Ansel Adams
You have taken by breath away!!!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
ARTifical landscAPE
If art is removed from man, then what does that leave man? If man neglects emotion (beauty) and culture for function and standardization (equality) then does man convert to machine? If man is a machine, then who's the programmer?
"How shall the new environment be programmed? It all happened so slowly that most men failed to realize that anything happened at all." quote from George Lucas' movie THX 1138
THX 1138 is a motion picture made in 1969 about two residents of a dystopian future-state where a high level of control is exerted upon the residents through the ever-presence of faceless, android police-officers and the mandatory, regulated use of special drugs that eliminate emotion and sexual desire.
The film consists of three acts. In the first, we are introduced to daily life in the underground dystopia through the central character, THX 1138 (Robert Duvall), a nuclear-production-line worker. All emotions are suppressed in THX’s world through the compulsory use of (soma-like) drugs. However, THX’s female roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) has stopped taking her drugs, and secretly substitutes inactive pills for THX’s medications. As the drug’s effects wear off, THX finds himself experiencing emotions and sexual desire for the first time. He and LUH begin a loving relationship, and plan to escape to the “superstructure”, where they hope to be able to live in freedom. Before they can attempt this escape they are arrested and charged with “sex crimes” and “drug violations.”
The second act sees THX incarcerated for his crimes in a white limbo world along with a collection of other prisoners, including Donald Pleasence as SEN 5241 – a sinister technician who has been using his programming skills to try and replace LUH as THX’s roommate and who is, himself a ‘prisoner’ of the limbo because THX reported him for said programming violations. Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN decide to find an exit. They encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley), a (tangible) hologram who has become disenchanted with his role in the society and is making an attempt to escape. Upon exiting the limbo, THX attempts to find LUH and learns that her identity has been reassigned to a fetus in a growth chamber. This indicates that she has been considered “incurable” and killed. Separated from the other two fugitives, SEN makes a tentative exploration of the limits of the city’s underground network. Cowed by what he sees, he returns to the city and is captured by the authorities.
The third act is an extended escape sequence, featuring a futuristic and often-copied car-chase sequence through a tunnel network. THX and SRT steal two cars, but the latter immediately crashes. It is uncertain whether SRT survives the impact, although the film’s script indicates he does not. THX flees to the limits of the city’s underground road network while being chased by android police, and eventually locates an access tunnel that leads up to the surface. The police pursue THX up the ladder, but the expense of his capture exceeds its budget, compelling the police to retreat, leaving THX to climb out and stand, for the first time, in the harsh surface sunlight. As THX stands before the setting sun, birds intermittently fly overhead, indicating that life is possible on the surface. (taken from wikipedia)
"How shall the new environment be programmed? It all happened so slowly that most men failed to realize that anything happened at all." quote from George Lucas' movie THX 1138
THX 1138 is a motion picture made in 1969 about two residents of a dystopian future-state where a high level of control is exerted upon the residents through the ever-presence of faceless, android police-officers and the mandatory, regulated use of special drugs that eliminate emotion and sexual desire.
The film consists of three acts. In the first, we are introduced to daily life in the underground dystopia through the central character, THX 1138 (Robert Duvall), a nuclear-production-line worker. All emotions are suppressed in THX’s world through the compulsory use of (soma-like) drugs. However, THX’s female roommate LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) has stopped taking her drugs, and secretly substitutes inactive pills for THX’s medications. As the drug’s effects wear off, THX finds himself experiencing emotions and sexual desire for the first time. He and LUH begin a loving relationship, and plan to escape to the “superstructure”, where they hope to be able to live in freedom. Before they can attempt this escape they are arrested and charged with “sex crimes” and “drug violations.”
The second act sees THX incarcerated for his crimes in a white limbo world along with a collection of other prisoners, including Donald Pleasence as SEN 5241 – a sinister technician who has been using his programming skills to try and replace LUH as THX’s roommate and who is, himself a ‘prisoner’ of the limbo because THX reported him for said programming violations. Most of the prisoners seem uninterested in escape, but eventually THX and SEN decide to find an exit. They encounter SRT (Don Pedro Colley), a (tangible) hologram who has become disenchanted with his role in the society and is making an attempt to escape. Upon exiting the limbo, THX attempts to find LUH and learns that her identity has been reassigned to a fetus in a growth chamber. This indicates that she has been considered “incurable” and killed. Separated from the other two fugitives, SEN makes a tentative exploration of the limits of the city’s underground network. Cowed by what he sees, he returns to the city and is captured by the authorities.
