Voy a explotar/Mira Mexico film festival

So in my attempted to be cultured and hip; well not really, but I’m a big fan of french new wave

which is becoming slight bourgeois in the sense that they are taking it and putting it on postcards and posters (which perhaps they have always done but i’ve just recently taken notice) and marketing it to the wes anderson kids and perhaps i fit into the customer category as i bought a Breathless poster last year in Camden but I digress. My videographer/friend Martin who is a film maker took me to see An Education at the Barbican Centre and I fell in love with the place. It’s really really cool and a great place to see a film among other things. Still upset I missed the Jacques Brel tribute concert there. Anyways so I was looking on their website to see if they have anything good showing there as I’m due to see a film and I came across the Mira Mexico film festival. If you live in London and live here on a budget like me they are offering a special of 2 films for 12 quid and I’ll attach the link below. This film caught my eye in particular.

Voy A Explotar.

(I’m Gonna Explode)

The billing the Barbican placed on it is what caught my attention as they call it a mexican interpretation of a Jean Luc Goddard film.

The plot (courtesy of tricycle.co.uk) is as follows:

Roman and Maru, two troubled teenagers, attempt an impossible rebellion against the adult world. Maru, a 15-year-old loner, meets Roman, the reckless son of a corrupt right wing politician. United by their desire to fight the inertia that they feel surrounding them, the two embark on a revolt against everything and everyone when they decide to run away to a place where they are free of other peoples expectations. This leads them to an accidental new intimacy and the discovery of their sexuality, a bond that both unites and confuses them. Despite the risk of getting caught by the police and their parents, the young fugitives jeopardize the security of their hiding place and seek to expand the limits of their paradise. But this will mean a return to reality, where wounds are genuine and actions have consequences.

I think it will be a great film to see in the cinema though I believe it came out in 2008 so you can probably get it on DVD, but looking forward to a screening of it.

More information on the mira mexico film festival here.

Well, that’s all i know. Even if you don’t live in London, Mexican film is exquisite. I am new to it myself but they do tend to really capture european flair and combine it with the fiery passion that you tend to see in the television. I grew up in south Texas so as a kid my grandmother and aunts would watch a lot of mexican television and I was named after a soap opera character myself. The films I have seen take the passion and really give it an artistic vision is the point I am trying to get across.

I love this photo. I love them.

Isabella+David

Two amazingly eccentric people.

We need more eccentric people in the world.

Long live eccentricity.

love eleanor

Jean Widmer

Jean Widmer is a Swiss graphic designer who is responsible from introducing Swiss modernism into French graphic design and who eventually became a leader of the graphic design community in France for more than 40 years. Up until recently Widmer ran an agency in France called Visuel Design.

Interview with Mr. Widmer

(courtesy of Graphis)

Where do you seek inspiration?

From the brief I am given I try to explore the historical field (both visual and philosophical) and I prepare myself objectively while investigating the subject.

Professionally, who has influenced you the most?

Early on I learned a lot about the great masters of graphic design looking at Fred Scheckenbourger’s private collection of European Graphic art and posters. During my studies at the Kunstgewerbe Schule in Zurich, I admired my graphic design professor Ernst Keller, Otto Morach, my professor of applied arts and Walter Kach in typography. Other influences have included the Bauhaus, Max Bill, R. Paul Lohse, Antone Stankowski, Joseph Miiller-Brockmann, and Johannes Itten.

Who is/was your greatest mentor in life?

Fred Schneckenbourger, a man of immense culture, calmed my parent’s fears for their son about to embrace an art career. Not only did Fred share with me his artistic endeavors and his poster collection, but also his cabaret life: his amazing puppet theater, serving a harsh social criticism, was really avantgarde. Fred had no limit. He helped me discover a cultural milieu in which I was trusted. There were endless comings and goings of famous artists: Gottfried Honegger-Lavater, Muller-Brockmann, Hans Falk, and Hans Neubourg as well as theater artists. His strong personality made him my mentor: he taught me that the evolution of creation fundamentally relies on the critique of one’s project.

