Hasta La Ideas

Alex Prager explores drama and death through new eyes in her upcoming exhibition

Since exhibiting “Week-End“—her last solo show at NYC’s Yancey Richardson Gallery in 2010—photographer Alex Prager has been busy at work, but mostly with projects outside her own personal endeavors. Whether shooting the 1960s-inspired Missoni for Target campaign, villainous celebrities for the New York Times’ annual Hollywood issue, or lending her talents to Bottega Veneta’s “The Art of Collaboration” campaign last spring, Prager keeps her signature cinematic style at the forefront of her work while successfully bringing to life a new vision for each commercial and editorial assignment she takes on.

Prager’s work returns to gallery walls next month, in a new solo show called “Compulsion”. Simultaneously taking place in New York, London and Prager’s hometown of LA, the three-city exhibition will include an array of photos that reflect her interest in the emotion expressed solely through a person’s eyes, and the powerful foundation they provide for provoking mystery. The eyes show how the young photographer has evolved since “Week-End” without departing entirely from her penchant for heightened drama and voyeuristic compositions. In “Compulsion”, the eye close-ups also allude to the anonymous characters found within her tragic scenes, titled like newspaper reporting, such as “1:18pm, Silverlake Drive” or “11:45pm, Griffith Park”.

This strong interest in emotive eyes is perhaps inspired by the intense baby blues actress Bryce Dallas Howard worked for Prager’s camera in her short film “Despair“, several stills of which were exhibited at MoMA as part of their “New Photography 2010” group show. “Compulsion” will feature a new short film as well, one that also toys with the idea of death. “La Petite Mort”—a French phrase for orgasm—stars actress Judith Godrèche, who is, according to a description of the film, “experiencing the boundaries of her body and those of this world”.

A soft-spoken self-taught artist who fell into photography after a little soul-searching and a life-altering trip to the Getty Museum (where she came across the work of William Eggleston) just a decade ago, Prager has since become an exciting and integral part of contemporary art. Her latest series, combined with her commissioned projects, really showcases her growth within her chosen medium and her ability to constantly push herself in new directions.

“Compulsion” opens 5 April and runs through 19 May 2012 at Yancey Richardson Gallery (NYC), then follows with openings at M+B (LA) and Michael Hoppen Contemporary (London).

Around 1:15 this morning, those of us in the northern hemisphere officially started spring. The local weathermen explained to me as I sipped my coffee that because this is a leap year, spring showed up on the calendar a day early. As we did yard work and waved to our neighbors over the weekend, it was obvious — at least in our part of the country — that winter had ended.

If spring sprung up on you and took you by surprise, the following 10 tasks are what I consider to be the most valuable spring cleaning activities. These are the Firsts, the things to get to before the other activities:

1. Check fire extinguishers, furnace filters, and batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors (if you didn’t do these tasks when you moved your clocks ahead an hour). Remember, safety first.
2. Purge all expired food from your refrigerator and pantry. If you’re unsure of an item’s freshness, check StillTasty.com and/or the product’s website (especially good for condiments that take up near-permanent residence in the door of your refrigerator).
3. Clean gunk out of your gutters if you have gutters.
4. Rake the last batch of dead leaves out of your yard and pick up sticks and debris that fell during the last few months of winter.
5. Inspect any lawn maintenance chemicals you had stored for the winter, such as pesticides or fertilizers. Make sure none of these items are leaking or expired.
6. Have your law mower serviced so it’s ready and working when your yard is ready to mow.
7. Dust. I like to carry a hand vacuum with me as I go to suck the grime off the cloth.
8. Move furniture (including your bed and bookshelves) and vacuum or sweep every inch of your floors.
9. If you have pets, bring out the Furminator and start the regular task of brushing to get rid of that heavy winter coat.
10. Sort through your clothing and coat closets and donate to charity all items you never plan to wear again. Clean heavy sweaters you intend to keep and take steps to properly store them to prevent pest invasions over the summer. Clean and put away heavy winter boots and shoes. Finally, bring out any stored warmer weather clothes and get your wardrobe ready for the next six months.

What must-do items are on your spring cleaning list? If I don’t do the items listed above, I feel like I’m not ready for spring. How about you?

