‘Las Calles de Borges’ is a short, beautifully shot piece that imagines how Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges sees what to most is simply mundane life. Watch the rest of it after the jump.
The future arrives in the present with a charity auction of 1500 pairs of long-coveted sneakers
Twenty-two years ago a film about time travel gave us a glimpse of the now not-too-distant future. The 1989 Back to the Future sequel looked forward to 2015, capturing the imaginations of kids like us who dreamed of one day riding their own hover board in self-lacing sneakers like Marty McFly. Those sneakers, a concept created by Nike’s own design head Tinker Hatfield alongside the film’s production team, went on to provide fodder for millions of clicks worth of Internet speculation, a petition and even DIY mock-ups. Today, this past vision of the future becomes a reality as Nike launches the Mag. Continuing to push the boundaries of limited editions, auctions and charity, 1500 pairs of the shoes will be available by auction only with the potential to raise $100 million for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research through a matching donation by Google’s Sergey Brin.
As Nike’s guest, I was present for the launch of this project in Los Angeles’ Universal Studios. A tour of the lot reminded us about the magic of movies, a point Hatfield reinforced by describing the original Mags’ oversized battery pack that bulged out of Fox’s back pocket—off camera, of course—to light up the LEDs in the shoes.
Nearly identical to the ones Fox work in the film, the shoes even include the LED panel in the sole and electroluminescent logo in the strap. Today’s version has a small internal battery hidden in each featherweight shoe. The glowing features last up to five hours per charge and the plug port neatly tucks away under the cuff.
Unfortunately, despite Nike filing the Automatic Lacing System patent back in 2009, the power laces detail from the film shoes didn’t make it to the production model. Given that feature shows a poetic respect for the needs of people suffering from the limited muscle control Parkinson’s Disease inflicts, Hatfield simply commented, “It’s not 2015 yet,” alluding to a future refresh of the Mag.
Back to the Future fans, sneaker-heads and philanthropists are invited to bid on the Mags in a series of one-day auctions that starts tonight at 11:30pm EST at nikemag.ebay.com and will run until 18 September 2011. To box out the typical reselling bonanza and ensure maximum dollars are contributed to to the cause, no pairs of shoes will be shipped until all 1500 pairs are sold. All proceeds will go to The Michael J. Fox Foundation and will be matched by Sergey Brin.
All photography by Josh Rubin
It looks like the total raised on eBay alone was $5,695,190.53 (before live auctions and matching grants)!
The U.S. Open of art: Rauschenberg’s 1966 performance pairing tennis and technology
Think branded interdisciplinary content is a recent phenomenon? In 1966 a unique project was hatched when conceptual artists and Bell Labs engineers collaborated on a series of live installations inside a National Guard Armory in New York City. One of those, “Open Score” by Robert Rauschenberg, pitted artists—including minimalist painter Frank Stella—against each other in a live game of tennis with rackets wired to switch the stage lights on and off and produce an aural musical score. Their movements were projected on large screens by infrared camera, giving the performers and the assembled crowd of 300 a ghoulish glow inside the cavernous armory
By all accounts electrifying, now 45 years later an exhibit at Seventeen gallery in London will showcase Swedish documentary maker Barbro Schultz Lundestam’s reexamination of the seminal moment in conceptual art history. She takes the audience back to those evenings in NYC with the principles involved explaining how they pulled it off and the effect they had on the actors and spectators. Check out a trailer for the 34-minute film here.
The 1997 documentary is also available for sale on DVD, but for those near London, the installation runs through 8 October 2011.
The first retrospective book on the 20th century’s film title master
Saul Bass, best known for transforming the way movies begin, was in fact a designer of incredible versatility. As design historian Pat Kirkham shows in his forthcoming book on Bass (co-authored with Bass’ daughter Jennifer), the legendary “visual communicator” also applied his graphic wizardry to album and book covers, typefaces, packaging, retail displays, a hi-fi system, toys and a postage stamp. He also illustrated a children’s book, collaborated with architects, directed films and developed identities for companies including Quaker, United Airlines, Dixie, AT&T, Kleenex, the Girl Scouts and more.
