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Wednesday, 31 August 2011

The Colour White

For all those who love monochrome painting



     During my visit to New York City, I spent two days by myself visiting two museums that I've been dreaming of visiting since I was a little girl, the Metropolitan Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.
   The Met put me in a state of awe at its grandeur and its enormous collection, and as I had only an hour and a half, I spent most of that time in the European Art section, where I saw some of the best impressionist works and such.
   However, the subject of this blog post is not about the Met so I shall talk about that some other time.
   At the Moma, the building being perhaps one of the most architecturally beautiful I have ever seen, I came upon something that sparked a certain sense of bewilderment.
   Ok, I feel like a little bit of an ignorant idiot not being to name the painting or the artist, but I will try to describe it as best as I can... If you happen to know what I mean, please comment and tell me.
  There was this painting, a blank canvas painted completely white, on its own wall. Despite the complete lack of colour, there was something eerily calm and grandiose about it, as if in its utter simplicity it was able to capture an entire audience. My first experience with Suprematism was more than slightly surreal, but it raised an interesting question.
  What is this fascination with the colour white?
   It has often been used to depict the idea of purity, of peace. It is the colour of doves, the sacred animal of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, as well as the colour of a fresh blanket of snow, covering everything in a silent perfection. White is the traditional colour of weddings, and walls painted white make a room seem even more spacious and light that it actually is.
  What I'm trying to say is that white is perhaps a magical colour. It has this ability to make things seem cleaner, bigger, brighter. Although it can, and has often been categorised as a boring colour, I believe that it is exactly the opposite. The different shades of white add freshness and a noticeable spark in any painting, whether it be the white of the subject's eyes or a white cloud in a pale blue sky.
  Wow, I just reread what I wrote and I feel like such a weirdo. Oh well, looks like no one is really paying attention to this at the moment. That's alright though, this personal project is actually quite beneficial at the moment.

  As usual, do leave comments about this topic. Is white one of your favourite colours? Do you enjoy monochromatic art? What does the colour white mean to you? I would love to hear from any of you reading, it really would be a joy :)

The Smell of Cinnamon

For Yumiko Kobayashi Pagnoux


    Alright, this may seem a little weird but I'm going to talk about the aroma of cinnamon as a second blog post.
  First of all, I need to admit something that will probably be a little bit of shocker and will make this topic of conversation seem even more bizarre, but here goes.
  The smell of cinnamon makes me feel sick.
  There, I said it.
  You know those smells that are supposed to be nice but just hit you with a wave of nausea? Well, cinnamon does that for me. I feel dizzy and my stomach literally churns, giving my face an ugly sallow complexion.
  Although the title of this blog post now seems a little contradictory, this is a writing exercise for me, to try to put myself in the shoes of the majority of the human population who loves the smell of cinnamon. You could perhaps label this as an 'emphatic essay', which happens to not be my forte funnily enough.
  Anyway, cinnamon, yes.
  There is something exotic about cinnamon that is often very appealing, and if one closes their eyes, they could possibly transport themselves back to the times of the Silk Route that traversed the entire continent of Asia, when there were no cars or airplanes, when traders relied on the sheer nerve and experience of those taking the Silk Route in order to obtain their merchandise. The uses of cinnamon can be dated back to Antiquity, as offerings to the Olympian God Apollo, and it was regarded as a spice for royalty as cinnamon was native to the faraway region of South East Asia.
  Alright, enough of the history lesson. I just found these facts very interesting. Moving along.
  My parents owned a bakery business and I remember working during the summers in the kitchen when I was young, helping out with the baking and cleaning and all those little odd jobs that I was given in order to give me something to do. The head pastry chef was a Chinese lady called Glynnis, who was, in retrospect, a very eccentric woman, but made, according to many, the best apple pies in the country.
  I hate pies and cooked fruit, and the smell of cinnamon, but I will be the first to admit that there is something very comforting about the aroma of apples being stewed in their own juices with a generous dosing of cinnamon and sugar. Perhaps this is why the smell makes people happy, the childhood sense of security in their mother's kitchen as she bakes something delicious to eat.
  Someone once told me that the smell of cinnamon makes them feel 'warm', the same kind of comfortable warmth that occurs when they get under the covers of a warm bed during a cold winter's day. As I live in a climate that never changes and is constantly over 30 degrees, I found this simile hard to imagine. Many of you might relate to this, I don't know, that's up to you.
  I dedicated this blog post to my little sister (well, she isn't that little, but that's just the overprotective older sister talking) as one of my favourite memories of her is stealing a few cinnamon sticks from a spa down the road because she wanted the smell of cinnamon on her hands. I found this both disgusting and endearing, and I had to stick my head out the window on the car ride home as the smell was giving me a pounding headache. However, there was something so innocent about her action that it hit me with the sudden realisation that, perhaps, the reason behind this eternal love affair with the aroma of cinnamon is that it reminds one of their childhood. Smell is a powerful thing, and it is often a better memory-trigger than sight. Cinnamon is used in hearty stews in Persian and Middle Eastern cuisine, and it is often an ingredient in hot chocolate: does cinnamon really remind you of when you were young?

