Oct 30
2016
Oct 29
2016Ali Smith on Pauline Botty
This sharp wee piece on Botty is a good read (thank you Rodge). Plus a link to Adam Curtis’ blog post on her too. Though I’m in a bit of a mood with Curtis this week – I require some optimism in these dark days… Seeing Mark Cousins in the park today helped a bit.
by Lewis Morley, resin print, 1963
My Colouring Book, 1963 (?)
Oct 15
2016Not sure where I’m going with this dentist/Deckard thing…
Is it simply a trick of film vs video, both turned to digital image that connects these aesthetically, or maybe it’s the unexpected kipple…
Oct 15
2016Voigt-Kampff – Notes on PKD’s use of language
The naming of machines in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by James Reich here.
George Fairfull Smith, my dentist
Rick Deckard
Oct 13
2016They Live
It had been years, and my excuse was the dissemination of Carpenter paranoia to the fine art students of The Institute of the Arts University of Cumbria (in a rare mention here), so we watched They Live. It is virtually perfect. It’s not The Thing, but it’s close. More influential than you remember/was at the time you last watched.
i see the eedeeologgee
Oct 09
2016Access Main Computer File
This Tumblr site posts screens from TV and film. That’s it. What else could you want? What else? Exactly.
Not again. Fae Source Code
Alien (see also BR spinners…)
Oh my god, I love Josh – Clueless
THX 1138 – downhill from here
Oct 01
2016
Oct 01
2016Get in! New Adam Curtis is 16 days away
Adam Curtis is coming…
HyperNormalisation tells the extraordinary story of how we got to this strange time of great uncertainty and confusion – where those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed – and have no idea what to do. And, where events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control – from Donald Trump to Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening – but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.
The film shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West – not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves – have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us, we accept it as normal.
HyperNormalisation has been made specifically for BBC iPlayer. It tells an epic narrative spanning 40 years, with an extraordinary cast of characters. They include the Assad dynasty, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Patti Smith, the early performance artists in New York, President Putin, intelligent machines, Japanese gangsters, suicide bombers – and the extraordinary untold story of the rise, fall, rise again, and finally the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.
All these stories are woven together to show how today’s fake and hollow world was created. Part of it was done by those in power – politicians, financiers and technological utopians. Rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, they retreated. And instead constructed a simpler version of the world in order to hang onto power.
But it wasn’t just those in power. The film shows how this strange world was built by all of us. We all went along with it because the simplicity was reassuring. And that included the left and the radicals who thought they were attacking the system. The film reveals how they too retreated into this make-believe world – which is why their opposition today has no effect, and nothing ever changes.
Victoria Jaye, Head of TV content, BBC iPlayer says: ““Adam is a brilliant storyteller and film maker, who has taken full creative advantage of BBC iPlayer to produce ambitious, groundbreaking new work. HyperNormalisation is both timely and important and builds on the huge success of Bitter Lake which attracted over 1.8 million requests to the platform. So far this year, iPlayer first titles have attracted over 75 million requests, which is a significant contribution from a select few titles and we expect to see this rise as we look to premiere more and more content on the service.”
Adam Curtis says: “BBC iPlayer offers an extraordinary place to experiment and to tell stories that allow you to explore and explain the strangeness of our modern world in a new way. Complex, interwoven stories that reflect the new complexity and unpredictability of our time.”
HyperNormalisation builds on the success of Bitter Lake, Adam Curtis’ first iPlayer commission and The Rack Pack, which attracted over 1.2m requests on iPlayer before being broadcast on BBC Two. – from the beeb website.
Oct 01
2016Trigger Words @ The GPS
How smashing of Ross Sinclair to invite us in as he finished installing his work in this group show. Sorry John, Claire and the install team…
Trigger Words – 24th September – 13th November
‘Trigger Words’ features a group of artists each of whom have created work that is inspired by or somehow relates to a piece of Scottish literature of their choosing.
Ross Sinclair
Alasdair Gray
Oct 01
2016John Samson @ GoMA
Popped in with the students – thanks to Will Cooper. Hit it at the rubber point.
from The Third Eye Magazine
‘1975–1983’ presents the complete works of enigmatic Scottish filmmaker, John Samson (1946–2004). This is the first museum exhibition of the five films Samson made during his lifetime.
A worker on the Clyde shipyards, as a teenager Samson was involved in various protest movements. He was a spokesperson for Glasgow shipyard apprentices and in 1961 was arrested at the Holy Loch for participation in a Committee of 100 anti-nuclear action. In 1963, after meeting his partner Linda, then studying painting at The Glasgow School of Art, Samson fell in with a bohemian circle including artists, writers and musicians. He taught himself guitar, took up photography, and by the mid-70s began the cycle of films featured in this exhibition.
Samson’s working class roots, his passionate interest in radical politics, art and bohemia, compelled him towards individuals and groups operating at the margins of society. Covering topics such as tattooing, amateur railway enthusiasm, clothing fetishism, professional darts and the sex lives of disabled people, Samson’s films are concerned with cultural outsiders. Despite courting controversy, he was always compassionate in his curiosity. Samson’s work is about allowing unusual people to speak for themselves; carefully observing – but not judging – their conspicuous lives.
‘1975–1983’ comprises all five of Samson’s films: Tattoo (1975), Dressing for Pleasure (1977), Britannia (1978), Arrows (1979) and The Skin Horse (1983). It also features a commissioned graphic project by Stockholm-based designers Martin Falck and Alexey Layfurov.
Tattoo (1975) A documentary film based on the art of tattooing, tattoo artists and their clients, with interviews exploring the fascination for, and the reasons behind, choosing to be tattooed. The film builds up to long climactic scene, often since replicated in other films on the subject, featuring tattooed bodies displayed as art objects. Typical of his involvement in his projects, Samson had himself tattooed during the making of the film.
Dressing for Pleasure (1977) explores the subject of fetishism in clothing. The film, which, despite its subject matter, remains playful and light, features cameos from Malcolm McLaren and punk icon Jordan, as well as a host of other curious characters.
Britannia (1978) A group of volunteers work on the restoration of an old locomotive. This unashamedly poetic piece draws strongly on the theme of resurrection as Britannia rises like a phoenix from the ashes of its desolate resting place.
Arrows (1979) is a film about Eric Bristow and the world of competitive darts. In Bristow, already successful and self-assured in his early 20s, Samson finds a compelling figure through which he explores a sport as well as a specific period of British social life and culture.
The Skin Horse (1983) is a ground-breaking a film about sex and disability that won Samson much acclaim. An exploration of body image and identity,
The Skin Horse pulls no punches and remains as powerful as ever.