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04 Sep 10

A Story Of Deception – Francis Alys, Tate Modern

I have to confess to having seen this show three times now and have found myself appreciating the first as much as the last. Arresting film installations with subjects ranging from the dividing factions in Palestine in ‘The Green Line’ to Mexican dust storms in ‘Tornado’. Mixed with wonderful miniature paintings showing a delicacy of effort yet carrying an intoxicating detail rarely found today. Also of note are the brick-a-brack weapons made with film reels for magazines, crossbows with film for tensions – the new weapons of our society. Very worthy of your time, so get down to the Tate Modern and treat yourselves.
Francis Alys 3
Francis Alys 1

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12 Aug 10

Another wacky video aestetic that we couldn’t resist sharing with you

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08 Aug 10

An environmental awakening in the Midway Atoll

plastic-pollution-birds-stomach-full-dead2

We picked this up from Sweet Station ” These photographs of albatross chicks were made on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking. To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, none of the plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the untouched stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent. ” – Chris Jordan

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30 Jul 10

loving the aestetic here – simple, clean and quite eery


            
            
				
		
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			    16 Jul 10 

				Lui Jie’s first European show at Gallery 27,  12-17 July

				
					It was a crowded venue by the time we arrived, not your usual art appreciation crowd as there seemed to be a fair amount of corporate big hitters. You can always tell this when guests are more interested in standing awkwardly close to the front of the artworks with their backs turned to the work talking about this deal or that big takeover – leaving the lesser mortal art lovers to try and negotiate a view of the artworks around and in between these portly figures.
The 15 pieces on show are playful self-portraits of the artist herself in a style suggestive of the daydreams of a young girl. Bright colours and a whimsical sense of form create a distinctive world within each work.
The more you look into Liu Jie’s world of cartoon-like characters and strikingly juxtaposed colours, the more conscious we become that our wonder is reflected in the wide-eyed gaze of the artist herself, peering back at us from the canvas, observing our world with a childish innocence, a coquettish curiosity, perhaps even a sense of bewilderment at what she sees or, possibly, at being the object of such interest herself.
Free of external reference or artifice, it is this personal communication between the artist and viewer that makes Liu Jie’s work so engaging.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    07 Jul 10 

				a huge and admirable stop motion animation project

				
					

 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    05 Jul 10 

				Guillaume Nery base jumping at Dean’s Blue Hole

				
					
Some of us here at Distil Ennui started their career as dive photographers and can relate entirely to the skill involved in underwater base jumping, the adrenalin produced and the stillness that washes through you in the process – a total trip.  
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    24 Jun 10 

				Ryan McGinley: Entrance Romance featuring Carolyn Murphy & Fifi

				
					
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    13 Jun 10 

				Exposed – Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera @ Tate Modern

				
					We visited this exhibition at the Tate Modern yesterday, and despite our disappointment at the venue with recent shows this proved the exception. Beautifully curated and presented over 14 rooms including video installations and sensitively presented works.
Since its invention, the camera has been used to make images surreptitiously and satisfy the desire to see what is hidden. Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera examines photography’s role in voyeuristic looking from the middle of the nineteenth century to the present day. It includes pictures taken by professional photographers and artists, but also images made without our knowledge on a daily basis through the proliferation of CCTV.
The exhibition is divided into five thematic sections: The Unseen Photographer, Celebrity and the Public Gaze, Voyeurism and Desire, Witnessing Violence, and Surveillance. In each case, the nature and character of invasive looking is evident not only in the images themselves, but also in the ways in which the viewer is implicated in acts of voyeurism. Rather than blame the camera for showing illicit or forbidden material, Exposed explores the uneasy relationship between making and viewing images that deliberately cross lines of privacy and propriety. 

 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    10 Jun 10 

				When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors

				
					
We have been hearing good things about this film but have not managed to get into see it, have any of you out there?? let us know what you thought.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    09 Jun 10 

				Fairground Stop Motion

				
					
A wonderful time lapse view of a fairground at a stateside rodeo that makes us all feel like kids again.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    08 Jun 10 

				Instituto Marangoni – graduates event

				
					We were invited to the Instituto Marangoni fashion styling degree graduates show. We were particularly taken by the intimate connections made by Davy Pittoors along with the alternative feel of Tova Hasselblad’s direction. Also worth a mention were the good audience responses to Yurun Xia, Helen Yoon and Daniela Ingo.

