Can Make Music

'Red Bull Can Make Music is all about you being creative with the can, using it as your instrument to create a piece of music. Ping it, tear it, bend it, pour it, sample it, distort it...' A creativity contest that challenges students to make and build a unique piece of music using only a Red Bull can, this is a great little mini site driven by user content and interaction. Users can create their own tracks from a set of pre-saved effects or submit their own recordings. There's also the opportunity to listen back, comment and vote on other users' tracks. The deadline for submission is 13th December 2008.

Salt, Peppa and Spinderella

Following on from my two posts about city dweller 'Robbie' and his unique videos of Boston and New York, I was immediately reminded of Birmingham-based band Johnny Foreigner and the video for their recent single, 'Salt, Peppa and Spinderella'. As one of my favourite new bands (MySpace linked above - check them out) it's great to see them finally gaining the recognition they deserve - even if this video was removed from MTV and other channels due to worries over epilepsy. The video itself looks to have been shot in much the same as the two I previously mentioned, through the shooting of thousands of photographs which are then played through rapidly in order to achieve a stuttering but ultimately engaging visual effect. As for the song - it's a summer anthem! Makes me think of going out in the city and having a laugh, sleeping on random peoples' floors after house parties and generally enjoying life.

3,000 photos, 3 weeks, 1 video (New York)

Following on from my post earlier this week, I found another video from 'Robbie' of Boston, this time featuring 3,000 photos of New York and spanning a longer time period of 3 weeks.



The song is 'Shape Of My Heart' by Noah and The Whale.

3,038 photos, 3 days, 1 video (Boston)

A Boston man going only by the name of Robbie painstakingly took 3,038 pictures on his Canon 5D SLR, documenting 3 days of his life, including train rides and visits to school and work. He then converted the photos into a short film by playing them rapidly in the order they were taken. The result is one of the most unique videos I've seen in some time. The accelerated, jerky effect caused by the use of static photos is reminiscent of the early black and white motion pictures of the late 19th century.

The song is 'Dry Lips' by Lightspeed Champion.

Reaction: The Mona Lisa Curse

Further to my post on Monday, and having watched the programme earlier tonight, The Mona Lisa Curse was, as expected, a thoughtful and insightful critique of the impact of celebrity culture and commercialisation on contemporary art ranging from Warhol to - more recently, and of particular relevance considering this recent auction - Hirst. Veteran art critic Robert Hughes puts forth a coherent and engrossing argument in which he states that 'art as a commodity' has painted over 'art as art'. In this portrayal of modern decadence it is claimed that the 'cheque book is fast becoming the guide to artistic merit', with the consequence that art is fast becoming something to be owned rather than appreciated. Indeed, Hughes highlights the transformation of the Mona Lisa 'from artwork into celebrity icon' as the stand-out symbol of said degradation.

'Fear of fairy tales'

Joanna Weiss, who covers television and pop culture for the Globe, Boston, makes an interesting critique of the modern-day fairy tale.

She argues that 'The glossy, sanitized new versions of fairy tales leave out what matters: the scary parts'. Disney is a business, though, and if that means it feels the need to define fairy tales for its target audience then that is what it will do. If parents want their children to learn life lessons from classic fairy tales, they should tell their kids themselves. A film shouldn't be expected to do a parent's job. And isn't part of the reason behind the dumbing down of the 'scary parts' of such films due to parents complaining about them in the first place anyway? Having said that, childrens' films are also there to stimulate the imagination and in that respect I take on board Weiss's views.

To watch: The Mona Lisa Curse

In the first film in Channel 4's Art and Money season, art critic Robert Hughes examines the influence of Da Vinci's painting and explores the changes in museums, production and consumption of art over the last 50 years. He talks to world famous artists and influential museum directors to assess how the rise of the collector has affected the value of art works.
Category: General Arts/Culture
Director: Mandy Chang
Executive Producer: Nick Kent
Channel 4 6:30pm-8:00pm (1 hour 30 minutes) Sun 21 Sep

More silhouettes

Came across this impressive video on a random blog and thought it followed on nicely from my previous post. Unfortunately I've been unable to get hold of any details, but I will update this post if I manage to find anything.