HIGHRISE, the National Film Board of Canada’s innovative documentary experiment that examines the human experience in global vertical suburbs, has won the first DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. The world’s largest documentary film festival, on now through November 28, spotlights HIGHRISE’s first international production, Out My Window. Director Katerina Cizek and NFB senior producer Gerry Flahive have been awarded a Canon 5D Mark II camera.
“The project draws its strength when viewed in depth and at length. The meetings in dozens of countries, from Bangalore and Beirut to Toronto, Canada are all beautiful and the design of the piece resonates with the stories. Photos, video, audio and interactivity all work in seamless harmony towards telling the stories in a compelling way.”
- IDFA DocLab Award jury report on HIGHRISE/Out My Window
To read more of this content at Movie City News, click here.
Beginning with de Stijl, geometry became an obvious metaphor for the scientific and mechanistic modes of thinking associated with avant-garde modernism. Mondrian's canvases, arguably influenced themselves by Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School architecture, became templates for mid-century wall systems and modular case good systems, as well as graphic inspiration for architecture.
All of these applications self-evidently involved rectilinearity or at least linearity--the so-called deconstruction and reconstruction of the box, applied both to surface and volume. Famously, this was the approach taken with Rietveld's Red and Blue chair, which was explicitly linear, a rigid composition of wooden planks designed with little regard for comfort. Much cantilevered, Bauhaus-inspired furniture would also fit into this camp, though with somewhat greater interest in comfort. In the opposing, organic camp, are chairs such as the Womb chair, ergonomic in character, curvilinear, and fitted to the human form.
To read more of this content at Interior Design magazine, click here. "
The immigration boom of the late 19th century brought more than huddled masses to the Midwest. An influx of new cultures helped spread the groundbreaking ideas fueling modernist thought and practice in Europe.
"Against the Grain: Modernism in the Midwest" at the Riffe Gallery offers a survey of works that show the movement's influence on artists from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin from 1900 to 1950.
Curated by Christine Fowler Shearer, the exhibit includes works that represent many of the common threads of modernism, from cubist composition to expressionist techniques. Simultaneously, they highlight the crucial part that individualism played in the movement's quest to find new ways of seeing and portraying the world.
A grouping of landscapes suggests an empathetic, appreciative connection to the land among these artists.
To read more of this content at The Columbus Dispatch, click here.
Depicted works by Charles Burchfield and Harold Noecker.
"Ever since World War II, California has been strangely plagued by wild men on motorcycles. They usually travel in groups of ten to thirty, booming along the highways and stopping here are there to get drunk and raise hell. In 1947, hundreds of them ran amok in the town of Hollister, an hour's fast drive south of San Francisco, and got enough press to inspire a film called The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando. The film had a massive effect on thousands of young California motorcycle buffs; in many ways, it was their version of The Sun Also Rises."
- Hunter S. Thompson, "The Motorcycle Gangs: Losers and Outsiders", The Nation, May 17, 1965.
Welcome to another special edition of the Komodo Lounge, this week dedicated to the early seeking of freedom via the motorcycle. The garage ethic on two wheels, propelled by rebellion, high-octane fuel and an early devotion to bongos and three chords, motorcycle music takes a place of honour in the pantheon of mid-20th century music.
Les Baxter - Hogin' Machine
Originally released in 1969, this amazing track is from the original soundtrack for the movie Hell's Belles, by cycle trash movie moguls American International Pictures. Composed and performed by the iconic Les Baxter, who composed music for films from the 50s through the 70s, including American International, before his post-humous anointing as The King of Exotica in the mid-90s.
Ricky Nelson - Fools Rush In
The motorcycle connection here is Kenneth Anger's use of "Fools Rush In" as the first track on his groundbreaking experimental vintage homoerotica film Scorpio Rising (1964). Originally written by Johnny Mercer in 1940, Nelson had a major hit with it in 1963, when it reached no. 12 on the Billboard charts.