For much of his prolific career Bass worked side by side with his wife Elaine. Together, they came up with beautifully simplified concepts—many that still serve as benchmarks for intelligent design—and led the duo to work with and be revered by masters in their fields like Martin Scorsese, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Otto Preminger and Alfred Hitchcock.
Defining himself simply as “a creative person in the deepest sense of the word,” Bass allowed his imagination to guide the way, toying with metaphors and abstract symbols until he reached a point where it would make sense to his audience, yet purposely leaving out one element for the viewer to fill in. “The ambiguous is intrinsically more interesting, more challenging, more involving, more mysterious and more potent,” he explains. “It forces reexamination, adds tension, gives it life.”
Perhaps Bass’ most significant contribution was his ability to make Modern Art relatable to everyone. While his style experimented with abstraction and other contemporary tropes, his artistic interpretations were still easily digestible, having emotional impact no matter the project or medium.
Despite being one of the most sought-after designers of the 20th century, he never denied how terrifying a blank page can be. His tenacity, trying idea after idea even when they weren’t working, was a significant part of his process. “A modest amount of imagination with a great ability to persevere can produce an important work,” Bass proposed. The approach also speaks to the advantages of working on a range of projects. “By simultaneously working on a variety of problems, I find that one creative problem helps me solve another.”
With more than 1,400 illustrations—including many never-seen-before storyboards—”Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design” is an incredible look at the inner workings of his genius. The monograph will be available beginning October 2011 from publisher Laurence King, where you can sign up to be notified of its availability. You can also pre-order it from Amazon.
Our interview with the reigning world champ of women’s surfing
Earlier this year in Los Angeles, I had the chance to sit down with surfer Carissa Moore, 18, fresh on the heels of her win at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast in Australia. Since going on to also claim her first ASP World Champion title—the youngest to ever do so—at the Roxy Pro Biarritz last month, there’s perhaps no surfer who’s done more to advance the cause of women’s surfing than this Hawaii native.
Her dedication and skills (she’s been at it since age four and started competing professionally at six) have attracted unprecedented attention to the sport, including Nike sponsorship. The brand also backed the film “Leave a Message,” in which Moore totally dominates.
As the rising star gears up to compete this year’s Quicksilver Pro next month, read on to learn more about what it was like to be in the movie, snow surfing and keeping it all balanced.
Carissa Moore: I was about four or five when my dad pushed me into my first wave at Hawaii Beach, where I was born and raised and still live.
CM: My dad is actually a competitive swimmer. He won a lot of big open water swims and was an Ironman for a while. So he wasn’t a super serious surfer, but I think what’s awesome is that he applied a lot of the skills he’s learned from swimming to coaching me.
We’re best friends, we’re travel partners, he’s my coach. It’s neat! Sometimes it can get complicated because he’s both my dad and my coach. Coaches are always trying to push you to do better and sometimes I hear my dad and I think he’s not satisfied with me. But he’s always wanted the best for me and I think that’s made our relationship so sweet. It’s cool ’cause at the end when we accomplish something, there’s no person I’d rather share that with than my dad.
CM: My mom and I have an interesting relationship. I’m really thankful for everything that she’s done for me. I think that I definitely wouldn’t be here or be who I am today without the struggles and the relationship that I have with her. My parents divorced when I was 12 and when I was with her she didn’t really want me to go to the beach. She wanted me to go to school, she wanted me to go shopping, and she wanted me to be a girl. At the time I was always struggling with that because I was like, “I just love this. Why would you want to keep me from something that I love?”
But, it was almost a blessing because she kept me balanced. I graduated from high school last year and it was one of the best accomplishments I’ve had in life because it’s not just surfing. It also got me to appreciate my time in the water too because I didn’t have as much time as everybody else. So I was like, “Ah! I’ve got to be just as good and work even harder with the time that I have.”