More spring cleaning tips and advice from our archives:

• “Spring cleaning tips from Lifehacker”
• “Spring cleaning in the yard”
• “Five spring organizing activities”
• “Seeing spring”
• In my book, Unclutter Your Life in One Week, there is an exhaustive checklist of spring cleaning activities that begins on page 185.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.

Superfoods and cocoa nibs in a guilt-free bar

Combining superfood favorite quinoa with delicious organic coca nibs, Venice Beach-based YogaEarth presents Keen-Wah Decadence. The nutritious bar offers yogis and other health-minded people a gluten-free, vegan, non-GMO snack on the go and, in addition to quinoa, includes cacao, chia seeds, almonds, almond butter, coco nectar and Himalayan sea salt, as well as protein powder made from brown rice. The fully organic concoction doses out high levels of protein, omega-3 and antioxidants.

The dark chocolate coating lends a sweet edge to the savory health food core, while chopped almonds and crispy quinoa give texture and a bit of satisfaction. To support the claim of healthy ingredients, one bar of Keen-Wah Decadence has 12% of your daily protein and 18% of your recommended fiber intake.

YogaEarth set out to provide yoga practitioners with products that complemented the health-centric lifestyle. Focusing on superfoods, the company reached out to the yoga community—notably strong around Venice Beach—to develop a line of healthful and delicious products. The grassroots effort was initially carried in yoga studios, and is gearing up to launch at Whole Foods. We loved the “Chocolate Chia” flavor of Keen-Wah Decadence, and are eagerly awaiting the release of “Coconut Almond” and “Cayenne Cinnamon”.

A 12-pack of Keen-Wah Decadence is available from YogaEarth for $35.

Prises depuis une station spatiale internationale, ces impressionnantes images en time-lapse permettent de découvrir l’espace et les étoiles sous un regard nouveau. Une vidéo splendide montée par Alex Rivest, à découvrir en HD dans la suite de l’article.

Previously on Fubiz

• Funny Celebrities Photography
• Star Wars Mosaics
• Music Legends Series Photography

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Slideshow: a visitor’s centre with an ornate herringbone facade by Bernard Tschumi Architects opens this weekend on an archaeological site in central France.

The cylindrical centre occupies the same position held by the Roman army during a historic battle against the Gauls over 2000 years ago and its wooden exterior references the timber fortifications that would have been constructed nearby.

A second museum building, contrastingly clad in stone, is also being constructed a kilometre away across the battlefield and the pair will together comprise the Alésia Museum complex.

Exhibitions inside the visitor’s centre will portray the events of the battle and its aftermath, while the second building will present artefacts unearthed from the site.

A garden of grass and trees covers the roof of the visitor’s centre and will be accessible to visitors.

See more stories by Bernard Tschumi Architects here, including a bright red pedestrian bridge.

Photography above is by Christian Richters, while photography below is by Iwan Baan.

Here’s some more text from Bernard Tschumi Architects:

Opening Day Set for Alésia Museum, First Phase

Part of a museum complex designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects, a new interpretive center on the site of the historic Battle of Alésia will open in a formal ceremony on March 23, 2012.

Located in Burgundy, France, the building marks the position of the Roman army, under Julius Caesar, and its encampment surrounding the Gauls under Vercingetorix in 52 B.C. The building will be open to the public starting on March 26th.

Tschumi’s design features a cylindrical building with an exterior envelope made of wood, a material that references the Roman fortifications of the era, some of which are reconstructed in an area a short walk from the building.

The roof of the building is planted with low shrubs and trees, so as to minimize the visual impact of the building when seen from the hill above (the historical position of the Gauls).

The materiality and sustainable elements of the building are meant to make visitors aware of the surrounding landscape, which appears much as it would have 2000 years ago.

A second building on the hill will mark the location of the Gauls, and has a similar geometry, but is clad in stone, evoking its trenched position.



Click above for larger image

The interpretive center will contain exhibits and interactive displays that contextualize the events of the Battle of Alésia and its aftermath.

Click above for larger image

The displays are intended to reach a broader audience than a museum, with a range of media and programs for all ages.

The second building will act as a more traditional museum, with a focus on found objects and artifacts unearthed from the site. The second building is scheduled to be completed in 2015.