mimic on the producers interfering.) THe amount of work he puts into his productions, his own personal touches is amazing.
2nd the animation sequence which depicted the story of the elves being read by Red’s father to him as a child was done in digital animation, but looks like claymation. THe other CGI stuff is amazing af course, but it’s suppose to look real, as real as possible at least. This animation was meant to look like Howdy Doody (because young Red really liked his Howdy Doody.) The use of green screen gives it a feel of being puppets in the real world rather than puppets on a stage. THe characters in the animation are mostly faceless with very little detail and move like claymation or puppets. it is an interesting use of Digital animation.
3rd The extras were great. Guillermo del Toro did a tour of the world he created for the non human characters, the troll market. He talked about his own drawings and ideas that went into the underground world as well as the art department work. The amount of detail that went into that movie… I find it sad that most of it will be destroyed or taken apart. THe handle of one door was hand carved with navigational elements. It really brings it to the front burner just how much work goes into creating a movie and the artistic elements there in. Yeah, it may be a blockbuster movie and it may be dismissed as something not worthy of art, but really, when you look at the amount of work put into it, shouldn’t it be seen in a different light?
Indie Sex
Another sex in film video, this one focusing on censorship. The documentary followed the movie industry from birth to present and detailed all the codes and restrictions, bans and changes that were made. It amazes me how some people can get so worked up over a film. We allow huge amounts of violence to be in films, but sex is illegal. Sex is a natural part of life, violence isn’t. I get so frustrated with people when I see these things. One part I found very interesting was that in 1930-1934 movies were made that the actresses were nude, and there was much implied sex but they were still considered actresses of the big screen (Jean Harlow for example) but in today's world, porno os a stigma that almost completely bars you from the traditional kinds of movies.
Pornography
Secret history of civilization 2
This one was focusing on the porn industry beginning with film. Deep throat, Behind the green door, the way porn movies went from being stag films shown just for men in clubs and frats to the release of porn on video. It put a lot of emphasis on the change of porn from being, just video of people having sex, to artistic films with a story. POrn star Marylyn Chambers talks about how she did Behind the green door in order to be able to do other movies, but was branded a porn star after that. That is one things that definitely seems to have stayed the same over the years… until recently that is. In an article in the JournalGazette.net journalist Reed Johnson explains that porn stars are finding it easier to cross over into the big budget movie world now. Partly due to Paris Hiltons sex tape and much to do with Traci Lords the most famous cross over actress. Perhaps soon porn stars will be more widely accepted as actresses and all porn will be amateur.
stripped
Maybe it comes from already knowing this life and being a dancer for so long, but this video did not offer up any new information for me. Everything seems rather redundant. It was a well made documentary that was interesting, but information wise, It did not offer anything new to me.
Women who run with wolves
This book is a great book for any woman to read as long as she doesn’t have any preconceived notions about it. I tried to get a copy of this book back in my first semester and was unable to find it. I was expecting more of a “throw all caution to the wind, rid yourself of baggage” book. It has turned out to be more of a…. almost domestic, in some ways book. When I think of wild women, which I have been called, I do not think of people who are trying to find a soul mate or are interested in settling down. Maybe I read the book wrong, maybe I misunderstood what it was trying to say. The stories as illustrations for our lives related greatly to what I am trying to do with my story an they are helpful in understanding different aspects about myself. THe part about finding your own tribe really hit home since I have never fit with my family and have always called my true family my friends.
Cat’s eye
I was told to read Mageret Atwood for her voice, in order to strengthen my own writers voice. What I found was myself in the book. THe story o the girl who just doesn’t fit in . The one who hurts herself and would rather be sick than face her “friends.” And yet, even knowing this stays friends with the same kind of people. The book takes part from two points of view herself as adult, herself as child. One things she wrote really touched me, a lot. Talking as an adult with two daughters she speaks of hoe she tried to hide what was going on from her daughters, because she didn’t want them to see her hurt and unable to cope with the world. THe daughters however knew it exactly what was going on the entire time and were not only able to handle it, but used it to make themselves stronger. It is something that I have been struggling with as long as I’ve had kids. As far as I know my kids never saw me cry till about 3 years ago. I hid everything from them. I don’t anymore. If it’s too much on them, I don’t know, but I can no longer hide in my room.
Women’s experimental cinema (Shneeman’s Fuses)
Carolee Schneemann, she is what I am taking from this book. Videotaping herself having sex, then painting on the film. It is outrageous in today's society, it was outrageous then and it is one of the strongest things I think I have read about. all semester. I’m not sure why this is so strong to me. Her putting herself out there against the censors? The fact that she manipulated the actual film? I went looking for it the film and was shocked to find it unedited on Youtube in it’s entirety. This is a powerful film. Silent and the “grungy” quality it has. It was gorgeous. I think, even without knowing , this was what I’ve been trying to make. I also think I understand better the power of silence.
The book of course talks about the other female directors I have already discovered along with others, but Schneeman was by far the richest find in the book for me.
Perspectives on Pornography
sexual ethics vs sexual taboos- Paul goodman writes about the confusion that happens in the world over sexual taboos being confused and made into laws and ethics that regulate how we are allowed to have sex. Something is taboo because many do not want to do or discuss it. There are clothing taboos, dining taboos, but there is no las dictating how to eat or what to wear. The sexual taboos however have been taken and made into laws that tell us how to behave in t he bedroom. This also effects our porn, our movies, our books and everything else. If the ethics were taken away and people were allowed to glory in their sex life in whatever ay they wanted without the worry of sexual morality getting in t he way, people would be happier in their sex life in general. Sexual anarchism calls for the complete and total abolition of anything that impedes the sexual industry in any way. Some say some censorship, ut really isn’t that where it starts? Some censorship leads to lots of censorship.
sex
the Annabelle Chong story
Annabelles story, I believe is an extreme version, of every womans story. The pressure to be a certan way at work, in society, with parents and trying to somehow make all that fit with who you actually are inside. She speaks so bravely at one point, saying that all she did by having sex with 251 men, was escape the bounds that have been placed on her by all these outside influences and did what she wanted, and if other owmne would do the same they would understand her motives. She clarifies by saying that she doesn’t think every one should have a gang-bang, but follow what they really want to do and release their inner sexuality. I have found, through personal experiences and some reasearch that women are far more sexually hugry than men are. For all the hype that men always want sex and it’s all they ever think about, they, mny times are quicker to turn down or dismiss sex than women are. I think many men think that the women do it because they feel they “have”to, but I believe more women actually want to have sex than men realize. Annabelle Chong created an image for herself. a legitamte one that unfortunately due to our society, gets turned around and flipped. She did what we as a society believe men want to do, she had sex with as many people as she could in a row. The paradox here, the twist, is that she could not have done that if she were a man. As a man, she would not have been able to become erect that quickly that many times and as a man, she could not have found 251 women that would want to have sex with her one after the other. So society turns this around and calls her a slut and tells her shes a bad person. For what? For showing where the power lays? For standing up and sayng ANything he can do, I can do better? For being a woman who was sure of herself and confident, intelligent and well written and believing in her ideas? She was, until the societal issues fnally got to her. Until she was told she was a bad person for doing this, until she was forced to face a antique idea of morality pushed on her by people who don’t have the balls to stand up and do something amazing. Annie sprinkle was not the first porn artist to say, I have the power, she wasn’t the first to sex sex is healing and spiritual and magical, and maybe Annabelle wasn’t either, but she was the first to make a huge video showcasing just how much power she had.
The secret lives of porn stars
People tend to have a generalization about groups of people. Stereotypes for people who have certain jobs. All teachers are this, all doctors are that. And unless you know an individual that has the job that does not fi the description, you never leanr any better. Beacause there are so few people in the world who do know porn stars in real life, it is one of the jobs that really gets stereotyped and very unfairly too. Drugs, mental disorders and general deviance os associated with the notorius industry. Men look att he men as heos and women look at the women as whores. In reality, the porn industry is one of the few arenas in western society where things are turned on their heads and not as they are elsewhere. In porn, the women are paid wonderfully and the men get paid less than half of what the women do. In porn, women can be in charge of their own lives and thir ability to make money more than in a normal job. In porn you work for a very short while, and work alot, and make a lot of money. Porn stars can retire before they are 30 or sooner if they manage their money. Being in pornos is one of the few jobs that allows you to persue outside interests. Many actresses are in college while they perform, many take up dancing as strippers to earn more money. Porn actors have lies outside of the movie, the same way everyone else has a life outside of their job, and it is not all about sex. THis video was interesting because it brought to light the fact that people who become part of the sex industry are normal people. SOme have family that support them in their jobs, some are married, some have boy friends, there are really nice ones that want to help and bitchy ones who think they are better than everyone else. It's just like any oth job in that way.
P-4
Pornography- the secret history of the world
I always wondered why it was that all art seemed to be lacking something. I knew that it couldn’t be that in all throughout the centuries no one had ever not painted sex and sex organs. TO find out that Pompeii, one of the historical moments that led me toward art in the first place, was a aplce that showed sex all the time. I knew how the Romans felt about art and sex, and I always wondered why there was this missing section that would link the two. This video series was enlightinging, inspiring, and connective for me to the past in a way that not many documentaries are. Not only the information but the presentation was great as well. It has made me rethingk, yet again, my own personal values toward sex and the public eye.
- THe Phallus as protector and weapon
- victorians invented term pornography in an effort to limit the people who could view it.
*belief that the working class were animals and therefore would revert to animalistic nature if influenced by sexual images
*The ancients did not hide sex from anyone. It was used as decoration in the home and symbols of protection.
*marquis de sade was the first to introduce extreme sex in his literature
*sex was used as a political statement during the french revoution
*more attacks were made on Marie anntionette than anyone else
The printing press was the cause of pornography being distributed tot he masses.
*With technology porn has increaseed exponentially
Obscene Losses Portfolio.com
http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/arts/2007/10/15/YouPorn-Vivid-Entertainment-Profile?TID=st092007ab
Usually I just list web sites tht I use together and I don’t write a lot about them. This article however is different. The porn industry is losing money, big time. Where as before the porn industry always saw technology as not only their friend, but the bed partner, it has now deserted them to go off on it’s own. Youporn, a youtube copy, is taking up the majority of internet porn viewers attnetion. It is videos uploaded by every day people, of every day people, doing what we everyday people love to do… and it’s free. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t top free porn. The founder of Vivid, a porn industry giant, met with the possible owner of youporn who offered to sell for $20 mill. THe article talked about money, laws guidelines and all the things that our society seems to hold in high regard, but the thing that was barely touched on was the everyday people aspect. I realize I am being naive and idealistic here, but I would like to think, that no only the free ness as in price is what’s attracting them, but the freeness as in the people. Yeah, ok, you can go on there and find real porn star with their real fake tits and real bleach blond hair, but you can also go on there an find the really real people. The girls who are too skinny, too fat, too hairy too whatever by industry standards and you can see them doing whatever it i they like to do. It’s open, free and powerful in a way, that I think would be very scary to the advertising exects if they paid attention. There is a sexual revolution going on, and I’m not sure if anyone sees it. The people are taking porn out of the hands of the government and hollywood and putting it back in their own. We are turning the tables ever so slowly and making sex ours again. We are displaying ourselves and our love of sex openly. We are not being ashamed of it. I realize there are still many people out there who do not fall into this category, but it’s happening. Soon we may be able to come full circle and connect to our ancient roots.
