Modern Art

Sometimes when you let Allen's Camera develop your film you get pictures like this:

I'm still not sure what to think.

Trent Reznor & Peter Murphy Kill It

Here's something I wish happened more often: Trent Reznor and Peter Murphy teaming up along with some fellow musician friends to do some radio performances. The match up of Reznor and Murphy is so perfect I'm almost puzzled why a collaborative album or EP hasn't ever happened. Guess it's just not something they've had time for. Simply doing these radio songs in 2006 was enough. But these four performances are so great that it would be really cool if they just compiled all the radio performances they did together for a CD/DVD package and let us have that. Course, then we'd have to pay money for it, and who wants to do that anymore?

30th Anniversary Concert of Einstürzende Neubauten

Here's a great concert by avant-garde industrial rockers Einstürzende Neubauten. I kinda think that Einstürzende Neubauten are the industrial band, creating a sound that was truly industrial. They build a lot of their own instruments out of industrial materials - power tools, sheet metal, pipe, rebar, basically whatever you could possibly find on a construction site. Somehow they make this blend of industrial instruments and conventional instruments sound musical - at least I think so. Sure, sometimes it's just cacophonous noise, but sometimes it's surprisingly beautiful. But you can watch the concert below and decide for yourself what they sound like.

Mucha Coming to My Room

Yesterday I spent more money than I was planning on. But I think it was for a good cause - it was to frame the above set of decorative panels by Alphonse Mucha, one of my favorite artists. This set is titled: Times of Day; and features Morning, Day, Evening, and Night. For some reason the above series is shown here in reverse order, which is weird - why wouldn't you want them in the right order? At the moment, Times of Day is my favorite set. Though that could change any time; he has a lot of really beautiful sets.

I've slowly collected a few pictures that I've really wanted to get framed, but this is the first time I've actually bought a frame for any of my pictures. When I was in Prague in 2008, I bought a collection of Mucha prints that contains several of these four-panel sets. So, to avoid having to buy a billion frames, or just let stuff sit unframed for forever, I bought a frame with colors neutral enough that several of the Mucha sets will work with this frame. So it's kinda like buying a frame for twelve or sixteen pictures instead of just four. So I think things worked out pretty well.

I suspect it'll be several years before I get anything framed again, which is fine. Frames are expensive and I just don't have the cash to be framing tons of stuff. But also, moving framed pictures is way lamer than moving unframed pictures; and while some of you might scoff at the thought, eventually I will move to someplace new. But I kinda felt it was time for Mucha to come out of the box and get on the wall. It'll be a nice addition to the wall.

First as Tragedy, Then as Farce by Slavoj Žižek

I saw this video in my literary theory class today and thought it was awesome. This is my first exposure to the thought and theory of Slavoj Žižek, and I like it. I think the animation in this video really helps, too. It's interesting to think that we might need to reexamine our definition and application of charity, as well as consider the consequences of our charitable actions. Consumer charity is something I've been thinking about lately, and Žižek's thoughts have given me even more to think about. Check out the video, if you like.

Pictures at Stonehenge

My good friend Heather Walker got me looking at my Stonehenge pictures again. It turns out that I'm quite fond of many of the pictures I took there. So I thought I'd highlight a few here. I don't think that my thin England journal contains any thoughts about Stonehenge, which I think is a shame. Now, almost a year and a half later, I'm still not sure what I'd say if I were to write about visiting Stonehenge. For now, the pictures are my journal entry, and they are probably better than any words I would have, or will write. If anyone who has visited Stonehenge has a thought or two about their experience, feel free to share it, if you like.

Nature's Raw Power

Not to be confused with the Raw Power of Iggy and the Stooges, this is a raw power that really might destroy you. Here are two shots from National Geographic's photo contest that is going on until November 30. For sheer spectacle, these might be the winners for me, though there are many other shots that are really remarkable.

Ed van der Elsken's Hong Kong

I've been looking at Phaidon's little book of Ed van der Elsken photographs, and this one really caught my attention. A cityscape like this is a bit rare for him, which might be part of why the picture stuck out to me; but I also just think it's a really awesome picture.

This copy of the picture isn't the best, but it's the best I could find. Check out those layers and how he's caught the boats at just the right moment. The haze and infrastructure are really something too. The city looks like something from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, but a lot dirtier. So maybe it's more like a combination of Metropolis and Blade Runner, with a dash of The Fifth Element. Anyway, I really like this picture and felt like sharing.

Gustav Doré is Awesome. Hell is Not.

Gustav Doré's horrific depiction of the Ninth Circle of Hell, from Dante's Inferno, where sinners are frozen in ice.

Because no one wants yet another blog to read

I'm avoiding my Foucault reading. And studying for my Humanities test. But at least I have a playlist of softer Nine Inch Nails tracks groovin away while I putter around in cyberspace. This is college.

If anyone else is looking for a way to burn out on The Internets, then check out this blog. A friend of mine started it and I contribute to it sometimes (generally when I should be doing something responsible). Several other people contribute stuff too, much of it probably much more interesting and useful than the stuff I post. So read their stuff, if you're curious.

Is this a shameless plug? Yes. But it might still be better than reading Foucault.