tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:24:22 +0000Visual art, music, cinema & books that I love or at least find interesting enough to post about.http://a.lux-solis.net/noreply@blogger.com (Abigail)Blogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-6606022854922683340Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:14:00 +00002008-08-31T16:24:22.289+08:00UpdatesThe new site is here The new RSS feed is here Please update bookmarks/links/subscriptions. Also comments finally enabled on the new site. For once in my life I think I should emphasize function over form and so I'm using a free template over there. I've been toying with Wordpress for the past few months but I really am finding it so difficult to create a Wordpress template out of the design I http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/this-site-has-moved.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-3036251889046580849Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:44:00 +00002008-08-25T18:46:45.542+08:00PhotographyDesiree Dolron's work for me very closely approaches perfection. There isn't much I can find about the artist online apart from the fact that she was born in the Netherlands in 1963. I love her photojournalistic Cuba series, but images from 'Xteriors' is what really drew me to her work in the first place. Not only do I love the painterly quality of her images, but I also love their http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/desiree-dolron.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-1784181025353466291Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:27:00 +00002008-08-25T18:50:36.334+08:00MusicSome of this is what I listened to on recent travels, and some of it is music I discovered when I got back. I like the fact that the memories of the English countryside, the city of London (remembered fondly even, who would've thought?) and domestic night flights across Australia come back so vividly - perhaps even more real than a photograph - when I listen to this music again these days. Anywayhttp://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/recent-music.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-2972931780651468920Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:08:00 +00002008-08-22T01:09:13.830+08:00Photography I know it's a popular style among fine art photographers - large format, B&W film, long exposures - but I think few do it as well as David Burdeny. His work is obviously reminiscent of Michael Kenna's - who is listed as one of Burdeny's influences in his artist statement on his website. "I'm fascinated with the quality of light and the spatial immensity the ocean possesses. I have an http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/david-burdeny.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-4846939216217201146Wed, 20 Aug 2008 06:34:00 +00002008-08-20T15:13:43.870+08:00Film Apparently that's the poster for the upcoming film version of Gibson's Neuromancer, which I got from Quiet Earth (via Cyberpunk Review). I think it looks cool and I'm pretty excited that there's finally a film adaptation of it coming out. However, it's being directed by a music video director (who's also the director of Torque) - Joseph Kahn - and is supposed to star Hayden Christensen as Case.http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/upcoming-neuromancer-film.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-4958282080491061735Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:48:00 +00002008-08-20T15:34:05.739+08:00Music Some of the only music I could listen to when I was in Australia last month was Dead Can Dance. It just seemed to go so well with the surrounding landscape. Especially in Canberra - with all that open space, the gnarled trees in winter and the mountains that formed a constant backdrop for the city. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Dead Can Dance actually were an Australian band http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/08/music-of-dead-can-dance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-1753881569170291549Sat, 21 Jun 2008 02:56:00 +00002008-06-21T10:56:59.738+08:00MusicPhotography I intended to write something about Ghosts I-IV back in April, shortly after it was released, however I just kind of forgot about it (even after uploading the images and everything). Of course I bought Ghosts online the very day it was released. I'd been yearning for an instrumental album from Trent Reznor since the release of Still in 2000, so the idea of an instrumental 2-hour double album http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/06/ghosts-i-iv.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-1061831838095988373Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:13:00 +00002008-06-19T11:28:03.663+08:00Books (Although it doesn't qualify as art, I wrote a review of this and thought I should put it up here anyway, since I think it's such an important read and that more people should know about it. The image above is unrelated to this - I just thought it suited the title. It's by a fantastic digital artist called Gary Tonge.) I've just finished reading a book which I believe is on the level of beinghttp://a.lux-solis.net/2008/06/last-hours-of-ancient-sunlight.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-1807774949125117999Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:58:00 +00002008-06-19T11:29:50.216+08:00Somewhere in March I decided to switch over to Wordpress as it's incomparably better than Blogger in terms of functionality and customization. I also created a new layout, based on this one, which actually looks much better. However Wordpress has a much steeper learning curve than Blogger and while I'd already loaded it at another location on this domain, I wasn't able to implement the layout in http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/06/back-from-3-month-hiatus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-4231203857137297815Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:49:00 +00002008-03-13T01:37:06.946+08:00Photography Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison are a husband & wife team who create wonderfully unique and beautiful images which combine painting techniques and sculpture with photography. I first encountered their work from The Architect's Brother online a few years ago and was as impressed by the aesthetics as I was by the humour. I feel the images make their point without being excessively morose - and it's http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/03/robert-shana-parkeharrison.