UTOPIA

 

THE MODERNISM EXHIBIT AT THE CORCORAN IS FANTASTIC. Actually, let me re-phrase that. The Corcoran now through July 29th is fantastic. The entire museum, excluding a few rooms, basically is the Modernism exhibit. I spent all of Saturday there. If you’re going to go, get there at least by one….b/c it closes at five….and you need all the time you can get.

The show is about the “modernist” culture that began early 20th century.  The best way I can think of explaining the concept of modernism without taking up too much of your time, is basically…..some people decided traditional culture was behind times and thought it should be replaced with a more….futuristic, mechanical society? I think that’s a pretty good super compressed way of thinking of it.

 The show is really political, and it not only covers fine art, but performance art, architecture, film, fashion, EVERYTHING. That’s why it is such a huge show. It goes through every aspect of Modernism and how it related to every kind of art imaginable.

There are amazing sculptures, short films, costumes, models of houses, a life size modernist kitchen, an x-ray machine, old magazines and books, furniture, blue prints.

There’s some things by Braque and Picasso, Mondrian,  Le Corbusier, Leni Riefenstahl (she did films and photos for Hitler and co.)…..So many people.

(villa savoye, designed by Le Corbusier)

(i EVEN put this pin on my jacket. that’s how good the show is)

 If you live in the DC area, you better go to this exhibit or you are really, seriously, gravely, missing out. Click HERE to read a good review done by the washington post.

Also, the Jasper Johns exhibit @ the NGA runs through late April.

In other news…..spring break cannot come soon enough. School isn’t agreeing with my life. Oh yeah and go buy Vandaveer’s CD “Grace and Speed”. The release show is this thursday at IOTA , 9ppppm.

Updates in the World of Cool Stuff

 

Well, recently I found a link to a video with an amazing effect. I don’t think it’s very difficult to accomplish what they did, but it looks stellar. I got the link from this guy’s website, who seems to have a very nice style. I really like some of the advertising and design groups in Nebraska. For instance, ArchRival is one of my favorites in the world. Continuing on with the topic of design, this guy here does some very fun graphic work. He has a livejournal account that he updates regularly, or so I’ve been told. (Maybe I should get a livejournal.)

Also, I found this website a while ago, but I never thought about sharing it….UNTIL NOW! I think it shows a very nice representation of what is new in the arts scene. But what do I know? I live no where near any popular, new art hot spots.

This guy goes around Scandinavia taking pictures of street fashions. He focuses mainly on “indie” fashions and not so much the “clean cut” look that we associate with Ikea. The website is updated daily and if you want to be kept in the circle as to what is coming in fashion, then I would definitely suggest that you bookmark this site.

And, lastly, I know McNuttt has posted this website (or at least think she did) on the blogroll. It’s basically a blog that this wealthy 20-year old, Jewish guy named Jack Siegel created. He updates with pictures and sometimes they have captions. The pictures are exquisite. I tend to like the film ones more than the digital ones. (Yes, you can tell by looking at them.) Also, be forewarned, the text on the front page is not a poem. It is a list of links to his different updates.

Well that’s all I’ve got in terms of cool, visual stuff. If you’re into green stuff, though, then I imagine you’ll like this. Jane Goodall came and spoke recently at a college near me. I took lots of pictures of her. Here are two:

 

RAVE ON

 

(I had to take this)

So, Friday night, the Raveonettes show @ r’n'r. I hadn’t been that excited for a show in a while. So, Jett Ives was supposed to come on at 8:30, and then the Pity Party, and then the Raveonettes, and then the after party…..BUT the weather was complete shit. The Raveonettes and the Pity Party spent 14 hours on the road trying to get to DC from NYC. So, Jett Ives came on around 10:45 ish…….yeah.

Then, around 11:45 (after Jett Ives was over…what a shame) instruments started coming onto the stage and people started setting up things. The Raveonettes had finally arrived! Sune Rose Wagner came out on stage to help set up and everyone went crazy that they were finally there.

….THEN SHARIN FOO CAME OUT. She is absolutely THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Honestly, she almost looks like a robot.

The Pity Party didn’t get to play b/c they were so late.

And then The Raveonettes played and the show ended around 1:30…..so no after party DJ set! But I was happy that we got to see them at all….they could have easily said, hey we’ve been on the road for fourteen hours, we are practically falling over, we don’t want to play, but they did! And that means a lot.

 Sune and Sharin were so so fantastic. This was a special “ELECTRIC DUO SHOW”… so it was just them with their guitars and no band. They had two drums that they played during some of the songs. You can see it in some of the video I got. They did two covers. One was Sonic Youth’s 100%. Everyone was singing along. It was really cool.

Chain Gang of Love 

Twilight

 

Attack of the Ghostriders

Love in a Trashcan

Overall the wait was completely worth it, the Raveonettes are fantastic live, and in my opinion, the coolest band out right now.

 oh and I found this:

(camera in hand of course)

123123

 

The Max Levine Ensemble and Matt and Kim played tonight at r’n'r. The Max Levine Ensemble was fun as always. They were pretty good but you could barely hear the vocals. I only got this tiny clip:

Matt and Kim were so fantastic. They are really really cute in person. They had amazing energy. They sounded GREAT. Kim kills on drums, oh my god. She’s incredible. She smiled the ENTIRE show, seriously. I had a ton of fun. There wasn’t as much dancing as I thought their would be! What’s wrong with peopllleee.

VERBS BEFORE NOUNS

SILVER TILES

YEAH YEAH

This week was pretty boring besides the show. I did get two new prints by Paul Coors, however. They are from his Catastrophe set. I’m running out of space on my walls.

This coming week will be pretty boring too. GOD. Except Friday night…I’m seeing the Raveonettes. That should be a lot of fun. Oh and I totally forgot about the student art show at my school. Nevermind, this week should be moderately interesting.