Category archives: Art for Progress
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5 years ago
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Little Joe, Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s first English-language film, is as spare and deliberate as it is visually arresting. With its chilly tone and gorgeous, pastel-hued visuals, the sci-fi drama is both beautiful and creepy, despite a familiar plot.
The film opens with an overhead shot of row-upon-symmetrical-row of red-hued plants in a sterile, brightly lit lab, staffed by technicians in lab coats. New to Planthouse Biotechnologies, Alice (Emily Beecham, who won Best Actress award for the film at Cannes), is lead scientist on this particular project. She has succeeded in synthetically breeding plants that will emit a scent with antidepressant properties in exchange for an abundance of TLC, including temperature control and affectionate conversation. Alice and her associate Chris (a solid-as-always Ben Whishaw) discuss the plant's readiness for market, specifically the fast-approaching Plant Fair at which it will be unveiled. Already, we feel a sense of foreboding, as the scene is punctuated by Teiji Ito and Markus Binder’s spare, haunting score.
The divorced Alice lives with her son Joe, a young teen who believes that she and Chris would make a great couple, but she has no time for romance, what with the upcoming debut of “Little Joe” (the plant is named after her son). Alice discusses this with her therapist (Lindsay Duncan), along with foreshadowy concerns about her son and the frankenplant itself. (“You never know what might happen.”) She also goes agai[...]
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5 years ago
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Sylvan Esso's Lead Singer Amelia Meath Greets the Crowd. (photo by Graham Tolbert)
On a chilly November night in New York City, Grammy nominated electronic pop duo Sylvan Esso performed at the Beacon Theater for an adoring crowd of avid fans. The show which was the first of two nights featured a live ensemble of musicians for a special series of shows in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville and the band's hometown, Durham, North Carolina.
It didn't take long for the crowd to warm up and get into the groove, as lead singer Amelia Meath busted out her own slick dance moves, sporting a puffy green mesh outfit (sending a message?). Her powerful voice along with some seriously infectious beats energized the crowd inviting a party like atmosphere. Re-creating electronic music with a live band is not always an easy task, but the band was flawless, and having the saxophone up-front in the the mix was a smart choice. With that said, Amelia Meath's amazing voice is clearly the centerpiece in their songs. At one point, in between songs, she proclaimed, 'this next song is about love, surprise.' On this night, she was feeling nothing but love from the energetic crowd
While most of the people were on the younger side, I did see some grey haired, older folks snapping photos and shooting videos like their younger counterparts. The fans were very engaged throughout. Singing along to many of the more popular numbers including "Hey Mami" and "Coffee," but the set list included quite a few[...]
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5 years ago
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The 10th Anniversary edition of DOC NYC – America’s largest documentary festival – takes place from November 6 through 15. Among the 300+ films and events are 28 World Premieres, 27 U.S. Premieres, and 59 NYC Premieres. More than 500 doc makers and special guests will be on hand to present their films or participate on panels. This year’s festival is dedicated to the memory of D.A. Pennebaker (Don’t Look Back, Monterrey Pop), a DOC NYC fixture who died this past summer.
As always, there is a multitude of worthy films from all over the world, in myriad styles, about almost every conceivable subject. Individual portraits include the founder of the World Toilet Organization (Lily Zepeda's Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man); an innovative and iconic punk performer (Beth B's Lydia Lynch: The War Is Never Over), and a revered Abstract Expressionist painter (Dennis Scholl's Lifeline: Clyfford Still), plus many others.
Among this year's offerings are docs sure to make you seethe (Matthew O'Connor & Barnaby O’Connor’s The Pickup Game, about the billion-dollar industry fueling the "art" of picking up women, and Deia Schlossberg’s environmental expose The Story of Plastic); docs that will crack you up (Weijun Chen's comedic City Dream, about a Chinese street vendor who clashes with authorities); and docs that will make certain people wildly nostalgic (Scott Crawford's Boy Howdy! The Story of Creem Magazine).
Here are just a few more highlights:
About LoveArchana Atul [...]
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5 years ago
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Art for Progress continues its 15 year anniversary celebration on Saturday, November 2nd with a spine tingling event- “Dancing with the Devil.”
“Dancing with the Devil” is set in an old defunct multi-level comedy club in the east village where Andy Kaufman and Steve Buscemi used to host events back in the day. We’ve called on a select group of artists to help us transform the space into a haunted house of sorts with creative installations and visuals Expect the vibes of old east village artist parties where artists came together to create and carry on.
You’ll need to grab a ticket for this one- $15 Adv. (includes 1 drink) It’s also BYOB!
The soundtrack for the evening will feature live music and DJ’s from NYC’s amazing pool of talent.
Live Music: The Velvicks, The Holy Wow, Big Sweater DJ’s: Gatto, Sanam
The Velvicks - With influences from Pink Floyd, Queens of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and Radiohead, the band is delivering heart pounding rock that is familiar yet with a sound and vision completely singular.
