Tape Art

Aakash Nihalani makes art out of tape. He creates geometric shapes (mostly rectangles and squares) in unlikely places around the streets of New York. He plays with the space of our everyday lives, offering temporary escapes from the routine way we view the world around us.

So simple, yet so clever. It makes you wonder, though— if tape on the side of a building can be art, what else can? It seems like in the right hands really anything can be. 

To see more of his work, check out Aakash Nihalani’s website! 

Bust a Rhyme (but it doesn’t have to)

“The Sick Rose” by William Blake

O Rose, thou art sick! 
The invisible worm 
That flies in the night, 
In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed 
Of crimson joy: 
And his dark secret love 
Does thy life destroy.

Bulb Heads

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593), Spring

Christian Thompson, Australian Graffiti, 2008

From Crayons to Reality

If you look back to the drawings you made when you were a little kid, they’re probably some of the most interesting and imaginative work you’ve every produced. In 2005, Korean artist Yeondoo Jung ran with this notion and collected the artwork of children between the ages of five and seven and recreated them as photographs in a series entitled Wonderland. The bright colors and dreamy landscapes capture the youthful energy of the original artists and the resulting photographs are just as fascinating as their inspiration! 

For more of Yeondoo Jung’s work, check out his website!

Foreign Film Whenever I feel like it-day

It’s been a while, no? Well, it’s back! This time we’re taking a look at the German film, Run Lola Run, or Lola rennt (literally “Lola Runs”). At just 81 minutes, it’s a lightning-paced, quirky film that is as creative as it is just plain bizarre. And in case you’re wondering… Lola does literally does run for the entire film. 

Quick Facts:

Title: Lola rennt (English version: Run Lola Run)

Year: 1998

Nationality: German

Director: Tom Tykwer

Stars: Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu

Movement/Genre: action, thriller (kind of?)

So we’ve got a logic-defying, visually fascinating, fast-moving thriller on our hands. We meet our heroine, Lola, when she gets a phone call from her distraught boyfriend Manni, a small-time criminal. He has accidently lost 100,000 marks that he owes his boss and has twenty minutes to come up with it or be killed. He plans to rob a nearby supermarket, but Lola insists she can get the money and meet him there on time. Immediately, the clock starts ticking and we are running alongside Lola as she attempts to do the seemingly impossible. 

We see the scenario play out three different times, each with varying outcomes. Tykwer seems to be playing with our conceptions of free-will and fate as we are faced with the implications of each of the three runs she makes. Not only does her story change with every slight alteration, but every time Lola interacts with another person, be it a conversation or just bumping into them on the street, it is followed with a series of snapshots depicting that person’s future (which is subject to change each time). They vary from being happily married with children to becoming drug addicts and committing murder. 

Run Lola Run throws a litany of filming techniques and cultural references to reinforce that concept of time manipulation, as well as a sense of stylized absurdity. The film employs split screens, quick edits, the photo snapshots, and most jarringly, animation. There are also several references to pop culture, from the inclusion of German contemporaries, such as legendary German football coach, Sepp Herberger, and famous German fairy tale narrator, Hans Paetsch, to allusions to the Hitchcock film, Vertigo. 

 Bottom line: there’s a lot going on here. The very simple plot and painstaking attention to detail insists that you stay alert, but does not require you to think. In fact, you could probably watch it a few times and keep finding new clues and secrets, but I’m not sure you’ll necessarily want to. At less than 90 minutes, there’s no reason you should miss it. I would say that it is absolutely worth seeing once, but once might be enough. 

Bust a Rhyme (but it doesn’t have to)

Forgotten Language by Shel Silverstein