New forms from a desert capital to an island one

Left: Jean Nouvel; right: Zaha Hadid, photograph by Virgile Simone Bertrand.

Construction has apparently begun on Jean Nouvel's Louvre Abu Dhabi. The LATimes has a short story with some renderings. I'm particularly taken with the dome, which at once reminds me of Independence Day and the star-shaped openings in the domes of traditional bath houses I've visited in the Middle East. I can't wait to see how the light will describe patterns on the floor.

In other architecture news, Zaha Hadid has opened the Neil Barrett flagship store in Tokyo. I was introduced to her work through a friend who encouraged me to see the survey of her work at the Guggenheim a few years back. I became a fan immediately. Yatzer has more photos of the store along with some text by Zaha Hadid Architects.

This is not a bag

Magdalena Czarnecki's empty bags are printed with instructions on how to turn them into the origami versions of what they proclaim. It's the opposite of dada (or is it?). Proceeds from the sale of the bags are directed to the WWF to help save the endangered animal and its dying population. See more photos of the project at Lovely Package.

Wallace Shawn at the Royal Court Theater

Photograph by Susana Raab

The New Yorker has an article by John Lahr about Wallace Shawn's new play Grasses of a Thousand Colors, now playing under the direction of Andre Gregory at London's Royal Court Theater. I hope it comes to New York.

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to see Shawn in his play The Designated Mourner, also directed by Andre Gregory. It was produced in an abandoned men's club near the South Street Seaport. The audience was limited to 30 each night, and each act was staged in a separate room of the building; the first in a dining room, the second in a raquetball court. It was one of the most amazing nights of theater I have had the priviledge to attend.

Some might remember Shawn from his recurring role on Gossip Girl, on the occasion of which the NYTimes published this article by Dave Itzkoff.

Setting the stage

Detail, Construction for a Tragedy, Alexandra Exter

The Morgan Library and Museum has recently opened Creating the Modern Stage: Designs for theater and opera, an exhibit that "examines the origins of modern scenic design and chronicles the evolution of stage sets during the highly innovative period of ca. 1900 to 1970." I had hoped to highlight the work of Nikolai Pavolvich Akimov (especially his pen and ink satirical constructivist setting for Now for Hamlet) but I couldn't find a version of it online.

In other news, Anthony Tommasini writes in the NYTimes about various settings of Wagner's Ring cycle in advance of the Metropolitan Opera's new productions, which will be introduced with Das Rheingold in 2010. I was fortunate enought to catch the last cycle of Otto Schenk's production earlier this month. Unfortunately, I attended Die Walkure the night Domingo couldn't continue, though his replacement was in fine form.

Robobama

Detail, "Change—Into a truck" by Tim Doyle

The NYTimes has an article about the new animatronic Barack Obama Disney is preparing for the reopening of its Hall of Presidents exhibit.

From the article: "The public is to get its first glimpse of “Robobama,” as it is known among some handlers, on July 4. The unveiling will be in a Disney World theater, alongside animatronic figures of every other president. As in the past, the program will end with each president nodding or turning toward the audience during a roll call, as if Mount Rushmore had suddenly come alive."

This ain’t the Mr. Goodbody you’re used to

Wesuits by Diddo

Why must wetsuits look all the same? Diddo has taken up the challenge and produced four original wetsuit designs: "a rusted iron diving suit evoking the days of Jules Verne, the anatomic musculature suit as a homage to our inner strength, a wet suit which gives the illusion that the wearer has been attacked by a group of hungry sharks and finally a whale shark patterned suit that celebrates the brilliance and originality of our natural water world." Check them out on his site.

Music from the masses

Terry Riley, In C

I recently came across Darren Solomon's project In Bb 2.0, a collaboratie music project that consists of a "wall" of YouTube videos of people playing musical phrases in Bb. Users can start or stop any video at any time to create their own mix of music.

