RODCHENKO art school

natalia ulianova, from the series "receipts"

Last semester during my class with Lyle Rexer we had an interesting guest lecture from Vladimir Kupriyanov a Russian Photographer and Lecturer at RODCHENKO art school. Although we we following along through a translator the lecture let us hear a first hand account of Russian photo history from an active participant. The RODCHENKO art school is only a few years old but it seems that it is still one of the few artistic focuses photography schools in contemporary Russia.

I have been wanting to link to the site he showed us for some time.I had forgotten about it until yesterday when I was looking through it again and found natalia ulianova. I find it interesting how much it reminds me of the early work of Brian Ulrich.

Check out Vladimir Kupriyanov's work here:
short bio, CV and some work at Moscow House of Photography > Vladimir Kupriyanov, About the eightieth [1980-1989]

Make Me a Real Man

nice clip on Current tv from by filmmaker Stuart Kershaw.
from the pod info:

What makes a man? How do we come of age in the 21st century? In a world where you can still be a boy at thirty, One young-ish filmmaker sets out on a belated quest for manhood.

With a little internet digging I noticed this history of this quote. Originally written by Wilhelm Stekel who was then quoted in J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye as saying, "The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one" (p.188). This quote is also used in the anime Ghost in the Shell.

I also enjoy the pod's discussion of the roll of war, the warrior and how the military can act as a coming of age. As these topics relate to my final project in school and I am still working them out for myself. Holden Caulfield's musings of what the world means are not that far off from this film maker's. As society moves further away from Caulfield's era will we develop new rites of passage into maturity? Or are these very rites passe and the sequence itself flawed?

on to the next...

Douglas Gordon, 24 hour psycho back and forth and to and fro, 2008. Video installation with two screens and two video projections, 24-hour loop, Courtesy the artist. Installation view, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.
© The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. Photo: Kristopher McKay.
January 6, 10 a.m. - January 7, 10 a.m. Rotunda Floor, Free

So, here we are, 2009 space monkeys and flying cars and all. Its an exciting yet anxious year for me - finishing school and re-entering the working world at a time when people are suggesting our economy is tanking more then it ever has in my lifetime. So what do we do? celebrate? turn off the TV try to read the news a little less and hope Obama can jump start this economy with a full on Keynesian / New New Deal Plan.

On the bright side - there are no lines for bread and institutions like The Guggenheim are still very much alive and kicking out interesting events like the tomorrows-

from the Press Release:
24-Hour Program on the Concept of Time
Tuesday, January 6, 6 p.m. through Wednesday, January 7, 6 p.m.
Download a PDF of the 24-Hour schedule.

On the occasion of the exhibition theanyspacewhatever, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum will present a 24-hour event concentrating on the concept of time in its myriad philosophical, psychological, biological, sociological, poetic, aesthetic, and economic manifestations. Constituting a multi-disciplinary approach to the subject, the program will bring together artists, architects, scientists, philosophers, historians, engineers, filmmakers, musicians, and other cultural producers.
...
Also on view:
Douglas Gordon
24 hour psycho back and forth and to and fro
January 6, 10 a.m.-January 7, 10 a.m.
Rotunda Floor, Free

Serpentine Gallery Marathon Archive
New Media Theatre
Tuesday, January 6, 6 p.m. through Wednesday, January 7, 6 p.m.
Download a PDF of video descriptions.

I am really looking forward to this event but I am not sure when to go. anyone else going or have suggestions? I am really interested who will be staying up for the 4:30 - 5 am presentation by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, maybe it will be me?