FILM MUSIC ART

Ginger

2012-02-01T13:38:00.001+11:00

Coloured my hair and it turned out ginger at first. Like Ron Weasley ginger (now it's dark brown). To celebrate this funny mishap, I'm wearing ginger pants.

(Shirt from Jack London, Pants from Cheap Monday, Boots from Superdry and Watch from Fossil)

All images are owned by me

Monkey Magic

2012-01-28T11:30:00.000+11:00

Probably the most satisfying meal I've had for a long time. Every time a dish was gobbled up I had this really inappropriate urge to lick the plates clean. Yes, I'm classy. And no I did not.

I've also been experimenting with editing techniques on Photoshop to give my photos have a certain mood. Mood. I feel like I use this word a lot here.

All images are owned by me

50 Books // Jane Eyre // # 3

2012-01-20T18:00:00.000+11:00

Reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre makes me yearn for a time when people spoke to each other with such grace and elegance coupled with an intensity of passion that is intermittently laced with the words they speak. It doesn't matter whether they are being cruel or nice or loving. Their utterance between one another never fail to express a potent emotion. Romantic passages like this:

"I sometimes have a queer

feeling with regard to you

- especially when you are near

me, as now: it is as if I

had a string somewhere under

my left ribs, tightly and

inextricably knotted to a

similar string situated in the

corresponding quarter of your

little frame. And if that

boisterous channel, and two

hundred miles or so of land

come broad between us, I am

afraid that cord of communion

will be snapt and then I've

a nervous notion I should take

to bleeding inwardly."

SWOONGASM.

I really like how it's in equal parts violent, romantic and dark. The entire novel feels like this with its gothic, romantic mood. It was perfectly balanced. Less gothic and dark and it would have been too sickly sweet to me.

The other thing I love most about this novel is the central heart, brain, soul and lung of this story: Jane Eyre herself, of course. Right after I finished the book, I posted this on my Tumblr:

"Just finished this last night, or rather, early morning at 4am.

I am in love with Jane Eyre. Not just the book itself but also the character. She is fiercely independent, burning with passion, highly intelligent, unpretentiously artistic and utters some of the sharpest, wittiest lines in literary history.

The final half of the book gave me multiple heart aches from pure excitement, heartbreak and overwhelming happiness.

This goes on my list of books I would recommend to anyone.

There are multiple film adaptations of this book. Please don’t use those as excuses to not read this. The book will always be better. Always."

I'll just leave it at that.

I write on the books I read and I revisit those notes to write these posts. But for this one, every single time I open the book, as if by magic, I find myself re-reading parts of the novel. And I end up getting nothing done. That really shows how powerful Ms. Bronte's novel is. How it can just draw you in, and ask you to bring its story and its characters back to life. This is the kind of book when it is inappropriate to put the words 'The End' at the end because it just doesn't. Its traces will linger with you long after that final page is read and the book shut.

Links:

About the 50 Books Challenge

Goodreads account

List of the books I've read so far

Image was edited by me from this original source.

The Gentlemen // 3 favourite looks from Menswear Fall/Winter 2012

2012-01-17T14:15:00.000+11:00

Armani

The gentleman with an air of mystery

and reserved quietness.

Favourite pieces: headscarves and shawls.

Burberry

The gentleman who is polite

and with character.

Favourite pieces: cropped jackets over the suit and spiked gloves.

Costume National

The young gentleman with

grown-up taste.

Favourite pieces: textured sweaters and jackets

Dolce and Gabbana

The gentleman artist who

works at home and isn't

afraid of extravagance.

Favourite pieces: drop crotch pants and embroidered shirts and jackets

Etro

The free-spirited gentleman who is

also sartorially inclined.

Favourite pieces: patterned ties and feathered cardigans

Jil Sander

The gentleman with a sharp

attitude who is hiding

a softer, quirkier side.

Favourite pieces: animal sweaters and leather jackets

Marni

The thinking gentleman with

impeccable taste.

