I saw Inception and I said

Holy moly that's an amazing movie! The intricacy and precision, the complexity and detail, and yet also a compelling storyline about human frailty. I'm still in the wooing of it and can't quite see the snags yet (there always are some, aren't there?) but dang - that's the kind of oeuvre I aspire to... Does this not say it all? "Inception is a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind." (from the Warner Bros. website)

I'm fascinated by inner and outer architecture -- the spaces that we inhabit and how we experience them. I think there are a lot of parallels to be explored between the places spaces we (as individuals, as communities) are drawn to and the organization and contours of our inner minds.

Here's a trailer:

Hobbit home extraordinaire

A friend sent me a link to this website, which chronicles the building of a real-life, low environmental impact house in Wales. Built by Simon Dale and his father-in-law, "with help from passers-by and visiting friends," the home cost the equivalent of about $4,500 - $5,000 to build.

Miga

I was job searching a while back (yet again) and came across a very curious posting about a position at the Internet Archive, which in itself is worthy of a surfing meander.

On the archive site I found an entry on Miga, based in Granada, Spain, which describes itself as "a group of audiovisual creators formed in 2004" whose "purpose is to show on the net the more advanced proposals from the actual south of Europe scene. [...] Any kind of artistic performance is inside Miga. Dj´s, Vj´s, Live Acts, net art, graphic design, experimental video, photography and all electro acoustic media is part of it, coming together to develop, feed & expand different ideas and projects."

In addition to many downloadable audio and video files on their site (Miga is also a "net label" of experimental music and video/animation), I found this captivating video of a live multimedia "attack" on the Alhambra, (a beautiful, historical castle-like complex of Moorish architecture), which took place in December 2006.

Makes me want to get together a merry band of guerrilla artists (perhaps fellow Intermedians?), pack up the projectors and some kind of sound system and find a building in SF. Anybody interested...? :)

Just a moment

I used to watch Fame and dream of someday being in the right place at the right time where an anonymous crowd would suddely erupt into song and dance. Hasn't happened yet (not outside the club scene, at least).

Thankfully there's video to capture moments that one hopes might still happen in "real" life. This commercial isn't exactly a Fame moment, but, still, there's a sense of coherence and "shared-ness" in the montage of scenes...

Her favorite things...

My very favorite blog in the universe, as far as all things art / design go, is Cherry Coloured.

It's like an online treasure chest.

Vocalamazing

A few months back I applied for a job with the Kronos Quartet (didn't get it), but it did inspire me to scour YouTube for videos to learn about them, and I cam across this short documentary on their collaboration with Tanya Tangaq, an Inuit throat singer. It's fascinating - not just from an artistic standpoint but also from a process standpoint...

Steampunk!

The term is new to me, though the style is not totally unfamiliar - being a fan of the time-travel look myself. But I had no idea that this had caught on to such a huge degree, as described in a recent article in the NY Times. It's a curious thing when art takes over life...