Hasta La Ideas

Ping-pong balls and dance in the U.S. debut of a visually arresting performance

On a black stage a singular ping-pong ball triggers four dancers, followed by thousands more balls dropping, rolling and flooding the scene in controlled chaos. This is “Why Patterns.” Making its U.S. debut next week, the performance piece is a collaboration between choreographer Jonah Bokaer and Snarkitecture, a creative studio founded by artist Daniel Arsham and architect Alex Mustonen.

First commissioned by Dance Works Rotterdam, the show draws inspiration from the musical composition by Morton Feldman of the same name. The creative partnership formed after Arsham met Bokaer while stage designing for the late choreographer Merce Cunningham. “We had many interests in common,” says Arsham. “In the case of ‘Why Patterns,’ I proposed the possibility of what we could do with one ball, and with 5,000 balls.” Costumes were redesigned by menswear’s Richard Chai.

With Arsham’s years of experience in stage design, the performance is a logical transition for Snarkitecture’s practice, but with the challenge of creating a lightweight set portable enough for touring. “Working within this, we created something that had a strong visual impact and some very unexpected moments that respond to the movement of the dancers,” says Mustonen.

“Why Patterns” runs from 3-7 August 2011 at the Jacob Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. Tickets are $23.50-$37.50, with special pricing on Friday. Visit Jacob Pillow Dance online to purchase and for more information.

Photos by Snarkitecture

Dezeen Screen: following the popularity of the movies in yesterday’s book competition to win copies of Folding Techniques for Designers by Paul Jackson, here’s a chance to see the films on Dezeen Screen. Watch the movies »

Crowd-sourced film festival exhibits work from new cinematic talent

I recently stopped by the 2nd annual Kickstarter Film Festival to do some sleuthing on up-and-coming film makers. The festival screens a collection of curated Kickstarter projects, including documentaries, animation and products. It was a perfect evening to enjoy some video outdoors and Kickstarter’s partnership with Rooftop Films facilitated an impressive set up in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. All 16 of the films shown are definitely worth a look, but the four below are standouts.

“The Twelve O’ Clock Boyz,” a documentary by director Lofty Nathan, follows three different Baltimore City residents, all deeply involved in the illegal dirt-bike riding scene.

This practice of rallying, racing and showboating in city streets has become deeply ingrained in the urban culture of The City That Reads, but the illegal and dangerous nature has made it a contentious issue between the communities involved. Born from a rising tension between social and economic classes within the city, the dirt bike culture has come to epitomize rebellion, release and expression for marginalized communities. Nathan explores these relationships and the deeper issues that gave birth to this subculture in what promises to be a fascinating look inside the contemporary existence of urban communities.

Most of us are familiar with Richard Nixon, as well as Watergate and the infamous tape recordings which emerged from it. Our Nixon takes advantage of another set of recordings from this era —previously unreleased Super-8 footage recorded within and around the Nixon White House by some of his closest associates.

In all, 204 reels of “home movies” were confiscated by the FBI as part of the Watergate investigation. This never before seen material offers an interesting look at the everyday goings-on surrounding one of the more scandalous administrations in American history.

Shot by Chief of Staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, Chief Domestic Advisor John Ehrlichman and Special Assistant to the President Dwight Chapin, the three took to documenting all kinds of seemingly trivial occurrences. Truly believing they were part of a revolutionary turning point in American history, even Easter egg collection on the Front Lawn was deemed worthy of historical import. Delusions aside, the film—which makes use of the footage by way of a campy trajectory and hilarious montages, combined with selected clips from Nixon’s recorded phone calls—effectively offers insight into the unseen aspects of the Executive Office. You can support documentarians Penny Lane and Brian Frye by pre-ordering a DVD from their site as the film is still in production.

Extremely touching, The Elders (subtitled “Everyone is a story”) explores of life lessons told through the experience of a series of senior citizens. Director Nathaniel Hansen spoke with people all over the country and from a wide variety of backgrounds, from coal miners to engineers. In each portrait, the characters talk about their experiences, and as their stories unravel we get a distinct window on how certain things change with age but many, like love and loss, remain constant through generations. Check out the official trailer above and head to the webpage for upcoming screenings and news.

One of the most visually impressive pieces of the festival, The Beast Pageant, follows Abe on his adventurous escape from his mundane crushing existence. Abe lives in a city where he resides alone, only accompanied by a giant machine that spits out his essentials for survival. A mysterious series of events, culminating in a tiny singing cowboy bursting from his stomach, sets Abe off on an adventure of a lifetime. With an impressive cast of characters and the bizarre world Abe finds himself in, the film is enchanting, engulfing the viewer into a trance-like state of mystery and intrigue.

