July 2008 Archives

I FELT PHYSICALLY SICK WITH FEAR AS WE WALKED. Daniel Raven-Ellison

In 2008, the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone. For the first time in history, more than half its human population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. But does anyone, anywhere, really understand the truth of these cities?

MAX HAMILTON EXPLORES THE INTIMATE WORLD OF CHINESE SKATEBOARDING.

With a camera slung over his shoulder and unable to speak a word of Chinese, Max journeyed through Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen in search of signs - any sign - of skateboarding. Slowly, a scene emerged; a small one, yes, but a proud and tight-knit community of committed skaters, obscured to all but the most discerning eyes by the smog, bustle and scale of these three sprawling cities.

DAMON'S DONE IT AGAIN, WHATEVER 'IT' IS.

Damon Albarn’s Monkey: Journey to the West has arrived in animated form and made a dazzling impact. The reinvention of these legendary characters of Chinese folklore first took flight last year in the form of an opera made alongside his Gorillaz sidekick, Jamie Hewlett, and acclaimed Chinese theatre director, Chen Shi-Zheng. Now, though, the ultimate stage is set. Albarn’s gang have created what will become icons of our Beijing 2008 experience.

TO IMPROVE LIFE HERE, TO EXTEND LIFE THERE, TO FIND LIFE BEYOND.

It’s NASA’s fifty year anniversary this year. That’s fifty years since Eisenhower decided enough was enough, that America would no longer trail and splutter in the fumes of Russia’s rampant space development, that the nerdy Nation Advisory Committee for Aeronautics would become a government-funded priority. With a mission statement fit for Armaggedon 2 - “To improve life here, to extend life there, to find life beyond” - the  National Aeronautics and Space Administration was born.

FEW CAN SAY AS MUCH WITH AN IMAGE AS JR.

He’s called JR and he’s French. Nothing special there. The thing that strikes me about JR, though, and the world it seems, is that few can use pictures of people with the kind of impact he does. He blows photographs up big on the streets, pictures of people the world would otherwise forget. And he does it to provoke.

DOCUMENTARIES GIVE US AN EXTRA PAIR OF EYES. Alain de Botton

De Botton’s quote hints at the hugely important role that documentary
film plays. For some people, that ‘extra pair of eyes’ could make the
difference between suffering and safety, even life and death. There are
stories to be told and thanks to the British Documentary Film
Foundation, the visionaries with the will but not the wallet to tell
them are finally getting a chance.

I’M INTERESTED IN MOVIES WITH CREATIVE INTEGRITY. Adam Yauch

So goes the remit for Adam Yauch’s up and coming film company Oscilloscope Pictures. Adam Yauch you say? Yup, that’s Adam of Beastie Boys fame. Not content with his contribution to music (they’re back in the studio, too), Yauch has been working with film for some time, and he’s committed to making a difference there as well. His new project, Gunnin’ For That Number One Spot, sees him taking the reins as both director and producer, and through an in-depth look at eight basketball players being groomed for NBA stardom, he explores the uniquely American way in which young high school athletes become stars before they’ve made it big.

MOST HAVE AN OPINION. WHOEVER DID THIS CERTAINLY DOES.

Personally, I don’t mind it.  No, it’s not the greatest there ever was, and it’s certainly not the prettiest, but I swear if you line it up against the predictable dross that every other summer Olympics has served up then you’d be inclined to accept it.

I LIKE THE IDEA OF USING TECHNOLOGY IN A WAY IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE USED. Thom Yorke

It’s fair to say there’s been a fair bit of excitement brewing over the last few days regarding the new Radiohead video for the In Rainbows song House of Cards. No one’s seen it yet as it hasn’t hit YouTube etc, but we know it’s different because, true to the band’s legendary dedication to experimentation and new technologies, they decided not to use cameras at all.

THAT'S IT. I'M CALLING THE DECORATORS.

The boxes are interactive, they make Mario sound effects. You don't have to smash your head on them, which is an authenticity flaw, but aside from that I think the idea is great. We all have a weakness for nostalgia, and my passion for Lego that was titillated by Jan Vormann near Rome has been equally sated by Ms. Citizen, a native of Brisbane, Australia.

HOW DO YOU REPRESENT THE EMOTIONAL BALANCE OF OUR NETWORKED PLANET?

If we look hard enough - or not hard at all at times - then we can know how a person living thousands of miles away, who we’ve never met before, and no doubt never will, is feeling.