Who is your favorite studio, designer, ad agency, photographer, illustrator…?

The agencies and designers whom I admire are those with whom I compete in the European and international competitions: Studio Dumbar, Alan Fletcher; Pierre Mendel and Uwe Loesch, Ivan Chermayeff; and others I admire such as Niklaus Troxler, Werner Jecker, and Ikko Tanaka.

If you were to retire tomorrow, what would you do with your free time?

Paint, silk screen and sculpt.

Portrait by Jean-Francois Jonvel

Widmer, Jean “Q&A with Jean Widmer“. Graphis. FindArticles.com. 29 Dec, 2009.

ELEANOR SAYS:

I am always on the hunt for new art especially anything that is of the Swedish modernist movement

so was very excited to come across a fabulous canvas of geometric shapes but with bright colours and I believe Futura light font (not exactly sure). The simplicity of this canvas really caught my attention and I had to track down it’s creator. I think what attracts me is how clean the curvatures of the lines are. I think the shapes really have a futuristic edge because he almost created a “square but not a square” like texture. What I mean by this is that somehow the structure is solid though using oblique lines to create an obscure figure.

Bottom Line:

clean. colourful. simple.

my kind of art.

Dark Night of the Soul

Dark Night of the Soul is a full-length album and illustrated book, combining the talents of Danger Mouse, David Lynch and celebrated rock recluse Sparklehorse. In addition to the hardcover book, the album includes vocals from the Flaming Lips, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega and many others.

To preview the album click here

What I’m Listening to: Eleanor Seabird Mix Tape Vol. 1

The following songs have been in HEAVY ROTATION in my ipod for the past few days

and I thought I would share them in case anyone is looking for new or old music to listen to.

I think mix tapes and playlists are the best way to discover new music. I like those programs and sites that make selections

but I think it’s better when a friend or collegue physical hands you a CD or sends you a list of things to check out. Normally the selections are more personal and you can get to know

more about someone based on their musical selections. I think a great first date trick is to come armed with music to swap. I remember an ex boyfriend of mine won me over when he

and i discussed music and we would swap CDs all the time. I think especially as a musician it’s a really cool way to be inspired.

So here are 20 tracks I’m listening to right now and I’ll put a new list up in a few weeks so keep an eye out.

Love, Eleanor

eleanor seabird mix tape volume 1: (bit of a random pop mix)

TRACK O1:

DAMAGED GOODS by Gang of Four

TRACK 02:

SPIRITS IN THE NIGHT by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

TRACK 03:

MY GIRL IS CALLING ME A LIAR by Chromeo

TRACK 04:

MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE by Adele

TRACK 05:

POLICE CAR by Eliza Doolittle

TRACK 06:

ALL THE YOUNG DUDES by Mott the Hoople

TRACK 07:

KISS ON MY LIST by Hall and Oates

TRACK 08:

A GROOVY KIND OF LOVE by Phil Collins

TRACK 09:

SPEECHLESS by Lady Gaga

TRACK 10:

MONEY by the Flaming Lips

TRACK 11:

U.R.A. FEVER by the Kills

TRACK 12:

WHERE DID ALL THE LOVE GO? by Kasabian

TRACK 13:

QUEEN BITCH by Bowie

TRACK 14:

MAKING MEMORIES OF US by Keith Urban

TRACK 15:

HUNG UP by the Cheek

TRACK 16:

MANEATER by Hall and Oates

TRACK 17:

SUMMER OF 69′ by Bryan Adams

TRACK 18:

FULL STEAM by David Gray

TRACK 19:

YOU’VE GOT THE LOVE by Florence+the Machine

TRACK 20:

J’ai la memoire qui flance by Jeanne Moreau

Girl Meets Bug

I haven’t been posting in a while but due to a bad case of insomnia I have decided it’s about time to update my blog. I scrolled through my stats and got a comment from a girl named Daniella who pointed me in the direction of HER blog called girlmeetsbug.com. I was quite curious about this and find her knowledge on bugs and the beneifts of eating them quite fascinating. I’ve written briefly about this topic before, but clearly I am no expert so to read a more thorough blog dedicated to the subject intrigued me. I am definitely a “foodie” at heart and my knowledge is growing rapidly so the idea of eating insects is quite exciting to me actually. I don’t know if I’ll be brave enough to dive into the concept but I applaud those brave enough to explore new areas of cuisine. Above is the first episode of Daniella’s show so you can see her and her bug cookin’ in action.

