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Douglas Gordon in Paris
The Rodin Museum in Paris will exhibit the interesting Douglas Gordon’s work Predictable incident in Unfamiliar Surroundings until the 4th of September. The work was made in 1995 and it analyzes the influence of the media on people’s behavior. It has been considered as a key element to understand Gordon’s aesthetic proposal. Douglas Gordon is considered one of the more prominent contemporary creators of conceptual art. Before turning 30 years old, he had already attracted tremendous critical attention with his visual works pervaded with groundbreaking ideas about the domination of media on our society. For Gordon, we all have behaviors created by the influence of the media on our society. A few months after we are born, we are sitting in front of a computer. Then we grow up and the computer captures our attention with thousands of images. All of that has generated a society and a civilization dominated by images. This aspect, among others, is what Gordon is trying to make us understand in his installations, where he deconstructs the well-known TV or movie and he subverts and alters them, surprising the spectators and changing those preconceived images in their imaginary. This is the case of Predictable incident in Unfamiliar Surroundings, in which he took a series of sexual images of Captain Kirk and some actresses starring in the famous American television series Star Trek. Gordon projects those images from a device installed on several piled-up Budweiser beer cans. This muted work is divided in five images in slides with different projection times. The segmentation of images and the series that created the imaginary of the American...
Cortázar at the Caixa Forum in Barcelona
“Verba volant, scripta Manent,” said the Latins: Words fly but the writing remains on time. Among the incredible proliferation of texts published today, which in the most of the cases only remain few weeks in bookstores, there are few writers who manage to approve the test of time. Today, apparently, even the written words fly. One of the writers who certainly knew how to remain in time is Julio Cortazar, whose literary work (but also philosophical) is still read, discovered and loved. His novel “Rayuela” (Hopscotch), published in 1963, took long time to achieve the success it deserved in Europe, but is now considered one of the best literary works of the century. In addition, Julio Cortazar is known for “62 Modelo para armar” (62 Model Kit), “Libro de Manuel” (Manuel´s book) and an endless series of stories that often achieved perfection of the style. On the 27th of July, the media section of Caixa Forum will show an audiovisual interpretation of some stories of this great writer, in which literature is renewed with dances, acting and live music. The four artists who created this piece of live narrative are: Alba G. Corral, Kowalski, Rafaël and Soni Riot, with music by Escort Service. Alba G. Corral (Madrid, 1977) develops and uses visual programming code to create visual tools – live – abstract digital landscape. Co-organizer of the Femelek festival also participated in the Sonar Festival, Primavera Sound and LEV. Kowalski is a young DJ and producer who lives and works in Berlin and together with Soni Riot and Rafel, create digital video animation, that expose an accurate criticism of...
Roberto Matta at IVAM in Valencia: The mirror of memory
The Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno, better known as IVAM for its initials, now has an even more important collection thanks to the donation of the painting called “Espejo de la memoria” (Mirror of Memory) by Robert Matta, who was born in Chile in 1911 and died in Italy in 2002. The person responsible for this donation is Germana Matta, the widow of the artist, who hasn´t ruled out carrying on donating important works of the famous painter. “Mirror of Memory” is an oil painting that was created in 1996 and that, previously, belonged to the Matta family private collection. Roberto Matta is one of the most important artists who lived in the 20th century and who belonged to the most important group of surrealists, visionary and avant-gardist, who included in his art-related work, subjects relating to science, nature and much more. IVAM is one of the most important museums in Valencia and inside you can enjoy a permanent exhibition of over 10,500 works that exhibit, above all, the most important artists of the 20th century. Among some of the most famous and outstanding artists that you can enjoy in its galleries there is Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Paul Klee, Francis Picabia, Frantisek Kupka, Robert Delaunay, Lucio Fontana and many others. One of the most important collcetions that the museum possesses is that of Miquel Navarro, who is a sculptor from Valencia who is known around the world. Also the one of Ignacio Pizano, which is made up of over 100 paintings and 600 drawings. Also, the one of Julio González which has 400 works that range from paintings...
Mozart’s house in Vienna
Mörike Eduard (1804-1875) was a German Romantic poet, some of whose most beautiful poems reached a sublime level on the virtue of the music composed for them in the second half of the nineteenth century by the great lieder composer Hugo Wolf. Precisely his most beautiful and memorable book revolves around music, a novel titled Mozart on the Road to Prague that explains the day in the life of the great Austrian composer. The book, published in 1856 on the centenary of the birth of the musician is not only one of the first attempts to draw a portrait of the character of Mozart but probably one of the most beautiful books ever, inspired by one of the most fascinating characters in the western history In the final pages Eugenie, the young bride, reveals a tragic thought: A view of Mozart, and with him a number of people whose talent makes them burn with scorching heat and desire which lasts to this day: “Suddenly it became so true, terribly true, that the man was being eaten quickly and irrevocably by his own fire and that he could not be more than a fleeting appearance on this earth, for the fire could not support the excess he emanates” Despite the masterful musical mirror and voices of its composition, the plot of the novel is not complicated: Mozart and his wife Constance stop a moment to rest during their trip to Prague, where the composer is going to direct his opera Don Giovanni. While strolling through the garden of a palace, in an episode that somehow serves as a precedent to...
