The Magic of the Cities.

Zen promotes the rediscovery of the obvious, which is so often lost in its familiarity and simplicity. It sees the miraculous in the common and magic in our everyday surroundings. When we are not rushed, and our minds are unclouded by conceptualizations, a veil will sometimes drop, introducing the viewer to a world unseen since childhood. ~ John Greer

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Biombos...De Ida y Vuelta / Screens


BIOMBOS…DE IDA Y VUELTA. De Mónica Mariscal.
 Exposición conformada por obras que además de movimiento, le ofrecen al potencial espectador dos opciones o dos caras que apreciar en el mismo trabajo. “Hacer Biombos me pareció atractivo ya que así lograba mi objetivo. Tienen dos caras y también movilidad. Un biombo es todo misterioso, por un lado vas y por el otro vuelves. Lo que a unos escondes se lo quieres mostrar a otros. Un poco como el agua o el viento que se cierra, abre y despliega.


Casa Lamm

Monday, May 28, 2007

Reflejo / Reflection


Banca Reflejo" de Alberto Parodi, de la exhibicion en Paseo de la Reforma, “Dialogo de Bancas”. [‘Reflection Bench’ by Alberto Parodi, from the exhibition ‘Benches Dialogue’ at main street of the city.]

Friday, May 25, 2007

Biblioteca Central UNAM


Central Library at University City (Ciudad Universitaria. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) with Murals by Juan O'Gorman

Saturday, May 19, 2007

TinTan


Tin-Tan, was a Mexican actor, singer and comedian. He often displayed the pachuco dress and employed pachuco slang in many of his movies, some with his brothers Manuel "El Loco" Valdés and Ramón Valdés. He made the language of the Mexican American Pachucos famous in Mexico. A "caló" based in Spanglish, it was a mixture of Spanish and English in speech based on that of Mexican immigrants.
He usually acted with his "Carnal" (sidekick), Marcelo Chávez, who also accompanied Tin Tan with a guitar. He was a very important figure during his golden years of movie making, from 1949. His 1948 movie, Calabacitas tiernas, a comedy, was chosen as one of the best in Mexican cinema.
He has the record of having kissed the most actresses in his career, some of them the beauties of their day. Some of his co-stars were Marga López and Rosita Quintana.
He was also one of several people who were originally intended to be on the front cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but were ultimately excluded. He requested that Ringo swap him for a Mexican Tree, and he did.


Wikipedia

 

Friday, May 18, 2007

Duo



“Banca Duo" de Hector Lopez A., de la exhibicion en Paseo de la Reforma, “Dialogo de Bancas”. ‘Duo Bench’ by Hector Lopez A., from the exhibition, ‘Benches Dialogue’ at main street of the city.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Marketing


Spider-Man 3: Web Of Influence In Kid-Culture
There are plenty of spins on the Spider-Man 3 record-breaking $382 million worldwide “priciest movie ever made” buzz…so I’m going to take a deconstructionist view about summer box office biggies, and look at the impact of media hype-fests on kids.
Not pickin’ on Spidey, here; haven’t even seen the flick yet, I’m talking about a global web of pop culture influence that has a much more nuanced reach.
Movie launches are inevitably 360 degree marketing surround sound, that part is a given: Kids are cocooned like flies in a sticky web of consumerism, marketers target “sticky eyeballs” with online advergaming, official video games (SM3 got mixed reviews) and some fun “user-generated” contests that tap into teens’ digital creativity with retailers like Target’s “spin a webisode” or social media tools like PhotoBucket’s campaign allowing its 39 million users to create “Spider-Man-braded slide shows” with their photos. Then there’s the ubiquitous junk food branding, jammies, toys, sheets, and home goods so even wee ones aren’t “left out” of the Spidey spin. This article, Caught In A Web At Age 3 weaves an educational spin on Marvel comic books software offering an alternative to tots’ exposure to the movie itself.
Amy Jussel
Turn down the media volume!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Leonardo Nierman





























Juarez Ave. and two sculptures of painter & sculptor Leonardo Nierman. In the background the Latinoamericana Tower.

Widely regarded as one of Mexico's leading contemporary artists, Leonardo Nierman creates works that challenge and inspire, drawing upon themes from the beauty of nature to the mysteries of the cosmos and beyond.
Born in Mexico City in 1932 to immigrants from Eastern Europe, Leonardo Nierman's first artistic pursuits were focused on music, while academically he was drawn to the area of physical and mathematical sciences. As a young man, he realized that his dream of becoming a professional violinist was not to be. However, his musical studies provided him with a point upon which his artistic career would focus.
"Music and painting are very much alike – both have tonalities, rhythms, high-intensity areas and resting areas," he says. "It was not until after I left music that I started to feel color."
He went on to earn his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the National University of Mexico in 1951, and for the next several years began to formulate his theories on light, color and form while honing his skills as a painter and sculptor.
Since then, his art has employed a rich mixture of natural and cosmic forces, allusions to modern science, and, of course, music.
His works – paintings, sculptures, textiles – are in major collections around the world, including the Vatican Gardens, the Albert Einstein Institute of New York, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Israel's Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, and Milwaukee's own Jewish Community Center.
In 2002, his sculpture entitled "Flame of the Millenium" was installed at the Ohio Interchange along Chicago's Kennedy Expressway as part of the Chicago Gateway Green highway beautification project. Reaching 25 feet in height, this shining monument to hope and human aspirations is constructed of 25 tons of polished stainless steel. It is also a fitting monument to Nierman himself - a masterful and idealistic artist and philosopher.
Latino Arts Inc.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Parroquia de Santiago Apostol / St. James Parish




Church build by Franciscans in 1585 at Chalco, a little town near Mexico City.


James, son of Zebedee
Saint James, son of Zebedee (d. AD 44) was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the Evangelist. He is called Saint James the Greater to distinguish him from the other apostles named James (James, son of Alphaeus). James is described as one of the first disciples to join Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels state that James and John were with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them to begin traveling (Mt.4:21-22, Mk.1:19-20). According to Mark, James and John were called Boanerges, or the "Sons of Thunder" (3:17). Acts of the Apostles 12:1-2 records that King Herod had James executed by sword (Ac.12:1-2).
According to ancient local tradition, on 2 January of the year AD 40, the Virgin Mary appeared to James on the bank of the Ebro River at Caesaraugusta, while he was preaching the Gospel in Spain. She supposedly appeared upon a pillar, Nuestra Señora del Pilar, and that pillar is conserved and venerated within the present Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, in Zaragoza, Spain. Following that apparition, St James returned to Judea, where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44.


Answers.com


 

Friday, May 4, 2007

400 Pueblos 1

400 Pueblos 2

400 Pueblos 3


Next sunday at the Zocalo (Main Square) will take place the Spencer Tunick outdoor installation, meanwhile The Movement of The 400 Villages ( Movimiento de los 400 Pueblos ) Nude and semi-nude Mexican farmers, men and women, from Veracruz state protested for a former governor and senator at this day, send to jail in only 4 days more of 500 peasants and stolen almost 5000 acres of their land. From time to time, they came to the city to rise their demands for justice, but nobody pays attention to them. Sorry for the nudes. See previous post (Nov. 30 2006) Here.