CM: Ever since I was little, I’ve had a dream of traveling the world and surfing, being on the world tour and hopefully competing to be a world champ. It’s pretty cool ’cause I can say now that I’m living my dream. And I’m really stoked that my results this year have been pretty good.
CM: This is the coldest place I’ve been ever! But I did recently get my first hooded sweatsuit and it’s super thick. But I don’t know when I’m going to use that. My dream though (secretly) is to surf in the snow. Well, to trudge through the snow and go surfing for at least 10 minutes. People do it in New York and I think it would be a neat experience.
CM: Surf-wise, my favorite place is mainland Mexico, really down south. I love the type of wave there and the food too! The waves are mostly right-point breaks and it’s sand-bottomed so you don’t have to worry about reef. Surfing there is just super playful. Fiji is absolutely breathtaking and beautiful and I want to go back there. And then my dream place to go is Greece.
CM: This is the first surf movie that I’ve been a part of. There’s actually a lot of surfing porn films that are made. “Porn” meaning that they’re straight surf, straight action and not much lifestyle. There’ve been a few women’s surf films but nothing like this. This film is hardcore innovation stuff, which is closer to what the men are doing. I think that’s why this movie is so monumental in our sport.
I’m so stoked to be a part of it and stoked to be a part of the Nike team. I’m excited to see what the guys have to think about it too! But I think what’s cool about women’s surfing at the moment is that each girl has a lot of personality, which makes it have a different flavor than what the men’s tour has.
Our video with snowboarder Travis Rice on his epic new film
Travis Rice’s use of the word epic to describe his new snowboarding film “The Art of Flight” barely does the powder-crushing tour de force credit. The Herculean adventure, captured by the same type of Cineflex cameras used to film Planet Earth, shows Rice and his handpicked crew as they snowboard some of the wildest terrain around the globe.
The Art of Flight is Rice’s follow up to the award-winning film “That’s It, That’s All”—both shot by Curt Morgan, a snowboarder who turned to filmmaking after a serious back injury. A self-dubbed “tech geek,” Morgan and his boutique production house Brain Farm test the limits of aerial cinematography, shooting for outlets like National Geographic, ESPN, the U.S. Marine Corps and Red Bull Media House.
Primarily filmed in Alaska, Chile, Colorado, Argentina, Romania and Rice’s hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we caught up with the trailblazer in NYC where he explained some of the details of the two-year filming process. The insanely crisp high-def shots, combined with dramatic birds-eye views, create an almost first-person effect—an astounding portrayal of what it’s like to step into Rice’s boots as he and the team shred in often untouched territory.
The Art of Flight premieres 7 September 2011 in NYC, before touring the U.S. Tickets sell online or at a variety of snowboard shops for $20 each.
Reporting by Karen Day
A new clip showing Danny MacAskill’s unbelievable bike skills
As part of the U.K.’s Channel 4 series on urban action sports, Concrete Circus, Scotsman Danny MacAskill weaves, winds, hops, flips and otherwise impressively maneuvers his way through an abandoned ironworks factory in his native land. The entire collection of documentaries showcases specialized athletes in and out of their natural urban element, but few demand such widespread attention as MacAskill—as this clip proves.
Thanks to our friend Joey Lasley for the heads up, story via Pinkbike.
Voici le nouveau teaser du prochain film “Animus” autour de la discipline du freeski, mettant en scène une trentaine de riders. Prévu pour septembre 2011, le tout produit par PVS Company, réalisé par Antoine Frioux et David Lacote. A découvrir en vidéo HD dans la suite de l’article.
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Découverte de cet excellent court-métrage intitulé “Bridge” et réalisé par Ting Tey dans le cadre de son film de fin d’études à l’Academy of Art University 2010 de Los Angeles. Il met en scène 4 personnages et animaux essayant de traverser le pont, avec plusieurs obstacles.
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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.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
