Engineer's Daughter

miscellany 12.12.11

Lena Wolff, from her current show at Traywick Contemporary

Stuff and things:

• The 2012 Headlands residents have officially been announced, and holy balls it's going to be a good year out there.  I'm sure most people will notice William Powhida's name on the list, but I'm actually most excited about local peeps like Emma Spertus, Zachary Royer Scholz, Christian Nagler, Dohee Lee, Chinaka Hodge, and more.  Next year is also Headlands' 30th anniversary, and they're promising many new programs and "celebratory moments" throughout the year.  Are you a member yet?
• Scout Niblett was raw female power at the Hemlock last week, hailing down the spirits with her voice.  See her video for "Kiss" with Will Oldham here and then buy her 2001 debut album Sweet Heart Fever if you don't already own it.
• I also highly recommend making an appointment to see Lena Wolff's show Another Country at Traywick Contemporary before it closes this weekend.  Her work references nature and the cosmos, geometry and crafting, and she uses cut paper to mesmerizing effect.  The exhibition space is one of the beautiful in-home galleries the Bay Area does so well, and while you're there also check out the Visitors group show co-curated by Wolff with pieces by the likes of Tammy Rae Carland and Amy Rathbone.  The gallery is conveniently located just off Solano so you can go get a burrito at Cactus afterward too.
• Errol Morris's latest documentary Tabloid is just as entertaining as I had hoped it would be, unfurling the tale of the infamous Joyce McKinney, a former Miss Wyoming who may or may not have kidnapped her Mormon missionary boyfriend, and the hullabaloo she kicked off in the British dailies.  McKinney tells her side of the story, the tabloids tell theirs, and then Morris leaves the viewer to decide where the truth lies.  Of course now McKinney is suing Morris over the film.
• And my live music pick for the upcoming week: the Scott Kelly shows at the New Parish Wednesday 12/14 and at the Brick & Mortar Thursday 12/15.  Jay Munly of Slim Cessna's Auto Club joins him on the bill both nights.

miscellany 12.05.11

Leslie Shows, from her current show at Haines Gallery

I've been taking some time to recover after spending the week of Thanksgiving in Copenhagen, but soon I should have my pictures sorted out and then will do a proper post about the trip besides (sneak peek a video here).  In the meantime I wanted to post a few quick links from some of my recent art and culture intake.

• Leslie Shows: Split Array at Haines Gallery.  Shows is already one of my favorite local artists, and she pushes herself forward into another dimension in this exhibition of new work, creating paintings on reflective metal with complex geological layers.  Next Wednesday 12/14 she and BAM/PFA director Lawrence Rinder will be discussing her work at the gallery.
• Tania Bruguera's Immigrant Movement International.  Bruguera is in the midst of this ongoing project that explores the rights and identity of contemporary immigrants.  She spoke at the Kadist Foundation Wednesday night and encouraged everyone to participate in the actions that are being planned for International Migrants Day on Sunday 12/18.  She was joined by Adriana Camarena, who read from her essay "The Geography of the Unseen" (included in Rebecca Solnit's book Infinite City) as well as from newer stories she has been collecting on the streets of the Mission.
• Thea Farhadian.  I saw Farhadian perform at the Luggage Store New Music Series Thursday night, beautiful looped violin compositions that merged classical Arabic music with noise and electronica.  No upcoming shows are listed on her website, but you can check out some documentation of a collaborative project she did with artist Silvina Der-Meguerditchian here.
• Frances Stark: the whole of all the parts as well as the parts of all the parts at the Mills Art Museum.  Block out an hour and go spend it with Stark's confounding, moving, and very funny video piece, which as it progresses leads you from screen to screen through the length of the whole museum.  Major bonus points for including an homage to Lady Gaga's "Telephone" as well as use of online avatars and chat conversations.  Stark will be speaking at Mills this Wednesday 12/7, and I would wager she'll incorporate PowerPoint somehow.
• Like Crazy.  Drake Doremus gives us a film not so much about how inextinguishable love is but rather about how it would often be better if we just got over it when it ends.  Move the fuck on, embrace real life instead of fantasy.  That's what I took away from it anyway, in between enjoying the scenery shot in London and Santa Monica.

Want more?

• The Headlands First Look party Wednesday 12/7 is going to be killer, cocktails and yummy bites aplenty plus the chance to be the first to hear who next year's residents will be.
• Scout Niblett is in town this week, playing Vitus in Oakland Wednesday 12/7 and the Hemlock in SF Thursday 12/8.
• And if you don't feel like going out: Errol Morris's Tabloid is available to rent from iTunes and Netflix has about a hundred episodes of No Reservations.

exactly and approximately

Recent Netflix:

• Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001) - Easily one of my favorite films ever, Nair's masterpiece is an intoxicating swirl of color, music, and of course marigolds.  Even though the film centers around the arranged marriage of young couple Aditi and Hemant, Shefali Shetty steals the show as the cousin who harbors a terrible secret from her childhood.  Nair interweaves scenes of wedding chaos with poetic shots of day-to-day life in India and touches on issues of class and modernization while skillfully juggling about five different storylines.  It all culminates in that huge rainshower at the end, full of laughter and hope for the future.
• Departures (Yôjirô Takita, 2008) - This won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, undoubtedly for its touching portrayal of a very unconventional career path: encoffining.  Cellist Daigo has moved back to his hometown with his wife after his Tokyo orchestra is dissolved and doesn't quite know what he's getting into when he answers a promising job advertisement, but soon enough he is preparing dead bodies for burial with the best of 'em.  I don't know that anyone but a Japanese director could tell this story without it being clunky and heavyhanded, but in Takita's hands the film is often hilarious and also quite the tearjerker.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2, Episodes 9-22 (various, 1997-1998) - As predicted I blasted through the remainder of Season 2 in record time, regularly going through four episodes in a single night.  I was experiencing some intensely painful personal shit about the same time I hit the ep where Angel loses his soul, so suffice it to say Buffy served as an unusual kind of therapy.  On a lighter note there are all kinds of awesome cameos (John Ritter! Wentworth Miller! John Hawkes!) in this season and that noticeable leap in snappy dialogue every time Joss Whedon writes an episode.  Now I just need a short break before I attempt Season 3 because I'm still imagining Der Kindestod creeping past my bedroom door when I'm not looking.  
• Ballerina (Bertrand Norman, 2006) - I still haven't seen Black Swan but decided I wanted to observe the real deal instead in this doc about five Russian ballerinas, each at a very different point in her career.  I did ballet for about a minute when I was a little girl and have always been glad my parents never forced me to pursue it, and that gratitude was only reinforced watching what these girls and women put themselves through.  The film actually concentrates more on the beauty of ballet rather than much of the dark side, and I will be the first to admit I'm completely susceptible to the ethereal charms of a well-danced pas de deux.  But as an art form ballet seems to be nearing the end of its days and holds little energy for me, whereas modern dance seems so much more adaptable and even just healthier.  Our bodies are meant to connect with the earth, not defy it.

sooner or later they will find you

Recent Netflix:

• The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001) - I have such an overactive imagination I can only watch about one scary movie a year, but this one is well worth the risk of night terrors.  Devastatingly beautiful direction by Amenábar is the perfect complement to the story of a mother who keeps her two children enclosed in a (possibly) haunted house, and Nicole Kidman impressively treads the line between authority and insanity in her role.  Amenábar also wrote the script and fills it with plenty of old-fashioned twists and turns and a heaping helping of suspense without ever resorting to cheap gore.  Many thanks to my friend Tammy for keeping me company while I watched too, because otherwise I would have jumped clean out of my skin several times. 
• Better Off Dead (Savage Steve Holland, 1985) - Such a dorky movie, but it makes me laugh every time.  John Cusack is so young and cute, and Curtis Armstrong steals the show every chance he gets as his learning-challenged best friend.  Of course then there's the demonic paperboy...
• Séraphine (Martin Provost, 2008) - Based on a true story about the self-taught painter Séraphine de Senlis who was discovered in the French countryside by renowned art dealer Wilhelm Uhde just before WWI.  As a biopic the film's trajectory follows a familiar arc, but I found myself very moved indeed by how Séraphine's drive to paint is depicted, the importance of art to her life.  And her work itself...holy wow.  Do yourself a favor and Google it right now.  Bonus: Séraphine is played by the marvelous Yolande Moreau, who you might remember from her role as the lovelorn neighbor lady in Amélie.
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2, Episodes 1-8 (various, 1997-1998) - I was a huge Buffy fanatic back in the day, but it's still almost shocking how well this series holds up...and how easy it is to watch four episodes in one sitting.  I skipped going through Season 1 again (too monster-of-the-week for me) and jumped right into the good stuff here in Season 2.  Spike and Dru!  Oz!  Willow in an Eskimo costume!  Giles backstory!  With its blend of hilarious writing, real-life teenage drama set against fantastical crises, and one of the most kickass female leads ever, the show is getting me addicted all over again.  I'm sure I'll rip through the rest of the discs in no time flat.  Take that, stupid Twilight.

1% brain activity

All that time I was sick before my trip meant I was hitting the Netflix hard, as there's nothing that heals illness like curling up with the cat and watching part of a flick before passing out cold.  A quick catch-up:

• Family Law (Daniel Burman, 2006) - Streamed this because I was trying to develop a feel for Argentinian Spanish and got a gentle and funny drama about a young Buenos Aires lawyer in the process.  Great shots of the city too; watch for a cameo by Eduardo Catalano's amazing Floralis Generica sculpture.
• The Girl on the Bridge (Patrice Leconte, 1999) - Unconventionally romantic story of a knife thrower and the girl who changes his luck for the better.  Starring Vanessa Paradis and Daniel Auteuil the film features some sharp editing and luscious cinematography in black-and-white, and the sequences soundtracked by Marianne Faithfull's "Who Will Take My Dreams Away" are downright breathtaking.  I would expect nothing less from the director of The Hairdresser's Husband and Ridicule.
• I Am Love (Luca Guadagnino, 2009) - I'm not even sure I liked this film, but I couldn't stop thinking about it for a week after I saw it.  Really beautiful camerawork, background music by John Adams, and Tilda fucking Swinton create a heady cocktail indeed.  It also made me want to don immaculate Fendi dresses and stride around Milano like I own it a la Swinton.  That woman is pure luminous magic and carries the film all on her own.
• Zoolander (Ben Stiller, 2001) - And then sometimes I just need to laugh at Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson doing their "sexy" male model faces.  In truth any movie that features David Bowie even in the smallest of roles is going to be an easy win with me too.  See also: Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. 

