Movie Memory

I was thinking about how memory is depicted in cinema.  In order to distinguish a recollection of memory from every other scene the film is usually somehow altered, made blurry, or shaky (aka flashbacks). I thought this was interesting because this method correlates to the idea that memory is fallible and changes when we try to recollect it.  Why can we accept that recollections in cinema can be altered but our own memories are not fallible?
http://www.phantomladyvintage.com analyzes the use of flashbacks in film noir.

Shared Beauty



Daphnia, water flea



Hydra http://www.isi.edu/robots/self_heal_html/index.htm



Diatom Frustule http://www.astrographics.com/GalleryPrintsIndex/GP2131.html

What is beauty and what form can it take?  Is there a common experience of beauty like a common experience of an event?  Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder and we all experience beauty in different ways?  When I think of a beautiful photo that many can relate to and share common experiences I bring up images of a river stream in the Smokey Mountains, the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls.  These are all scenes of majestic beauty with a natural backgroud.  These are cool and all but can there be a shared beauty experience on a smaller scale?

      I enjoy finding beauty in unexpected places.  We examined a hydra in biology lab a couple of weeks ago and I was amazed by its form and structure.  We spent an hour trying get it to eat a Daphnia (water flea), which is in itself a beautiful creature.  It looks almost birdlike with its "beak" and "wings" I love the light emanating out of it. Diatoms are cool too.  Do others find these images beautiful?

Pic of this Week

Once again its time for pic of the week because I can't think of anything else to blog about.



Ultraviolet Bath, Russia        http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/

This image caught my eye just because of its absurdity.  My first impression was, what are they doing to those kids!  Without the caption I would have been lost.  The children in Russia do not get enough UV light for production of Vitamin D because of the small amount of sunlight, so they get a treatment of UV light.  There are so many elements to this photo.  The UV machine looks out of place with the ornate rug.  I love the contrast of the begoggled children with a picture of a woman (with rosy cheeks) eating what looks like bread.  The UV light gives the entire room an unnatural glow.  I am also drawn to the person who is administrating the treatment.  He or she appears to be checking their watch to make sure they turn off the machine at the right time.

shared memory

When I was thinking of what to focus on for my artist book I was drawn to the idea of shared/collective memory.  When we think of thing that we all remember we tend to focus on the disasters such as 911, Pearl Harbor, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other destructive forces.  We ignore other happier shared experiences.  The first thing that came to my mind of a happy shared experience was the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  I watched the opening ceremony with my family and I just now rewatched it on YouTube.  It was a moment in time which I will cherish.  I wish that more of our shared memories could be moments of magic instead of destruction. 
    We also vividly remember the painful the memories because they are often revisited in the media and culture.  I'm not saying that we should forget the painful memories, rather we should balance them with humor and happieness. This is supposed to be a happy occasion...
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jO1EOhGkY0&NR=1   (5:48)

Artist Book brainstorm

So far I am thinking of focusing on shared memory.  I might organize the book where one photo that is meaningful to me and then see what branches out from that photo.  The branches could be other images related to that photo or other people's reaction/interpretation of the original photo.  It would be interesting to see how the final image has changed from the original.  Each page would have a different original photo with branches coming out of it.  Maybe I would post an image to be the starting image and then have people react to it verbally and then I would interpret those words with photos.  I might use photos that I take or use the internet's resources.
      To organize the different branches I was thinking of having the original photo on the main page and then have attached paper that can be folded out from the main page.  It would pop out like a string of photos like people keep in their wallets of their family members. 
   I'm also interesting in the idea that repeated memory become almost mythical.  I am thinking of taking a narrative image and then repeating it throughout the book and see how it changes.  It could be an everyday photo of people sitting around and it could change to an epic battle.  Or there could be different versions of the story at the end.

old and new

  My partner at the Mayflower could not make it to last week's meeting, so instead she left me a couple of old photographs (mainly portraits).  Some were in the form of postcards, where the picture of a family member was on the front and a note could be written on the back.  This collection of old photographs seemed like a rare treasure that I was able to view.  I found a collection of Victorian and Edwardian portraits (http://www.rogerco.freeserve.co.uk/ ) and started scrolling through them.  I like this photo of the school children because of their realistic faces.  They are upset that they had to stay sitting for such a long time for the photograph to develop. 

   





 These old fashioned photographs reminded me of a modern artist that I had recently discovered(http://www.travislouie.com/ ).  Travis Louie uses the Victorian portrait model but then  replaces the normal subjects with various monsters.  It is quite enjoyable.

Pic of the Week

Big Cypress Reservation, Florida
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

     I loved the swirls that the duckweed formed on the top of the water. It is also amazing how much green there is on the cypress trees and in the background. The reflection in the black water of the blue sky is beautiful. Every time I see photos of Florida landscape I feel a sense of familiarity.  I prefer to think of Florida from this perspective instead of Disney land, palm trees, beaches, and sail boats.  This is the true Florida.