Favourite pieces: leather gloves and tote.

Prada

The gentleman.

Favourite pieces: striped trench coats and tailored jackets.

(Yes, that's Gary Oldman)

All images are from style.com

Inner apocalypse and preteniousness // Melancholia

2012-01-14T18:56:00.000+11:00

Melancholia is split into two parts titled with the names of the two protagonists, 'Justine' and 'Claire'. Justine is played by Kirsten Dunst, Claire by Charlotte Gainsbourg. Justine is depression, Claire is anxiety.

When the threat of Melancholia (an approaching planet that once hid behind the sun and may or may not collide with Earth) heightens, Justine reacts to the situation with interminable indifference while Claire responds with suffocating anxiety.

Von Trier uses an impending apocalypse as a way to explain what depression and an anxiety disorder really feels like. Personally, I've had bouts of anxiety attacks and moments of depression and still continue to experience these. Despite referrals to therapists, I've put off seeing them (yes, I'm in THAT stage). I haven't come across a film that accurately portrays what anxiety and depression does to a person's internal and emotional state.

That intense suffocating feeling that Claire experiences during Melancholia's approach towards Earth, as if gravity itself is trying to wring the air out of your lungs, is a mental and emotional trauma that is painfully familiar for me.

Justine's persistent and frightening indifference towards the end of the world, as well as her own wedding is depicted by Kirsten Dunst in the most powerful and believable way. The hollowness of the eyes that seem to be staring at nothing and everything. The darkness that can cloud over you at any moment and the recklessness and impulsive behaviours that come about in a desperate search to keep the dark clouds at bay. The frank cruelty towards other people that seem to come out of nowhere. The mood swings. The excessive introspection that leads you to the point of self-loathing and the consequent detachment from friends and loved ones. All of these are conveyed so brilliantly and accurately in this film.

Some found the film to be too lengthy and others deemed it as dull arthouse trash. I can see why some people would perceive it this way. If the film was constructed in the same way but instead focused on a different subject matter altogether and if the characters did not have depression or anxiety I would have probably found it very dull as well. But since the film deeply affected me in a very personal way, I did not mind its length or its slow pacing. In fact I much preferred it that way since it gave me time to assess what I just saw.

Some found some scenes gratuitous, like an ultra slow motion shot of a horse collapsing to the ground, but I argue that these seemingly random images are not just there because of their visual beauty but are there to reinforce a certain kind of mood. Von Trier created an atmosphere to represent what it would probably feel like if the entire planet knew and are restlessly waiting for the end of everything - a combination of hushed hopelessness and violent tremors of our defeated planet. The ground shaking music of Wagner as the tremors and the isolated country house as the collective hush of our planet.

Again, I can fully understand why people would dislike this film because of the mood, or its length or because of its dreary subject matter. What I don't understand are the people who call the film pretentious.

Pretentious is a word used to describe this film in many reviews I've read. In all honesty, I'm quite irritated having this adjective used as a go-to word to sneer at creative works that strive to be ambitious, daring or beautiful. I find it sad when writers, specifically critics, use this word. It is cop-out criticism. It is lazy because it is too definitive and delimits the opportunity for further discussion which is what art, and subsequently, criticism is really there to do - promote discussion.

Any work of art that is brave, unconventional and new can be called pretentious and those that who do can get away with it. This is because films like Melancholia require a certain degree of pretentiousness. Any work that takes a risk need to be christened with self-importance that it initially does not deserve. If this wasn't so then the artist will never have the impetus that eventually leads to the art's creation.

What is creativity but considering what is in one's head important enough that the artist indulges himself by bringing it into the world. If artists did not give their work greater importance than what it deserves then we will only be left with art that is subpar, lacklustre and dangerously unambitious.

I'm just grateful that von Trier was pretentious enough that he was able to make this film.

Images are edited by me from various screenshots from the film. Note: The film is not black and white.

