Lesson
Posted: May 29, 2005 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: art, festivals, francis alys, music, primavera sound Comments OffThe first exhibition at the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona was “Desacuerdos: On Art, Politics and Public Sphere in Spain,” and looked great, but was a little hard for me to interpret considering the fact it was all in Spanish and about the more recent culture of art in the country, something I’m fairly unfamiliar with. But I did manage to enjoy the clip for “Me gusta ser una zorra” by Vulpess, a crazy little all girl Spanish punk rock band from the 80s.
The second exhibition didn’t require translation and I loved it. Francis Alys. Walking Distance from the Studio —”Francis Alys trained as an architect and has lived in Mexico City since the 1980s. His walks through the city, the conversations he has overheard, and the stories that come up as he wanders around make up the main source of his activity, which is based in urban contexts and uses walking as part of the creative process. His often ephemeral projects explore anthropological space, social reality and the politics of the megalopolis, through his telling of fables, stories and the random situations that he has seen or actually been involved in during his walks through he streets of Mexico City. What Alys gets from the city – from its immediate physical and human environment – are the contents and the materials for his drawings, paintings, videos, photographs and slides; all techniques and supports which he uses simultaneously.”
It’s weird the way things will come across your path that seem to speak to you so directly. As a traveler, you obviously do a lot of street wandering and there’s a magnification of your relationship with urban spaces. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of flaneurism, and Alys really explores this in so many different approaches through his works. Plus, I fell in love with Mexico City when I was there February 2004, especially the Zocalo (a central public space of the city) from which a lot of Alys’ work is derived from. Fascinating stuff!
For all you music heads you will be most jealous to hear of the lovely 3 nights I spent at Primavera Sound. The last few festivals I’d attended in Oz, had turned me off them for good: Come Together, Big Day Out, Field Day…but Primavera proved that festivals can still be a great thing. Oh it was everything – the vibe was relaxed, the setting beautiful, the schedule spread out to allow for leisurely strolls and down time, the bands varied and a little more left of centre than your average lineup. And bigs up to the Estrella tent which stuck by the successful formula of Indie Djs + Small Space = Crazy, Fucked Up Fun!!!
Managed to catch Maximo Park, The Arcade Fire, Los Planetas (a very popular Spanish band), Radio 4, Iggy and The Stooges (at 50+ Iggy is still going strong with shirt off and cock out! Cannot believe I’ve now seen “I Wanna Be Your Dog”), New Order (Cannot believe I’ve now seen “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by the remaining Joy Division members), Kompakt Sound System (Michael Mayer is a god!!!), Sonic Youth, The Go! Team (sunny 60s fun), Dogs Die In Hot Cars, The Futureheads, and bits of Human League, Mercury Rev, Erase Errata, Gang of Four, They Might Be Giants, Out Hud and Echo and The Bunnymen.
Ups and downs
Posted: May 26, 2005 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: barcelona, spain Comments Off
I don’t want to get sick of doing all the touristy sights so I’ve so far limited it to some nice ol’ buildings and a museum or two. The Salvador Dali one is pretty fantastic, probably the only one your kids would have a ball in too. No sterile white walls here, just a winding maze of rooms filled with his grotesque, warped artworks backed on luscious red velvet or lilac wallpaper. Plus the gardens and building itself, a huge red castle topped with yellow eggs, is pretty extraordinary.
I’m nowhere near getting sick of soaking up the Barcelonian lifestyle, strolling the lovely narrow streets of the Barri Gotic and El Raval area, popping into the occasional kooky little shop, eating cheap doner kebabs (they’re legit here!), sipping hot chocolates, slipping from bar to bar while going nuts in the nightclubs and using the hostel for just sleeps and showers – as it should be.
Although I broke that wise rule last night and, participating in the hostel trivia night, was reminded by how the breed called backpackers is an ugly lot, just a bunch of drunk, mindless, dumbass idiots – the kind which you find everywhere exacerbated by the fact that they’re away from home, their responsibilities, cares, jobs and families. Conversation goes in circles – where are you from? where have you been? where are you going? yawn…
But then there’s always a diamond in the rough and L., who I met in my dorm room was an absolute gem. The click was quick, and we had no trouble spending an almost constant period of time together, despite being complete strangers. One of the few I’m sure I would have been friends with at home too – good luck to her, hope the rest of her travels fare well!
So enough of the travelers, what of the Spanish people? Frankly, not too friendly when the first thing you ask is “Hablo Inglais?” — or “Do you speak English?” for us dumb foreigners. Plus, I’m getting sick of these Spaniards staring at me, whether that be because of my, ahem, colourful dress or Chinese appearance (they’re rare here) or a combination of the two.
Although I don’t mind so much when said Spaniard happens to be a cute boy, of which there is an unusually high number of in this city! Barcelonians are known for being a bit hip, a bit cosmopolitan, kind of like our Melbourne to Sydney (Madrid being the latter) and there’s been much boy perving going on. And it’s not just the style, it’s the scruffy dark often curly hair, the svelte build, the delicate face — oh it’s all so good!
For more photographic evidence, visit my flickr page.
Lesson
Posted: May 18, 2005 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: film, metisse Comments OffLast night I watched French film “Metisse”, written, directed and starring Mathieu Kassovitz who is best known for him film “La Haine” and as the love interest in Amelie. Like La Haine, the film is set in the hotch potch of ethnic groups that characterises the modern, urban world of the French youth. The cultural disconnections and appropriations really spoke to me (being, as I am, a funny, stupid Asian girl always trying to “play” Westerner.) The film sees Lola (played by the very beautiful Julie Mauduech), a biracial Christian torn between her Muslim, rich, studying law, black boyfriend and her poor, going nowhere, rapper “in the hood,” white Jewish one.
Frankfurt airport breaks no cliches
Posted: May 18, 2005 Filed under: BLOG | Tags: frankfurt airport Comments Off
I overheard a bunch of smart arse American college kids talking at a bubbler…
“So what does German water taste like?”
“Slight authoritarian, but mostly reformed.”
That had my giggling.
And he’d really hit on something there. The airport, with its stainless steel and corrugated iron had a cold, hard, machine-like feel. And it’s not like airports aren’t sterile enough.
I remember even the German consulate in Edgecliff, Sydney had an air of cool, detached, neatness, discipline and organisation. It made me feel shabby and all over the place. However, this adds to my curiosity about how I will experience the holy city for electronic music heads…Berlin.
For more photographic evidence, visit my flickr page.
