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Posts Tagged "Gao Gao"
Hullo Adventurers. This week’s post is going to be a very short post. It’s the World Cup, and the Englishman and I have been getting up at ungodly hours to catch the footie at a local pub. As disappointed as we have been with England’s performance, the scandal, play-acting and bratty tantrums have been sufficiently entertaining to keep our attention. On a more artistic note, I found this incredible video titled “Refait”, a remake of the football World Cup match between France and Germany (Seville, Spain, 1982). Shot by Pied La Biche in Villeurbanne (France), every aspect of the last fifteen minutes of the match has been carefully reconstructed : players, positions, gestures, intensity and European melodrama. Using split screens and deftly placed B roll, the pitch and the urban environment is forged into one; the sounds of the city are muted by original commentaries and audience reactions. Refait from Pied La Biche on Vimeo. A longer post when England wins Adventurers. Until next time.
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Hullo Adventurers. I am sure that may of you have read about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. If you haven’t, adventurers, this is a pretty big deal. Unlike my father, whose resume includes Chief Rep. of BP, pig farmer and Water Conservation expert (not necessarily in that order), I am usually unable to make something sound better than it actually is. Neither is Tony Hayward, CEO of BP. All those photos of frail pelicans mired down in sticky films of oil are making me sad. The two bags of recycling I just sorted will be annihilated by the damage done by this oil spill; I am mad. I am sad, and I am mad. It is a weird state of mind. However, there are those who are more proactive than me, and are finding increasingly creative ways to express themselves. Like The Heads of State, who have designed a two hundred two colour serigraphs measuring 18″ × 24″, signed and numbered. 50% of the proceeds go to Oceana, the largest organization solely focused on protecting the world’s oceans. Simple and profound, this poster symbolises a terrifying dependence on such a fickle finite resource.
For those of you who are a little more animated (you’ll get the pun in a second) about the issue, MARS! is fitting short animation from Joe Bichard and Jack Cunningham. A clever commentary on how we are pillaging the earth; a fantastic example of how basic geometric shapes are the simplest way to illustrate a message. Maybe BP can take a lesson from these guys, and produce an ‘We’re Sorry sequel’, of what happens to MARS! after all the oil is gone. MARS! from Joe Bichard on Vimeo. My sadness has just filtered into anger, adventurers. I’m furious. Are you? Until next time.
Hullo Adventurers. I like art. I also like design. The two are often separated in a pseudo attempt to rank one discipline above the other; in my eyes – they are two sides of the aesthetic coin. So this week’s post, my dear adventurers, is about the lesser trumped side. It is Designventure. Kathleen Hills is a graduate from the Royal College of Art who has some pretty adventurous design. Her work combines the glory of mid 20th century breakfast tables all over England and the cutting edge glamour of modern design. Imagine delicate blue toile imprinted on futuristic cubed bowls. Imagine a cluster of ceramic teacups swinging daintily from the lights. Hills has imagined it all; her website shows a showstopping line of tableware, kitchenware and lighting.
My favourite is the ‘Made in England’ Rolling Pin. My birthday is also coming up next month. *hint, hint*.
Now imagine someone picked up all the Scandinavian designers in the world, and put them in a room with all the Japanese designers in the world. Throw in some cookies, some hugs, and a 2B pencil. Mjölk,owned by Juli Daoust and John Baker, is what you would get, Adventurers. The store is based in Toronto, and sells a gamut of clean, deliciously functional product art, brought to you by some quirky geniuses.
If you drooled over these products as much as I did, their blog, Kitka, is also worth reading. Until next time adventurers. This is designventure, out.
Hullo Adventurers. This week’s Artventure post is about watching/looking/seeing. Get excited.
Karin Jurick works fast. The photographic quality of her work comes from a masterful command of texture and light; she distills a moment onto the canvas by efficiently abstracting shapes and simplifying the composition. Jurick mostly paints scenes of everyday life, but I am captivated by her depictions of scenes in a museum or art gallery. In capturing her subjects in these settings, she modestly comments on the scopic pleasure we gain from voyeurism. Check out her Painting a Day series here.
Marina Abramović is one of my long standing idols. As a matriarch of performance art, MoMa is holding a retrospective of her work, which includes a much publicised installation where she sits across from a rotation of strangers. The exhibit, “The Artist is Present” has solicited a series of interesting participants, including a weeping make up artist who has visited at least 15 times, Alan Rickman, Ulay, and her doppelganger. To learn more, there’s a Tumblr dedicated to cataloguing the tears and a Flickr photostream for the stares. Worth it, adventurers. I went through every single photo. Until next week adventurers.
