February 2008 - Postmodern Critic

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Postmodern Critic - February 2008

Spotted in Barcelona, Part 2

February 28th 2008 02:42

The intriguing Parc Guell

I've never seen anyone use an umbrella to display jewellery before (Parc Guell)

Painting adorning the front of a residential building

Stylish ATM

Funky sculpture outside the Joan Miro Fundacio

Me, "Reading in Between the Lines

Display at a high-end shop

Salvador Dali posing for a photo of himself in the pocess of creation

Lesbian-themed painting at the Museu d'Erotica

Inside the Metro

The restraunt at which our flamenco performance was held

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I just came back from seeing The Kite Runner, which was a quite conventional film that seemed to come most alive when the camera invited you to immerse yourself in Afghan or Pakistani street life. It alerted me to some things about Afghan culture that I hadn't known about before, such as how noble and principled people can be - one of the main characters requested that he be shot before a female stranger gets sexually taken advantage of, unable to withstand the thought of such "indecency" taking place. I had no idea that Russia had invaded Afghanistan, so I feel a bit ignorant.
I've decided to take up Spanish instead of Anthropology at uni... not only is it spoken in Spain, somewhere I'd like to return, but it's also the language of two continents (Central and South America) and Mexico (which is in North America), and one of the most popular languages in the USA after English. And as you will know by reading this blog, I intend to live in the US. I admit I find the language a little uncomfortable (it sounds a bit dry on the tongue), but I hope I'll get over it and soak in all the lovely knowledge that I'll be exposing myself to. I've been thinking of learning a language for a long time, so why not? I was a bit hesitant about taking a subject which required mainly memorisation, but I'm sure that they'll employ the most advanced teaching methods available at U Syd. Besides, I wasn't very enthusiastic about Anthropology in the first place.

I've been postponing writing as I'm still a bit sick, but my fingers are itching to tap away on a project I make up as I go as I consider the sort of pace to convey in my writing. Postmoderncritic.com is great as I get regular feedback from the other Orble users, so it makes me feel like I'm already a working author. (I'm expecting a cheque for ten US dollars as a result of writing here, so thank you, Orble!)
I love my new cup - it looks like a derivation of one of Gaudi's creations, with a triangular bottom twists into a larger triangular lip, kind of like the 'Turning Torso' building in Malmo, Sweden.

Is it modern or postmodern?

The sides of the triangles curve outward, and the handle is a triangular chunk sticking out of the cup, elongating one side of the triangle. It's very nifty, and it has drawings of the Sagrada Familia, mosaic pieces, other icons and writing on it in white (the cup is red).

My mum is already back to uni, which reminds me that I only have four days of freedom left. And then a different kind of freedom will be made available, one that comes from a certain kind of responsibility.

I wonder if I could ever run for President of the USA. It would be a long time from now, if it ever happened, no doubt. But, of course, I am too interested in appealing to the intellectually gifted minorities to seek the appeal of any general populace. I can only look upon Hillary and Obama with disapproval. How could they waste their time catering to the majority of people in America? It seems like mental (and emotional, and physical) suicide.

I vote for Rob Brezsny for President.

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Spotted in Barcelona

February 27th 2008 02:56

I have to admit that there are many interesting facets of Barcelona (or 'Barna' for short) which don't qualify as pomo... here's some of the unique features of this beautifully quirky city:

Check out the pavement!

Casa Mila / La Pedrera, designed by Antonio Gaudi

A paperback vending machine

Window complex at Casa Battlo

The exterior of the Sagrada Familia

Marilyn Manson posters at a typical fast food restraunt... actually, wait! This *is* postmodern!

A street carnival with jubilant onlookers

Custo display with colourful cactus-like construction

Do YOU have a Brief Question(TM)?