I was immediately reminded of Terry Riley's in C, often cited as the first minimalist composition (above). Whereas Solomon's project invites musicians to contribute amorphous and timeless musical phrases in the key of Bb (and lets the user determine how the piece will be played), Riley instructs his musicians to play his piece in the order written, but allows them the choice to repeat phrases as often as they wish or skip phrases entirely to create a unique performance each time the piece is performed.

On the other side of the spectrum, Kutiman takes found musical videos and remixes them to create new pieces of music. He's documented his compositions at ThruYou.

He can dance if he wants to

Photograph by Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

The Sunday Times ran an article about Mikhail Baryshnikov pegged to his current European tour. I saw him years ago with the White Oak dance company. He was in his 50's then, and I was amazed at how strong and quick his movements still were. I hope the current tour comes to New York (and I hope I'm in New York to catch it).

Speaking of dance, I saw Mark Morris' Romeo and Juliet this past weekend, choreographed to Prokofiev's resurrected original score. It was disappointing. In 2007 I saw his Mozart dances, which comprised some of the best dance I have seen. That night I bought tickets for another performance so I could see it again. Morris returns to Lincoln Center in August with a few New York premieres and one of his previous works. I just bought tickets. I can't wait.

All the news that fits in frame

The NYTimes launched their new photojournalism over the weekend, Lens: Photography, video and visual journalism. From the first post: "Lens will be a showcase for the work of Times photographers, but it will also highlight the best images from other newspapers, magazines, news organizations and picture agencies, and from around the Web. It will point readers in the direction of important books, galleries and museum exhibitions. And it will draw on The Times’s own pictorial archive, numbering in the millions of images and going back to the early 20th century."

Polaroids by Joni Harbeck & Neil Krug

The NYTimes style section today pointed to a series of polaroids taken by Neil Krug of Joni Harbeck on expired stock. His interest in polaroid film was piqued when they announced the film would go out of production. He's posted a number of the photos on flickr. A book—Pulp, A collaboration between supermodel Joni Harbeck & photographer Neil Krug—is coming out later in the the year, and prints are available on the website.

Some of the photos (such as the above) put me in the mind of this Washington Post story about Bonnie and Cylde.

Joni Sternbach’s surfers

Joni Sternbach's photos "engage traditions of landscape, seascape, and architectural photography. Working with a large-format camera and historic process (wet-plate collodion), [she has] concentrated on locations that are close to or directly on the water. At this juncture between land and sea, [she] explore subject matter in a constant state of transition."

I just saw some of her Surfers series at the NY photo festival. It was great to see such modern portraits done with such an old techinque. It really made me want to get closer to the photos and helped me feel the work that went into them.

Jenny Holzer, Protect Protect @ the Whitney

Jenny Holzer, For Chicago, 2008.

There are a little over two weeks left before Jenny Holzer's Protect Protect leaves the Whitney on May 31st. Using language as her medium, she collects various texts she has written or selected over the years and scrolls them in various LED screen installations (one of her primary mediums of choice).

The installation that greets visitors as they emerge from the elevator (For Chicago, pictured above) was one of the best things I've seen this year. I was mesmerized by the eleven screens laying flat on the ground, scrolling various texts. The play of shadow and light on the walls as the letters passed further enhanced the effect (especially as they disappeared into or emerged from the far wall. The exhibit also includes a selection of her Redaction paintings, created from correspondance and reports that have been declassified but remain heavily redacted. Learn more about the exhibition at The Whitney. Holzer's own site currently focuses on her Projections, which consist of text projected onto various buildings and institutions.

Anna’s bento factory

Anna the red makes some of the best bento (and cream puffs) I've seen. She hopes her creations make you go “ooh, neat”. They certainly do for me. And more! Check out her blog and photostream for more.

Card carrying Chicago gang members

We are supervision has an interesting gallery of Chicago gang cards from the 70's and 80's.

Slow train comin’

Technical drawing of train by Chris Thorkelson.

Trains in the States aren't just slower than those in the rest of the world, they're slower than they were in the States eighty years ago. Tom Vanderbilt at Slate asks, "Are trains slower now than they were in the 1920s?"