200 Movies Challenge

2012-01-10T02:40:00.000+11:00

So, since I'm already doing the 50 books challenge this year, I thought hmm...might as well throw my entire social life away and also ambitiously undertake a movies challenge as well.

Picking a number was hard but since I already see over a hundred movies in a given year, I thought I'll go with the number 200. That's 3.8 movies a week, so I would have to see about 3 to 4 movies a week.

I'm going to be upgrading my Quickflix account and renewing my cinema club memberships so hurray!

For every ten movies I see I will write up a post with thoughts and a mini review about each film along with a black and white film strip that I'll make for each movie. Because black and white film strips are cool.

Wish me luck.

Links:

Blog posts

List of the movies I have seen so far

Image was edited by me. Original image here.

50 Books // The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle // # 2

2012-01-07T22:52:00.000+11:00

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Murakami's masterpiece (I seem to always say this about every Murakami I read) is about a young married man named Toru. Toru loses a number of things. First his cat, then his wife and then slowly his sense of reality. In search of these things he encounters characters both bizarre and amusing ranging from war veterans, a politician, an introspective sixteen-year-old girl and even mind prostitutes. Yes, prostitutes who pleasure you in your dreams.

To describe the plot of the novel is near impossible. At more than 600 pages this is an epic that crosses various time periods, various character viewpoints while managing to weave in and out (and sometimes in between) the real and the imagined. It sounds confusing and complex but it's actually deceptively simple. The way Murakami writes allows the surreal nature of the narrative as well as the layered plot to be as digestible as a children's fairytale. There are so many things going on but somehow Murakami never leaves you behind. This is probably because he never embellishes his sentences more than he needs to. At one point there is even a story within a story within another story. As one character tells Toru one of her stories Toru observes:

"Without explanation, she would

reverse chronological order or suddenly

introduces as a major character

someone she had never mentioned

to me before...

She would narrate events she had

witnessed with her own eyes, as

well as events that she had never

witnessed."

Upon reading this I realised Murakami was describing how he tells his own stories.

I would read this before I go to bed and I remember how strange my own dreams end up becoming. It was as if Murakami's prose somehow rearranged my brain to allow it to gaze at the world in a distorted, convoluted and even a perverse kind of way.

I tend to read fast and usually whizz through books but this one made me slow down and cherish every sentence, every moment and every chapter. I gave it time and it deserved it without question.

Links:

About the 50 Books Challenge

Goodreads account

List of the books I've read so far

Image was edited by me from this original image.

City Extra for Day One

2012-01-05T18:19:00.000+11:00

Spent the first day of the year with the family at City Extra, right across the Bridge when only several hours prior, it was virtually on fire from the New Year's fireworks display.

Their menu was in a cool newspaper format and I chose

the 'journo burger' which is the perfect way to end

my journalism 'career' (I transferred away from my journalism degree and starting my design degree this year).

We also got a last glimpse of the never-ending rainbow which

was the centrepiece on the Harbour Bridge for this year.

Hope everyone had an amazing New Year celebration.

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission.

A belated Christmas post

2012-01-04T16:55:00.004+11:00

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source

Instagram Film Memories #4

2012-01-03T20:54:00.000+11:00

Instagram: Film Memories are a series of posts showcasing great films I saw during a certain time period. Includes a screenshot of the film taken via Instagram.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Dir. Apicatpong Weerasethakul

Meek's Cutoff

Dir. Kelly Reichardt

Kiki's Delivery Sevice

Dir. Hayao Miyazaki

The Thin Red Line

Dir. Terrence Malick

Wendy and Lucy

Dir. Kelly Reichardt

Two-Lane Blacktop

Dir. Monte Hellman

Bubble

Dir. Steven Soderbergh

Scream 4

Dir. Wes Craven

50 Books // Bonjour Tristesse // #1

2012-01-02T01:44:00.000+11:00

Hurray for the first book I completed for the 2012 Fifty Books Challenge! It wasn't that difficult since Bonjour Tristesse is only over a hundred pages long.