Mosaic on the ceiling of a Park Guell construction

Lollies at the markets

A Joan Miro painting of his favourite town, Montroig

A painting of Pablo Picasso's from his Rose Period

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Sydney, Day 8

February 26th 2008 10:51

I stayed up to watch the Academy Awards last night, and was happy to see Viggo there, looking cheerful and slightly corny. He seemed to have brought a young brown girl with him for a 'date', which is really sweet. He seems like a beautiful person.
I was like 'go, girl' when I saw that Tilda Swinton wasn't wearing any make-up. It takes a lot of character to swim against the tide like that. I had no idea that she was British - she pulls of the American accent so well.
Maybe Jon Stewart has grown on me, because I actually found myself enjoying his hosting. His recounting of the behind-the-scenes conversation between the Irish musical Oscar winners was a nice touch, because I'm always happy to gravitate towards the gayness in my life

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Day 7 of Sydney

February 25th 2008 07:05

I am slowly getting back to the student holidays-induced laziness I left behind for Europe now, checking my email every five minutes and uploading yet another five photos every five minutes. I'm not sure whether I'm looking forward to the end of this recumbence-friendly state or not, but sure enough, next week it's business as usual at USyd.
LaurenD wasn't joking when she described the loudness of the birds in Australia - they were always annoying (we live next to a Nature Reserve) with their squeaking and clacking noises, but I'm noticing them more than usual now that I've returned from the much more noise-free Italy and Spain.
It's hilarious that Obama has been accused of being unpatriotic. I think if I were in America I would get very fed up with the political climate. Of course, I'm very fed up with the political climate in Australia, and I don't see any political climates that I would manage to not get fed up in, which is a shame. People need to get used to the notion of revolution, more and more intensely. I would love to see a change in this direction. As a friend puts it, "I need it [to be healthy

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Greetings from Sydney, Day 5

February 23rd 2008 05:33

I dreamt that Barack Obama was speaking to my old Sydney Girls High School class, and people were making fun of him. He didn't really realise and was so keen to find approval that he overestimated his respondents' commitment to his policies, and as such made a bit of a fool of himself. At one point he started trying to dance with one of the girls who was seated, and only succeeded in moving her hands around. By the time he broke off she said something like 'up yours', and his smile kinda mostly deserted his face. But he was convinced that if he just kept going, he would find people to appeal to, so he did. The weather was cold, and we were near a snowy landscape.
If everyone in my dream is a representation of me, then clearly I feel like I am overly eager to focus on ways in which people are responding to my work, without, at first, being aware of to what extent they endorse it (and to what extent they are mocking it or being sarcastic).
I'm reluctant to pick up Atonement again, even despite a postmodern ending. (Btw, I think that in the film they should have had the text not analysed as a book but as a film - that would have lent itself better to the medium. When making a film, the rules are different, and the screenwriter/director should have taken a chance, I think

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Postmodern Barcelona: the Visuals

February 23rd 2008 00:08

Hey peeps,

I wasn't sure of what to expect from Barcelona... I knew that it had a lot of modernist buildings by Gaudi from the guidebook, and that it had many magnificent artists of the 20th C (Dali, Picasso, Miro), but none of these (to my knowledge) were postmodern, although they have been an inspiration to postmodernists in various ways

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A Beautiful Clip

February 22nd 2008 07:50

30 Seconds to Mars has already set one record in their short history as recording artists: They created the first American clip to be completely shot in the People's Republic of China. But their ambitions for their third single proved to be much higher - despite much discouragement, the group's persistance finally saw them flying to Greenland to shoot the video for their latest single, 'A Beautiful Lie'. They were lucky to get a few usable shots per day, and the whole process of creating the clip took about six months.

While I find the song a bit lacklustre, the video clip offers tantalising imagery of the unbridled beauty you can come across in Greenland, with luscious glaciers and delectable skyscapes

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Cuteness, Morbidity and Chiho Aoshima

February 21st 2008 07:16

I found an interesting article on Chiho Aoshima on kitsunenoir.com:

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Day 3 of Sydney

February 21st 2008 01:38

My sore throat turned into a runny nose, and I'm still recovering. I still have blocked ears from the flight (my illness probably isn't helping), which was pretty vile. I boarded the airship at about 9pm Italian time, and travelled for 12 hours... I was pretty tired by that time, but I had to catch a 9 hour flight straight after that, with 4 hours of waiting in between... enormously draining under any circumstances, but I still had my sore throat and runny nose to make things worse, and on top of that my nose started to bleed on the second flight. "Aiyah!"
I wasn't happy when the plane had to wait to find a parking spot or when my luggage took 20 minutes to apparate on the conveyor belt, no. Once we got outside the sunlight irritated my eyes so badly that I threw my jacket over my head. The hilarious thing was that it was like 9am in Sydney when I got there. At least when we got to Rome, dead tired, it was night and it welcomed us to get the sleep we needed.
Anyway, enough complaining! I would do it all over again to see the things I have seen on my trip. Interestingly, I didn't meet anyone interesting enough to exchange emails with during my journey, but I figure my new pomo pal in San Jose makes up for it

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Roma, Once More - Preparing for Arrivederci

February 16th 2008 19:30

Greetings mon ami,

Our last night of Barcelona we went along to a flamenco performance on La Rambla, which was very loud and dynamic, with lots of artistic body jostling. The noise came from the loud singing, which at times was more akin to wailing, two guitars, clapping and shoes which made a very loud sound, kinda like tap dancing. Flamenco tells the story of the troubles of the gypsies, who face discrimination and lower living standards than the average citizen. The dancers wore strung out, stresses, worried or agitated expressions on their faces, and dramatically expressed their sense of disenfranchisement through their movements. It was quite interesting, and the restraunt it was set in was visually spectacular

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Back from the Chocolate Museum

February 14th 2008 18:45

Today was a day devoted to things luxuriant and pleasurable... It started with a glazed Italian cream bun in bed as I gazed at the sole yellow-orange wall in our hotel room, feeling warm and cheery.
The first stop was the Perfume Museum, which consisted of thousands of bottles of all shapes and sizes, and a small selection of perfumes to take a whiff of. They had bottles from everywhere from Argentina to China, any size from an inch to 30 cms. My favourite were the irregularly shaped bottles, and the iridescent glass ones recovered from many centruries ago. The bottle lids were often quite fancy and/or experimental (by the way, the / button is above the seven - will the discoveries never end?). The only problems was that they were crammed so close together that some were obscured by others. The Museum was at the back of a modern perfume shop, and only a small sign alerted us to its presence in the first place, but it´s a great idea from a commercial pov to connect the two sites.
After an oily paella with not enough meat in it and a tasty slice of chocolate cake, we continued to the Egyptian Museum, which was fascinating. I was most struck by the head of a grey statue which was very refined and beautiful, four canoptic jars with the heads of Horus and co on the lids, and wall reliefs which had been recreated faithfully

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Back from the Museum of Erotic Art

February 13th 2008 20:17

The latter half of my day was quite relaxing... I had a simple home-made lunch of a bread bun, cheese, ham and tomatoes, before setting out for the Salvador Dali Museum. Inside were hundreds of drawings, some paintings, some book illustrations, some sculptures, plenty of photographs of Dali posing with various objects, plates, coins and various other works of art. The museum is housed in a very small space, especially considering the vastness of the material. The space looked quite cluttered as a result, sculptures getting in the way of the paintings behind them, and sketches places so close together that it´s difficult to get some perspective. The poor works had no breathing room. As I´ve implied, I enjoy Dali´s work- so much so that I wished to take a day trip to Figueres where his theatre-museum is housed and explore the riches there... my dad had other plans, however. The LP section on this museum wasn´t all that encouraging so I was expecting a much smaller and more modest collection. I was pleasantly surprised at the scope of the artworks. There were some lovely paintings of horses (and, later, of horses merging into other creatures, like humans or birds), and drawings that explored the melting clocks theme also struck me as intriguing. There was a display that Dali had designed for a festival or parade of some sort, and on the ceiling was painted a hole in the wall, with Dali leaning over the roof with the sky in the background. Fascinating stuff. Dali was very versatile, it seems- he even designed a calendar and created his own interpretations of the signs of the zodiac upon plates. I was farewelled by a black and white cardboard cut-out of Dali posing with a fish, held triumphantly above his head.
On the way to the museum I came across the Museum of Erotic Art, and the girl that was marketing the attraction at the door told us that it would be open until 9:30 or so, and as I had no other plans for the day and it was still quite early in the afternoon I decided to give it a go. I wasn´t disappointed - everything from French erotic postcards to Japanese perfume bottles depicting two women pleasuring each other was to be found, and much more. There were some lovely Indian paintings, and an interesting display of BDSM-themed material. I ended up taking plenty of photos. I probably enjoyed the work of a Polish-born, San Francisco-based photographer the most... unfortunately I forget her name. She had a photo of a naked Asian lady posing artistically with flowers on her breasts, and half a dozen other senusal images. The museum mainly focused on European and Asian erotica, and included a sex toy or two. There was actually a black ´pleasure seat´ in the middle of one of the rooms.
On the way back I picked up some gourmet bonbons from our local market (which is very large and colourful, selling everything from fruits and vegetables to fish and ready-made pasta) and cheerfully strolled La Rambla on the way home