The happening
M Night Shamalan
M. Night Shmalan is already known as being the kind of writer/proder/director to surprise you with his stories. For the most part he keeps you hooked with interesting plot twists you were not expecting and sending you life messages at the same time. Considering his last couple of moveis, which were not bad but were not the edge of your seat mysteries like some others, this knew one was a true M Night story. After watching the happening I wondered where his ideas come from. Does he do research, is it all off the top of his head. Not only are his ideas plausable but they are so well thought out you begin to wonder if he didn’t experince his stories first hand. The happening brought plenty of important messages to the table, beyond, stopping destroying the earth. Our own personal responsibility for ourselves and our actions, our responsibilities for other people and ow far do he go for it? Self protection and how destructive we can be in a time that we need to be helpful was a big one. In different scenes there are unafected people who turn on the people around them, hurting them while trying to save their self. THe scene that really affected me the most was a group deciding what to do, turn around to “save” another group or going on to save themselves. It wasn’t flight VS fight that was so powerful, rather the group dynamic. It was as if the group needed someone to tell them it was alright to save themselves. They argued asking the “leader” what to do, saying they had to help, although going to the group would certainly mean their own death. Not until the “Leader” told them to keep running away, break into smaller groups and get away did the arguing stop. People don’t want a hero, they want someone to tell them it’s ok to be selfish. I’mnot saying it’s not ok, but it seems to me, that many times, the group dynamic goes crazy without the right kind of leadership and the right kind might just be to tell them to save themselves.
Quarantine
John Erick Dowdle
I only include this movie because I am noticing more and more movies that are using the "handhelf" camera appraoch to making their movies. I'm not sure where it started, but I remember the Blair WItch project, which so many people thought was a shit movie, but I think the ingenuity and resourcefulness involved was amazing. So far I have seen two big budget movies made with hand held cameras, this one and cloverfield, which I annotated last semester based on the fact that it was supose to be an American version of a Japanese staple (Godzilla.) But the handheld camera thing didn't phase me then. Now I see it as an acutla technique being used to add suspense, not to mention motion sickness. I'm not sure exacly how many movies use it, but I would be interested in finding out.
p-3
Pornography and Censorship and Perspective on Pornography
Copp & Wendall
I was unable to finish P & C before time was up. I may have to buy it as I was interested in what it said, but got sidetracked with artistic endeavors. Perspective on Pornography though outdated, seemed really interesting and it started with the story of smuggling the story Ulysses from Paris to Harvard. I want to read both and if I continue looking into porn for my artistic work, they might be useful.
Bill Viola and The Passions
Ross & Sellers
This book makes me want to see Viola's work in installation form even more than ever. His works that raw from the classics, his need to feel the space an create another area. These are all things I want to do, want to work up to. The psychology of his pieces, the trippy other plane feel to them,much be overwhelming when viewed projected and surrounded. In "information" the "happy accident" as my old professor would say, is explained and used to create something new. This is my own personal experience. I have more "happy accidents" than I have anything else. I want to use the camera the way he does. Almost like I would ketch, or right down Ideas. He makes a video for each idea… I don't meanto sy that they are sketches and are incomplete, but that he seems to use the camera as a way to capture and explain an idea rather than to create a story or relive a moment. After reading about Anthem, which Is something I played with a while back, taking a single noise and changing it to create sounds, I looked it up to see if they had it on Youtube. I then foundout that the scene from Ferris Beullars day off, in which Cameron Screams was a tribute to Viola's Anthem. It is obvious When viewed I do't know if I would have picked it up if I hadn't seen it put together. The reflecting pool is described as rebirth, baptism, and i se that, but it was far more, throught he looking glass for me. watching the peoples relfections moving though the water but not seeing any people on the edge of the pool. I found that far more interesting than the disappearance and reappearance of the jumper. The Passions is a collection of 20 movies centering around Viola's spiritual exploration. The book left a lot to be desired. It had some beautiful images inside, but I think this is one of those installation that would be better seen than read about.
Film Fatales
Redding and Brownworth
An expose on female film makers, this book opened my eyes to many great film makers that I didn't know existed, and now need to add to my list for "must sees." Mira Nair, Indian film maker, who is far more interested in the people on the margins of society. I can remember describing myself the same way, only I think I used the words fringes. Prostitutes, homeless, transients, druggies, street kids… it was my scene, still is in some ways. Jane Campion I already knew about, I thnk I watched The Piano everyday when I was pregnant with my first son. I was so enthralled by that movie. The cinematics, the story, the color, everything. I adore it. he is one of my reasons for wanting to make movies. Another of my favorite is Allison Anders. Gas, food, lodging was a movie that became one of our group definitions. Not only does she have the amazing Jay Mascis of Dinosaur Jr in it, but it also spoke to us as a generation. Four rooms spoe just to me really, most from my little group at the time thought the movie a but too weird. It was however, perfect for me. Patricia Rozema is a new addition to the film-makers I want to watch. THe description for White Room has me wanting to see the movie right now! The fairy tale, the two endings, even the concept of why the white room interests me. Susan Seidelmann introduced me to John malkovitch, which I could kiss her for, he is one of my ALL time favorite actors and I didn't realize that Making Mr RIght was one of her movies. She is a film maker from my youth, as in really young. I remeber being in elementary school, a typical little girl in the 80's I was a madonna fan (Ok, still am, sue me) and watching Desperately Seeking Susan… I wanted the jacket, I wanted the life. Probably shouldn't have watched that movie quite so young. Making Mr Right made me realize that I was not like other girls. I preferred the doctor to the robot. The introspective closed off doctor who escaped into outerspace… and what' wrong with a little robot love huh? Cookie I didn't get, I think I was too young. I didn't see anything wrong with a guy dressing like a girl, I didn't get why it was so "different" or why my dad had such a problem with it. I feel like something of a fraud, or a moron just now realizes that these amazing moies I watched where made by amazing women. I never assumes a movie was made by a man or a woman, but I never realy thought about it. Lizzie Bordon is a name I have heard often, but don't remember why. I want to see working girls, it fits perfectly into my studies, a well as "lets talk about sex" but even after reading about her, I can't figure out where I've heard her name. I recently (Thanks to links from Erica) saw Sadie Bennings work. I'm at a loss what to say. They were amazing in this very minimalist grungy kind of way. it reminds me of a movie called Pecker, where a kids takes random pictures around his town and it ends up getting him noticed by artists from the city. I can imagine Sadie making these for fun not thinking about it and now their amazing works that we're reading about years later. That amazes more than anything else. When it happens like that. Someone makes something, because they want to and people see it and are enthralled, It is so good because she wasn't trined and didn't care about the proper techniques. Margaret Tait has become my personal messiah of sorts. I continually have my "other" telling me that I am too old to do this. Stop, teach elementary school, get a good retirement, be a good mom and stop all this foolishness. Luckily (I think ) I don't listen most of the time, and Tait is one of the reasons why. I can always say, here is someone who started at the same age I am ow and didn't get noticed till she was 74. Maybe there is still time. Trinh T. Mink-ha has some of the more visually stunning images I have seen. Much of what I'm unhappy about with my work, is the dullness of the images. The clutter, the lack of aesthetic beauty. I want work that is gogeous, but also grungy. Minh-ha has the Gorgeous part, Bennings has the Grungy. I jut need to find a way to incorporate both into my work. Su Friedrich is another Messiah, as we both have a similar need to control all the aspects of our creation. I have a hard time giving up any of the areas of my work to someone else. I was ever able to make a larger production, I would most likely kill myself trying to do everything without any help. The sheer number of works that Barbara Hammer has created is mind blowing (not to mention she didn't start till 30!). Her use of found footage with original and combned with animation in some parts is another aspect of how I would like to work. Being able to incorporate everything, all images and paint with light, as she said, is what I find most interesting. Ida Lupino was by far the most surprising of the film makers for me on the list. Having seen her movies and seen her in movies, I never knew the two were the same. Someone as talented as she, singer, director, actor, should have… should be more well known.
Cube and Cube zero (thre's a cube 2, hypercube in the series, but I"m not sitting through that sucky ass movie again)
Cult classic CUBE came out in 1997 and the prequel Cube Zero in 2004. Cube was one of the movies that I watched and thought how amazing to be a film maker. Not only because of the amazing special affects, but because of the unavailable process in which to tell this story any other way. It could not have been told through simple images or words and had the same impact. This is one of those movies that can really pull you in and give the suspension of disbelief that all movies promise. Granted you may not want to find yourself inside the cube. It is a terrifying thought on so many levels. That this could exist, that it could be funded by the government. Then you have the other aspects, reverting to a primal side, choosing many over one, allowing someone to die in order to live… what would you do in order to survive. Being surrounded by traps, having to rely on knowledge to get you where you need to go, when you are even unsure of who you are. The sheer size of the object that has you imprisoned and all the different aspects of it… Not to tmention, the big questions, who's doing this, why are they doing it and why me. The movie is a mind-fuck, there is no other way to say it. Cube Zero, attempts, poorly, to answer the questions from the original. The questions didn't need to be answered. It was what made the ovie so amazing int he first place. Being left questioning everything, wondering why these people had to die or what they died for. Being able to draw you own conclusions and wonder about what happened to the one guy who got out. The prequel ruined the movie. If by chance you ever want to watch cube, do it without the prequel (And especially without the sequel.)
The Forbidden Kingdom
I only include this movie, because I watched it for fun, but it gave me ideas for a paper. I love king-fu movies; Bruce Lee, drunken master, wu-tang, etc. But I stopped watching them when I got married (He didn't like them), so except for the occasional Bruce lee movie at Christmas, I really don't watch them anymore. Forbidden kingdom was really good, espcially for someone who use to be a fan anyway. It was almost like a kung-fu retrospective. Wong Fei Hung scenes for Jet Li and Drunken Master scenes for Jackie Chan. I was reluctant to watch the film, another reason I had stopped watching kung-fu movies was the way Jackie Chan and Jet Li's fame had affected the movies. I really dislike pretty much ALL of the american movies these two have made. But their movies before they came to America, were awesome. Anyway, I realized that my children really haven't seen any decent kung-fu movies because I had already stopped watching them when they were born (and my annual bruce lee at x-mas is done while wrapping presents.) So I thought about great kung-fu movies that I could rent to show them, enter the dragon, shaolin temple, any of the wu-tang movies… Then I began to think about what makes a good movie. I sat through Borderland the other night. Suppose to be one of the scariest movies made in 2008. It had some graphic torture scenes, but it was not up to the hype at all. It was a bad movie in my opinion. That's really the thing right there. WHat is a good movie in My opinion. So I decided to write a paper that entails what I think is in a good movie, what makes it a good movie and why it is a good movie. My tastes are pretty broad. So I think this will take a great deal of time. It may be something I work on for awhile.
