Again, no story, just some pictures from various odd corners of the campus. The curve of that tank behind its grille -- rather like a harem screen -- is very sweet, I think.
I usually try not to photograph objects intended to be regarded as aesthetic objects (sculptures and the like) -- it makes me feel too much like I'm illustrating a National Trust brochure -- but the mysterious black grilles that have recently been placed around this item outside the John Hansard Gallery have transformed into something rather different -- a hint of fretted harem screens again, perhaps.
The back entrance to the R.J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel. Want to test the aerodynamics of your Formula One racing car? This is the place. There's something deeply mysterious and transgressive about a building where it can be guaranteed to be windier inside than outside. A man-made Cave of the Winds.
9 comments:
The first one is the photo for me, this time around Mike. The downward angle, the muted colors on the left, the mysterious darkness at top left. The corner that no one ever bothers to look at. It's got a feel of a Jeff Wall, which in my mind is a good thing. Hope you're not insulted by that.
Thanks for the response, Kent -- always good to know what works, and why. Insulted? By a comparison with Jeff Wall? Not at all, I'm a fan (though I confess that the day I discovered his "sudden gust of wind" was a staged photograph was the day I lost my photographic innocence...)
Mike
Not only staged, but many are pieced together digitally from upwards of 70 or 80 bits. Somewhat discouraging, I'll admit. But maybe they're within our reach after all. How appropriate that we should discuss "A Sudden Gust of Wind" in a post titled "Cave of the Winds."
Been thinking about Wall recently, I guess because of this entry.
(Another good verification word today: babilize.)
That reminds me that I keep meaning to watch The Big Lebowski. Gregory Crewdson is the other staged photo man I quite like, though why he doesn't just make films and have done with it, I don't really understand.
I'm not going to speculate out loud what "babilizers" might be, but I have my thoughts.
Mike
I can't speak for Crewdson - I too find his large format cinematic setups extremely intriguing - but as one who is also susceptible to the charms of moving images, there is also a power and simplicity to still photography. His photos contain a story but he is free to leave it to the imagination of the viewer rather than explicitly defining it. So much of cinema dies in the second act.
By all means watch "Lebowski." I envy you for being able to see it for the first time. It has a rather clunky framing device, but the story the Stranger tells is surely a hilarious one.
"I envy you for being able to see it for the first time."
Actually, there are a lot of films I haven't seen. Having been habitual filmgoers in our [slightly over-extended] youth, the Prof and I more or less gave up cinema -- along with pubs, smoking, and any other pleasures that involved leaving the house -- when we had kids at 37. So, I've got a gap of about 20 years to make up...
One day soon, when I run out of ideas, I may post an appeal for "best films of the last 20 years".
Mike
"slightly over-extended youth?" Who says it's ended? (I speak for myself, of course...)
Now that we've been on the Netflix fix for the past few years, the stream is never ending, from everywhere and all times. Is is available in GB? If not, you may only be missing out on being over exposed to the cinema.
Thanks to this source, only last week I saw Godard's Sympathy for the Devil for the first time. Where else are you going to get this, and much more?
Blah blah blah...
There are similar services here, but "on demand" doesn't work for me, somehow -- I like the element of chance opportunity that is still part of "cinema" for me (not to mention the big dark room and enormous screen). I find that if I can see something anytime, then I never quite feel like it.
In the 70s/80s we lived in a town (Bristol) that had two "art" cinemas, and gorged on the feast of film-making coming out of Europe then (Herzog, Tarkovsky, Wenders, Jarman, Greenaway, etc.), as well as that wonderful era of US films (before special effects and the tastes of 19-year old boys came to dominate).
It doesn't help that we only have a 12 inch TV screen (itself a big advance over its 8" predecessor).
Mike
At least you will admit to "owning a television machine." It was a long time coming to our household, but now that we've got the big screen teevee w/ the 5.1 sound (see here if you care) we make a distinction between the filums that can be seen on the plasma screen (most) and those that need to be seen on a big public screen (that dictated by the tastes of 19 year old males.)
The over exposure problem is real, and not to be discounted if you're watching for entertainment reasons. But if one is to take a more active student like approach, the open fire hose on demand capacity is wonderful.
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