The Holy Wow - HOLY WOW! is an adrenalin shot of gothic electro garage rock, filtered through the deeply personal lens of Russian born, New York raised, California grown Dmitry Wild.
Big Sweater – Big Sweater is a NYC rock band that brings a strong hypnotic and enchanting element to blues and rock n' roll as well as maintaining the balance between the sullen walks of life and the euphoric paths we take.
Gatto - DJ/[...]
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5 years ago
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Music Box Films
Known mainly for his psycho-sexual dramas (Under the Sand, Swimming Pool), François Ozon's new film, By the Grace of God, is a surprisingly straightforward and relatively fast-paced crime drama based on recent news events that still dominate headlines in France. The film details the efforts of three men from Lyon to seek justice, having been sexually abused as children by the same priest . Well-acted, rock-solid and even suspenseful, the movie is reminiscent of 2015’s Oscar-winning Spotlight, about reporters from the Boston Globe investigating a similar cover-up by the Archdiocese of Boston. In By the Grace of God, it’s the victims themselves who initiate and carry out much of the detective work, at the same time confronting their own religious beliefs (or lack of), and residual trauma. It’s a powerful and poignant movie highlighting the struggle of sexual-abuse victims in a country where the Catholic Church is a hugely dominant institution.
We first meet Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), a successful, religious father of five, as he learns that Father Bernard Preynat, the local priest who abused him years ago, is still working with children. Through a series of letters (voice-overs convey the copious correspondence that set events into motion), he arranges a meeting with the now elderly Preynat (Bernard Verley). The priest doesn’t deny the allegations and admits that there were many other victims, defending himself by asserting that he ha[...]
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5 years ago
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Rafael Vargas Bernard is a young, humorous, creative residing in Miami, Florida. His work integrates performance, installation, sculpture and technology in ways that invites the viewer to both work with technology and listen into a mechanism that may provide some fresh answers to the present and future. His mannerisms are swift and direct and his intentions include the environment, all types of people and probabilities of success and failures into his work.
All photos: Mana Contemporary, Artist's studio
BB: By investigating your work, I found that your work examines the collapse and regeneration of a system/s. What I mean by that is by the structure or infrastructure collapses or destroys our reality, yet the destruction provides an opportunity for us to re-create something newer, and in your work, you do that. You create these sculptures with these robotic mechanisms that provide a new way of working. That creates a whole new language of work-ability, functionality, and structure. Do we want governmental and socioeconomic structures to collapse? Look at Venezuela, Cuba, and even Italy. These countries are facing comic strife and are in debt billions of dollars. The structure of leadership is a culprit to the corruption that exists in the economy and segregation that exists between communities. We live in a democracy that dismisses our constitutional rights and voting power. The question comes down to: will the people have the capacity to enforce their infrastruct[...]
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5 years ago
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In the Family LLC
Writer/director Patrick Wang’s A Bread Factory, available in two parts via VOD this Tuesday, is a sprawling, quirk-filled ensemble film that attains a kind of greatness by its conclusion. With its many interlocking characters and plot threads, lengthy monologues, and a generous dash of absurdity (especially in Part 2), the film can sometimes feel a little unwieldy. However, A Bread Factory (the title refers to a fictional small-town arts space) is full of droll wit and affection for both its characters and for theater in general, resulting in a highly watchable four hours. Filmed like a play, with static camera angles and no soundtrack, the film is as visually simple as it is narratively complex.
At the heart of the A Bread Factory are Dorothea (Tyne Daly) and Greta (Elizabeth Henry), a older couple who have devoted their lives to running Checkford’s humble arts space, housed in, yes, a former bread factory. The women and town are shaken and stirred by the recent arrival of May Ray, a ridiculously over-the-top performance-art couple (Janet Hsieh and George Young) who have opened their own slick space, Forum for the Exercise of Experience and Living (FEEL). Some townspeople are intrigued by May Ray's otherworldly, highly synchronized performances, while others are scornful. At stake is the arts budget allocation of the local school board, without which the Bread Factory could not operate.
In the Family LLC
Part 1: For th[...]
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5 years ago
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Musician Billy Martin Shares Creative Ideas with Students
I had the great pleasure and fortune for the second year in a row to host and to teach at the Art for Progress Summer Music and Art Program. The program was made possible by a grant from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, and was open to young people seeking to pursue careers in creative fields. Music and art were made, and a great and enlightening time was had by all this summer. The program consisted of workshops held on four consecutive Sundays in July and August. For each week’s session, we created a unique, interactive space where creativity seemed to be seeping from the walls. Curiosity was inspired and mysteries demystified. Each week featured a professional guest artist in a different creative discipline. Our guest artists shared with us the experiences they each encountered on their journey toward becoming a fully realized professional artist.