   Share your thoughts on this line of discussion and tell me (and others) how you feel about the smell of cinnamon :)

Radiohead

 For Marie Binnert + Ramin Lahoda



     Radiohead... Oh dear, how do I start this
 I can remember why I fell in love with Radiohead, and when they became one of my favourite bands of all time. I was watching Romeo + Juliet, the 1996 film adaptation of one of William Shakespeare's most celebrated and well-known tragedies featuring Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio: I must have been almost twelve and I was captivated by the film. In the scene where Romeo is at the beach, depressed by the fact that his love for Rosaline is not reciprocal, a song plays... 'Talk Show Host' by Radiohead.
  For one moment, I was no longer watching the film, but swept away by the melancholy chords and the almost lazy drone of Thom Yorke's voice, the abstract lyrics that leave room for so many interpretations... It is still one of my favourite songs of all time, and I began my exploration of one of the most influential alternative bands.
  Perhaps what gives Radiohead its iconic sound is Thom Yorke's voice. He has once said that "It annoys me how pretty my voice is... how polite it can sound when perhaps what I'm singing is deeply acidic."This is very true, with story-telling lyrics that manage to narrate tales so intricately intertwined with hurt, angst and torture... Often Radiohead's material is more haunting than it is beautiful, but these two qualities are often synonymous when talking about music.
  John Greenwood and Ed O'Brien, multi-instrumentalists and members of the band, have been named some of the greatest guitarists of the modern era, Colin Greenwood, the bassist, has played some of the most recognisable bass lines and Phil Selway is, according to Gigwise, the 26th best drummer of all time: this collection of talent contributes to delivering the notes that sends your mind into a deep, sorrowful trance, prompting your head to follow the various cadences of their songs. Has that every happened to you? You're listening to '2+2=5', or something more along the lines of 'Fake Plastic Trees', and you find yourself closing your eyes, completely drowning out every other thought except for the images and the story in the song, or the almost too direct warnings in 'Karma Police' and in 'Bodysnatchers'...
Well, you get the point.
   The reason I chose to make my first blog post about Radiohead is the fact that after months of waiting, I was finally able to get The King of Limbs album, their new masterpiece. Although I will forever stay loyal to Ok Computer and In Rainbows, as well as Thom Yorke's solo album The Eraser, I have to say, their new album is absolutely amazing, for lack of a better word. The album came into my possession less than twenty four hours ago and I've listened to it maybe once every hour I've been awake, even falling asleep to the lullaby-like sounds of 'Bloom'. My favourite tracks on this album are 'Give Up The Ghost', with that repeating refrain 'Don't Hurt Me' which makes me shiver at the vulnerability which exudes from this one line.
  What a beautiful song.

Do leave comments about what you think about Radiohead, why they make you smile (or rather, why their music touches you and in what way, because Radiohead doesn't tend to make you smile, sorry about that). Hope you enjoy this post, it's my first attempt at blogging so go easy.
Thank you, I shall be back