I'm thankful that it was very brief because I found the main character, Cecile, extremely irritating, selfish and arrogant. If I wanted to witness the lives of privileged people living colourless lives then I would have turned on an episode of a Kardashian TV show.

This was written by an eighteen-year old about a seventeen-year old and you can pretty much sniff out the teenage angst and boredom right from the very first page.

Although she does provide small glimpses of introspection and an occasional acute observance of a character's behaviour, most of the time her words aren't very penetrating and lacks a bit of depth.

This was set in the South of France, arguably the country's most glamourous area, during the most elegant of all decades but Sagan never really took me there. Again, I had brief glimpses of it but the language is so restrained I felt like I was witnessing the story with a cloak thrown over me. I was reading a Murakami and Bronte novel at the same time I was reading this and every lacklustre sentence I read in Bonjour Tristesse made me long for the rich, vibrant and complex storytelling from those accomplished writers.

However, I don't really regret reading this. It was a quick and easy read and I actually had fun mocking and despising the characters in the novel.

Links:

About the 50 Books Challenge

Goodreads account

List of the books I've read so far

Images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source.

Island, Abandoned

2011-12-30T17:51:00.000+11:00

"One can never know for sure

what a deserted area looks like"

- George Carlin

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source.

Let's eat, drink and be merry

2011-12-27T01:58:00.001+11:00

50 Books Challenge

2011-12-21T21:02:00.000+11:00

In 2012, I've decided to take part in the 50 books challenge.

It's simple enough, finish 50 books from the 1st of January to 31st of December. After I finish a book I will write a post with thoughts, criticisms, and my general experience reading the book. I will also be posting a 'book poster' which will add a visual touch to the blog post, as well as an Instagram of the book cover.

I may succeed, I may fail or the world may end (see Mayan calendar apocalypse).

Now I must confess I've kind of cheated already.

Bad start, I know, but technically it's not cheating. I think.

The books I'm reading this month (December 2011) I'm going to hold off finishing until January next year and since I'm over halfway through about seven books already, I'll be able to get a massive head start during January.

So, it's not cheating. Just very cunning.

Have a Merry Christmas and a safe, wonderful New Year.

Links:

Most recent blog posts 

Goodreads account

List of the books I've read so far

Image edited by me. Original image here.

The Sweet Spot

2011-12-17T19:48:00.000+11:00

So there's a place near

where I live called

'The Spot'

and there's a

coffee/cake/pastry shop there called

'The Sweet Spot'

They had rows of

scrumptious looking cakes.

It took a while for me

and my friend to decide.

I had the banana,

she had the raspberry.

And we both had

deliciously frothy

cappuccinos paired

with a macaron.

First time I tasted macarons.

Yes, I know.

Where have I been?

Really did hit the spot.

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

That's A Wrap

2011-12-16T02:01:00.000+11:00

Christmas yet again.

The things I love most

about this time of the year

are not the presents, or the food

(though those are good too)

but all the

wrapping and decorating.

The secretive wrapping,

like you're bundling up

a joyful secret.

All the pretty lights

and tacky, shiny things

and the miniature

baby Jesus.

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission.

Outpost Street Art Exhibition // Part 2

2011-12-12T20:56:00.000+11:00

Part two.

Part one here.

...As the storm brews from the west

and the winds blow dust

into our poor little eyes

we take refuge inside.

There we find a man

hanging from the ceiling,

Mother Monster plastered

on a heavily graffitied wall,

and most would miss a tiny

drawing of a man waving.

Burst of colours would

jarringly meld with the

browns, the rusts, the siennas

of the industrial space,

including a dazzle of

pink from Pola's now

famous tights.

After all the pretty, ugly

things are seen.

We head back to the most

beautiful harbour in the planet.

Where we fill our bellies
with pies with faces on them.

Have a great week.
Love, Jesue

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source

Outpost Street Art Exhibition // Part 1

2011-12-11T20:19:00.001+11:00

My friend Pola and I

hopped on a ferry to

Cockatoo Island.