Shot on a 16mm Bolex that writers and directors Albert Birney and Jon Moses claim they found in a dumpster, the film combines great storytelling with fantastic costumes, animations and set design serving as an exceptional example of what a group of determined people can accomplish with little-to-no cash. The film is available on DVD or for download at Indiepix. Check out the site for more info on how this piece came together in a one-room studio in a Rochester, NY factory.

The Kickstarter Film Festival is an excellent reminder of the importance crowd-sourced funding can play in the creation and encouragement of new media and artistic expression. Be sure to keep up with these emerging filmmakers and explore other creative projects that need help getting off the ground—all these films prove that a little support can go a long way.

New guides from the anti-tourist travel site

Only a few short months after its debut earlier this year, online travel hub Fathom has expanded its scope of original travel-related tales to include essential tips for planning trips to unfamiliar cities. The visually-pleasing site is filled with memorable stories and practical advice as colorful and intoxicating as featured destinations. With vibrant photographs linked to every post a taste of international travel is only a click away.

This unusually pleasant approach to vacation planning is no happy accident. Motivated by past experiences of wading through extensive recommendation lists, founder and CEO Pavia Rosati worked with editorial director Jeralyn Gerba to “create a beautiful place for the travel-proud to get inspired, then come back and share their adventures.”

So far, Fathom’s Postcards make up the bulk of the site. From product guides and photo galleries to videos and questionnaires, the Postcards contain first-person content written for travelers by travelers. Within the heading “I Travel for the…,” each post reveals whether such categories as food, romance or culture motivate the traveling contributor. The Tools section, an especially “useful amenity,” offers general resources for money tips, links to sites with the best airfare and travel-friendly applications for smartphones.

Fathom’s latest section to debut, Guides compiles incredibly helpful information for cities all over the globe. This includes cleverly-orchestrated itineraries like London’s “I’m Here on Business” and New York’s “Two Old Broads in NYC.” Other categories list top restaurants, hotels, shops, sites, and nightlife spots—all at varying price points—with an insightful blurb to help you pick the right ones for you. Written by locals who know the area best with content updated as needed, you can’t go wrong with Fathom’s city guides. Recognizing that savvy travelers refer to various sources, each venue listed also includes links to relevant news and travel sites that have something to say about that spot. For a short-form list of local essentials, every featured city also includes a Cheat Sheet with info like tipping customs and convenient forms of travel.

Fathom Guides are currently available for New York City, London, Berlin and The Hamptons. Sign up for Fathom’s newsletter to get your wanderlust going. Also, feel free to contribute to the site by sending in a postcard with your most exciting travel adventures.

Portuguese architect and set designer João Mendes Ribeiro has converted the former house of a poet into a writer’s retreat (photos: Do Mal o Menos).

Located in Coimbra, Casa da Escrita was formally named Casa do Arco and housed the late Portuguese poet João Cochofel (1919-1982).

The converted house now provides an archive, writing quarters and temporary accommodation for practicing writers.

The decorative ceilings and corniced walls of the historic house are painted white, while the rooms are filled with polished wooden furniture.

The legs of a newly inserted timber staircase enclose a shelved storage area below, whilst bookshelves are housed within rotating walls nearby.

The open archive is located in the attic, where lines of desks provide workstations for researchers.

Similar renovation projects from the Dezeen archive include a house with floating wooden treads, another with unfinished timber furniture and an apartment with folding doors and sliding walls.

More information is provided by the architects:

Recently awarded the Diogo Castilho 2011 Architectural Prize, the Casa da Escrita ñ former Casa do Arco and residence of the poet João Cochofel is located in the old upper part of Coimbra and is inserted in a dense urban set of predominantly residential narrow winding streets.

The program asked for the contemporary reuse of the building, adaptating it to new functions, reconciling patrimonial and symbolic values with the present demands for comfort and flexibility embodied in the “emptying” and simplification of the living spaces.

Moreover, all the furnish of Casa da Escrita was carefully selected in order to provide the adequacy of the new spaces to a new functional program and to a wide audience, without setting aside the reference to the original space and the houseís atmosphere of comfort and intimacy.

The house is now an open archive, writing workshop and temporary residence for writers supporting a broad set of different activities and interactions between literary writing and other artistic creations.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

See also:

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Groninger Museum renovation by Baas and Hayón	Shophouse Transformation by all(zone)	Alemanys 5 by Anna Noguera