Altered images, subway edition
Subway posters aren’t designed to be interactive, but sometimes they get hijacked—graffitied, blackened, torn and rearranged. Generally, I enjoy the results. The posters are ads to consume or deflect, not frescoes to revere. The altered versions tend to conform to just a few common themes. It isn’t exactly original to draw a moustache on someone—Duchamp … Continue reading
Ballet horror beyond Black Swan
The pretext for Italian director Dario Argento’s 1977 flick Suspiria is the arrival of a ballet student at a European academy run by a secret coven of witches. Dance isn’t the point—the eerie prog rock soundtrack by Goblin, a lush, restricted color scheme and elaborate production design fuel an expressionist gorefest—where beautiful women are violently … Continue reading
Art under pressure: Black Swan & ballet today
‘Tis the season for Christmas parties, and thus for impromptu movie reviews. My fellow brunchgoer on Black Swan: “That movie was TERRIBLE!!” Her opinion had to be somewhat credible because she brought an adorable pit-bulldog mix decked out in a red bandanna. You can’t go wrong with festive dogs. So how was it? Black Swan … Continue reading
Black Swan tribute: erotic intensity at the ballet
Before the Black Swan, the White Swan and the dichotomy between them ever existed, there were pioneering 19th century ballerinas who defined different types in ballet. The most famous is Marie Taglioni, the first to reinforce her ballet slippers and rise up on pointe, creating the impression of floating or flying—a creature of the air, innocent … Continue reading
Black Swan countdown: female-centric suspense
I’m excited enough about the Natalie Portman/Darren Aronofsky film Black Swan that I already posted about its potential connection to a great dance psychodrama, The Red Shoes. The older film isn’t scary at all, but it does dramatize a woman possessed by conflicts of ambition, identity and eros. What is female-centric suspense? It has women … Continue reading
Maximalist design: sweet & opulent Victorian valentines
I’d call this style maximalist marzipan—almost too saccharine, but the dimensionality of the collaging and diecutting is of enduring beauty and interest. I am always touched when I see fragile ephemera in good condition. It’s poignant to peek into sentiments a century-plus old. The layering impulse is one people still have: the more lace doilies, … Continue reading
Red Shoes type is on point
While I was collecting screencaps for yesterday’s post on the doomed heroines of Black Swan and The Red Shoes, I sat up and took notice of the beautiful type, lettering and handwriting peppered throughout the latter movie, and even given loving closeups. For inspiration purposes,
Black Swan countdown: Red Shoes retrospective
As soon as I saw the trailer, I knew I would see Black Swan, whether it were a swan or a turkey, simply because of my intense interest in the subject matter. I’m even more excited now that the buzz is good. Swan Lake has evolved into, among other things, an exploration of the duality … Continue reading
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