It was sunny at first.

But the dark grey clouds

loomed above us.

We saw street art in

abandoned factory buildings.

There was a house with skulls,

robots made from bits of rubbish,

wrecked Holden Commodores,

an entire room splashed with colour

and t-shirts that glowed.

There was mixed media

and graffiti art inside

a creepy, dark tunnel.

But once outside,

the clouds got darker and greyer...

To be continued.

Part two here.

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source.

Gross Und Klein // Sydney Theatre Company

2011-12-08T16:32:00.000+11:00

The painful, awkward and ill-at-ease experiences of an outsider is perfectly and delicately realised in the Sydney Theatre Company's final main stage play Gross Und Klein. Lotte, played by Cate Blanchett is an outsider in every respect - social, societal and even self. She is gauche, bizarre and suspiciously wacko. But she is also terrifically funny, simple and inspires so much empathy that I found myself wondering and worrying about the present state of this fictional character.

"I wonder how she is now", I thought after leaving the theatre. I haven't had this kind of a reaction since seeing Fellini's Nights of Cabiria the very first time. In fact, the final scenes from that film and the final scene from this play struck a similar chord. With Cabiria's final glance into the camera and Lotte's final lines and her walking back into the blackness of the world, they both let us know that circumstances may not be ideal but they are going to be just fine.

Both characters stand on the fringes of society and Lotte even more so but she never lets that get in the way of her unyielding desire to connect with other human beings. This connection is something we all crave for even if it is only brief and shared with a complete stranger but rarely do we act on it unless it is accidental. Lotte on the other hand is very deliberate in her interactions, nothing is accidental and sometimes it even feels like she's trespassing over a tenuous social boundary. From the very first scene we feel we are an accomplice to an intruder. She eavesdrops over a conversation of two "philosophers" and even physically trespasses into a couple's bedroom. This trespassing persists throughout the play but the people Lotte disturbs become more and more unwelcoming.

This is a sad story but comedic moments punctuates the play and the laughs are sometimes uncomfortable and even feel unsure. It's funny to see a grown woman dance awkwardly across the stage wearing a shimmery, gold dress but then it feels a tad sad as well. Like a stand up comedian going through divorce and cracking jokes about married life.

One of the strengths of the play comes from its thoughtful visual design. Alice Babidge's costumes are timeless and does not indicate a particular time or place. This could be set in any decade. It could be set in Germany or Australia, it doesn't really matter. The costumes serve a universal purpose that smartly takes the attention away from itself. Costuming is a language that can sometimes speak too loud or too weakly. Thankfully, Babidge finds the right balance. Although there is one costuming choice that feels out of place. Not Blanchett's gold dress but Sophie Ross' tube dress that barely covers her and makes her look like she came in from a night out at King's Cross. To be fair though, that's exactly what the character was supposed to be.

Johannes Schutz' set design is clever, functional and bold without overpowering the actors. There's a white beam going across the stage that serves several purposes throughout the play from waiting room seats to a faux catwalk. The clean geometry of furniture, props and their placement on the stage reflect a modernist feel. The sets are reduced of unnecessary clutter and details. It feels so restrained and empty that it's as if the space is visualising the cruel, cold commands of modern living.

Lotte is shoved around this cruel environment and though it feels empty she seems to inhabit the space as humbly and as pleasantly as she can make it.

Directed by Benedict Andrews from the Botho Strauss play and translated by Martin Crimp.

Images are edited from these original sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

How to spend a dreary day

2011-12-06T15:30:00.002+11:00

I woke up to a gloomy and sunless day today.
No worries because I have writing,
reading, tea-drinking, Christmas decorating
and DVD watching to keep the blues away.

How do you spend days like these?

Images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source

COFA Annual Exhibition Part 2 (in black and white)

2011-12-03T18:34:00.005+11:00

More photos from The 2011 COFA Annual Exhibition,
this time in black and white.