Davie Allan and the Arrows - The Wild Angels (aka Blues' Theme)
Classic fuzztone from one of the artists who created the sound. Davie Allan. was another mainstay of American International, with a trademark fuzzed out, aggressive and speedy guitar style that proved a fitting accompaniment for the teen surf movies and biker flicks that formed the core of AIP's offerings. Blues' Theme, the main theme for the 1966 Roger Corman bikesploitation film 'The Wild Angels' (starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd) was a breakout hit for Allan, with 17 weeks on the Billboard Chart.
Savage 7 - Desert Ride
This track is from a scene in the movie The Savage Seven, 1968, among whose stars was a young Larry Bishop, son of Ratpacker Joey Bishop. While I can't say for sure who performed this insturmental track, which was used as background for a desert ridin' montage, the presence of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15ngUiPUxzs">Johnny and the Hurricanes on the movie's soundtrack makes me suspect they may have been the culprits.
Hell Ride - Opening Sequence
The aforementioned Larry Bishop became perhaps the most omnipresent biker movie actor in the sixties, appearing in more bikesploitation films than Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson combined. In 2008, with the support of executive producer Quentin Tarantino, Bishop capped a panhead-propelled career by writing, producing and starring in what might be the quintessential biker trash flick, Hell Ride.
Hell Ride - Alternate Title Sequence
This is just an alternate title sequence that was filmed for Hell Ride, but it's such a great montage that it would be criminal not to include it.
Chris Spedding - Motorbikin'
From a 1975 Top of the Pops performance, here's Brit guitar god Chris Spedding leveraging his leather-clad biker tough guy image with a track called Motorbikin', one of several biker tracks he was responsible for. This one was one of his biggest hits, reaching the top 20 in the UK, but he became perhaps better known for his brilliant session guitar work with Roxy Music and for producing the Sex Pistols' first demos.
Chris Spedding - Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots
Another of Spedding's motorcycle classics, about the "terror of Highway 101". The influence of guitar pioneer Link Wray on Speddings' work is easy to detect on this one. Don't be misled, though, Spedding didn't write this one, as it was performed long before he did it, by the "leather-lunged" Vaughn Munroe.
Vaughn Munroe - Black Denim Trousers
A big band leader and a popular entertainer in the 1940s and 1950s, as well as beating Johnny Cash to the punch in charting with "Ghost Riders in the Sky" in 1949. Munroe strayed from form a little to record this cover in 1955. But Munroe still wasn't the first to record Black Denim Trousers. That honour would go to an American vocal group called The Cheers, earlier in the same year.
The Cheers - Black Denim Trousers
The Cheers hit the charts with a couple of songs in the mid-1950s, both of which were written by the legendary songwriting team of Lieber and Stoller. The Cheers were notable for having the first rock'n'roll hit by a white group, after Bill Haley and the Comets, with their track 'Bazoom (I Need Your Loving)', which seems pretty sadly dated to modern ears.
Parting Shot: Edith Piaf - L'Homme a la Moto
We've finished this edition of The Komodo Lounge with an exploration of multiple versions of Black Denim Trousers, but we'd be absolutely derelict in our duties if we didn't include the French version, recorded by the legendary Edith Piaf. Enjoy!!!
A special non-weekend edition of The Komodo Lounge proudly presents Gettin' in the Groove, a gargantuan gaggle of girl group goodness. What a gas!
Patti's Groove - "It Won't Last Long".
This stripped down girl group, orginally referred to as 'The Female Beatles' released no LPs, but thankfully, this number was preserved on a compilation called Girls in the Garage, Vol. 3.
April March - "Chick Habit"
Enjoying new life after its inclusion in Tarantino's Deathproof, this super-catchy tune by April March was actually first recorded by ye yesingerFrance Gall in 1964 as "Laisse tomber les filles".
