What is hell?

“What is hell? I maintain that it is the incapacity to love.”

Father Zossima, Karamazov Brothers

 

Đavolja Varoš, Gaudí

These are natural rock formations in Serbia. They look like the towers of Sagrada Familia, in Barcelona.

"Telephones", by Christian Marclay

A modern army

Mexico is a continuous disappointment. Today's story goes: somebody tells me that at the Army headquarters there is this sign: "All animals forbidden for families and servants". 

Servants?!?! What the heck!

I want to see that but it is forbidden to take pictures. There is no image in Google.

But I found a document regarding the Army on the Senate's webpage. It goes back to 1933 and the word "servant" is there: you should not make life of families or servants hard, bla bla bla, bullshit...

Does that mean that the language has barely evolved in the last 80 years? I am afraid that's it.

What a shame!

 

Worker boots: van Gogh, Walker Evans

Spiral: Andreas Feininger, Bruce Nauman

 Andreas Feiniger, Navy Helicopter (1949)

Bruce Nauman, Light Trap for Henry Moore (1967)

Human lamps

A Nazi called Ilse Koch was prosecuted because of making lamp shields out of human skin of Jew prisoners in Buchenwald. Although this was never completely proofed, witnesses pronounced themselves for this barbaric shit. Even Billy Wilder was sent to document it, and he shot this picture: the lamp shield's fabric on the right is allegedly made up of human skin. You can read the whole story here.

These are artsy human lamps, going from funny to sexy...

Max Potega, Table Lamp

Anonymous, Human lamp (1937)

Goef Kern, Night at the Ritz (1995)

Breaking the taboo

This is the best docu film I have seen on the useless so called Drug on Wars, which our brilliant ex president endorsed the last six years to bring violence and death to our country, as there are no more urgent problems here.

The docu is made by Brazilians and is meager at bullshit. This is a propaganda film trying to convince you – with arguments, past experiences and alternative examples– that the Drug on Wars is nonsense, is counterproductive and waste of time, money and human drama. The main problem is the political capital politicians are afraid to risk if they do things right.

It's worth watching it.

Earth at night

This is not a galaxy nor a painting, but a satellite image of Berlin and Hamburg (plus Rosche) as seen from above at night.

 The most modern maps + images of Earth at night was just released by NASA and Google.

Azores islands

Tuscany

This moment of now

 Martine Franck, Torry Island (1995)

In Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf defined "happy life" as enjoying this very moment of now:

"(...) was what she loved; life; London; this moment of June".

"Life itself, every moment of it, every drop of it, here, this instant, now, in the sun, in Regent's Park, was enough".

I think about Woolf every time when I see this pic by Martine Frenk, the late wife of Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Sometimes, everything seems so dull, later everything is easy, bright and colorful.

What women watch: Forcano, Erwitt, or Do not become a nun

Para R

Do not become a nun, for God's sake!

Eugeni Forcano, Flushing (1961)

 

Eugeni Forcano, Complete surprise (1961)

Elliott Erwitt, Bakersfield (1983)

Ted: White trash names

This is just awesome.

Ok, ok, I went out once with a German girl called Mandy, people knew and people bullied me for that.

* * *

– White trash name, guess.

– Mandy... – No. – Marilyn... – No. – Brittany... – No. – Tiffany... – No. – Candice... – No.

– Don’t fuck with me on this, I know this shit. – Do you see me fucking with you? I’m completely serious. – OK, speed round, I’m gonna rattle off some names and when I hit it, fucking buzz it. – You do it, I will tell you. – You got me? –Yeah.

– Brandi Heather Channing Brianna Amber Sabrina Melody Dakota Sierra Vandi Crystal Samantha Autumn Ruby Taylor Tara Tammy Laura Shelly Shantelle Courtney Misty Jenny Christa Mindy Noëlle Shelby Trina Reba Cassandra Nikki Kelsy Shaunna Jolene Erlene Claudia Savannah Cassie Dolly Kendra Colleen Chloe Devon Emmylou... FUCKIN' BECKY??

– Nope. – Wait, was it any one of those names with a Lyn after it? – Yes!

– OK: Brandy Lyn, Heather Lyn… – Tammy Lyn. – FUCK!