Jerrell Battle teaching Ableton while students interact
The focus of the of the program, in addition to developing specific skills, was once again centered on questions and situations that a professional artist might encounter. The kind, for instance, that might not be intuitive or often addressed in traditional academic settings. Basically, the stuff they don't tell you in school. We discussed finding your audience, vetting creative ideas, being band-mates as well as friends, and checking your attitude. There were also break out music sessions on topics i[...]
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5 years ago
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Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Though the phrase “cinematic experience” is somewhat overused and should generally be met with suspicion, Victor Kossakovsky’s Aquarela can hardly be called anything else. This startling documentary about the earth's most versatile element, water, is a mind- and eye-boggling trip, evoking both sadness and exhilaration, among other strong emotions. Shot at 96 frames per second, as opposed to the usual 24 (though theaters are only equipped to show it at 48 fps, at most), its rich visuals are so smooth they sometimes seem like CGI, but there is nothing artificial about this film.
Filmed in seven different countries, Aquarela opens on frozen Lake Baikal in Siberia, where several men are attempting to retrieve something from under the surface. Amid amplified sounds of cracking, groaning ice, it soon becomes apparent that a car has fallen into the lake. As dramatic as this seems, it’s not the last time it happens. We see two more cars speeding along the river as voices yell out “Stop, stop!” to no avail. Turns out that the lake is thawing early this year. This is our introduction to one of the film’s main themes, climate change, though it’s never discussed or openly addressed. It’s also the only scene in the movie with actual dialogue. Human beings, clearly at the mercy of the film’s subject, are not the main focus here. Adding to the strangeness of the scene is a wildly incongruous element of slapstick, as people keep falling thr[...]
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5 years ago
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Big World Pictures
“I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians.” So said Romanian military dictator Marshal Ion Antonescu to the Council of Ministers in 1941, in an infamous speech that kicked off a program of ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front.
Romania’s role in the WWII holocaust is one that is often conveniently forgotten (or outright denied), but director Radu Jude wants to make sure that we remember, as does the main character in his audacious new film—which is titled “I Do Not Care if We Go Down in History as Barbarians,” complete with quotes.
The movie’s fictional stage director Mariana Marin (an electric and believable Ioana Iacob) is mounting a spectacular re-enactment of the 1941 Odessa massacre, in which Romanian soldiers allied with the Nazis to kill tens of thousands of Jews. She encounters resistance from a variety of people, including cast members, government officials, and her own boyfriend, many of whom think it’s either a bad idea to bring up old memories or simply anti-Romanian. She also has increasingly frustrating personal issues with her already-married partner. None of it stops her.
Big World Pictures
Because this is Radu Jude, however, the film’s themes are couched in scenes that are as playful and audacious as they are dark and disturbing. (The jokey tone is similar to his equally singular 2015 film Aferim!, about another shameful period in Romanian history.)
“I Do Not Care…” clocks in at a le[...]
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6 years ago
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Juno Films
An intriguing new entry in the still-alive zombie-apocalypse genre, the German-language Ever After (Endzeit), from Swedish director Carolina Hellsgård, goes deeper than most screen depictions of the undead. It's also gorgeous-looking, thanks to cinematographer Leah Striker, which adds to the film’s captivating quality.
A horror/road movie/eco-drama hybrid, Ever After focuses more on the relationship between its two main characters than on inventive portrayals of guts and decaying flesh, though there’s some of that too (but probably not enough to satisfy diehard gore fans).
At the heart of the film, which is based on the screenplay by Olivia Vieweg (who adapted it from her own graphic novel) is an unlikely alliance between two young women -- the fragile, weak-seeming Vivi (Gro Swantje Kohlhof) and badder-assed Eva (Maja Lehrer).
The setting is post-plague Germany, two years into the apocalypse, where there are human survivors in only two cities: Weimar, where the infected are killed immediately, and Jena, where people are researching a cure. Vivi and Eva meet as stowaways on a self-driving supply train from the former to the latter city. Though temperamentally and emotionally very different, they’re both searching for something lost in their former lives. It's a setup that could have led to a more conventional apocalypse survival story, but Ever After ultimately winds up veering into an entirely different direction.
Juno Films
Forced to ditc[...]
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6 years ago
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Join us in celebration of AFP's 15 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.
LIVE MUSIC: Statik Vision, Big SweaterDJ's: Frank Gatto, Brian Burnside
Plus, a special all star jam featuring Celeste Pasian, Tom Rocky Meyer, Danny Rivas, Vianca Vega, Danny Espitia
+++ members of Statik Vison and Big Sweater.
LIVE MUSIC = 9:30pm, DJ's = Midnight
NO COVER!! Let's party! Starr Bar, 214 Starr Street, Brooklyn
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