Internet Porn
by Good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOFTQpNhsWE
A nicely done video detailing the pornographic uses of the web.
I Heart Huckabees
How did I NOT know about this movie before. i swear living with mitchell in rural NC is like living in a redneck fall out shelter. I feel so much better about everything just by watching that movie. Why? Cause it remind me tht I am not the only one who thinks like that, I'm not the only person who has weird philosophical questions and wonders about my coincidences. I sweriously want to go out nd start an existential detective agency. I spent the better part of a year finding the connections and explaining them. I love this movie. it is now on my list with Eternal sunshine, science of sleep, brazil… Movies that (around here) I'm the only person that likes.
Digital Guerilla Video
Avi Hoffer
Evidently I'm a digital guerilla, have been for years and didn't know it. The most helpful thing about this book was the cd-rom that came with it that had some free goodies on it like effects and sound clips. Most everything else int he book I was fairly familiar with already.
Tech TV' guide to creating digital video like a pro
Deras Flynn
Should have been called what to buy. There were a few things on exposure which were helpful and some interesting projects that I would have liked to do… BUT the book assumes that you took it's advice and went out and bought the expesive camera. I couldn't dot he projects as they called for things my camera didn't do. Maybe I'll get a better camera one day and try them. The cd rom would have been great, if it had worked, but was evidently for PC users only.
Flash 5 in 24 hours
Phillip Kerman
This book was helpful, even though I have Flash 4, and I wish I could have used it more before I sent it back. But it was a helpful manual in remembering all I had forgotten about Flash.
Flash 5 For Mac
Katherine Ulrich
Another helpful book for working in flash. This one really starts from the basics though. Great for a beginner.
Flash Web Design
Hillman Curtis
Is very interesting. It takes flash to the next step, where I'm trying to go with it. Combining video and flash and animation to create something unique. I would seriously… am seriously considering buying this one, especially since I have to send it back now, and I haven't gotten everything out of it that I could.
Make your own animated movies and videotapes
Yvonne Anderson
This is a really old kids book, and it was possibly more helpful than any other. Probably because the author didn't go into long winded unneeded discussions about something not realy having to do with the topic and just stuck to the ideas. It covers everything from making movies without camera, with a camera, flat animations, 3-d animations, computer animations (This is SERIOUSLY out of date) and even touches on editing and sound. Flat animation, especially cut outs, and 3-d puppets was what I was the most interested in. I realy want part of the animation to have a little kid kinda look to it, I guess immature, or unprofessional, I don't know those terms are so negative. Anyway. something very lo-tech. The "special effects" like rain and snow gave me some good idea ofr other things as well. Creating cycles, things I knew, but didn't really think about. I'd like to own this book as well, but more for my own kids to use.
Sexual Values
Bender, Leone, Orr
A book to give you both the views of any argument regarding sex. Sex education, pornography, whatever. If you weren't feeling bipolar before, read this book. it is not meant to influence your opinion so much as give you both sides of every argument, which I can see as being helpful in some cases. But I don't find it so much for me.
The Evolution of Allure
George Hersey
Not what I thought it was, though helpful in some ways. In a very mathematical, almost Prussian approach the author has reduced every vision of nudity, artistic or not, into a graph, canon,or deconstructionists wet dream. Thought he book has interesting facts and comparisons, it lacks the soul and poetry of the nude body. It reduces the beauty down to an algorithm.
Dirty Looks
Gibson & Gibson
"the young male upon seeing the woman's genitals for the first time is amazed no penis is attached." I guess because nudity is not a big deal in our house my son never had these issues, but this made me stop in my tracks for a second. I honestly can't imagine this scenario. Not even by a very small child. I guess there are some very hyper sensitive people when it comes to nudity even at home. A lot of this book has to do with what is obscene and what is not. This is one of those topics that we will never be able to resolve because no one is going to be able to agree. THis book really seems like an overview of all the pornography academics almost. Like it's just touching the surface of what is going on in the pornography world. It is the same kind of book I keep coming across. Not sure what it is I'm looking for, but these books aren't cutting it.
P-2
7 animations by Dennis H. Miller
I can see my videos going toward this place of complete non-objectivity. Completely abstract but still somehow telling a story. The animations were interesting for many reasons. I found many of the images that flew buy seemed to be done in photoshop almost. I recognized certain filters and tools that were used. His work is entrancing and powerful, in reminds me of Kandinsky's work if his paintings moved… I guess that makes sense since he is a musician as well.
A music video by The Sun
A video of just peoples faces as they are getting off. I'm guessing through masterbation though there might be someone else there. You only see the subjects faces. If I was single, or had a more understanding partner I would make a video like this… or soemthing like it. It inspires me with many ideas.
P-1
House of a 1000 Corpses
Rob Zombie
One part horror movie, one part experimental film and one part heavy metal music video. Rob zombie created one of the most intriguing films but due to the genre and story line it has been passed over again and again. He uses found footage, images and sounds along with his own original and well done cinematography. The characters, especially the firefly family, are more 2-dimensional than any other horror movie and more so than movie in other genres as well. They are relatable, but despicable. You want to hate them, but there are also moments when you feel that they may not be justified, but you could feel the anger for them. They also have a sense of familiarity because they are the kind of family that everyone knows someone who knows someone who's in one. The trashy family that doesn't need anyone else, speaks their minds and lived by their own rules… well maybe not a outrageously as the firefly's. Rob zombies use of found footage, bizarre segue ways, and often contradictory musical score give the movie a menacing, yet homely feel. It is a horror movie, so there's plenty of blood and gore, but even the matter in which the victims are dispatched is creative and unique. Aspects of the film harken back to Victorian times and you have to wonder about the family tree and the last time tey saw some branches in it. At the same time though, you see something very rare in this film, a family that works together. Everything about this movie is so stylistic and different that it should be considered more often in the arena of great movies… if you could just manage to not be upset by the imagery.
Bill Viola
I do not know what t is I am like
I am spoiled, a child of television and only a few years shy of being part of the 90 second generation. I do have an attention span, but all muscles atrophy without use. I found myself irritated and bored with the video at first. Then I began concentrating… novel idea that, a movie you have to think and contemplate. I began to realize he was doing, or rather has done, what I am trying to currently do. Discover myself as an artist and my place in the world. Sheer persistence and hard-headedness got me through the first hour, that and my son who began to watch it with me. I explained to him what I thought the artist was trying to do. To literally and figuratively see himself through the eyes of nature. Who was he to these animals, the wild and free, the caged, the dead. Does he grow like a tree, is he still like a tree or the buffalo? All the contemplating aside, Miki and I were both quite excited when the elephant grabbed the mug. I was convinced nothing was going to happen at all, which is so often true in other similar videos I have seen. The fact that Miki could sit still through the majority of this movie was either a testament to his meds or his hatred of cleaning his room. However, the last 30 minutes were eye-catching and driven enough to not loose anyone. The relation between the fish he ate for dinner and the fish at the end of the movie pulled the movie parts together, where as before it seemed very fragmented. The movie inspired a couple of ideas. Or rather fed a couple of ideas I had been throwing around. I've wanted to videotape my family life for sometime, i even considered setting the entire house up on webcams and broadcasting. 1) because I forget everything and I'd like to be able to look back and remember all the crazy things we do around here and 2) no one believes me when I tel them some of the crazy stuff, I want proof. Also, the underwater camera, I've wanted to invest in one for awhile and seeing it in real life situation, going from wet to dry and being used in a way I wold use one, I'm even more interested in finding one. Granted it will be awhile before I can afford one. I found that after watching the entire video, I do feel it lives up to the hype, I guess most people have a longer attention span than me.
Pornography and censorship
The above image came from This site, which is a pretty interesting project on censorship
- I am not finished with this books, these are some of the quotes that stood out and ideas and thoughts I have had while reading.
D.H> Lawrence says tht one can recognize benuine pornography by the unpardonable insult it offers to sex and human spirit. It makes human nudity and sex ugly cheap and degraded. (p.20)
"moral Conception"
porn skeptics are those who do not believe anything in pornographic and would only think of porn in reference to sexual depictions that are standardly or typically believed to violate standards.
*Is porn degrading?
Keep the porn debate clear by considering distinctions between moral and neutral conception of pornography
*interview people about porn, what they think porn is, etc.
Does the obscenity law encroach on free speech
*interview a porn director- What do you find obscene? DO you think what you do is degrading to women? at what age do you think people should be allowed to view porn? Is it different with guys and girls
(p27) society should change so that it does not see it's own decadence
- Is that what's happening to out society, just not in terms of sexuality, but in other forms, such as ignorance, gluttony, etc.
Stuff it: the video essay in the digital age
I now understand better not only what a video essay is, but what I have been doing with my video art since 2003 and not knowing it. I have been creating video essays, and video poetry all along. Many of the critiques in the book did not speak directly to me, but the ones that did, really did. I recognized my own ideas an voice in some of the works, specifically Steve Reinke… well in the writing of it at least, i need to watch it. The introduction soke to me as well, deconstructing the base ideas and techniques behind the video essay really help my understanding for the question I asked at residency, what ways do we make video essays. below are excerpts, questions about, and quotations from the book and my reactions.
"The essay has always distinguished itself by a non-linear and non-logical movement thought that draws on many different sources of knowledge" Page 9. *that sums me up perfectly!
THe genere was conceptualized April 1940 by Hanz Richter who thought to make the invisible world of thoughts and ideas visable on the screen. *An idea I've been trying to articulate for awhile.
Complex thought not bound to reality p.13
p15 *The ideas of crossing paths through time, revisiting old haunts that are sacred somehow "Space and time seem to collapse into one" this was what the story/video.animation is/was suppose to do.
*use visuals to tell the essay without words, but NOT like a silent film
Suspended disbelief and iraonic distance the double viewing of characters
*Question- How do artists get away with refusing to answer questions about their work? isn't that part of what we are suppose to do? Is he being difficult or do they think it puts too much of their perspective on the work and thus influences others? it's really irritating sometimes.
*What are the correct ethics for using found footage and did these artists all follow those?
Idea- Perform abstract ideas. perform family, perform interdisciplinary
Music as spokesman
*What is the difference between Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary.
want to watch-
Steve Reinke
Hundred videos, everybody loves nothing, spiritual animal kingdon, afternoon
Fictional autobiographical essays that use parados, contradictions.