holy mountain

It does me so much good to travel, but it is also good to come home again and spend a cozy evening at one of my favorite (and sadly soon-to-be-defunct) local venues, hanging out with friends, sipping a tallboy, watching a little Jodorowsky, having my cards read.  I'm going to miss 21 Grand like crazy when its lease is up at the end of January.  But in the meantime you can find me there again on Saturday for the second iteration of last month's epic record sale.  Guaranteed amazing music, books, food, and more from over a dozen vendors.  Come out and show some love.

See also:

• Oakland Art Gallery, Experimental Music Space, 21 Grand Set to Close
• 21 Grand Benefit Record Sale (Dec 4th) pt 2

the civil war

It took me about three months of sporadic viewing, my life being as crazy busy as it is, but I finally made it through all 10 hours of Ken Burns's magnum opus The Civil War.  I had actually watched the whole thing with my family when it was first broadcast on PBS back in 1990, but seeing as how I was a teen with my mind on other things at the time (i.e. boys) I think I snoozed or fidgeted my way through most of it.  This time through I did not find myself drowsy or bored in the least, and was instead completely riveted by the images and words of the people who lived through the conflict.  Their emotions didn't seem antiquated at all, as they suffered the same fear of death and horror of war that any soldier or civilian caught in a battle zone would express today.  I got pretty emotionally involved too, screaming at Lincoln to fire McClellan already and weeping openly when they recited the Gettysburg Address.  I am also ever grateful to my parents for putting Civil War sites high on the agenda during our epic summer family road trips, because I think we actually might have hit every single battlefield they mention in the film.  Of course now I am so enamored of the late great Shelby Foote and the droll stories he sprinkled in throughout the documentary that I am actually thinking of reading his massive 3-volume account of the Civil War.  You know, in all of my copious free time.

a love story in the city of dreams

Mulholland Dr. ranks up there with The Straight Story and all of Twin Peaks (yes even the second season) as what I consider the best of David Lynch's creations, and this weekend I watched it again for the first time since seeing it multiple times in 2001.  I remember having endless discussions back in the day about WTF is going on in the movie and even had myself convinced I had all the pieces put together, though with Lynch any feeling of certainty never lasts long.  For me the key to the entire film is the scene in which Betty during her audition goes from bright-eyed naivete to screen-scorching sultry in the space of a heartbeat, hinting at the many layers of her character that are more clearly revealed much later and at her capacity for invention, and I'm not sure Naomi Watts has ever been as good as she is in this role.  Lynch too is fully in control of his medium here, from the stardust he sprinkles over the moment where Betty and the director played by Justin Theroux first see each other across a crowded soundstage (with angels practically singing in the background) to the intense sense of foreboding he cultivates as the film progresses, stretching the viewer's nerves tight even in Los Angeles' broad daylight.  Along the way there are references to other great films like Persona and Vertigo, flashes of black Lynchian humor, his always-amazing sound design, and of course a whole bucket of red herrings.  Mulholland Dr. never answers all of its own questions, but that's exactly why I love it so.

where do you go when the record is over

My knee is still in poor shape after my spill last week, and you know it's serious when I haven't been to a live show in over a week.  After limping all day around the office and up and down BART stairs there's nothing I want to do but sit home and watch fun trashy movies, and so it is that I finally saw Saturday Night Fever in its entirety.  This was the R-rated version with all of the T&A intact, thank goodness.  I was completely mesmerized by the dance sequences, and though John Travolta even when he was young and cute is in no way my type I have to admit he could really move them hips.  I dreamed that night that I was cutting similar moves at a disco club, my knee fully healed.  I also keep catching myself humming the Bee Gees.

what's your function?

Early Wednesday morning whilst running to catch the Transbay bus I misjudged the curb and went skidding across the gravel on Ward near Market, ripping open my jeans and gloves and sustaining some pretty serious damage to my knee and hand in the process.  So rather than going out at night I've been doing a lot of sitting around and nursing my banged-up body since then, but on the positive side my injuries gave me an excuse to watch all two-and-a-half hours of the Schoolhouse Rock! 30th anniversary DVD in one go.  I still can sing along to many of the songs that wedged themselves into my head during my childhood, particularly America Rock classics like "Elbow Room" and "The Shot Heard 'Round the World".  My favorites are the grammar and science segments though, even if I suspect characters like the Conjunction Junction engineer and Interplanet Janet were more memorable than the educational information itself.  And as an adult I can appreciate how amazingly cool it is that they got Blossom Dearie to sing about adjectives and The Tokens to doo-wop about gravity.