The third act is an extended escape sequence, featuring a futuristic and often-copied car-chase sequence through a tunnel network. THX and SRT steal two cars, but the latter immediately crashes. It is uncertain whether SRT survives the impact, although the film’s script indicates he does not. THX flees to the limits of the city’s underground road network while being chased by android police, and eventually locates an access tunnel that leads up to the surface. The police pursue THX up the ladder, but the expense of his capture exceeds its budget, compelling the police to retreat, leaving THX to climb out and stand, for the first time, in the harsh surface sunlight. As THX stands before the setting sun, birds intermittently fly overhead, indicating that life is possible on the surface. (taken from wikipedia)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Man: Dominion or Domination
These are images of south Louisiana. What I'm interested in is how landscapes all have a familiar theme once you step into the forgotten spaces.
I felt very connected in spirit to these spaces as I was walking through them. I enjoyed seeing man's impact on the landscape, through buildings, trash and art, and nature's impact on man's artifacts, through weathering and vegetation. I find it a beautiful reciprocal relationship, we use the land to gather the essentials of life and the land uses us to continue the process of life. The true nature of Nature to me seems to give life to life.
I personally don't like static spaces, they feel stale, unnatural and controlled. I feel like spaces need to be changing and evolving in order to be alive. A good space is a continuous performance art. I believe that nature can take something made by man that's bad and make it good and if something's already good then it just becomes better. With time comes experience and knowledge and with age comes wisdom and beauty. I don't know, I guess I feel most comfortable, secure and alive when I'm within a “good” and pure space (a space that doesn’t hide its true function from its true context).
I felt very connected in spirit to these spaces as I was walking through them. I enjoyed seeing man's impact on the landscape, through buildings, trash and art, and nature's impact on man's artifacts, through weathering and vegetation. I find it a beautiful reciprocal relationship, we use the land to gather the essentials of life and the land uses us to continue the process of life. The true nature of Nature to me seems to give life to life.
I personally don't like static spaces, they feel stale, unnatural and controlled. I feel like spaces need to be changing and evolving in order to be alive. A good space is a continuous performance art. I believe that nature can take something made by man that's bad and make it good and if something's already good then it just becomes better. With time comes experience and knowledge and with age comes wisdom and beauty. I don't know, I guess I feel most comfortable, secure and alive when I'm within a “good” and pure space (a space that doesn’t hide its true function from its true context).
Mother Knows Best
I think Man likes the thought of something being new or ageless(timeless). The only thing wrong with this is that nothing can withstand time and ultimately succumbs to the natural cycle of life.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
a PEACE of studio
I don't like the term architect, although I use it quite regularly, because I feel it brings the ego out in man. Architecture was never a profession until there was a need for man to establish hierarchy among men. (I find it strange how man is always looking to make his presence timeless, it's like he's afraid of time or what lies ahead and the only way to cope is to surround himself with the already known. When will he embrace age and the unknown like his Mother?) I like to picture the true architect as someone who stays close to the environment and the community and is aware of their needs and desires. It is crucial for the architect to understand the importance of space. A true Architect must be conscious of the fact that space is unlimited and incalculable but at the same time limited and measurable. They know that space creates a place for an occasion and as soon as the occasion ends the space transforms to accommodate for another occasion. As architects we should be protectors of the unliving, the living, and the unobtainable(spirit and myth). Man depends on Mother Nature to give him what he needs to BE ALIVE and it is his duty to protect her. Everything has life, but not everything is living. Once man can embrace her and realize what she has to offer(physically, mentally, and spiritually), then man can learn to live as a unit. The key to successful architecture is to live a good life as one. Architecture must come from the heart, it must be lived, and it must be cherished, otherwise it's just dead!
Monday, January 25, 2010
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