*As long as it makes sense to me and I can explain it
Johan Grimonprez
dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y
Ursula Bieman
Writing desire
Mathildeter Heinje
For a better world
Birgit Hein
Baby I will make you sweat
Diary of a Manhattan Call girl
Tracy Quan
First off, I found this book in the airport in NYC, Ihad no idea it existed, but I"m glad I found it. I was working and researching un the assumption that all prostitutes wanted change, wanted freedom to work, wanted to rights, but after reading this book I realize I was working under a false assumption. Just as there are people in other professions who do not want change there are plenty of women working as hookers and call girls who do not want things to change either. They are fine with the way things are. It adds an extra dimension to the puzzle. Most people, women especially may be sympathetic to hookers, thinking they are doing the work out of necessity. But there are some who choose this, that choose the excitement and illegality of the situation. Not all of these people are criminals either. We tend to view prostitutes with a child's mind, rather than delving into the actual facts. All hookers are drug using, teenage runaways, with no future and no goals.It is true of some, but not true of all in any stretch. This book adds a new perspective to the working girls of the world.
devendra banhart - a ribbon
wow This is the first video I have seen that is simlar to what I am trying to do. This is so close to the look I want it's scary. I really like the animation and the overlay of video and images.
Music Videos are the first type of video work I did originally, and it is wht I will be starting with again this semester. Below are annotations on several wonderfully made music videos.
Unkle - Rabbit in your Headlights
There are very few camera angles used as you watch the man walk through the busy tunnel. You are drawn in trying to figure out what he is saying, what's going on and your assumptions color the video in the beginning. At the initial impact, when the car clips him, you are taken aback, almost in shock, but as the video wears on, you become desensitized to the violence. When he finally rips the jacket from his body and finds the right words, you are overwhelmed by the final shot. Asymmetrical, arms out in a seemingly christian reference, smoke from the destroyed car that crashed into him, but did not damage him in any way curls up slowly, leving only his face showing until there is only smoke. Man taking back his life? Nature overcoming technology? The power of one VS. the power of many? There are so many things that this story is telling. It could be any number of morals or meanings, but the battered man is the victor in the end. The video work was simplicity at it's finest.
Jason Forrest - “War Photographer”
Flat 2-d paper animation narrates the instrumental music in a way that could not have been done otherwise. THe sharp staccatto movements fit with the music perfectly. It is one form of animation that would be interesting to try.
Nick Cave & Kylie Minouge — Where The Wild Roses Grow
Nick Cave officially creeps me out now. This video, is gorgeous in it's simplicity, the only part that seems to take away fro it are the parts in which Kylie Minouge is standing and singing. It would be perfect if not for that part. It's almost sepia tones, but not quite. THe ovewhelming color is the red of her lips and the roses, so it is definitely sticking with the song. Everything is hazy and takes place around the river, under a willow tree in the reeds with enough sexual symbolism to choke a horse… heck, most of it isn't even symbolism. It is quite beautiful though. Location, location, location… oh yeah and kylie minouge.
Bat for lashes- What's a girl to do
Another seemingly simple video. Camera mounted on a truck, girl on bike singing… then crazy animal head people come out of no where… were they behind her the whole time? The animal head thing is a bit over done lately, but on bikes?! That' new a pretty cool. I like the idea of the stead shot. It reminds me of how skateboard videos use to be… no not full of people wearing animal heads, a straight run with no breaks in between.
Sia – “Breathe Me”
Wow that's a lot of polaroids. I tend to get sucked into this song,but the use of the photographs is wonderful not to mention somewhat humorous with all her imaginary friends. I liek the combination if stap action and real time.
Article in Marie Claire entitled "confessions of a sex shop sale girl" hints to the deeper connection sex has to our soul and self confidence. The shop girl refers to the job as a distinctly though surprisingly feminist job. The shop girls possibly seem easier to talk to, especially to other women, not to mention (in this cse) they put the men back on the right track when they are way way off. It was an excellently written article that touches are much deeper subjects in sex and persona
Twelve Monkeys
Director Terry Gilliam
I decided on this movie first because it was suppose to be ground breaking story telling, direction and cinematography. it won numerious awards and is hailed at a great movie. It is difficult to look back at a movie after so many years and see how it could be "ground breaking" when there have been so many more groundbreaking movies, but I realize this movie was a diving board for the future great movies. The use of tilted camera angels to increase the disorientation of certain scenes. The use of lenses and other camera ot distort the people in power, a statement on the distorted views of the world and the way people see authority figures. The use of "commercial" sounds and video in set the mood. The "looney tunes" soudns and videos while in the Looney bin. Even the small repetitive movements of some person int he background to add to the monotony of the scene. The not linear way the story goes, the doubt that us places inthe chanracters and the viewers. New devices in 1995, old now. Things that would be standard. The absurdity of the distopian society lends itself to the view of delusional. The scientist with their subterfuge and the graveling voice that direct cole those seems to not exist outside his head. I feel that the movie was lacking in something however. THat may be due to the fact that I know now how much more it could be.
G-2
p-4
Warriors 0f Legend, Reflections of Japan in Sailor Moon
Jay Novak and Sushil K. Rudranath
The book says that it is a case study of pop culture in Japan and how the society is reflected in the series. The book was informational, but as for a case study in popular culture, I highly doubt. The book outlines the first three seasons of Sailor Moon, giving and analysis into the characters and places the show is located. It details how each place is or was in many cases, based in reality and sometimes history. That is the majority of the book, but is also the most interesting part. The writing is unauthorized, so much of it is assumption, but the facts are based so well in reality that I think they have hit the nail on the head. Images that have become familiar to Sailor Moon fans not from Japan can now be referenced in reality. Many of the places have changed but they are essentially in the same place. The characters are based on different legends of Japan, China, Greece and others. There are American images in the show that I'm sure many would read into, but after reading this book I realize that Japan is the ultimate chameleon. They absorb the things that they like and it becomes a part of their culture instantly, and they've always done this. With their religion, their style, everything. Another interesting point the book made was how they, as a culture, see hardship and destruction as a means for change. For instance, the bomb was dropped and they didn't disappear, instead they made themselves better. When you look at their movies (Such as sailor moon) you see this theme again and again, where something awful has befallen the world and Japan remakes itself into the new world center. The book was interesing for it's historical and cultural value, but I do not see it as a pop culture reference book. Rather it is a Sailor Moon reference book and how sailor moon relates to Japan.
Written On the Body
Jeanette Winterson
Another love story, another book to relate to, way too much. Another book that speaks to me on a level that few things can. More on this in my reflections.
"I took them into the garden and burned them one by one and I thought how easy it is to destroy the past and how difficult to forget it." p17
"Frighten me? Yes you do frighten me. You act as though we will be together forever. You act as though there is infinite pleasure and time without end. How ca I know that? My expeience has been that time always ends." p.18
"if I rush at this relationship it's becuse I fear for it. I fear you have a door I cannot see and that any mnute now the door will open and you'll be gone." p.18
"You know love is a beautiful thing but there are clinics for people like you. Now it's a serious matter to have pervert written on your NHS file and some indignities are just a romance too far." p.20
"Poor me. There's nothing so sweet as wollowing in it is there? Wallowing is sex for depressives" P. 26
"I considered her. I didn't love her and I didn't want to love her. I didn't desire her and I could not imagine desiring her. These were all points in her favor. I had lately learned that another way to write FALL IN LOVE was WALK THE PLANK." P. 26
"I had survived shipwreck and I liked my new island with hot and cold running water and regular visits from the milkman. I became an apostle of ordinaryness. I lectured my friends on the virtues of the humdrum, praised the gentle bands of my existence and felt that for the first time I had come to know what everyone told me I would know; passion is for holidays, not homecoming." p. 27
"'I've burnt them," She said
Perhaps I am not meant to have any worldly goods. Perhaps they are blocking my spiritual progress and my higher self continually choses situations where I will be free of material burdens. It's a conforting thought, slightly better than being a sucker." P.76
"Contentment is a feeling you say? Are you sure it's not an absence of feeling? I liken ti to that particular numbness one gets after a visit to the dentist. Not in pain nor out of it slightly, slightly drugged. Contentment is the positive side of resination. It has appeal, but it no good wearing an overcoat, and furry slippers and heavy gloves when what the body really wants is to be naked." P.76
- in a section too long to quote Louis speaks of her obsession with the narrrator and how he/she was the most beautiful things she had ever seen, male or female. How she had followed him/her and then again days later at the library and how finally after finding out where he/she lived, Louise staged a scene in which the narrator had to "rescue" her. "You are a pool of clear water where the light plays." p85
"Who taught you to write in blood on my back? Who taught you to use your hands as branding irons? You have scored your name into my shoulders, referenced me with your mark. The pads of your fingers have become printing blocks, you tap a mesage on to my skin, tap meaning into my body. your morse code interferes with my heart beat. I had a steady heart before I met you, I relied upon it, it had seen actuve service and grown strong, Now you alter it's pace with your own rhythm, you play upon me, drumming me taut. Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights; the accumulations of a lifetime gather there." p89
" I felt like a seed in a pomegranate. Some say the pomegranate was the real apple of eve, fruit of the womb, I would eat my way into perdition to taste you. p.91
- P 95 The narrator shows his/her obsessive side and stalks outside Louise's home have a schizophrenic episode. Son he/she goes home to a fever an delusions. He/she drinks herself into submission and it is how Louise finds him/her.
"I've hidden those words int he lining of my coat. I tke them out like a jewel their when no-one's watching. They haven't fade. Nothing about you has faded. you are still the color of my blood. You are my blood. WHen I look in the mirror it's not my own face I see. Your body is twice. Once you once me." p99
"You'll get over it…' It's the cliches that cause the trouble. To lse someone you love is to alter your life for ever. you dn't get over it because it is the person you loved. The pain stops, there are new people, but the gap never closes. How could it? The particularness of someone who mattered enough to grieve over id not made anodyne by death. This hole in my eart is in the shape of you and no-one else can fit it. Why would I want them to?"
Cosplay Koromo-Chan
Mook
Possibly the most boring Manga I have ever read. I'm including it because it took a couple hours of my time to get through it and I didn't want those to be completely wasted. The story is of a girl whose school has dropped their dress-code and though most students still wear their time honored uniforms, she begins immediately dressing in cosplay. There are other characters, a friend who makes the costumes but is to conservative to wear them, a small kindergarten girl who learn what cosplay is for the first time and several other girls at her school who like and don't like her costumes. It did bring to light the fact that not eevryone in Japan dresses up in cosplay. Not even all the teenagers. That was about all I got out of it.
Cosplay
Guy Vinciguerra
Beautiful photographs of Japanese teens taking part in the cosplay phenomenon sprinkled with poetry make the book gorgeous and unique. Like a book of fantasy come true, the pages dance with stark white faces jet black eyes and rainbow colored hair. The extremes they go to in order to look the part are almost obscene. Some of them look as if they walked straight out of a horror movie, manga, or off of a band poster. Vinciguerra's photography is beautiful and expressive, focusing mainly on the faces and make up of the cosplayers but occasionally catching the entire dress. My biggest problem with this book was that it was far to short.