 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    07 Jun 10 

				Apple iPhone 4

				
					
Apple has officially launched the iPhone 4, which features a back-illuminated 5-megapixel CMOS sensor, a LED flash and 720p HD video recording. The extra slim smartphone actually has two cameras – the second one being a front side unit that allows easy self-portraits. The main, rear-facing camera is capable of shooting 5 megapixel stills and HD movies at 30 frames per second featuring tap focus – in other words, you can tell the camera what to focus on by simply tapping the subject on the iPhone’s 3.5”, 326ppi Retina Display. Two things that are basically standard features on today’s compact cameras but are missing from the Apple iPhone 4 are optical zoom and image stabilisation. It’s a step up but has a way to go yet we feel.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    26 May 10 

				Tabaimo Boundary Layer Exhibition

				
					  
Yesterday we had the pleasure of visiting Tabaimo’s ‘Boundary Layer’ exhibition opening at the Parasol unit a striking mixture of illustration, animation and installation. We were immediately drawn into this exhibition with striking imagery commenting on Japanese life, cultures and tradition. 
Tabaimo is known for her skilfully drawn and disturbing animations that mix imagery from contemporary Japanese life with digital video technique. Throughout her eleven years of practice the artist has created satirical works that often comment on modern life in Japan, and in particular on the way her own generation attempts to reconcile the realities of today with traditional Japanese values. Tabaimo draws inspiration from a variety of sources, not least from the media and her own personal experience.
Well worth a visit, the show is open until the 6th August – Parasol Unit
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    18 May 10 

				Comme des Garcons ‘Wonderwood’ concept film

				
					

Video is secure in its footings of being the new way in which brands are now launching their collections and new products online. A great way to get a full bodied feel for what the product and brand stand for, where they come from and where they are wanting to go. A way for them to be perceived in a fuller light alongside music, visuals and sometimes script. 
Brands now use video more than print it seems in a push towards digital campaigning – what a changing industry we have on our hands – like any business these days you have to keep moving and adapting to the ever changing current or the fact is you will eventually sink.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    16 May 10 

				A Days Sailing Aboard The Black Rose

				
					We were all treated to a day aboard The Black Rose, sailing out of Heybridge Basin. The day was organised in order to say a big thank you to the support crew for all their hard work on the recent Body Study series.
This unique vessel skippered by Michael Emmett with Tom on deck provided an insightful hands on experience sharing their knowledge and maritime stories with an eager if not chilled guest list.
The Black Rose is available for charter and we can heartily recommend it for a fantastic day out for up to 20 guests.

 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    07 May 10 

				Maze: a film installation by Stuart Pearson Wright

				
					We have posted in the past about Keira Knigthley working for free on an art project collaborating with the artist to create what looks to be a beautiful piece.

The film installation, Maze, running concurrently with I Remember You, casts the artist as an Elizabethan courtier trying to reach his lover, played by the actress Keira Knightley. The characters become increasingly frustrated and claustrophobic as they navigate the maze in their opulent costumes, calling bathetically to one another in the twilight. Darkness descends and Edmund collapses into a foetal position as Constance recomposes herself and exits the frame calmly. Split across two screens that can not be watched simultaneously, the viewer must choose which character to follow: Romantic artist or fickle muse? Earnest male or inconstant female? Visual artist or Hollywood actress? If the two screens tell different stories, they can, all the same, both be inhabited at different times. Whilst we may not be all things all of the time, our identifications can shift at any moment. This restless sense of self and the drive to get into other peoples’ skins as a way of getting into his own, is characteristic of Stuart’s work.   
We will certainly be seeing this and you will find our reaction here soon.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    02 May 10 

				Conservative Party Billboards, targeted by guerilla billboard artist

				
					A series of mysterious billboards began to appear on appear on the streets of East London around Old Street and Shoreditch High Street. Bold black & white anti-advertising statements in place of the usual billboards. The billboards have continued to appear anonymously in EC1 and SE1, a mixture of political declarations and poetic, melancholic reflections. 
Whoever is responsible, they do seem to be targeting tory billboards.
 
				
								

			
            
            
				
		
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			    29 Apr 10 

				Levi’s Lefty Jean by Takahiro Kuraishi a hot new video

				
					Levi’s Japan have released a video giving great insight into the brand direction and aesthetic of the highly anticipated Levi’s Left handed Jean collection from Kazuki Kuraishi (fragment design) and Takahiro Miyashita (Number(n)ine). The monochromatic video, directed by Azuma Makoto together with Takahiro Kuraishi, features an English narration of a poem about left handedness over dark layers of chaotic guitar reverbs and distortions. The collection is scheduled for release on the 29th of April, 2010. Take a look at the video here

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			    24 Apr 10 

				The Hidden Death by Tommaso Ausili

				
					image courtesy of the Sony World Photography Awards.
The Hidden Death, a provocative look at an abattoir, a very moving and beautifully shot series. It is a gratifying thing to see this progressive series of what is behind every cellophane wrapper we indulge ourselves with.
The full story in Italian can be seen here 
 
				
								

			
            
            
		
		
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