The second life of Chris Marker

Tomorrow Chris Marker will be giving a tour of his Second Life archipelago and museum as part of a special event at the Harvard Film Archive. More information can be found courtesy of the Criterion Collection, which also offers a DVD of Marker's films La Jetée and Sans Soleil.

Avedon Fashion at the International Center of Photography

Photograph by Richard Avedon.

Avedon Fashion opens today at the International Center of Photography. It's the largest survey of the photographer's fashion work since a show at the Met in 1978. The NYTimes published an article about Avedon a few days ago.

Dark night of the soul

Dangermouse and Sparklehorse have been collaborating on an album . . . with David Lynch. Who will be providing visuals. promo site has been launched, but NPR has the true scoop. You can listen to the entire album already on their website, weeks before its release.

You are what you eat

Good has a gallery of photos by photographer Mark Menjivar that explores people's dietary habits by photographing the refrigerator contents of strangers. The series is titled You are what you eat. At one point my freezer was a solid frozen block. Are there snakes in that icebox?

Play Auditorium

Another musical puzzle game that's soothing on the eyes, and the ears: Auditorium.

Beta launch of The Stimulist

I just received an email about The Stimulist, a "new online 'daily brief' for the Change Generation. Every day, we'll offer our users six intriguing ideas, people, controversies and recommendations. We will distinguish our cutting edge news & information site as one that looks forward and tells you about the most fascinating people and ideas before they happen . . ." Read all about it!

Better place battery stations

Wired has an article about Better Place: Better Place Unveils an Electric Car Battery Swap Station. I had first read about this in the New Yorker (though that article doesn't appear to be online). It seems like this is a step in the right direction. Instead of having to charge your car all the time, you can pull into a station and have the battery swapped in the time it would take to pump your gas.

The Wired article points out that there'd have to be a standard that everyone would agree upon, which I'm sure would create the usual battles between competing formats (hello, VHS vs. Beta, HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray, etc.) but the idea seems obvious and brilliant at the same time. You can read more about Better Place at their own website.

Ball droppings

Somewhat unfortunately named, this musical "game" lets you draw rules upon which the balls bounce. Each buounce has its own note. Draw, play, and listen to the music. Too bad there's no way to save your composition and load other creations made by the various composers.

Jean Lee photographer

I'm excited that my friend Jean has finally started photoblogging, or so it seems. You can find her work at Seen Jean? I feel like I've seen so little of her work; I hope she keeps this as an ongoing thing (though I know it's hard; I've had my own start stop affair with blogging). . . .

Earliest known Michelangelo now in Texas

From the Kimbell Art Museum press release: "Michelangelo’s painting of The Torment of Saint Anthony, described by his earliest biographers, has been acquired by the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas. Its purchase was announced Wednesday, May 13, 2009, by the Kimbell’s newly appointed director, Dr. Eric McCauley Lee. Executed in oil and tempera on a wooden panel, this work is the first painting by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) to enter an American collection, and one of only four known easel paintings generally believed to come from his hand."

Read more about the painting and acquisition on the museum's website. Some people would disagree as to the provenance of the painting. Read more in the NYTimes, which also has a slideshow of detailed images.

Vox populi

Feel like things are looking up? A compendium of contemporary optimism. Feel the opposite? Well, f*** my life. Not quite sure what you texted last night? Or maybe even who? Txts frm lst nght.

Stone(washed)henge

Markus Georg recreates iconic landmarks from the everyday in die macht der bilder.

My favorite iPhone games thus far . . .

A little while ago, Simone asked me about my favorite iPhone games. Here are the games that I've most enjoyed thus far (and with which I have been most impressed), in alphabetical order. Each of these games has given me hours of entertainment, and I stil go back to them, though I am at an impasse on a few. I'll only get further if I devote some serious time to learning either how to drift or memorizing choreography.

Baseball Superstars. I got hooked after playing the lite version. Create a batter or pitcher and play through seasons, building them up. Or choose a team and play both batter and pitcher as you race towards the pennant. I tend to enjoy batting more than pitching; I'm still trying to work up towards some of the super batting abilities.