Cosplay, Catgirls and other critters
Gerry Poulos
This book was not what I was expecting at all. THe book is full of how-to's in making your own cat-girl costumes or many type of other animals. The book was written for American girls and seemes to be really dumbed down. Not sure if that's because it was for American girls or if they are aiming for a younger crowd. The illustrations on the inside do not show young girls dressing as furries, but fully developed women. It was basically not helpful.
The Tokyo Look Book
Philomena Keet
Wow… This fashion thing is serious in Tokyo. I knew people were really into it, but there is a hierarchy in place and everything. Shibuya is a look that is similar to the calli girl look, it falls into the Gyaru category and is considered a circle. THe extreme versions with silver or white blond hair, white make up and habiscus print clothes is called yamamba. Guys and girls have this look. The Shibuya end of the gyaru spectrum is far more consevative, though still on the erotic side, wearing mini-shirts and flashing more skin than the average Japanese pedestrian. There is something of an age limit on these looks as well. At 20, Gyaru are expected to loose the ultra-young yamambe look and toned it own to more of a shibuya style. They all shop in the same district and store, 109. The now famous mall, 109 is gyaru heaven. Boasting that they have only the newest and freshest looks it is "The" place to shop. There are different circles and typicaly people stick to their own circles. You have to be invited to join a circle.
There are many subcultures that dominate harajuku square. Decora-kei is a decorative style, foucsing mainly (it seems) on adding as much cute stuff to your wardrobe as you can wear and still be able to walk. This look seems very similar to the cute goth look we have in America. Skull animals and evil bunnies are just one part of it. THe Japanese have taken it farther than I think anyone in America would even try though. The other looks that you will se are also similar to American, but done much better; Goths who come out in force on Sundays. Punks who do it right with traditional 70's style punk accessories. There is a movement of more sophisticated dress, still costumed, but more adult. There is a large group who focus on trying to look exactly like their favorite bands which are referred to as visual-kei bands. Cyber culture, with the brightly colored cyber falls and neon make-up make up part of the night life crew that runs the streets at night. THen of course are the Lolitas which might be the most famous look that has been happening in Japan. There are different forms of Lolita's and different looks depending on their circle.
Angeler is a unique look to Japan because it is about Japan. Designer Takuya Angel began the look to bring back some of the traditional Japanese looks with an update and twist. Angelers wear clothes that are very similar to kimonoes but in bright colors and different textures and typically they pair it with an odd accessory that looks like monster hands.
There is a street fashion that is not uber expensive and not scary or cutesy at all. It is much like the average American style of normal dress. It is called simply street fashion. There is a focus on Tennis shoes and a hip hop edge. But it is at it's base, a jeans and t-shirt style. This style is more creative in some ways than the other more decorative ones. Most of the subcultures are trying to look like someone else, where as the street fashion (which can border on the bizarre at times) is far more original. This would be much like the indie look of the 90's here in America. Thrift stores are raided for the cool finds and the average daily street is their runway.
Of course not every style is as unique as the ones above. There are the stylish people who want to look nice and professional. Though even these looks are perfected to a point of spending more than I would dream for an entire wardrobe much less one outfit.
P-3
The Medical Treatment of Victorian Women
Mary Poovey
If the information in the medical treatment of victorian women is any indication as to the general male populace's attitude toward their own women, it is no wonder they turned to the orient for fantasies. Diagnosing women with hysteria due to sexual frustration. Chloroforming them during childbirth because of the pain that was "a punishment foe Eve's transgressions" in order to silence them…. DId they think the women were different in other parts of the world. How could people that are suppose to be educated be so amazingly dimwitted to what is right in front of their eyes.
The Expanding Discourse
"Modernity through a process of othering has produced "the prostitute" as the other of the other: The other in the categorical other, "Woman."
- Why do we do this? Can a man not be a prostitute? Can a woman not be something other than a prostitute? Why is it such a negative? It is our bodies, men use their bodies for their work. They are construction workers, they use the natural gifts they were given and many times they walk around shirtless to do their jobs.
"that a process of othering runs through the modern and feminist constructions of the prostitute body; that the modern discourse dichotomizes the female into "good" and "bad" women in all her manifestations"
*This is where the mother and whore come from, but many already know they are one in the same. Every wife a whore, Every whore a saint.
"The Philosophical clitoris"
*I love that, it my become my new online name.
"Prostitutes collectively and in the realm of art deploy their bodies as sites of resistance to undermine both the hegemonic production of the prostitute body in modernity and the modernist feminist reproduction of the prostitute body."
- Prostitute is woman, woman is looking for change as the times change women change prostitutes change, women and prostitutes are one in the same and they are forces that need to be redefined regularly
"Although different sexual populations have existed in all historical periods, it wasn't until the victorian period that they were systematicaly marked and identified: mapped like geographical terrain."
- Just after the flood of Odalisque paintings started and during the Orientalism period. Could the new knowledge of this other "depraved" and "inferior" land have spurred this categorizing of sexual tastes and styles? Was the overwhelming knowledge that the "lesser" countries enjoyed a good shag make the Europeans believe that it needed to be stopped here. Did they think that maybe it was the cause of certain problems?
"the performance medium is the home of such new sexual political subjects as the dyke, the drag queen, the transvestite, and the whore. Those previously coded as merely "obscene" and contained as carnivalesque transgression are using artpace to reconstitue themselves as living artifacts of resistance. The main site of resistance is their own bodies. …to reclaim and remap their own identities, to deconstruct the masculinist, feminist, and heterosexual inscriptions on their bodies…"
"Postmodern prostitute performance artists have traced their lineage back to the sacred prostitute; in so doing they have produces a strategic genealogy that undermines and displaces the modern construct of the prostitute."
*this was mentioned in Eleven Minutes, the sacred prostitute.
*It was far better, it seems, to be a prostitute in ancient Greece rather than a wife. Wives were like cattle (that's the second time I've use that today) and the prostitutes had the equality. Why would women choose to be a wife? Maybe women were chosen to be Hetairae, it was a privilege and those not chosen became wives and mothers.
I envision a work in ancient greece, hetairae,climbing the steps of a temple… Only the steps are men… Not sure, a litle corny, not there yet.
Diotima, the priestess is said to be half way between god and man, she serves as a sacred prostitute as well.
"the virtuous woman was constructed in relation to the production of the unvirtuous prostitute woman, just as the opposite was the case."
*In order to have the virtue you must have the vice, Without the whore their would be no saint.
If the female sexual body is defined positively through reproduction, but negatively through prostitution… or sex without reproduction, we are prostitutes if we enjoy sex. That explains alot about my mom.
In the early 19th century men dreamed of harems and Odalisques. Women who would be at their beck and call, but they spent their time examining women to prove that a women who enjoyed sex was defective in some way, or different. That her body would somehow show us that she was a prostitute. A distortion of the vagina or enlarged clitoris. WHat they found is the women were the same no matter if they were a mother or a prostitute.
This is the time in which the connection between the modern prostitute with her diseased body and low standing was broken from the hetairae and sacred sex.
Much of the argument in this book, which isn't really why I'm reading it, is the question, Why is prostitution bad? Is it the money, the sex, the morals, etc? My question os more alog the lines of, why do we THINK prostitution is bad? Because we were told? Because the bible says so? It is obvious from history that there was a point in which it wasn't too bad.
Freuds take on prostitution lines up with my ideas. The prostitute is to a large extent a creature of the male (In my opinion societal) imaginary, a construction of the male (societal) unonscious ehich is then read into woman.
"The prostitution contract is an example of male sex right in the public sphere. Prostitution is "part of the exercise of the law of male sex-right, one of the ways in which men are ensured access to women's bodies."
"Individuals act as if they contract out only their labor power or services, but whet they contract out is their "self, person and body."
What would it take for women to be able to say that our sex is for us. I we are wives it is for men, if we are prostitutes it is for men. How can the sex be for us?
Easy Handmade Dolls
This is the last of the doll books
This will probably be the book I begin with. It has some of the same techniques that the more difficult books have, but in a simpler form. THe doll they propose making is far more at my level right now. The book is very basic with illustrations and directions. It is what you would expect a sewing book to be.
Crafting Cloth Dolls
This one has a good tutorial and pattern, but much of it is filled with information that really seem unimportant to the doll maker. The tutorial is also stretched through the book instead of being all in one place which made it difficult to follow. I will be trying to use the tutorial to create a doll.
500 Handmade Dolls
This a collection of dolls, no writing really other than an introduction. The dolls range from traditional to abstract and really inspire you to work. They are made of every substance you could think of, in every size, style and color. The multiple ways in which a doll can be made blows the mind. This book really showcases some of the most interesting dolls and doll makers I have seen so far. I will be using this one as inspiration.
Art Doll Adventures
Lisa Li Hertzi
THis is by far the most fun book on doll making I have come across so far. It not only incoporates the things you need to know to make a doll, but it has art exercises and extra "Adventures" for that extra flair. The ideas for the dolls are as interesting as the dolls, and the dolls are extremely interesting. The shape of the mouths on some of them is enough to inspire a body of work. THe only problem is some of it is too busy. The layouts are a bit confusing at first, especially for a beginner, but my artist self loves the extra attention that was given to the pages. The book is very much a book for artists, and even for beginners as it gives helpful advice and little uplifting thoughts to help you if you feel you are failing. "remember, Skills evolve. Be easy on yourself and keep the catastrophes… they remind you how far you have come." That one line makes the book worthwhile. I forget that I am a beginner and want to be good at it right away. I have to remember, I am not going to be good at it right away, I have to practice! Again, artists were asked to create dolls based on the patterns provided. There is possibly more variety in this one than anyone I have seen so far. THe artists seem to be completely different. No similarities other than doll making. THe book is funny and inspirational and worthwhile. I have decided I am working all next packet on sewing.
Creative Cloth Doll Making
Patti Medaris Culea
Another book on creating dolls, this one however is well written, with helpful advice. The sewing techniques int his one are understandable and concise. The layouts are understandable and the dolls are unique and beautiful. It shows many different interpretations on the same pattern, which I thought was wonderful. It gives the reader a better understanding that this is an art form and not just a craft for selling. The photography of the dolls in incredible, making them seem like real people rather than objects. The elaborate details in the face and clothing help with this as well. Several professional doll makers were asked to create dolls for the book and the plethora of ideas is astounding. Everything is included in this book, from face sculpting to beadwork to dying fabrics. There's even a part on creating wings out of thread and bonding cloth. I am seriously considering buying this one later if I can.
Foreign Affairs
"Odalisque"
By Mitzi Szereto
A collection of short erotic stories, Foreign Affairs leaves much to be desired. My main purpose in reading it was for the short story "Odalisque" which tuned out was nothing more than an American woman in Turkey being Manipulated by a rich Turk. The story was not inspiring, interesting or even titillating. The only part in which I pondered was the turk calling her his Odalisque. In the story it seems very much that she thinks this is a compliment, the writer used the term as an endearment… but I do wonder if the use of it in it's true sense, a slave, was how the male figure meant it. This small irony, she thinking an odalisque was a wonderful sexy goddess and he knowing it meant slave girl (That could be easily discarded) is the stories only good point. I only read a couple of other stories, but they were not any better.
