Filed under: Ireland, anecdotes, art, colour, film and video, personal intrests | Tags: adventure, cinema, Dublin, experimental film, Film, french cinema, Ireland, Jacques Prévert, JDIFF, JDIFF 2009, Joon-ho Bong, José Luis Guerín, Lauren Selden, Leos Carax, les enfants du paradis, Liam Neeson, Liam Neeson Live, lighthouse, lighthouse cinema, Marcel Carné, memory, Michel Gondry, smithfield, Tokyo!
The film festival has finally ended, let me tell you it’s been a great 2 weeks! I’d say the personal highlight of the festival for me was getting to meet Liam Neeson- what a great Dublin experience. I saw 5 films during the festival, as well as attending the Liam Neeson talk, overall I enjoyed everything I had the pleasure of seeing, and each film was entirely different from the rest.
I’ve already shared with you my favorite parts of From the East and Franklyn, here are my favorite moments of the other films I saw;
Filed under: Ireland, Lauren Selden, anecdotes, art, colour, film and video, personal intrests, photography, travel | Tags: adventure, Chantal Akerman, Clouds, DIFF, Dublin, experimental film, Film, film festival, Franklyn, From the East, Gerald McMorrow, Ireland, Lauren Selden, memory, night life, travel
Well, its official. The Dublin International Film Festival has come to town. Last Thursday, actually. I’ve been to two films so far, both entirely and incredibly different. The first is a film called From the East, directed by Chantal Akerman. I found the film very interesting, although clearly the audience wasn’t as impressed- quite a few of them walked out. The film was mainly comprised of long, panning wide shots of parts of Eastern Europe. It was shot documentary style, and I found the most interesting part of the film was watching the subjects as they eventually realized the presence of the camera. There were also some lovely interior ’still lifes’ (for lack of a better word), my favorite was one where a young boy played with his toy car while a German Politician rambled on the evening news.
Tonight, I saw Franklyn. A more conventional type of film by Gerald McMorrow, starring among others Eva Green. The film was fantastic- and not just because of the wonderful talents of Eva Green- who I love. The film tracks the meshing of four stories through the eyes of one man, who lives his days out in a place called Meanwhile City. The graphics alone made me weak in the knees. Top 3
1. Eva speaking to a video of herself. She smears her red lipstick down her chin.
2.Photos of a boy having a picnic with his imaginary friend.
3. A giant buddah looms over a distopian London.
I will be seeing a few more films before the festival ends on Sunday, Les Enfants du Paradis tomorrow, Tokyo! on Wednesday- and likely a few more following that. It’s nice to feel like a part of the film scene here, and I love the way this festival feels in comparison to VIFF- it just feels so much more approachable.
Filed under: Ireland, Lauren Selden, anecdotes, art, craft, film and video, food, gallery, installation, travel | Tags: 4 dame lane, adventure, architecture, art, art gallery, bookstore, Dublin, experimental film, food, gallery, IMMA, Ireland, Lauren Selden, national gallery ireland, Post, shopping, st. patricks cathedral, study abroad, tourist, travel, vegan, video art, wagamama
It’s been a busy few days over here. Last Thursday I was part of a media/art exhibition at a club here in Dublin known only by the mysterious name, 4 Dame Lane. It was a fairly low tech production, as you might be able to tell from the ‘vintage’ televisions our work was shown on, but it gave the night a fun bohemian flair. The piece I had included is one from 2007, called Waiting.
After the fun and excitement of Thursday night, and a great potluck hosted by NYU students on Friday night on Saturday we did the gallery circuit. Along with some fellow exchange students we headed first to IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art. IMMA is located in the most beautiful building on a hilltop just outside of the city center. The grounds are beautiful and they have a wonderful sculpture garden. The main show right now is called Exquisite Corpse- and among all the great artwork there was also a fun room where you could draw your own exquisite corpses with friends. We all had great fun drawing them up, give art students a DIY project and they’ll go wild for sure! (you can see the results in my Flickr album)
After IMMA we strolled our way back into the city, stopping at a few unnamed hole in the wall galleries (which I find can often be the most interesting). We made a pit stop at St. Patricks Cathedral and then headed for a bite. Wagamama’s is a UK restaurant chain that serves up Asian style cuisine- we all really enjoyed it, especially Aino who is vegan. The restaurant actually has its’ own vegan menu which is perfect for her, and others like her!
We did visit the National Gallery after, but I admit we didn’t visit in the typical way. You see, the Gallery Shop is right in the entrance of the gallery- and by the time we’d checked out every nook and cranny (and bought most of it) the gallery itself had closed! Please forgive us and our retail therapy. We all made a pact to go back again for a real visit. In the meantime, you can enjoy the beautiful architecture of the gallery lobby. What great shapes!
Also: a tiny little p.s. but a BIG thank you to everyone who has sent me some snail mail- I think I’ve become addicted to both giving and getting it!
Filed under: Ireland, Lauren Selden, anecdotes, art, aura, film and video, personal intrests, photography, travel | Tags: abandoned, adventure, architecture, Clouds, derelict, Dublin, experimental film, Ireland, Lauren Selden, ruins, rural, travel
I was discussing my desire to venture into the Irish Countryside with my tutor here, and she mentioned a website which charts all sorts of abandoned structures throughout Ireland. Immediately upon clicking the link I fell in love with all the locations, and myself and some fellow students are planning to venture out into the country side to see these amazing structures in person.
The website is called Abandoned Ireland, and it looks as though a group of brave adventurers have explored all these little nooks and crannies in order to share these fantastic locations with all of us. I’ve been told that Ireland has such a strict historical restoration policy that many of the buildings will always remain empty and abandoned. A precious few have been turned into luxury hotels, but really- I’d prefer they remain in their natural state. It’s much more poetic. Many of the buildings were set fire to, and burnt to the ground during Irelands’ rather complex and terrible history with England. What is left now, are some of the most beautiful, and creepy structures I have ever laid eyes on.
I’ll be the first to admit it, I’ve become obsessed with this website. I’ve even begun dreaming about these amazingly beautiful ruins. I know I would be able to get the most amazing footage, and I can’t stop thinking about how well these locations will lend themselves to super 8mm film.
Note: all photographs that appear in this post are co. Abandoned Ireland
Filed under: Lauren Selden, art, emily carr institute, film and video, personal intrests, vancouver | Tags: emily carr institute, experimental film, Lauren Selden, memory
This is a story about stories. My grandfather is a terrific storyteller, I’ve always admired his talent, and lately I’ve been trying out storytelling myself. I think what makes my grandfathers’ stories so entrancing is that they are all real, perhaps embellished upon over the years, but real nonetheless. And besides, embellishment is part of the natural growth of memory.
My favorite story to hear is the story of the dog’s stomach. Now I’ve begun to tell it myself to friends- its the perfect, slightly gory anecdote. Hearing myself tell the story is so entirely different from the way my grandfather, who lived it, tells it. I think as the story passes through more hands, more generations, it begins to gain a sort of warmth and surrealness. I wanted to capture the evolution of storytelling with this short experimental film, Memory Stones. Enjoy, and think about how you would tell the story.