Gloria Jones - "Tainted Love"
Also from 1964 is this first outbreak of Tainted Love, written by Ed Cobb of the Four Preps. Jones was also the girlfriend of Marc Bolan, and actually played keyboards and sang in T-Rex.
Toni McCann - "Saturday Date"
The Brit-born Australian go-go-go-go girl, Toni McCann, along with her beat-group backup, the The Blue Jays, launched this shout-it-out rouser in 1966 as their second single. A bit hard to imagine now, but in its day, this tune was considered pretty vigorous for a female singer.
The Ronettes - "Walkin' in the Rain"
This version of the well-known Ronettes tune features full-blown production by her future husband Phil Spector, including ambient rainfall and thunder. Co-written by Spector, along with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, this tune has been covered by at least six other artists, including Jay and the Americans, David Cassidy and Erasure.
The late 1960s and early 1970s was the era of the Detroit Big Three supercars: Chevelles, Camaros, Chargers and Mustangs ate up the roads from coast to coast. These beautiful examples of Detroit iron were perhaps not as popular as the top muscle cars, but they are undeniably gorgeous.
From top to bottom: 1971 Buick Riviera 'boat-tail' hardtop coupe; 1971 El Camino SS; 1969 Chrysler Barracuda; 1968 Plymouth Fury III four-door coupe; 1969 Pontiac Bonneville convertible.
Amazing automotive design from the 1950s and 1960s. From top to bottom, 1963 Jaguar XKE, 1964 Volvo Coupe, S1800 Coupe, 1961 Chrysler Saratoga, 1953 Pontiac Coupe, 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville.
In 2007, the American Institute of Architects launched a public survey to identify "America's Favourite Architecture." With the Empire State Building, the White House and the Washington National Cathedral finishing in the Top 3, the list exposed a strong public connection with heritage buildings. Of the Top 50 favourite structures in the United States, only five were built after the Second World War.
These results raise the question: Do people prefer historic buildings for their character and style or, like a favourite pair of faded blue jeans, is time and familiarity an important factor in the public perception of architecture? Will the steel and glass modernist buildings that replaced these styles be just as well-loved when they are old enough to be considered historic? If so, should we work to protect them in the same way we do the brick buildings of the Exchange District?
The answers to these questions are of particular importance for Winnipeg, a city celebrated for its historic buildings, but less well known as home to one of the finest surviving collections of modernist architecture in Canada.
Emerging in the 1950s, modernism was an architectural movement that rejected the ornamentation of the past and celebrated the technological advancements of the 20th century. Heavy walls of stone were replaced with large curtains of glass flooding light into open interior spaces. The decorative motifs of the past gave way to a machine-inspired look of exposed structure and clean, austere lines.
Examples of this style, both large and small, can still be found in every Winnipeg neighbourhood. The Centennial Concert Hall and MTC Theatre, the Great West Life and Workers Compensation buildings, Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, Kildonan Park Pavilion and even the Bridge Drive-in (BDI) on Jubilee are all remnants of the modernist era.
The soon-to-be-replaced terminal building at the Richardson International Airport is one of Winnipeg's most significant representatives of this movement. Designed by GBR Architects in 1964, it stands as the only remaining example of a federal initiative to modernize Canada's national image by constructing a series of new airports across the country. Much like the railway did decades earlier, these new jet-age terminals were an effort to unify and inspire the country.
To read more of this content at The Winnipeg Free Press, click here.
Populuxe film on American industrial design of 1958. Digitally enhanced at Retro-matic™ LLC in Hollywood, California. This film is registered as Public Domain with Creative Commons at www.creativecommons.org.
A three-part video describing an auction of Modernist posters by the Swann Galleries, based in NYC.
Swann Galleries was founded in 1941 as an auction house specializing in Rare Books. Today Swann has separate departments devoted to Photographs, Posters and Prints & Drawings, in addition to Books, Maps & Atlases and Autographs.