The Host
This is the last j-horror… I watched this because I was in the hopes of being able to say, "Japan has brought back their Monster movie tradition in a big way! Look out Godzilla!", but I can't. First because it was made in Korea and secondly, because it was not as great as I had hoped. The movie had an interesting story, which I find is true of most Oriental movies, shows or anything story related. The stories are very deep and intricate. A slacker dad who wants nothing more than to spend all his time with his daughter. He lives and works with his father while his brother and sister have gone on to do great things. His sister won the bronze for archery (Which being a monster movie, you know right away how part of the ending will be) and a brother who is a big wig corporate guy. You know the ending within the first 30 minutes o the movie… well mostly. The entire family is completely in love with the little girl. So of course she is the victim. THe things you don't see coming are the twists in the middle, which unfortunately take forever to get through. Lets back track a bit… in traditional horror movie form, the beginning shows bad people dong horrible things to the environment (American), a man commits suicide by jumping off the brideg ito the water, the monster gets it's first taste of human flesh. Then at a crowded park people see something weird in the water and the monster attacks. In the commotion Park Gang-Du looses his daughter and grabs the wrong child. Park Hyun-Seo is then taken by the monster.
Evil Scientists (Americans) convinced the monster is hosting a deadly virus, take everyone to be quarantined. Gang du having been closest to the creature without dying is singled out. After escaping and having his father killed (Americans) he is taken into custody again only to realize there is no virus and never was, but they are still holding him against his will. Convinced that his daughter is alive because of a cell phone call he risks everything to get to her. It has the basic plot, slacker turns hero and everyone in it gets to use their "strengths" to defeat the monster climaxing to the big hero scene. On the surface, it is a typical monster movie, but with a bit of a twist at the end.
On the other hand… I feel this movie is making a larger statement. Americans are made to be the bad guys in this, more so than the monster, and I think I would have to agree. Americans make the problem. The head scientist, American, forces the Korean scientist who does not have the same superiority, to pour liters and liters of formaldehyde down the drain, thus creating the monster. Then when the monster that we created by our carelessness attacks, we swoop in and try to save the day. When an American gets sick from something unexplainable, it must be the monsters fault. Therefore the monster has a virus. Throughout the movie, all of Korea is on red alert, scared to death of a virus that the Americans made up. Upon torturing poor Gang-Du with test after test, they admit there isn't a virus but refuse to tell anyone. It is a cartoonish villian they are creating, but is it really that far off the mark? We create problems, pretend like we didn't and try to fix them, making it look like someone else problem that we are so kindly taking care of. There are so many historical references here, I don't even know which one to pick.
No more Anime, this shit is addictive
Aishiteru ze baby (I love you baby)
This has got to be one of the sweetest anime's I have ever seen. There isna't any monsters, mutating creature or spectacular costume sequesnces for the heriones, because there aren't any superhero's. It's a sitcom basically, just animated. There were the more drama like episodes that dealt with abuse, suicide, abandonment, and there were plenty of little jokes throughout, but the majority of the story focused on two characters. Yuza, a 5 year old little girl who has been abandoned by her mother and who is handed over to her 17 year old male cousin Kippei who was a slacker and playboy. Kippei's love interest is kokoro and figures prominently into the story along with his sister Rei. There is a plethora of other characters including another brother, parents grandparents, classmates for both the main characters, but they are basically background and side stories. The sugary sweetness that could (and posibly did) give all of Japan cavities is the almost instant change and resulting relationship between Kippei and Yuzu. There are jokes thrown in several times about the "wrong kind of love" but it isn't anything like that. It was a short series (Thank goodness, or else I'd still be glued to the computer screen watching) only 27 episodes and it was not the most popular series. Based on a Manga by the same name the show deals with being a young parent. Although Kippei's parents (And grandparents for that matter) are all living with him in his home along withhis brother and sister, he solely takes care of Yuzu. He cooks her lunch for her, takes her to school, picks her up and everything else a parent is suppose to do. This image os bad boy turned good is strongly contrasted with the other parents in the show. His own mother leaves every chance she gets and his brother and sister both say they are not good with children. Kokoro's mother is dead and her father remarried, pushing Kokoro into living alone. Yuzu's friends have parents that hit them and parents that spoil them horribly. In a few episodes there is a distant cousin, Miki, whose parents had basically given up on her, making her think her only choice is suicide. THroughout all of this, Kippei keeps it together for Yuzu, while fighting off every female in the show (from one of Yuzu's 5 year old classmates, to her teacher, to his own cousin) to prove his love for Kokoro.
The animation was typical Anime, nothing stellar, though Yuzu was cute enough to make bunnies think their ugly, and the usual adrogony of anime popped up a couple of times, it was a basic anime, but the statements on parenting were interesting.
Odalisques and Arabesques
Ken Jacobson
You would think that a book with Odalisque in the title would have a little more to do with them. I have found out very little about them, but I did come across something interesting in a "duh… Why didn't I realize that" kinda way.
p.65 "It may seem odd to us today that photographers with an interest in figure studies might have made the long pilgrimage tot he east and returned without any photographs of Easterners and that they then went to great trouble to fill their studios in London and Paris with nargilehs, chibouks, Turkish carpets, vases, models in proental costumes and other paraphernalia, after all their pains they were typically rewarded, Like Grundy, by being lambasted by the critics for using models that were clearly not Turkish.
There may be a number of reasons why so many Eastern tableaux were created in the West. We have seen that Islamic propriety deterred Eastern sitters posing for the camera because interpretations of the Koran indicated that the depiction of animals or people in the arts was forbidden. Furthermore, a woman had to be veiled in the presence of any man who was not her husband or close relation. Despite and apparant desire by many British 1850's photographers to feature people in their Eastern Views, they were not always successful of returning with close-up images of local inhabitants in their portfolios.
…Though an artists model quitting half way through a sitting would be highly disadvantageous to a painter, some such obstacles could be overcome, as we have noted, by finishing the painting back in Europe. The photographer did not have that luxury…"
Though speaking mainly of photographers, I can see why this would hinder a painter as well. One of my questions since beginning this study was why were almost all of the models European… This could be a reason. I wonder what the control of an odalisque and veils would be back then?
As far as the obsession Europeans had with the exotic East, there isn't a real explaination so much as an elaboration. P67 "Attempts were sometimes made to give nudes a geater ait of exoticism by utilizing Oriental paraphanelia, even though the model portrayed was rarely an Oriental woman. After 1900, artefacts from both the Near and Far East, sometimes in illogical juxtaposition, provided studio props for this purpose…. In a study that would be certain to cause offense in the East, he [Mandel] conjured up quintessential stereotypical Western fantasies by picturing a woman who covers her face with the viel but wears little else…. The strong desire of the Victorian artistic elite to dress up in Eastern costume, coupled with today's critical applause for works like Fenton's 'Orientalist suite' despite a lack of authenticity in many of the tableaux, shos the logevity of an abiding addiction for the exoticism and escapism imparted by the Eastern adventure." So I am not alone in my obsessions
p.11 "Odalisques had an allure for Westerners in the 19th century merely because of the degree of exoticism they embodied. The representation of the Odalisque or female slave has been the cause of much mythology in the West ever sinse Ingres paiting La grande Odalisque" which exhibited in the salon of 1819.Even the reality, a slave in the sultan's harem who might one day become the sultans wife, was an extraordinary concept for a Westerner."
There was also a small section on Lewis Carroll, who I studied some, but I never looked for his photographs.
I have however been exposed to several odalisque photographs of which I did not know.
Claude- Joseph Portier
Odalisque
Algiers, c. 1870's
Gustave De Beaucorps
Odalisque
ALgeria, c. 1850's
Roger Fenton
Reclining odalisque
1858
Potier Set up shop in algiers and was known for every type of photography in the area as well as painting. He did several odalisque works and may be a good resource for odalisques through the ages.
++P-2
I am totally in love With this photographer!! Eolo Perfido has the most amazing photographs. I think some are of celebrities, which kinda take away from it a little bit, but the fact that I'm not totally sure if they are who I think they are, makes it even better. There are a couple of photographs that need to be thrown out, but since nothing is labeled I can't really elaborate except to say the third from the end, etc. Most of the Images whoever, are strong and powerful, some are dark and grungy and others clean, but bizarre. He has an excellent eye for composition and theme. The first two images are very striking, with blindfolded people screaming and an American flag in the image. Both photo's speak volumes. With the exception o the last five, these are the types of photographs I want to take. Photographs full of life, energy, power, emotion, and style.
I decided to focus on Japanese/Oriental movies and TV shows this packet period. I looked into anime as well as the horror movie phenomenon that has come from Japan in the past five years.
I've discovered the people who are surprised by the j-horror phenomenon are this in between generation that doesn't remember the classic Godzilla movies and are too old to have heard of Ju-on, and Ringu as little kids. I am not surprised by the horror genre that has come out of Japan but rather impatient. Where were these guys after Freddy Krugar, Michael Myers and Jason Vorheez lost their appeal… Ok Jason never had any appeal for me. Tarantino tried to bring back the horror movie with Hostel… I laughed myself silly through out that movie. It's not scary unless you suddenly find yourself at a hostel and have to wonder if they have bulldog tattoo's on them. Sorry, I digressed. Te new j-horror or rather orient horror genre is not as new as Americans would like to think, I say Orient horror because the Yūrei, which are the "ghosts" of these horror movies, are in more areas than just Japan. THe use of the Yūrei, an emotionally attached spirit which can not pass on due to the power of their feelings, has been used not only in Ringu (The Ring) and Ju-on (The Grudge) both Japanese, but also in Shutter, which is a movie from Thailand and A Tale of Two Sisters which is a Korean flick. The Yūrei have many different versions: Onryō - Vengeful ghosts who come back from purgatory for a wrong done to them during their lifetime. Ubume - A mother ghost who died in childbirth, or died leaving young children behind. This yūrei returns to care for her children, often bringing them sweets. (This yūrei is in a lot of anime, including Sailor Moon and Evangelion, mentioned below.) Goryō - Vengeful ghosts of the aristocratic class, especially those who were martyred. Funayūrei - The ghosts of those who perished at sea. Zashiki-warashi - The ghosts of children, often mischievous rather than dangerous. (which personally freak me out more than any other) Warrior Ghosts - Veterans of the Genpei War who fell in battle. Warrior Ghosts almost exclusively appear in Noh Theater. Seductress Ghosts - The ghost of a woman or man who initiates a post-death love affair with a living human.1 (As in Shutter) This is another of the aspects of the oriental culture that make my interest so great. They have different categories of ghosts, they have put that much thought into something that Americans tend to dismiss. The point of ghosts being real or not is not the point, it is the romantic ideal. Creating this other culture that exists outside the realm of the visual.