Moby in Rome
No summer without music! that is how the organizers of Rock in Rome see it. This year they present a deluxe line up with the best music interpreters that moves through several generations of artists. One of the most anticipated concerts is the of composer and electronic pop genius, Moby, who will make the Ippodromo delle Capanelle vibrate on the 24th of July. This rock festival which begins in June and ends on July 30th, brings you this year the creme de la creme of electronic music for the enjoyment of fans that come from all over Europe to listen to their favorite bands. Lou Reed and Sting will be in charge of closing the festival Richard Melville Hall, Moby´s real name, was born in Harlem, New York, in 1955. He took his stage name from the book Moby Dick written by his great-grandfather, Herman Melville. His beginnings in music date back to the early 80´s when he was a hardcore punker inthe band Vatican Commandos. That experience gave birth to a single disc: Hit Squad for God, who had no impact among the punk rock fans. His first success was achieved in 1991 with the album Go, when he reached the Top Ten in the British music charts. From there the path to fame and touring was evident. The Prodigy, Aphex Twin and Orbital were his companions in various tours. His consecration came in 1995 with his double album Everythink is Wrong – Mixed and Remixes distributed by Electra Records. Moby holds the world record for the fastest song ever recorded, the horrendously beautiful “thousand” where he reached...
Mario Vargas Llosa, the bad girl
“The bad girl” by the Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa is an exquisite novel that was published in 2006 and since then, it has captivated audiences of all nationalities and different ages, because it is an erotic book that seduces men and women. The Nobel Prize in Literature Mario Vargas Llosa wrote this book, his first romance novel, in which he shows a magnificent story of love and passion with touches of sensuality. During four decades, the main characters of the book have an intense love story, which is developed in different cities. Everything begins in Lima-Peru where the “bad girl” or “Chilean girl” comes to enchant Ricardo Somocurcio, the main character. From the beginning their love develops in bed and other delicious places to have sex. But the historical context of this novel is also interesting, because it takes place during the second half of the twentieth century, when there were important political situations worldwide, although this is only in the background. The cities where they meet by chance are also very well described and add a personal touch to the story. Ricardo lives in Paris, but various episodes of the novel take place in London, Tokyo and Madrid. What captures you the most of this love story, is how these two characters love each other and are sexually attracted, so much that they can spend entire days locked in different rooms throughout the world. d.b Do not miss reading this novel in Paris, location that takes an important part of the story, rent apartments in Paris and walk around the streets Ricardo Somocurcio walked hand in...
Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen
We probably owe to the Greek poet Hesiod the oldest preserved expression – towards the last quarter of the 8th Century BC – about some of the most persistent and fertile myths of Western culture. Actually, it probably relies its great importance on that, having given a coherent structure to the ancient Greek myths that would nourish human culture and creativity in the Western world during more than 25 centuries. Maybe due to its recurrent character in the history of our civilization, among the myths of Works and Days, which denote the essentially human character of the poem, it highlights in particular the ages of mankind, which establishes the existence of an initial Golden Age ruled by Chronos and characterized by happiness and abundance. It can´t be ruled out that there hasn´t been a single historical period in the becoming of the Western world in which there has been the feeling of living, in comparison with another past Golden Age, a period of decadence, of lack of ideas, ambition and creativity. In times like the ones we live in where there seems to be a feeling of crisis and dejection which indicate the end of a era, the temptation to take cover in the nostalgia of past times where life would be truly dignified of receiving that name and with the tendency to get even better. The same phenomenon is visible in people of different ages, whose will to consider the time of their youth as a unrepeatable golden age usually has regrettable intellectual and vital consequences. Having taken the necessary conceptual precautions, nostalgia, however, like art, saves us...
Tuska Open Air: Metal Festival in Helsinki
So, when was the heavy metal invented? Well, there is no short answer for this question. Chances are that the first traces of hard rock came from MC5, Blue Cheer and of course Jimi Hendrix. Then, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin appeared in the hard rock arena. But only until the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), the genre got its own identity and with the essential Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Venom appeared. The truth is that different genres and trends parallel to the metal appeared and have remained: death, thrash, speed, doom, sludge, space and black to name a few. It is possible that at present, since within the metal some of the most radical experiments in sound have appeared, it doesn’t exactly fall into this category either. Think Sunn O))) for example or Newyorkers Liturgy. Tuska Open Air brings the best of these genres in two hard rock days. Among the most recommended is Electric Wizard, masters of doom metal and stoner; their performance takes you in a black boat, into the darkest depths. Led by Jus Osborn, Electric Wizard´s adventure started back in 1989. Their best records are “Come my fanatics” and “Dopethrone”, which have been a big influence to the Stoner Rock for the past fifteen years. If you want a trip to distortion and heavy sounds, Electric Wizard is your new favorite band. Another important band of this event is Morbid Angel, a pioneer of the death metal genre. They are going to present their latest album, “Illud Dividum Insanus”. Originally from Florida, Morbid Angel is a reference point for...Restaurant El Dento
El Dento has a €30 gourmet menu for lunch and a gastronomic menu at 47 € at night. There is also a great summer terrace.