Drawings I don't understand.
Ceramics I want to touch.
Sculptures that are hauntingly bizarre.
Jewellery you want to steal.

Information about the artists and designers here.

Images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source. Artworks are not my own.

COFA Annual Exhibition

2011-12-01T18:29:00.001+11:00

The College of Fine Arts (COFA) Annual Exhibition was so wonderful and showcased works from students majoring in areas such as textiles, painting, ceramics, etc. I'm transferring to do a Bachelor of Design there next year (fingers crossed my transfer application is successful) since I didn't really find that the Media course was right for me. I'm thinking of majoring in either graphics, textiles or environments/spatial design. I'm contemplating on becoming a set designer for film, TV and theatre.

Looking at all the fantastic work made by the Fine Arts graduates I'm contemplating on doing that program too. One problem though. I don't want to be a starving artist. I like to eat.

Link to information about the artists and designers here.

All photographs are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source. Artworks photographed are not my own.

Op Shop Mini Haul

2011-11-29T19:36:00.000+11:00

I went with my friend to the College of Fine Arts annual exhibition today. Made me even more excited about going there to study design next year. I will post up pictures from there later.

We also went op shopping afterwards and ended up buying these red wine Gap trousers which is way too long for me because I'm a shorty pants. It will look good folded up which will be perfect for summer. I also purchased a copy of Jane Eyre and Oscar Wilde Plays. They're both so battered (which means they were well-loved) and the pages are yellow and have that lovely old book smell.

“In a second-hand bookshop head to the back, find the old books with dust undisturbed and woren off covers for these cloth true treasures.”

- Rachel Hall

Image is owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source.

Norwegian Wood and marginalia

2011-11-28T21:47:00.001+11:00

Reading as a little boy I always wondered why there were blank pages at the end of books. Wikipedia offers us a technical explanation. Those blank pages are a result from the convention of printing books in large sheets of paper and therefore sometimes one or several pages are left intentionally devoid of content at the end.

When I was ten years old however, I concluded that those pages were meant to be written on for the reader. Sometimes I would write alternate endings for books. For someone like me who was left utterly depressed by the endings of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, I found joy in writing a happier conclusion for the Baudelaire triplets.

Or I would play pretend-critic and wrote what I thought about the book or noted down chapters and pages that I know I would want to revisit later on.

Now I've moved away from writing solely on the end pages and now habitually write on the margins of all pages in the book, underlining quotes, writing of-the-moment reactions (usually immature) or just thoughts inspired by the writing.

It made reading an active experience which is an essential part of this pastime. This is important especially for younger generations who are used to media acting as interactive spaces for them.

I found this act particularly useful when I read Haruki Murakami's Norwegian Wood. A deeply saddening story about damaged, fragile minds. I found myself angered, depressed, amused and frustrated and writing about my thoughts was completely liberating. His writings are so beautiful that so many passages bore the underlines signifying their amazingness. Murakami writes in a way that even the descriptions of the most banal object, character or setting can instigate a cleansing weeping session in one's room. It's like his words are stained with melancholy.

He is also quite blunt. He declares a character's death as if he was proclaiming the day's weather. The first sentence of the last chapter was written so plainly I had to re-read it several times to grasp what it actually meant despite its simple statement. A combination of shock and mournfulness swallowed me and I had to close the book to give me time to breathe. It was the first sentence of that chapter.

The characters are colourful, dark or just plain bizarre and they go in and out like ghosts. Once you start reading about one you end up forgetting about the others until you are jolted back to them.

Murakami is also a master of time. The narrative would weave the past, the present and the near future so seamlessly. It feels tightly constructed without being too antiseptic.

If you have ever been interested in human beings and their minds and feelings, then please don't neglect reading this.

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or crediting the original source.

Sculptures By The Sea at Bondi Beach // Part 2

2011-11-23T15:40:00.000+11:00

All images are owned by me and cannot be reused without permission or link to the original source.