Hullo Adventurers. I have been hiding under the covers in pyjamas all weekend waiting for my acceptance/rejection letter from Oxford. I am a hot mess. In other words, my dear adventurers, I had no adventures this weekend. Instead, I lived vicariously through Unacceptable, the robot, who would do anything to be accepted.
Meet Unacceptable the Robot
Unacceptable has few morals. He would stoop into the chasms of depravity to seek mere scraps of acceptance. To expedite delivery of a letter, Unacceptable would have no qualms in bribing the postman with baubles and sin.
Unacceptable would use common trickery to infiltrate the postal service.
Unacceptable would call Oxford three times in a row to trick the administrator into telling him the results. To avoid detection, he would use different accents each time.
Unacceptable would play mind games.
Unacceptable would not sleep.
And eventually, Unacceptable would become so desperate that he’d wile away the rest of the time by drawing pictures of stupid robots in disguise. ——————————————————————————————— For those of you who can’t relate to Unacceptable, check out this student animation Second Wind by Ian Worrel. I’ve watched it about 50 times. Whilst waiting for that letter.
Hullo Adventurers. I hope you had as glorious a weekend as I did. I spent the better part of the morning sunbathing in my garden. The other half, unfortunately, was spent engaging in awkward encounters with the racoon, Algernon, who lives at the bottom of my garden. After hustling my partner to spend time outdoors (He is English and wilts under direct sunlight), we finally decided on an adventure around Greenlake. This adventure, my dear readers, came in the form of the Green Lake Mini Golf Course. One of the upsides of being in a relationship with a Statistics PhD is that you rarely have to calculate the tip and tax at the end of the meal. One of the downsides, however, is that they, in their John Nash ways, think of everything in numbers. Engaging in sports of any form thus requires imagination. In other words, adventurers, you must cheat. For those of you who don’t think in angles and probabilities – here is an illustrated guide to cheating your way to success. Rule 1: Misdirection
Usually, I am able to use my quaint accent to misdirect people. It often gets me out of bar fights. However, in the case of my partner, this is not possible. I thus resort to making up words. If you continually repeat these words as if they mean something, your opponent will spend their energy on attempting to assimilate to the lingo, as opposed to playing well. Note, moreover, that it is important to also include real words to throw them off. Rule 2: Always carry the right equipment.
It is always important that you are well equipped for the golf course. This often means thousands of dollars spent on suitable shoes, clubs and balls. This money spent, however, does not necessitate victory. To win, you must know how to use your equipment. Thus, instead of using the traditional white golf ball, I like to camouflage my golf balls to blend in with the natural surroundings in case I need additional ‘support’ in maintaining a good handicap. Rule 3: Wear suitable attire.
The dress code often enforced on golf courses are usually established to maintain a certain atmosphere. However, you can often use attire to your advantage, by dressing in unusual outfits. By sporting, say, an umbrella and a disguise, you can both confuse your opponent, and subvert his ability to look at you in the eye. An alternative is also going naked. (Last resort). Rule 4: Find a suitable caddy.
In proper golf you need a proper caddy. In miniature golf, you need a suitably miniature caddy. The squirrel is nature’s miniature caddy. Compact, fast, and distractingly cute, these little runners are all you need to hide/find golf balls.* *To train a squirrel, one must be willing to sacrifice a jar of peanut butter, a lot of balls, and time. Thus is the cost of winning. Rule 5: Only golf in ideal conditions.
These ideal conditions, however, must only be ideal for you. Condition A – is ideal for both parties. Steer clear. Condition B – Fake Snakes. Good for ruining their shot. Condition C – Suspicious orange substances – only to be used in the long game. Results:
Ultimately, Cheaters prosper. As can be seen by my amazing score.
Gao Gao means tall or grand in Chinese. Probably stemming from the fact that I was abnormally massive at birth. Either way, I like to be both tall and grand. I’m not good at describing myself with prose. So I wrote a list of likes and dislikes. It is practically raining talented good-looking people over here. Yeah! Gao Gao comes to The Adventure School full of ideas, a strong aesthetic sensibility and a lovely accent. Check out her profile! What skill do you want to learn? Food and drink you don’t want to live without? Your favorite book of the moment? Describe your dream party place. What is the evil version of you like? Name four essential elements of a good party. What do you appreciate most about a party host? Describe the best party you ever attended. Hotel room or campsite? Do you have a style icon? If you could teach a class about anything in the world ever, what would you teach? Your motto? What is your spirit animal?
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Alexa Meade
