the emperors magnificent clothes!

wow, i took a major hiatus from my baby blog and i feel sooo bad for being so neglectful. I was super busy then got sick and then met a boy and have been in la-la-land with butterflies in my stomach for the past few days but i'm back and i swear i'll never neglect my baby ever again! now onto my new blog!

so a couple days ago we went to see VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR and it was AMAZING!!!!! you'll come to see AMAZING!!!! is one of my favorite things to say (unfortunately in my head as i'm typing it i'm screaming it out and it sounds like Oprah announcing one of her guests "Kelly Clarksooooooonnnnn!!!!!") ::shake it off!:: so, i was like, i have to blog about this, the movie was wonderful! it's such a cool thing to see behind the scenes and get such a candid look at one of the last great minds in high fashion. as with anything i do i like to read up on it and get to know a little bit more of what i'm talking about so i don't sound like a foolio (it's bad enough i seldom capitalize and type like one). well, i got so deep into the life of Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti (his business partner and at one time boyfriend) that i sort of forgot about the blog i wanted to do and just kept reading and reading anything i could find on them. what a great story, they met in the Via Veneto in Rome, Italy back in 1960. it's a sweet story one i don't really feel like reiterating right now but check out the link. it's a lovely story and one that got me started on reading more about them. well, anyways, they love that they have for each other is a sweet thing and makes for a great movie. THE LAST EMPEROR is based on the 45th anniversary of Valentino designing and they do this big two day gala in Rome where there's a retrospective of 200 of his favorite designs, a fashion show and two humongous galas designed by the amazing Dante Ferretti and you start to see another narrative bubbling up with the interference of the corporation that had bought a controlling interest of Valentino's label :\ it's a beautiful movie filled with gorgeous clothes, tempers flaring up, outrageous parties, flying acrobats in Valentino Gowns flying over the ruins in Rome. just a total feast for the eyes and quite a bit to make you laugh and definitely cry. it's the first movie i've ever gone to where at the end everyone gave a standing ovation. once this movie goes to a theater near you definitely go see it!

D.

Ethpanya!

So I was thinking about some of the amazing architecture found in Spain today and had a Eureka! moment and decided that is what I'd do my next blog on but as I was snooping around looking for pictures of some of this awesome shtuff I started thinking about some of my favorite wines (mostly from Spain), thinking about yummy cheeses (also mostly from Spain) and then tapas came to mind, and Spanish ham! So this blog has now evolved into all things Ethpanya! (I really hope you get the joke...) Anywho, on to the architecture!

This is the Basque Health Department (El Departamento de Sanidad y Osakidetza) building in Bilbao, Spain. Done by Coll-Barreu Arquitectos. The exterior is actually a glass shell configured with irregular angles that generate multiple reflections visible from the inside changing its appearance depending on the point of view, the hour and the season. The architects describe it as “a very effective mechanism for the integration of urban vitality in the interior of the building. The city is perceived like a multidirectional system of moving vectors.” The façade is also a double skin that responds to energy saving requirements, allowing the abolition of traditional air-conditioning systems and false ceilings, insulating heat, reducing noise and letting in precious natural light.

(interior of Basque Health Dept. bldg)
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I'm sure we all know what this one is...in case you don't here's a hint...(Guggenheim, Bilbao). This building is what made me realize that when I was going to F.I.D.M. studying fashion design that I was majoring in the wrong field (yes, I'm that old. I was in college when this opened to the public :\) The Guggenheim sits on the Nervion River in Bilbao, Spain with a humongous Spider "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois (I had the chance to see her exhibit at MOCA in LA before I moved to hotlanta!) and was designed by Mr. Frank Owen Gehry. The thought that was put into the design is awesome (can you tell I like that word?) Gehry stated that the randomness of the curves were designed to catch the light and since it is located in a port town it is intended to resemble a ship and the reflective titanium panels are meant to resemble fish scales, echoing organic life like the fish in the Nervion River.

(another view of the Guggenheim, Bilbao)
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The Alamillo Bridge done by Santiago Calatrava was actually supposed to be twin bridges but only one was ever finished. Alamillo was built when Spain chose to host expo '92 on a large deserted island in the Guadalquivir River in Seville. The thirteen pairs of cables span 600 ft. and support a beam down the middle of the road that is cantilevered out from the beam and maintains the intended image of a harp.

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Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciences (City of Arts and Sciences) is a collection of four buildings and a walkway in the dry riverbed of what was once the River Turia in Valencia Spain. Another Santiago Calatrava masterpiece collaborated with Felix Candela. The "city" is made up by the following structures usually known by their Valencian names:

(l' hemisferic - imax theater, planetarium/laserium)

(palacio de las artes reina sofia - opera house & performing arts center)

(l'oceanografic - open air oceanographic park)

(l'umbracle - walkway/garden)

(el museu de les ciencies principe felipe - science museum)
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Dammit man, I'm pooped! I was going to go on and on about Gaudi architecture, Santa Maria del Mar, more Santiago Calatrava but I don't think I can go any further tonight. I shall end here and tomorrow I'll continue with wines and cheeses of Spain!

until then, adeu.
D.

p.s.
I'll take any and all help as far as blog tips are concerned.
kthx :D

Eno Henze

So not much is available about Eno except that he's a German digital artist living in Berlin, and his work is amazing, typically large-scale and has an organic feel to them. I'm in total awe of his work, it's like someone threw James Nares and cheesecloth in a washer, added a couple drops of food coloring et voila! an Eno Henze piece appears!

The following pictures are from his "Human Factor" series which he's been working on since 2006 and he considers it "a collaborative process between me and the machine."

Eno Henze interviews Eno Henze

Another of his series "The Subjektbeschleuniger (subject accelerator)" mimics signatures subatomic particles leave in collision detectors such as installed at the CERN in Geneva. They kind of remind me of this Native American pottery I used to collect where they would set horse hair in the clay before they would fire the vases/pots and it would love amazing squiggly lines throughout, almost like black streaks of lightning.

...now here's some of that pottery I was talking about...

D.