Hollywood2020

LADIES ROOMS AROUND THE WORLD --exhibit by Maxi Cohen Set for Pool Art Fair @ Hotel Chelsea March 28-30

Pool Art Fair @ the Hotel Chelsea presents
LADIES ROOMS AROUND THE WORLD
a series of photographs and video by Maxi Cohen
222 W 23rd Street (btw 7th and 8th Ave) Room 122
opening FRIDAY. March 28th, 29th & 30th 12pm-8pm

LADIES ROOMS AROUND THE WORLD don't miss this exhibit which includes photos and videos by my long time colleague --the talented and brilliant artist and filmmaker Maxi Cohen. Can you imagine if these walls could talk? And what an appropriate location --the HOTEL CHELSEA.

Sidenote-- if you have not checked out Wikipedia.com's take on Hotel Chelsea take a glimpse-- here's just a bit of info I found out --The hotel has been a home to actors and film directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Shirley Clarke, Cyndi Coyne, Mitch Hedberg, Miloš Forman, Lillie Langtry, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper, Eddie Izzard, Kevin O'Connor, Uma Thurman, Elliot Gould, Jane Fonda, and Gaby Hoffmann and her mother, the Warhol film star Viva and Edie Sedgwick.ABOUT Maxi Cohen's LADIES ROOM AROUND THE WORLD EXHIBIT:

For more than two decades, Maxi has been photographing, and more recently filming in LADIES ROOMS AROUND THE WORLD from the Australian outback to Zambia, New York to Tel Aviv, Cannes to Rio.

Maxi Cohen is an artist and filmmaker. Her work is in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Israeli Museum in Jerusalem and more. Her films appear in movie theaters and on television. Blogger note- here's a recent picture of Maxi Cohen I found on Google images-- best wishes to you Maxi for a fantastic weekend! js.

CZECH DREAM -- DVD ON SALE FOR "REEL"!

For some reason I had never heard of the documentary CZECH DREAM, but it caught my eye at the video store this week blogged by Joyce Schwarz @ www.hollywood2020.blogs.com.

CZECH DREAM HITS USA VIDEO STORES FOR "REEL"!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I might not have picked it up if I didn't have a house guest coming here from Czech Republic this weekend. What was kewl is I just left a note on their audience blog. Every film site should have an audience blog! 

As I noted on the film blog, I was rolling off my couch laughing until at the end I saw this elderly woman with canes or crutches walking to the opening of the non-existent "hyper mart" and I felt sad. As I explained in the blog I've been in advertising for years -- the old school kind and then the Internet and yes, I have a Masters degree from USC film school too..

COULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT PRO-BONO PROJECT

BUT every project I've done involving an opening -- I've tied in a charity with it. I'm probably best known for rolling out the MISSING KIDS ON THE MILK CARTON campaign in California for Ralphs...and I've organized more than 500 other events that I've had corporations sponsor.

Missing Kids on a Milk Carton campaign sponsored by Ralph Grocery in the USA..campaign by Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, www.joycecom.com

Would I have handled the film the same way if I were using state funds? Hmm I probably would have used the state funds to open some kind of community program on the Meadow -- maybe a new Playground for kids and provided picnic lunch for everyone courtesy of a corporate sponsor. And pressured the printing companies and the ad firms to do the whole project Pro-bono. Admittedly the whole effort took GUTZ....let's see them make "THE MAN" pay in the next film -- not the people! js.

Sci Fi Writer William Gibson on "Locative Art"

Just finished "Spooks" by sci-fi writer William Gibson, blogged by Joyce Schwarz, www.hollywood2020.blogs.com. Here's a good interview I found with Gibson about 'locative art" on Boston.com. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/19/qa_with_william_gibson/

William Gibson talks about "locative art" as depicted in his novel "Spooks" in this Boston.com interview. See link above.

NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE OF SOUND & VISION IMAGE OF IMAGES!

NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE OF SOUND & VISION -- IMAGE OF IMAGES....amazing new structure actually incorporates images from television into the exterior glass tiles of the building. THE MEDIUM IS THE MEDIUM...blogged by Joyce Schwarz, Hollywood2020.blogs.com.