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-174702228354492311Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:49:00 +00002008-02-19T01:09:10.220+08:00Books "Nataraja at play among the stars and in the atoms. But also," he added, "also at play within every living thing, every sentient creature, every child and man and woman. Play for play's sake. But now the playground is conscious, the dance floor is capable of suffering. To us, this play without purpose seems a kind of insult. What we would really like is a God who never destroys what he has http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/huxleys-island.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-6961989295153379839Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:37:00 +00002008-02-16T17:49:38.535+08:00Photography 7. What do you consider to be your greatest achievement? Finding my own path and following it. 8. What advice would you give to up- coming photographers looking to define their own style? Be careful when choosing your teacher. If you have real talent you might not need one. 9. After developing a body of work that reflects your personal thoughts and feelings, what has your photography taught youhttp://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/misha-gordin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-2018866203876881943Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:12:00 +00002008-02-09T13:43:30.861+08:00Film "It's like we all know way down in our souls that our generation is going to witness the end of everything. You can see it in our eyes." - Dark in Nowhere I totally didn't expect it, but I really liked Gregg Araki's Nowhere. It's the first Araki film I've seen. I'd heard a lot about his films prior to seeing this and they really didn't sound like anything I'd like, so I am quite pleasantly http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/nowhere.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-8841082834531930968Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:12:00 +00002008-02-08T16:22:38.650+08:00Film I don't think I can ever forget the desperate, oppressive atmosphere of The Silence. Sometime last July, I felt like watching nothing but Bergman films for some reason, and that's when I happened upon this film. Two sisters, Ester and Anna and Anna's son Johan (a boy of about ten or twelve), stop at an unnamed European country on the brink of war. Ester is suffering from a terminal illness and http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/bergmans-silence.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-7296507704986411818Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:18:00 +00002008-02-08T15:59:50.258+08:00Film Has anyone seen The United States of Leland? I sought it out mainly because it's the only film that (possibly my favourite musician in the world) Jeremy Enigk has scored - and I must say he did a damn good job of it too. Unfortunately the soundtrack was never released, and I think it may have had something to do with it not being commercially viable enough for the label to want to release it. http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/united-states-of-leland.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-2716371562252695288Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:23:00 +00002008-02-06T00:37:11.364+08:00Video "Anthem is a post-industrial lamentation, structured on the single piercing scream of a young girl as she stands in the vast chamber of Union Station in Los Angeles. Viola relates this structure to the form and function of religious chants, particularly Gregorian chants (using a harmonic scale in a resonant hall) and Tantric Buddhist chants (ritual exorcism and conversation with demons). The http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/bill-violas-anthem.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-1675069674535241572Mon, 04 Feb 2008 15:58:00 +00002008-02-06T00:01:51.196+08:00MusicVideo I first encountered Bill Viola's work unknowingly, through this very image in the teaser for Nine Inch Nails' Still album. I really, really love the video pieces he made projected in the background of La Mer, The Great Below and The Mark Has Been Made during the Fragility tour. The image above is part of an incredibly beautiful sequence shot in poppy fields. I've always really loved the http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/bill-viola-nine-inch-nails.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-2585366717945044456Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:05:00 +00002008-02-06T00:03:03.121+08:00Photography I never expected to like Chris Jordan, but I do. His work is current, terrifying - probably taking what Koyaanisqatsi deals with a step further. I think it's an example of really good 'political' (for lack of a better word, really) art and I find such art quite necessary. "The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/chris-jordans-intolerable-beauty.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-3426604723664019639Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:17:00 +00002008-02-06T00:04:14.526+08:00Film Koyaanisqatsi is truly an extraordinary film. I just finished watching it again and found it to be moving and rather overwhelming. It's interesting because you're confronted with images of industrial society that you aren't usually accustomed to - images that (at least to me) make our civilization seem incredibly inhuman and life-denying. So throughout the film, my inner monologue was pretty http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/koyaanisqatsi.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018220182923044939.post-6332238172322697655Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:41:00 +00002008-02-06T00:05:03.167+08:00I'm really glad to finally have this thing up and running. I've been thinking about setting up one of these for a long time now, since my basic impulse when I discover great art is to share it with everyone I know (sometimes to the annoyance of those around me). Since I finally had some free time and actually felt like designing a website, I pulled this together in the last couple of days. http://a.lux-solis.net/2008/02/first-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Abigail)