It is obvious that the Japanese horror movies are having a big effect on the world at large, hollywood barely lets their moves get released before they are remaking them, and the other oriental countries are cashing in as well. THings like the yūrei have been around in japan for hundreds of years. Even the harajuku kids dress as yūrei and cosplay the movies. Plus the image of a pale girl, dressed in white with long black hair and lifeless hands has becomes ingrained into the minds of horror movie fans everywhere as the new feared image.
These movies fit into my personal aesthetic through the brutality, intense emotion (Obsession,) visual and psychological nature. The idea of loving someone so much you are unwilling to let them go even in death (Shutter) or the raw emotion that comes from being desperately hurt by someone you love (ringu, Ju-on ) is what much of my art deals with, especially the story, "A Dark Mind." The visual of the yūrei has had no small effect on me as well, though cleaner and not dead, my Image of Pauline, the main character of my story, is greatly based on the visual image of the yūrei. She is a living yūrei who was not killed by the people who hurt her, but survived but still lives in an unreal space, being haunted by the people that hurt her. Maybe she is dead, but doesn't realize it….
Sailor Moon (this is an overall discussion, rather than specific movies or shows)
Wow, this craze hit everywhere, and yeah, it's been around for awhile, but I think sailor moon is the show that made anime a household word. If it wasn't for Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, I fear we'd all still be up to our arm pits in Hanna-Barbara. I never knew there were so many episodes or that the show went on for so long. It had a lot to do with what is now the harajuku kids. It is possibly where cosplay began in the anime sense, (Americans have been dressing up and playing as characters as long as there has been renaissance fairs and Star Trek) and was one of the first animes to garner an adult audience. The story line, which changes drastically from season to season, has a few points that remain basically the same. Usagi is in school and discovers she has "powers" and is Sailor Moon, she and her friends become the "sailor senshi" and are helped by Tuxedo Kamen who is Mamoru. Mamoru and Usagi are soul mates and through out the entire long running show they are constantly trying to be together or not be torn apart. Watching the Dic, American version an the real Japanese version, will blow your mind with the differences. Americanized for your protection I guess. In the real version. Usagi is a middle school 14 year old and Mamoru is a 20 year old college student. In the second and on seasons there are two Senshi who in the american version are cousins, but in the real version, they are a lesbian couple. There is also a couple of seasons that were left out entirely in which a group of sailor stars come to find something on earth and during the day when they are a rock group, they are sexy, every girls dream guys, and at night when they fight off the forces of evil, they are girls. Androgeny abounds. Through out the show, Usagi has her faith to Mamoru tested as almost every guy, good or evil seems to fall for her at some time. The show has a sensuality to it that I think is natural, but is frowned upon in America. In the "change" sequences, which as the seasons go on take up more and more time, you can see the line of a butt crack on the girls. That one simple line was edited out in the American versions. The show overall has some very good messages, stick up for your friends, family is important, follow your heart, don't worry about what others say and always be careful if there is a a new kid at school, no matter how hot he is, cause he's probably an alien.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
If this show was meant for kids then the kids in Japan are really, REALLY deep. After several hours of this show you begin to wonder who you are, if you are important, where you're place is on this earth, whether or not you are happy and if so why? Basically…. very very basically, this show/movies are about the year 2016 in which "Angels" a planet destroying type of alien, has come to earth and destroyed most everything. Tokyo is a specialized city which can go under ground at the event of an attack and come back up when the coast is clear… If anyone could invent that I think it would be the Japanese… The only hope for the planet are some teenagers. Some very troubled, hormonal teenagers. The ships, which are part biomechanical suit and part organic lifeform, feed off of the high strung emotions of the teens. Each teen that has been chosen to pilot and "Eva" is trained and is suppose to take their job of saving the planet very seriously. The majority of the series focuses on Shinji who is the son of the Scientist.engineer who created the Evas. Shinji, who was abandoned by his father as a toddler is whiny and angst ridden to the Nth degree. The show stops being about saving the world and starts being more about the personal breakdowns of each character. In some reviews and writings on this series, it is said that the story is actually Hideaki Anno's personal therapy. Shinji is his id and he works through his own personal problem through the making of this series. The rather philosophical ending really plays to that theory. The last two movies watch more like an Italian art film than an anime. Flashes of text, "Am I Happy" "Am I important?" "Why am I here?" etc, etc, with Shinji and other characters arguing and discussing and an animation style that goes from rough sketches to more well drawn styles.
So why id I watch this? 1) Hideaki has done what I intended with my story, but in a huge undertaking. He has really used his own personal problem to make the story and has used the story to work through them. He is yet another artist I find that I can identify with on some other level. 2) Evangelion has become an icon of sorts in the Japanese culture. Much like the older anima, Akira, Evangelion has not lost any of it's popularity, it is referenced the way Americans reference Star Wars or Star Trek, and is another foundation for the pop culture that is today. There are also a couple of scenes in which the female characters resemble odalisques.
++P-1
The following books are on doll making and as such mostly consist of patterns. I'm not quite sure how to annotate them, but I will do my best.
Creative Paper Dollmaking
by Rhonda Rainey is a collection of various types of paper dolls from the traditional tab and fold kind to one made with paper pulp and molded. I looked into this book mainly for the molding techniques, but found that they all use a push mold for their faces which is something that I am trying to stay away from. I did however find inspiration in the "bangled harem doll" (P. 66) which looks like leaves and twigs in a human-esque form. The image makes me think of the leaves and seeds falling from the sky in the fall, twirling like dancers to the ground. I thought it would work well with my Odalisque and the animation Ideas that I have. The Doll created call the muses (P.70), resembles very much what I want to do with my tree figure in the story. So this is another one I am using, or planning to use. Finally more inspiration from the Marionettes Masquerade (P. 86) Which I do not intend to use in the sense of copying the pattern, but the imagery lends itself toward animation. So, the way I would be using the book mainly is in using the patterns to work from as well as inspiration.
The Fairytale Doll Book by Valerie Janitch Is a collection of patterns based on fairytales. Unfortunately it is basically the same pattern over and over, just with different clothes. I was also in holes that it would have "Big Bad Wolf" but it doesn't. I might possibly use the pattern, but most likely not since I have found far better ones in other books.
Easy to Make Dolls by G.P. Jones is a collection of patterns for sewing cloth dolls based on 19th century women and their clothes. I will be using thismainly for the pattern on the Asian doll to begin my work on Japanese pop culture. There are also several pages on how to sew yarn har on that may come in handy if I choose to take that route.
Making Dolls and Doll Clothesby Lia van Steenderen Was a waste of time. It is an impossible book to follow with illustrations of the finished dolls but no actual photographs and patterns that only the most experiences of sewers would understand. Though full of information that I'm sure makes sense to advanced and possibly intermediate sewers, it makes none to me.
Cloth dolls How to make them
by Miriam Gourley Had a wide variety of dolls, patterns, clothes ad tips that were helpful, clear and understandable, from how to sew hands to how to do hair, as well as finished examples of the dolls done by many different levels of people, including children. This is possible one of the most usefull books I have found on sewing dolls thus far. Basically however it is only a collection of sewing tips and patterns.
Designing the Doll
by Susanna Oroyan is the closest thing I have found to a text book for creating dolls. It has information on every type of doll from cloth, to wood, to assemblages of mixed media. There aren't any real patterns so much as tips, examples and step by step guides to how to design your own doll, rather than copy someone else's. The chapters on joints and body sculpting are the most helful since that is what I have not been able to find until now. This is a book I might consider buying it is so nice. It walks you through problem solving, gives you definitions to help understand sewing terms (Which no other books I have found does) and is wonderfully constructed.
Making Creative Cloth Dolls
by Marthe Le Van Is a collection of 3 patterns to work from in abstracted human forms that then give examples and step by step directions on how to create different version of each doll by famous doll makers. The dolls are entitles energy, clarity and strength. The energy doll is very much what I envisioned the characters bodies looking like. Limp and loose and jointed, but still a doll. The strength doll has made my remember my initial promise to myself to create a ritual to help me get over my emotional issues about my ex. I think that one of those dolls, done in my own way, would work well as a ritual, followed up by a fire or other destructive force. At the end they have a few other dolls that are different from the average doll, including some that I will most likely use in the animation. Pamela Hastings Folk Art Dolls (P.86) have a weird creepy-ness to them that works for my story and ideas for the animation. Finally JoAnn Pinto's Metamorphosis, which is so sculptural in nature I really can't even think of it as a doll, only she does, so I must. It is a gorgeous work that I will be workng towards, but it is highly advanced and I doubt I would be able to do it this semester, though I would love to.
Creative Cloth Doll Couture
by Pattii Medarius Culea was gotten mainly for the sculptural faces and elaborate clothing. I will be trying the face sculpting next packet period, but the clothes may be too advanced for me yet. The dolls however lend themselves directly to some of my ideas for my Odalisque project. The book
Get Crafty, Hip Home Ec
by Jean Railla is a book that gives tips and ideas but mainly talks about the power of crafting, the importance of making it yourself and that it's ok to be part of th "Domestic arts" sect. This is something I had a problem with, still do occasionally. I'm an old punk, X-straight edge, hardcore, angry youth all growed up and still feeling much the same way about the inequalities of the world. It's just nice to know I'm not the only one. "My disdain for all things domestic only increased throughout my college years." (P. 2) Railla Speaks in a voice for and of feminism,but is a domestic arts goddess with a child of her own. Something that as a youth, I didn't think existed. Punk rock and chocolate chips do not site side by side. It's nice to know I was wrong. It has taken a while for me to get to a point where I don't feel like I am betraying some log forgotten by most subculture by sewing dolls and making clothes…. But now that I think of it, I did the most of my sewing when I was a 24/7 punk, because I had to make the kind of clothes that I wanted to wear. I sure couldn't find them in rural North and South Carolina. The book
Fun Dolls
By Aranzi Aronzo was the catalyst for the doll idea. Aronzo creates comics with his sweeter than sugar coated sugar cubes creatures, which he then decided to turn into actual dolls, or rather plushies. The plushies in his book are from his comics and original ones not from his comic, but the sewing book which is mainly patterns, is as cute as the reations with little comic sans dialog from the creations to the reader. It makes almost anyone want to sew, just to be able to make the super cute creatures. The book
All about Lilly Chou Chou
Movie written and directed by Shunji Iwai
Yuichi is obsessed with Lilly Chou Chou. A Singer Songwriter who claims that her works comes from the "Ether," The mysterious substance all life is supposedly made from. Yuichi believes that he can feel the ether by listening to her music. Several other feel the same way about her music and they all communicate over the net in a forum especially for those who "love Lilly." In his real like Yuichi is virtually silent, rarely speaking through the film and preferring to have things happen to and around him. On the rare instances that he make a choice it's usually a bad one in terms of traditional morality. Like when he decided to do a snatch and grab on a group of rival thugs who were stealing from some old guy.
