"Motion" - Laurent & Lewis

Video by Orquidea Calisto & Sandra Guarda, Amsterdam 2008

Situationists International

Situationists International part 1


Situationists International part 2


Situationists International part 3

The revolution of everyday life

In 1958 Guy Debord produced his “Theory of the Dérive” where he defines dérive [literally: “drifting”] (one of the basic situationist practices) by “a technique of a rapid passage through varied ambiances. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll.” What captured my interest in the situationists and the definition of dérive is its legacy to our contemporary society. There are tons of exemples one could pick up to ilustrate this legacy, from basically all areas of the knowledge, but I want to focus my attention in something that although is already out there for quite a while is still unknown for the common urban inhabitants – parkour. “Parkour is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment — from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls.”...and yes, art became part of the fabric of everyday life....and I never thought I would find traceurs on my small home town!
"Traditional art is inadequate for the new dynamic complications of modern life." - Charles Baudelaire

Singing Sculpture

While searching for Gilbert & George’s performance “Singing Sculpture”, due to a project S. and me have in mind, I came across an animation series of legendary performance art pieces made by Graham Samuels, commissioned by Arty, a contemporary art program on SVT2 (Swedish national TV). Some are available in youtube, but to watch all of them one can go to Graham’s website (animation/videos). Also worth it is the “Scenes From The Factory”, a series of animated interviews with Andy Warhol and folks around The Factory in the mid-sixties, based on real audio footage.

“Legendary Performance, part 2” – Gilbert & George – “Singing Sculpture”, 1969

Other Voices, Other Rooms

Thursday night, last week, I went to the opening of “Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms”, a major exhibition of Warhol’s rarely screened video and audio recordings and archive material at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. As I was a bit late, I missed the poetry and lyrics of Lou Reed that was there as special guest. The entrance hall was over crowded like usually in Amsterdam. Since the dress code was “If everybody is not a beauty, then nobody is” (Warhol), the crowd was a tender melange of common people, arty people and party people, all ages, all sizes, all colours. Everybody was quite relaxed, wondering around, sipping the wine, champagne or orange juice, talking to each other, enjoying being photographed by the press or just letting their bodies go to the charming sounds of Velvet Underground. After a glass of wine we decided to go around for a first impression on the exhibition. Not that one could see much of the work, due the amount of people everywhere, but an opening is never about the work anyway. The space is carefully designed to express Warhol’s world in content and context, but about the exhibition I’ll post later because I still have to go there to actually SEE it with more room for walking, sitting, watching and thinking.
For those in the neighbourhood there’s also an exhibition of photographs by Lou Reed at the galerie Serieuze Zaken Studios, Bilderdijkstraat 66, Amsterdam, until the 15th on November. Yes, the guy is also a photographer!

Ceci n'est pas une pipe

I’ve been in Brussels for a short holiday. Although I’ve heard a lot of descriptions on its chaotic look, I was still amazed with the image of the “Capital of Europe”. It resembles a post apocalyptic city still struggling for its re-edification. An indescribable architectural mess built on centuries of juxtaposed history. But, don’t get me wrong… I loved it!...and actually it’s quite interesting to realise that the “Bruxellois” seem don’t be bothered with whatever you think about their hometown.
After a couple of days of staring to Gothic cathedrals and churches, Neoclassical institutional buildings and Art Nouveaux and Art Deco masterpieces (some of them in a great state of decay) I joined the pilgrimage to the Atomium, the national icon from the Expo 58 recently renovated. I didn’t dare to get inside since the cue was quite extensive. There was a bright sunny day, so instead I was wondering around taking pictures. The Atomium is the only architectural piece that remained in the original site. Some of the buildings survived the exhibition by being relocated to different places and most were just demolished. It’s a shame that such a wonder of the “modern “ zeitgeist was lost forever.
Back home, I could finally watch a DVD with 165mn of archive material from the Expo 58, bought at the Atomium shop, a treasure!…it’s a pity though that it doesn’t give any special notice on the Philips Pavilion, a project by Le Corbusier in collaboration with composer Edgar Varese and composer and architect Iannis Xenakis. A visionary concept converging form, colour, light, image and sound in a multimedia piece called “Poeme électronique”.