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Back from MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art)

February 13th 2008 12:30

I apologise for rushing a bit in the last paragraph of my ´Miro´post, but this is one of those computers where you insert a coin to use it for 15 minutes at a time, and my last 15 mins was running out quickly...
Anyway, I have since found Chiho Aoshima´s official page and Wikipedia page, and have discovered it´s a she, not a he. She´s based in Tokyo and has exhibited her work in many international locations.
In my rush to finish up I forgot to mention my other favourite Miro painting, which was a representation of his favourite town, Mont-ruig. The top half is crowded with different types of trees sharing the same space, as if making up a growth, and above them is a collage of buildings which blend into each other seamlessly using a triangular motif. It´s much, much more pretty and interesting than I can currently put in words

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Back from Fundacio Joan Miro

February 12th 2008 21:27

I mentioned in my comment to Fog that Gaudi had grown on me. It all happened yesterday, when most of the major tourist sites were closed, leading me to pick Casa Battlo, Casa Mila (La Pedrera) and Park Guell as my destinations of the day...
I started with the one I had a feeling would most appeal to me, Casa Battlo. What an experience! There are almost no straight lines in the house, which give it a dream-like appearance. The theme is the oceanic world and its organic forms, and it manifests itself in everything from what look like droplets of water on the ceiling to the blue colour that can be seen throughout, getting darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. The lower down you go, the larger the windows become, compensating for less natural light filtering down to them. I couldn´t get enough of the place, and the more I looked, the more details I spotted. The audio guide emphasised that not a detail was out of place, and I believed it.
Casa Mila was the next stop, which is an alluringly wavy building with plenty of irregular features, plenty of interactive guides to Gaudi´s work here and elsewhere, and rooftop sculptures to make you stand in awe

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Hola from Barcelona!

February 10th 2008 19:14

I began my day sometime before 4am, reflecting on the things about Italia I had liked as we drove towards the airport... I´ve probably gained a few kilos, but I would do the same thing all over again if I went back... Aha, there´s now an apostrophe where I´m used to pressing to receive one, but it´s one of those special apostrophes that take up the space of an entire letter and hence look a bit awkward.
Anyway, We flew to Barcelona via Switzerland, and I found the Zurich airport quite a rewarding site - for one, they had a smoking lounge, a postmodern space which both encouraged people to come in with its state of the art decor and wall of glass, and discouraged them with the tag ´smoking seriously damages your health´ under the name of the lounge.
I also noticed that they had invested in seven thin vertical screens which were placed at a small distance from each other and turned to face the spectator in a diagonal fashion, designed to capture the attention as the passenger floated by on one of those long strps of moving metal. Images of watches and women floated from one screen onto another, creating an expansive vertical image. I think it was called ´WalkSeven´. Very pomo

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Buongiorno from Roma (again!)