The movie in general was a little hard to follow, and not just because it was in Japanese. The story jumps time line, in the tradition of Tarantino maybe? But the jump would take place after a "Reload" Screen.
There wasn't any real visual difference to let us know the people were younger or in a different time.
Hoshino was the smart, rich, athletic student who had a hot mom and no friends.
He had been a bully when younger but everyone had decided he was over it. Apart from being the middle school crime boss, in charge of the usual bullying as well as prostitution, blackmail and extortion, he was also one of Yuichi's online companions. It became obvious from the beginning that the same people Yuichi was interacting with online were the very same people he was hating in his real life. Yuichi never saw this however and continued, allowing the current of the school underground to carry him away. The movie was made up of the image of the main characters standing in the grass listening to their headphones while a screen types text from the internet,
and several badly done shots with a handheld camera. It was obvious that the director was trying for a real feel with this movie making it raw and gritty with the camera angels and the images he tried to perpetuate but what I walked away with from this movie was the knowledge that a group of middle school Japanese kids can basically get away with anything, including murder and it doesn't seem to have an effect on anyone really. Maybe I am lacking in the ability to understand the subtlety of Japanese cinema (Although I have watch much of it before) or maybe I did not get the point of this movie, but expecting to see a movie about Japanese pop culture and the rise of prostitution and actually seeing only 2 vague references to prostitution (does kissing a girl on the neck slamming into her once fully clothes count as prostitution? cause if so I'm moving to Japan and making some money) and the only pop culture reference was Lily Chou Chou, I was disappointed in the movie. Now if I want to watch a movie about how bad bullying can be, I will be sure to watch it again.
All that said, the images in the rice fields are gorgeous and the most poetic part of the whole movie, which was the only part that moved me, was when the "prostitute" runs across a group of guys flying kites in very advanced aeronautical ways, she is mesmerized, the guys let her fly one for a minute and she decides she wants to sour through the air… then jumps from an electrical tower… the movie came together in that second better than anywhere else.
The ending is nice as well, but more in a, it's about time you silent little fucker, way.
Eleven Minutes
by Paulo Coelho
Exerpts
I remember everything, although not the moment when I made the decision. Oddly enough, I have no sense os guilt. I used to think of girls who went to bed with men for money as people who had no other choice, and now I see that it isn't like that. I could have said yes or no; no one was forcing me to accept anything.
-I walk about the streets and look at all the people, and I wonder if they chose their lives? or were they, like mw, chosen by fate?… I don't feel in the least bit sorry for myself. I am still not a victim, because I could have let that restaurant with my dignity intact and my purse empty… but— like most people— I let fate choose which route I should take P.55
There she was in a strange city where she knew no one, but what had been a torment to her yesterday, today gave her a tremendous sense of freedom, because she didn't have to explain herself to anyone…. Instead of pretending that she new the answer in order to prove that she was more cultures and intelligent than people might think, asked… That's what the world is like: people talk as if they know everything, but if you dare to ask a questions they don't know anything. P. 57
…you just see the anisette. I, on the other hand, because I need to be inside everything I do, see the plant it came from, the storms the plant endured, the hand that picked the grain, the voyage by ship from another land, the smells and colors with which the plany allowed itself to be imbued before it was placed in the alcohol. If I were to paint this scene, I would paint all those things, even though when you saw the painting, you would think you were looking at a simple glass of anisette. P.105
Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other P138
Generally these meetings occur when we reah a limit, when we need to die and be reborn emotionally. These meetings are waiting for us, but more often than not, we avoid them happening. If we are desperate, though, if we have nothing to lose, or if we are full of enthusiasm for life, then the unknown reveals itself, and out universe changes direction P.139
The marquis de Sade said that the most important experiences a man can have are those that take him to the very limit; this is the only way we learn, because it requires all our courage. When a boss humilates an employee, or a man humiliates his wife, he is merely being cowardly or taking his revenge on life, they are people who have never dared to look into the depths of their soul, never attempted to know the origin of that desire to unleash the wild beast, or to understand that sex, pain and love are all extreme experiences. P.149
- a thought- Do we, those on the fringes of society, with habits and tastes out of the "norm" say these things to make ourselves sound more important, so that we can take the stance that what we do is not "wrong" rather it is better than what others do, it is superior to the average? Or are we just deluding ourselves and should accept the title Pervert, sicko, deviant….etc???*
It's true that we only know each other when we come up against our own limits, buts it's wrong too, because it isn't necessary to know everything about ourselves; human beings weren't made solely to go in search of wisdom, but also to plough the land, wait for rain, plant the wheat, harvest the grain, make the bread. I am two owme: one wants to have all the joy; passion and adventure that life can give me. The other wants to be a slave to routine, to family life, to the things that can be planned and achieved. I'm a housewife and a prostitute, both of us living in the same body and doing battle with each other. The meeting of these two woemn is a game with serious risks. A divine dance. When we meet, we are two divine energies, two universes colliding, If the meeting is not carreid out with due reverence, one universe destroys the other. P.151
…this creature with four arms could work harder; with it's two faces it was always vigilant and could not be taken by surprise;and it's four legs meant that it could stand or walk for long periods without tiring. Even more dangerous was the fact that the creature had two sets of sex organs and so needed noone else in order to continue reproducing…And he cut the creature in two… This greatly increased the population of the worls and at the same time disoriented and weakened it's inhabitants, because now they had to search for their lost half and embrace it and in that embrace regain their former strength, their ability to avoid betrayal and the stamina to walk for long periods of time and to withstand hardwork. That embrace in which the two bodies re-fuse to become one again is what we call sex. P.157-158
When I had nothing to lose, I had everything. WHen I stopped being who I am, I found myself. When I experienced humiliation and total submission, I was free. P.189
I didn't want to save humanity, or him or me; I was just there. The art of sex is the art of controlled abandon. P.190
Yes I discovered that there is not just one history of prostitution, but two. The first one you know all too well, because it is your history too: a pretty girl, for reasons wheich she has chosen or whihc have chosen her, decides that the only way she can survive is by selling her body. Some end up ruling nations, as messalina did in rome, others become legendary figures, like Madame du Barry, still others chase after adventure and misforture, like the spy Mata Hari…. Prostitutes appear in classical texts, in egyptian hieroglyphs, in sumerian writings, in the old and new testament. But the profession only starts to become orgnaized in the 6th century BC when a greek legilator Solos, set up state-controlled brothels and began imposing taxes on the other hand, started to be classified according to how much they were paid. The cheapest were pornai, slaves who belonged to owners of the establishment. Next came the peripatetica, who picked up her clients in the street. Lastly, the most expensive and highest quality, was the hetaera, the female companion, who accompanied businessmen on their trips, dined in chis restaurants, controlled her own money, gave advice and meddled in the political life of the city. P.202-203
sacred prostitution…The greek historian, Herodotus, wrote of Babylonia: 'they have a strange custom here by which every woman born in sumeria is obliged, at least once in her lifetime, to go to the templeof the goddess Ishtar and give her body to a stranger, as a symbol od hospitality and for a symbolic price… THe inlfuence of the goddess Ishtar spread throughout the middle east as far as sardinia, sicily, and the mediterraneanports. Later during the roman empire another goddess, Vesta, demanded total virginity or total surrender. In order to keep the sacred fired burning, the women serving her temple were responsible for iniating young men and kings on the oath of sexuality P.204
When I am sitting at the door of a tavern, I Ishtar, the goddess, Am prostitute, mother, wife, divinity. I am what people call life, although you call it deaht. I am what people call law, although you call it delinquency, I am what you seek and what you fins. I am scattered and the pieces you now gather up. P.204-205
They left the church hand in hand, as if they were two lovers meeting again for a long time. They kissed in public, and a few people shot them scandalized looks; but they both smiled at the unease they were causing and at the desires they were provoking by their scandalous behavior, because they knew in fact, that those people wihed they could be doing the same thing. THat was the real scandal. P238
He lay me down ont he floor and enetered me before I was aroused and ready, but the pain didn't bother me; on the contrary, I liked it like that, because he obviously understood that I was his and he didn't need to ask permission…. WHile I looked at him, with no desire to moan or to do anything, just wanting to keep my eyes open so that I could remember every second, watch his face changing, his hands grabbing my hair, his mouth biting me, kissing me. No preliminaries, no caresses, no preparation, no soiphistocation, just him inside me and me inside his soul. P251
Ok, more of a book report than an annotation, but whatever.
Book review
Coraline
by Neil Gaimen
Illustrated by Dave Mckean
Ok, it's a kids book, I know. My fascination with children's stories, fairy tales and the like has not dwindled at all. Plus this is Neil Gaimen?!?! Sandman anyone?? Of course the fact that I defending my childlike reading choices with a comic book isn't exactly the most sound argument… This is a great book and literally feels pulled directly from my own memories of child hood. The basic Idea behind the book is, don't take what you have at home for granted. The dark tone and somewhat suspenseful sections add an element that reminds me of some video games and Role Playing games. It's is along the lines of te types of stories I strive to be able to write myself. It is not childish, and at times does not seem like a kids book, but the fantastic events would never go over in an "adult" book. It is far more true to life than most children's books I've seen. Especially the books written in the 90's and early 00's where nothing bad happened and the parents are wonderfully attentive. Coraline's parents are just to busy to entertain her, just as real parents are, and she herself is a typical stubborn child, refusing to eat the dinner cooked for her. What is not typical, especially with kids today is that she prefers to be outside exploring, than inside in front of the TV. Something for more children today to strive for. Her explorations carried her around the new house, the others tenants, and the grounds opening up a small world of interesting characters that you could possibly meet, but it seems like we never do. It reminded me of my own childhood in which I had no fear of going over to neighbors houses to say hi or hang out eating cookies. Where as an adult, I wouldn't dare bother a neighbor unless it was absolutely necessary. The story takes Coraline into a nightmare world that seems perfect at first with her new buttoned eyes parents and friends, she soon realizes the bedlam that resides there does not want to make her happy but to possess her. Every child's dream of getting everything they ever wanted becomes her nightmare. In a wise beyond her years moment, she tells her "other mother" that no one actually wants to have everything they ever wanted, it just makes life to easy. She takes the task of finding her real parents and in the process saving the souls of three other children taken by the bedlam. The only section that needed to be more in depth was the story of the other children, but maybe Gaiman intends to do a bedlam series. The story has all the aspects I am trying to develop in my own writing. Fairytale scenes, dark atmosphere, childlike adults, adult like children, struggle and strife all enveloped in a cozy little world with enough interest in it to hold the audiences interest.
The Illustrations are rough and sketchy, faces are distorted and perspectives are flat or skewed making the pictures look complex and childish at the same time. Picasso like they fit the cracked universe perfectly. I would like to see animations in Mckean's style. THey are in the process of making the movie already. I look forward to seeing if they capture the spirit of this book in illustrations and story.