A Single Man.

I know some of you readers might have had hopes that I was going to write

about a single man I know available to date, but in fact I’m writing about a new film that caught my eye as it is

quite the glamourous eye catching and eye opening film called A SINGLE MAN. It’s Tom Ford’s feature film debut and

has an amazing cast of Julianne Moore (this woman just gets lovelier and even more beautiful with each film I see her in) and of course

the charming Mr. Colin Firth, who my friend likes to call Colin Darcy as she can never remember his real last name. The thing about

Julianne Moore is that she is rarely in a crappy film and this takes me back to her role in Far From Heaven

(which is a great film if you haven’t seen it), so Tom Ford or not, I knew it would be a film worth watching.

I’ll update this with a more in depth mention about the plot but in essence it’s about a gay British American based professor in the 1960s

who loses his lover and is suicidal. The cinematography is GORGEOUS but I think the glamour really helps you divulge into the plot a bit

deeper as none of us want to pay £10 to watch a 2 hour long perfume commercial we want to see a film that has some depth and I think Mr.

Ford prevails at combining his flair for chic with poignance.

Below is the trailer:

Pocket Calculator’s (online) Vintage Walkman Museum

bizarre i know. but intriguing none the less. to see more of this really random museum click here

Platon’s Portraits of Power

The New Yorker has a very interesting feature online and in this week’s issue called Portraits of Power.

The photos were taken by Platon, a staff photographer for the New Yorker.

I find this quite intriguing as you read so much about leaders and you often see satirical photos or photos that are a decade old in a textbook or article but these are very intriguing shots. I think in a way almost humanizing of certain leaders who have reputations that describe them as otherwise. Aesthetically the portrait I enjoyed the most out them all was Evo Morales the President of Bolivia. I’m not up to date on Bolivian politics but he just has this stoic quality almost the way you would picture a latin leader looking during the days of the European conquests.

Click on the photo of Ahmadinejad to view the full portrait set and I do recommend clicking on the audio commentary as it’s quite interesting and entertaining.

PATHLIGHTS- a short film

http://dlf.tv/2009/pathlights/

I wasn’t able to feature the short film as there wasn’t a code I could find

to embed it but I enjoy the David Lynch Foundation Televison stuff he does

and I got a flyer for this film in my email and it sounded quite interesting so I took a look.

(article courtesy of DLF.TV)

PATH LIGHTS

December 2 – 9 Only

Bobby (John Hawkes) is the voice of pulpy detective serials on audio, as well as the automated answering service of a tree cutting company. One day, when walking his dogs in the Pasadena arroyo, a bottle falls from the sky, almost hitting him. Bobby decides, based on the obscure brand of beer, to trace down the culprit. Path Lights is a thought provoking, comedy-noir that puts a human spin on the tradition of detective hero films. The film is based on Tom Drury’s New Yorker short story and has been adapted for the screen by Tom Drury and director Zachary Sluser.

Director’s Note

Path Lights, based on Tom Drury’s New Yorker short story, was shot over 4 1/2 days in mid-May 2009 (with several months of pre-production and post production on either end). We were thrilled to have the good folks at DLF.TV on set with us for two of those days to bring you a behind the scenes look at what went into the production phase of this short film and the creative collaboration of those involved. The film itself is available exclusively on DLF.TV for one week only before it makes its way to film festivals in 2010.
Enjoy,
Zachary Sluser