February 9th 2008 16:14

Weàre back at the Hotel Spring House Best Western, and Iàm enjoying being back in Roma... people seem more graceful and elegant than in Napoli.
Iàm looking for a pamphlet for a play called Bianco e Nero (White and Black), which features a black girl, a white guy who is romantically interested in her, and another white female, the only one of the three looking at the camera, as I think itàs interesting to see where Italia is at when exploring race in a social context. There was a poster for it in Caserta, which we saw today, and a billboard or two in Roma, but I didnàt have my camera handy... maybe I will when we drive around here tomorrow.
I do appreciate that to get to a point where race is no longer an issue Italians need to draw their attention to it, hence the title, but I canàt help but find it too obvious. It probably helps that the society I live in is a lot more multi-cultural

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Last Day in Napoli

February 8th 2008 15:39

Just as we're about to leave, the city has started to grow on me... perhaps it was seeing a succession of lavish squares, this grandoise mall, huge classical structures and more art than you can cast an eye upon. And did I mention there was more art than is humanly possible to take in?
Today we started with the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) which had room after room of darkly coloured paintings set on fabric which covered all the walls, in red, or yellow, or dark blue. They had magnificently painted doors, with angels and animals adorning the gold paint, and I was also quite impressed with the decorative vases, which often had pretty representations of everyday life on them. My favourite was the writing room, which had a little library, a big desk and two brown marble cases with elegant white decorations upon it flanking it on each side.
It was time for foccacia and hot chocolate, both of which were terrific even though we were right close to some main attractions and Lonely Planet had warned us to avoid eateries that catered towards a tourist crowd. I do enjoy breaking the rules. ,o

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Back from the MADRE Contemporary Art Museum

February 7th 2008 17:37

The internet connection in our hotel is finally working again, so Iàm typing along to a Nelly Furtado soundtrack and the sounds of customers being tended to briskly and (in)efficiently, Italian style... one of the staff, Emanuela, doesnàt seem to have any time for impatience or annoyance in her life. Sheàs incessantly pleasant and reminds me of the type of person I try to be. After all, what is the point of dabbing your soul into negative emotions? They only harm you, and achieve nothing. Meanwhile, smiling and laughing is contagious, and helps smooth over any inconveniences.
I didnàt have time to write down the dream I had last night, so I left the hotel feeling a bit grumpy. Iàve been good at documenting my dreams over the last few weeks, though not so good at analysing them in detail. I usually wait until I re-read my work to do that.
Our first stop for the day was the Archeological Museum of Naples, which was fascinating, and took us about five hours to explore. My favourite parts were the Fornese sculptures and gemstones, and the mosaics. There was also an interesting Egyptian collection which we saw just in time as it closed at 12.30. I thought this was a bit odd. There was a model of Pompei(i) which took up an entire room, which helped give me some perspective of its scope

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Hello from Napoli

February 6th 2008 20:56

The keyboard Iàm currently using has keys shaped like diamonds (except for the ends, and Y, H and N, which are shaped like trapezoids). Itàs really quite impressive. Iàm in a hotel I didnàt catch the name of as the internet in our Best Western doesnàt work, and for some reason there arenàt many internet cafes in our area (the most seedy part of town, near the àStazione Centraleà).
We havenàt done anything in Napoli yet even though we got here at 12 oàclock yesterday... we went to the Archeological Museum but it was closed, and so was the Museum of cOntemporary Art and the Duomo, so apart from enjoying the facade of the latter we were frustrated, walking around in what can be a run-down and unpalatable town.
I must say that out of all the places I have been in Italy, Napoli is currently my least favourite... I knew it wouldnàt compare to the charm and elegance of Sorrento, but I was surprised at how polluted and seedy it was

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Our Last Night in Sorrento

February 4th 2008 19:15

The lights are red, and my feet ache from too many steps taken over th last six days... all the same I wouldnàt change a thing. The weather has been great so far, allowing us to explore the area freely.
Today we caught a bus to the Marina Piccolo shortly before it got dark, and I had the pleasure of watching the landscape and sky fading into the same colour, losing their duality and becoming one in the darkness, which was only interrupted by scanty strings of lights. We could see Vesuvius and a streak of lights below the massive peak. I bought a ceramic tile which had a lovely painting on it with the words àTorno a Sorrentoà (return to Sorrento) on it.
We caught the bus back to Piazza Tasso, and it must be said that the buses in Italy are about three fifths the size of the buses in Sydney. Thereàs room for about 10 seated passengers inside. Once at the Piazza we did some shopping and dined at Ristorante Tasso which was recommended to me by Christina at reception. I had a Calzone pizza, which is folded over and consists of cheese, tomatoes, ham and salami

