Fragments of Inspiration: Books {on the universality of art}

"Illusory universality is the universality of the art of the culture industry, it is the universality of the homogeneous same, an art which no longer even promises happiness but only provides easy amusement as relief from labour." 

 [The Culture Industry, by Theodor W. Adorno]

Fragments of Inspiration: Music {crepuscolo sul mare}

Crepuscolo Sul Mare - The Twilight Sea

I was listening to this piece of music, yesterday, on the train, on my way back home.

I spent my evening in London, in one of my favourite places ever. Certainly a very memorable place. A place I love going back to, every now and then. I had missed it. I had missed Southbank Centre. I had missed the Thames. And I was there... walking around... taking photographs with my Minolta, trying to imagine how my photographs will look when they are developed. I listened to words of poetry and I looked outside the windows - I could see my heart being somewhere out there, in the streets of London, somewhere among the tall, beautiful, buildings. I could feel my thoughts flying in the sky, like birds. I was free. For a moment, I was completely, absolutely, free - to be whatever I wanted, whoever I wanted. A poet... leading a charming, intellectual, life. Travelling Britain, and the world.

I was there - in Southbank Centre. Music in my ears, and the taste of elderflower. People around me, and my book in my hands. Thoughts in my mind, and ideas in my heart. What if the same thing were to happen again? Going back, two years ago. But no - beautiful things do not repeat themselves. Not in the same way, not when or how we want them too. It may seem that life repeats itself every now and then, but... no... it does not. Everything is different, because we are different. Every day that passes, we become a little bit different.

I would not know what I want now... I can find out later... without even thinking about it, without even trying...

Fragments of Inspiration: Words {art}

"A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires."

~Hedy Lamarr

One of my favourite painters - Mark Rothko - and one of his most beautiful paintings - White Centre.

Fragments of Inspiration: My Life in London {a night at the tate modern}

The first time I visited Tate Modern's main collection was with my friend, Maria. I had an amazing time, and I always wanted to go back ever since. During that first visit, I wished I had studied Art, I dreamed of being a painter, and I left wanting to write an article on art.

I never got to write that article, but I did return to the "crime scene", to one of my absolute favourite places in London. It was Friday night and my footsteps brought me just outside Tate Modern, after having a nice walk in the City and across the Thames. It was a beautiful, warm and cosy night, and I really wanted to visit Tate on that day.

Luckily enough, the gallery is open until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. After an initial walk around the two shops, I went to the main collection rooms. I saw wonderful exhibits that I had seen before, in my previous visit, but also some new ones, which were fascinating and impressive. I got inspired - again - and wished I was an artist. I believe that writing an article on art is a much easier task, and I do promise that I will get my head around it, when I find the chance. Just before I left the gallery, I went to the shop and bought six post-cards feauring Miró's paintings (I will include them in my next post). I am brainstorming ideas on how to best use them as part of my dream house decoration. I left the gallery, feeling calm, relaxed and very happy.

Fragments of Inspiration: Words {creativity}

"No great thing is created suddenly."

~Epictetus

 

Fragments of Inspiration: Words {art}

Si dipinge col cervello et non con le mani.

(One paints with the brain, and not the hands.)

~Michelangelo Buonarroti

 

Fragments of Inspiration: Music {dance with my own shadow}

When I got home, I began to dance. The sound of a band carried me away. I tore the wall apart and found myself out on the streets garish with nightmarish colours. And the bands beat out the rhythms frantically, as I disappeared in Time alone, desolate, enigmatic - disappearing through the place I'd come from, leaving behind me an everlasting smile for human beings to remember. For no one will ever know if I really came, if I really went and if I ever really existed in their midst by chance.

-Manos Hadjidakis

Biutiful (2010)

On Saturday night, I watched Alejandro González Iñárritu's Biutiful. It was an impulsive film choise, which turned out to be an emotive experience.

The film was shot in Barcelona, Spain, and it portrayed the city in a grim way. Illegal immigrants who work for most of the day and sleep in horrible conditions; people who try to make their living in dark, small, dirty houses; two children who are growing up in an unsuitable environment; a woman who does not know how to be a "good" mother, nor a "good" wife, and cannot  get away from her personal demons; and, in the centre of this dark story, a man - a man who is trying... trying to raise his children, trying to get money, trying to find a piece of love to put in the puzzle of his life, no matter how small or brief that piece may be.

The film is beautifully made, despite its sad content. Whatever good happens in the story does not last for long. A sense of futility, hopelessness, prevails... The scenes of Barcelona are far from inviting - they are depressive. Tears come to your eyes, when you realise that there is not much left to hope for.

Javier Bardem is, once again, wonderful. He is a great actor - immediate, straightforward in this acting, and very emotive. The film would not be the same without him in it. He turns it into poetry - dark, depressing, but somehow biutiful...

Metropolis (1927)

On Friday evening, I watched Fritz Lang's Metropolis, restored and reconstructed, at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). The film is considered one of the most important and influential films in world cinema history. I remember one of my university professors in Greece referring to it during a lecture. I always wanted to see it, and it seems that my timing was perfect, as it is now shown fully restored and reconstructed, after the completion of a painstaking procedure which started with the discovery of a 16mm reduction negative in the archives of the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, Argentina,  in July 2008.

The film is very impressive on all its levels:

*The visual effects are phenomenal, considering the time it was made. I have watched Hollywood blockbusters, which have failed to amaze me, especially when compared to this masterpiece. The most remarkable of the special effects of the flim was the Schüfftan process, in which mirrors are used to "place" actors inside miniature sets. Being linked to German Expressionism, the film also presents influences by Modernism and Art Deco. It is a great proof of my belief that one needs inspiration and vision, in order to achieve wonderful accomplishments.

*The original score, composed by Gottfried Huppertz, accompanied the film in the best possible way. It expressed the sentiments the actors demonstrated in a beautiful way.

*The actors were amazing, very expressive, as their face and body were their only acting tools, since Metropolis is a silent film. I found Brigitte Helm, in particular, very impressive. She had the double role of Maria/Machine Man (woman rather).

*The story is very interesting, albeit it can get a bit confusing and tiring at times. The twists in the plot are many, and there come moments when you get frustrated by the mix-up in what is true and what false. The film was written by Lang and his wife, Thea von Harbou. The two wrote the screenplay in 1924, and published a novelisation in 1926, before the film was released.

The scenes with the workers working like robots underground, in order to maintain the vision of the 'Metropolis', were amazing and unforgettable. The scene were the Machine-Woman was dancing, with all the men getting crazy about her, impressed me. Undoubtedly, Metropolis offered me a wonderful cinematic experience.

 

... inspiration ...

The mediator between head and hands must be the heart.

*Metropolis*

directed by Fritz Lang

1927