Dance Dance Revolution. I couldn't believe how excited I was after playing the demo version of this game. I couldn't wait to get the release. It doesn't disappoint. The gameplay is fun and addictive and the graphics match up to what I have come to expect from the franchise. Unfortunately, I've reached a point where I really have to study the songs and memorize the moves if I want to get past the levels I'm on. No dis on the game itself, more of a dis on my lack of game.

Fastlane Street Racing. My favorite driving game on the iPhone thus far. I had tried a few others, but this wins, hands down. The physics feels exactly right, and the turning the wheel/iPhone driving interface is fantastic. It's not an easy game, however, as the time limits leave little room for error. And I still haven't quite mastered the drifting techniques I'll need to beat one particular race track with a hair-pin turn, the last track I have to beat to get to the next level.

Real Soccer 2009. My cousin made me buy this because he wanted to try out the head to head play over a wifi network. After playing a game against him I was hooked and spent an entire Sunday trying to play through an entire season. Amazingly detailed, with a good selection of different types of kicks and ball handling tricks, the game is a surprisingly rewarding soccer game. That said, I still couldn't seem to run the plays I wanted to, and ended up using a few simple moves over and over in my attempts to get to the goal.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour. One week before this came out I bought this other highly-recommended golf game that I found really annoying (mainly because of the sounds and the characters). TIger Woods blows that one out of the water. It took me a little while to figure out how to finesse the controls (mainly because I just wanted to whack the ball as far as I could) but now I find myself often relaxing with a nice round of 18 holes while riding the subway, or just before bed. That is until I shank the ball into the water, destroying my otherwise under-par round.

The House is Black at BAM

On June 8th, BAM will present Forough Farrokhazad's short film The House is Black along with Shirin Neshat, who will present excerpts of her own films as well as a current work in progress. Produced in 1962, the film was little seen outside of Iran, but has since been regarded as many to have ushered in the New Wave to cinema in Iran. The screening and talk are part of BAM's Muslim Voices Festival. Tickets may be purchased on the BAM website. The main page for the event can be found here.

Crush the Castle

What can I say? It's fun knocking things down with a trebuchet. And here I thought a trebuchet was a typeface . . .

Reading the Sunday Times

Last night at the opera, people kept asking us where we obtained our helmets. There's a Halloween store on 11th and Broadway. As far as hats for Othodox Jews, people turn to the man with black hats. It would also have been fun if they sold buttered popcorn and called it rhinegold. Or not.

Remember The Dana Carvey Show? The show that launched Steve Carrell and Stephen Colbert? I don't either. But then I didn't grow up with NBC so I missed Dana Carvey on SNL as well. All the episodes are now available on Hulu. Let's hear it for my money.

On one of my final nights in Sri Lanka, I remember seeing an ad for a reading by Romesh Gunasekara at the British Consulate. I had read and enjoyed Reef while visiting so I went to hear him read and meet him. It's a fond memory of my time in Colombo. It seems like it'd be fun to do that in New Delhi, as well.

I don't think I'm the audience for giant Cheetos.

Swiss graphic design and advertising by Geigy

I've never heard of Geigy, but then I feel like I've never heard of anyone. The rectangles want to be free! And in Oz! Where everything is in color!. More illustrations at Things to look at.

Snap, crackle, pop back in the day

Rice Krispies used to be my cereal of choice. If the boxes still looked like this it might still be! Click the image to find its wiki page.

Slo-motion surfer

I love surfing movies. I remember how excited I was when Endless Summer II came out and I could watch a surfing film in the theaters. I'd love to see the above video in a movie. It's one of the most amazing surfing shots I've seen. This size doesn't do it justice. Check it out on YouTube.

It's even more trippy if you drop it into yooouuutuuube .

Juergen Chill's overhead shots of German prison cells

A recent photo in New York magazine reminded me of Jurgen Chill's overhead shots of German prison cells. More of his photography can be found at his website, including his overhead shots of bordello rooms.

Onwards

and upwards

• Harry Potter redesigned for adults.
• I've got a camera as big as a truck!
• Andy Warhol's album covers.