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Back from San Agnello

February 4th 2008 12:45

This morning we took a short ride out of Sorrrento to visit the neighbouring San Agnello, which hosts big 'mercatos'. I picked up a lovely cream coat with a ring of fake fur outside the collar (I now look 'trendy'), a pair of tights and a black singlet. My dad bought a bunch of jumpers and mum bought a bag. Iàm looking for a bag myself, but Iàm not sureIàll find something eclectic. My parents can be quite amusing. My mum tries to market items to me by saying àlook, itàs postmodern!à even when itàs not really, and dad tried to play along today by lifting selected bags up from the table and asking me àlook, is this postmodern?à
After debating whether to see Herculaneum (my dad says yay, my mum says nay) or Napoli (then again, the weather is too good right now to be cooped up in a museum), we decided to take it easy and not too much. Apparently Iàm not the only one worn out by six days of constant sight-seeing. Sorrento isnàt quite as picture-prefect as Amalfi or Positano, but it retains its own unique charm.
Iàm quite surprised at how well the locals speak English... Iàm used to travelling in Asia, where communicating with everyone tends to be quite difficult and requires a lot of effort on the behalf of both parties. Iàm happy when I hear people speaking Italian, as they sound so melodious. Andrew (C) is a fan of guttural German, but I much prefer the mellifluousness of Italian

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Back from Positano and Amalfi

February 3rd 2008 19:07

The streets of Sorrento have been filled by revelling families who are with their kids, dressed up in fancy costumes, like butterflies or monsters. Either way, theyàre wearing lots of glitter. Iàm not sure what the festival is for, but itàs a nice atmosphere... the tiny main street was groaning with the pressure of all the extra people traversing its sidewalks.
Today we decided to explore the coast around us in detail, beginning with Positano. My mum thought she had spied it in the distance, but I knew otherwise - as pretty as the settlement was, we were looking at strings of white houses hugging the coast on one of its tips jutting forward... from what I had read I knew that Positano was strewn in yellow, peach and terracotta, and straddled upon the inverse coastal formation, and so we wouldnàt be able to see it until we were actually there. Only I thought that Praiano (the town we were looking at) was just one stop on the way to it - Positano happened upon me much quicker than I thought it would, and it was all I could do keep my eyes wide open as the views expanded, collapsed, expanded even more, and kept changing as we swept through the serpentine streets driving through it.
We managed to drive up and down the entire length of the town without realising what we were doing, then finally descended down into the centro. We stopped at various look-out points on the way, and Iàve given my camera quite a work-out today! As with most enticing sites, I found tilting the camera allowed me more freedom sometimes. Positano seems free of Piazzas, that is, wide open concrete spaces in which to stroll, be tempted by pastry shops and pretty displays of limoncello (the local wine, flavoured with lemon, which is ubiquitous in this part of the world). I donàt drink, but the designer bottles and hand-written signs drew me in. There must be hundreds of shops with limoncello sections! Itàs just made for tourist consumption

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Ciao from Sorrento

February 2nd 2008 16:21

This is our second day in Sorrento, and we spent the day wondering through the ruins of Pompeii, avoiding the sprinklings of rain that kept coming our way, trying to catch glimpses of the peak of Vesuvius through the clouds that stubbornly lingered in the area, and listening to our audio guide when we could identify where we were.
We spent the morning getting to know more of the main street here in Sorrento, which is actually very small. It opens up to a square called Piazza Tassio which has a statue of a figure raising its arm in the middle.
In Roma I was struck by the way slick, shiny surfaces were built into the edifices of buildings erected many centuries ago to make for shops at the cutting edge of fashion, technology and everything else you can think of. It was, yes, postmodern, and I delighted at the displacement of styles which was nevertheless ubiquitous. Itàs a similar story in Sorrento, though on a smaller scale. The font of the shop windows are more cursive and have more flourishes and curlicues

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July 2008

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April 2008