Censorship and Ronald McDonald

We all know that Putin put three Pussy Riot girls in jail, allegedly due to an immoral performance, which harmed religious views. Or whatever.

Now, some Russian visitors to Hermitage have complained that Jake & Dinos Champan's new work, End of Fun, hurts their religious views.

It is stupid to stop art due to religious motives, specially if it is in a museum: if you are afraid it will hurt you, simply do not go to the show. Otherwise, it will permanently be used by leaders as an excuse for censorship.

The installation resembles a set of little toys, but they are truly horrible representations of evil and hell. And, as English always do, tons of nazi motives are present.

 

The second aspect of the piece which is worth noting is Ronald McDonald, as sort of a bad joke to our generation. I thought of Banksy: it seems that English artists really do not like this stupid boogeyman. "The kind of clown who's lost humor, come back to touch children and make us felt sick", as Jake Chapman put it.

If I were Bishop of the McDonaldean Church, I would also say that this "pseudo art" is nothing else than harm to my faith.

White Cube Gallery has posted a super interesting interview with the Chapmans, completed with great zoom ins.

Nuns at the museum: Cunningham, Glinn, Cartier-Bresson, de Andrade

Imogen Cunningham, Nuns at a Calder exhibition (1953)

Burt Glinn, Two nuns watching an Ad Reinhardt painting (1964)

Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Dance (1965)

Alécio de Andrade, The Three Graces (1970)

 

Perfection: "Life Cycles"

Ok, I know this is two years old already, but I just had notice of it yesterday. And I had to watch it twice because this is just perfect.

Every single frame, every sound, every cut, every word, every jump, every slow motion feature, every single detail is plain perfection.

Saul Steinberg

The New Yorker just disclosed the cover for the next issue (December 10). It's a blast! Saul Steinberg, who passed away in 1999. This guy was a genius. His Stool Cats are a masterpiece, by the way.

"La Notte" is full of wisdom

Antonioni! Who else?

Kiss me, stupid

Joel Meyerowitz, New York's New Years Eve (1965)

Last week I saw a couple of street cleaners kissing passionately. They looked sort of indigenous, and so I got impressed, since I hadn't any recollection of Mexican natives kissing that way. It seemed to me a bit Hollywoodesque, some sort of foreign ("Occidental") stuff, rather than genuine indigenous.

I started perusing this issue, when I found this video with the same theory, but regarding Africans. It's worth watching.

iPad protoype

In July, there was a big fuzz as a prototype for the iPad was revealed, the so called Apple 035, which goes back to 2002.

But there is another prototype in The Phantome Menace, the first episode of Star Wars (1999). Just check it again, if you have forgotten it by now.

Being a cyclist

I have always used a bike as my main vehicle. I have never had an own car. And everyday, some stupid car driver thinks or rather feels that I am –that cyclists are– a plague and the worst enemy to be annihilated. On Tuesday it was a taxi driver, yesterday it was a 60-odd year old man, the day before yesterday it was a bus driver, and so on...

One hundred years after Ford T, drivers get stuck in paved highways. Yes, mobility has done its revolution, but the costs are immense. We need a change. Cyclists are doing it on their own, so show respect and solidarity.

Three Graces: Raphael, Leonard Nimoy

On towers

 

 Devil's Tower

Today I had an intuition: we could write (a) History according to the kind of towers we build, since it seems an universal feature.

Why do we build towers at all?

For protection. To reach Heaven and God. For a challenge. To get a better technological signal. Church towers, soldier towers, TV towers, even chess towers.

Here a visual essay.

Pisa (religious)

 San Gimignano (show off)

Leonardo da Vinci (defense)

Alcatraz (defense)

Babylon (defense)

Water towers by the Becher (storage)

 Berlin Wall (defense)

Chinese wall (defense)

Comanche tower (defense)

 Tower at Gaza (defense)

Louis Vuitton (show off, tech)

Ivory Tower (religion)

London (defense, housing)

 Paricutín (religion)

 Babel (challenge)

 

Gasometer in Viena (storage, housing)

Eladio Dieste's church tower (religion)

Cuba (monument)

Petronas (housing)

Burma (religion)

 South Africa (storage)

Maya tower (defense)

 Minaret (religion)

Lighthouse (orientation)

Taj Mahal (monument)

Medieval (defense)