Here's the story in the NY TIMES and a great quote that explains the process they used to create the glass tiles: "Conceived in collaboration with the 65-year-old artist Jaap Drupsteen, the structure’s panels are imprinted with famous images from Dutch television: the justice minister riding his bicycle, say, or Johan Cruyff scoring a goal. Using computer technology, Mr. Drupsteen ran the images together and baked them into the glass."

Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, Encased in Glass
New York Times, NY - May 25, 2007
The Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision was conceived as a perfect cube, half of it buried underground. It houses broadcasting archives, ...

Dutch media house an architectural wonder
The Brunei Times, Brunei Darussalam - 45 minutes ago
The completion of their Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision here can only elevate their status. Wrapped in a luxurious skin of colourful cast-glass ...

THE MILLIION MASTERPIECE EXTENDS DEADLINE

How about a million little pieces of art from around the world? Kewl huh? Well that's what www.millionmasterpiece.com is creating blogged by Joyce Schwarz, Hollywood2020.blogs.com. But it looks like it will take another year to get a million contributions. Check it out at: www.millionmasterpiece.com

www.millionmasterpiece.com

THE GOAL: according to the website: to create a true snapshot of our global society, and sum up its diversity in one single picture?  So they are trying to 'get together one million ordinary people from all around the world, and get them to work on the picture together in the world's largest ever artistic collaboration. A collaboration where everyone is equal, where all outcomes are valid.'

DONATIONS:  By making a donation they are hoping to raise over £3.5 million / $6.5 million / €5 million for global humanitarian and environmental charities.

Hollywood2020.blogs.com has an email into Peter, one of the organizers and as soon as we hear back from him, we may have some more news on this event/experience. Be fun to bring it to Hollywood and get some celebrities involved! js.

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ADAM STRANGE POST MODERN ARTIST

ADAM STRANGE POST MODERN ARTIST came to the attention of this blogger Joyce Schwarz, Hollywood2020 in a web search for an Abraham Lincoln robot. What I found was so much more --an experience in what Strange terms "post modernism" .

Strange's comments on his site that ," postmodern man inevitably separates his world into two categories, ideas and disciplines belonging to the realm of faith or belief, and concepts within the architecture of science." He goes on to explain that as an artist living in the postmodern era, I continually find myself drawn to themes that explore the tension between these two definitive categories. I am always searching for a narrative with the power to articulate the relationship between spiritual and physical truth. Work of this nature, I believe, best defines our time.

DUCHAMP BIGGEST INFLUENCE: In his bio Adam Strange says "My biggest influence has probably been Marcel Duchamp. Like Duchamp, I tend to stray away from looking for a visual style to define my work. I prefer to focus on the narrative, letting a message take precedent over any always present style. I am also a huge fan of pastiche. I find working in other artist's styles a great way to explore the psyche of other artists."

HAUNTINGLY REFRESHING: Strange is amazingly talented -- from CD designs to magazine covers to paintings, illustrations and storyboards, his work is hauntingly refreshing. Modern art that is social commentary about today and timeless for tomorrow.

BEYOND DALI.. Adam Strange's portraits are reminiscent of Dali yet somehow more punk, darker,yet enthralling visuals reflecting our times, our thoughts and our mores. His wit and his amusement with his subjects are reflected in the titles of his works including such wonderful descriptions as: ROBO PIMP, "The Treachery of Forms" and "DJ Prezly" to say the titles are labeled tongue in cheek would be an understatement. Exotic, erotic and edgy...watch for Strange to do some awesome art in the future. Check out his website at www.adamstrange.com for details on the pricing which is amazingly reasonable. For more info on Strange refer to the news section which includes several topical reviews and articles about him and his work.

Art Film :As if the illustrations and paintings were not enough, Strange also delves into films as he says on his website "If you enjoy art films, my first short film is a more telling portrait of my philosophy as and artist then anything I might write here. I shot it on 16mm and it is very much an experimental art film in the same surrealist style as Salvador Dali's film "Un Chien Andalou" (1929)."

Sometimes strange is wonderful.