Artist Statement Number One

Artists make art. Artists are a strange breed of creators, thinkers of the unknown, and doers of the impossible. Pretentious as it sounds, I consider myself an artist. But I believe this it is a gift you are born with, sort of a gene. You do not necessarily need to be trained in art; rather it is something that comes naturally to some people. This is not to say that you cannot perfect your technique and craft by learning from masters and practice. Being an artist is in your DNA, a calling you can not turn away from, an inner voice that nags at your very being morning to night. You have no choice; it is part of who you are and how you express yourself.

My own art tells a story. Whether it is a photograph or a film, I try to show a glimpse into another world, a reflection into another’s life. My photographs trigger a memory and a statement about a time and place. Art is a way of reliving past experiences, and conveying an expression of it to others. It is very personal to me. A great philosopher has said, “Individuality of expression is the beginning and end of all art”(Goethe).

I am attracted by light patterns, the nuance of a gesture, and images that express my unique visual sense. My images tell a story, brief narratives of life. Whether it is a fashion shoot, photos of taxis in the night in the Czech Republic, a study of kids’ with bad hair cuts, the golden light of early morning on a Parisian street, the futurist architecture of Berlin, the back stage frenzy of a German Cabaret theatre, the women of Moscow, one of Kyoto’s last Geisha, wacky dogs, or night views of the city from Mulholland Drive, I hope to share with the viewer what I experience, and how I see the world. The thrill of looking through the lens, the rush of capturing a moment, and the sheer pleasure of sharing it with people has never left me.

Everyone has their own personal way of viewing any work of art. The same image can tell a different story to each person that views it and that story might be quite different from the artist’s original intent. This is one of the wonderful things about art.

Alexander Roos Blog

Assignment 5 4-17-09

Alex and the Pirates

Group members: Zoe, Lindsey, Stephanie and myself

Assignment: To create a work of art in which all members of a group participate and use their unique talents.

Once assigned to my group, I knew instantly what we should do:  a print ad for a shoe company. This would combine Zoe’s graphic design abilities and showcase Lindsey’s and Stephanie’s dance skills as the models. I would perform the duties of producer and art director.  Because our group had talented dancers as models, I intended to inject a feeling of motion into the shoot and eventual ad.

The product to be sold in the ad would be shoes and I needed to find a company that had a visually interesting line of shoes.  I approached Cydwoq (pronounced sidewalk), an LA based company that makes handmade leather shoes.  I chose Cydwoq because I wear their shoes and I am impressed with their offbeat artistic designs. They have developed a niche following and saw this ad as a way to reach the youth market.

The next step was to find a location that matched the style of the shoes and that would allow for the dance motion I wanted for the ad. The shoes are architecturally inspired so the location was very important. I have a friend who has a cool penthouse in a downtown skyscraper. He thought it would be a fun idea so he agreed to let us shoot.

 I am a photographer and originally wanted to take the pictures myself, but ultimately asked my friend Jessica Janos to shoot the ad.  I discussed with Jessica the style and concept of the ad, and we came up with a way to execute my vision. I wanted to show everyone respect and to embrace their contributions and opinions.

We are now in the final stage which is the photo shopping of the appropriate images. Zoe is the master of this.  We are collaborating on the look of the ads.  A key decision will be where to put the Cydwoq logos.  Potentially it will be an online ad.  It will be great to see the finished product.

Over all, I wanted to create a shoot that utilized all my group’s expertise and artistic talents. It was important to me to create a work of art that had purpose and substance and could be used as a calling card for possible job opportunities in the future.

I either have Prof. Feagin to thank or I am got lucky to be paired up with my pirates who inspired me.  Thank you Zoe, Lindsey and Stephanie.

Prettyface, The Movie

My filmmaking experience has knocked me out of my comfort zone. Currently, I am a co-producer on a feature film project titled Prettyface that is in pre-production. Because filmmaking is collaborative by nature, I am one of many “artists” working on this project hoping to get it realized. I have found that being a producer requires a strange cocktail of qualities like patience, creativity, intuition, diplomacy, and the need to be a perpetual optimist. I believe that the best producers are artists and that their taste and choices impact every aspect of the filmmaking art. The art making process for a movie is different than anything I have experienced before.
As with all films, the project begins with a concept, an idea that develops into a script. The film’s very talented director and writer Jessica Janos has written a compelling and unique script that has proven to be very attractive to actors. Prettyface is set in 1969 Chatsworth, California when that area of Los Angeles was sparsely populated and was mostly chaparral, horse trails, and dry creek beds. Two fifteen-year-old girls, best friends but very different from each other, are the main protagonists. “Jenna” has no father in her life and a mostly absent and “skanky” mother. She has street smarts and the soul of a poet. Her neighbor and friend “Marlena,” is from a loving nuclear family but she is very naïve, square, and religious. While the girls are riding horses in the nearby brush country, one of their horses runs off. They are intent on getting the horse back. A good-looking young man on horseback comes upon them and offers to help find their horse. He also invites them to a party that he and his friends are having that evening at an old deserted movie ranch. Naïve “Marlena” is up for it but “Jenna” is wary and only agrees to go when the boy says it is the best place to find the lost horse. It turns out that this is actually the Spahn ranch, the temporary hangout of the Manson family. This is not a story of the famous Tate- LaBianca murders, but the events that happen to the girls during the next several hours are the crux of the story and their lives will be changed forever.
A great thing about filmmaking is that each new project allows you to immerse yourself in some new era, place, and culture. Working on Prettyface, I had to learn about the sixties, a sex, drugs, and rock and roll period. The most daunting job so far has been the casting process. Daveigh Chase and Lorraine Nicholson have been chosen to play the fifteen-year-old girl characters. The casting of the role of “Charlie” was the most difficult. He needed to be someone unconventional, and Jessica had a brilliant idea, Flea, The bass player of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (who incidentally is now studying composition at the USC’s School of Music.) Flea looks exactly like the real Charles Manson. Though primarily a musician, he has acted in several good films with top directors such as the Coen Brothers, Tim Burton, and Gus Van Zandt.
My experience on this film has illuminated a whole part of the filmmaking process that was new to me and will be invaluable in my career. The very nature of filmmaking is a collaborative effort, very different from an individual artist creating by himself.
Prettyface is hoping to begin shooting Summer 2009 and be released 2010.

http://www.prettyfacemovie.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PRETTYFACE-The-Movie/51095864340


Alexander Roos Extra Credit #1-Ass. 2, 4-15-09

Ernst Lubitsch, A Film Legend

It has been said that a man named Ernst Lubitsch invented the modern Hollywood. Who was this man and what does that extravagant statement mean? It was the early thirties, the beginning of the great depression and the beginning of talking pictures. The American public was down and hurting and movies were the cheapest escape and entertainment. But a new type of movie was needed to take advantage of this different kind of film in which characters actually talk to each other. Lubitsch, an immigrant from Germany and a veteran actor and then director in that country’s thriving film industry, virtually single handedly created a new genre to take advantage of sound; the romantic comedy. He adapted movie stories from European literary sources to American taste and created movies that were sophisticated and sexy but above all, entertaining and funny. These films, which came to be called Romantic Comedies, were just the tonic that the public needed to help them momentarily forget their woes. Other filmmakers much admired Lubitsch and soon followed his lead to make films in this new genre; some of the most famous being Frank Capra, Leo McCarey, Howard Hawks, and Preston Sturges.

The Romantic Comedy, this Lubitsch invention, has remained a staple of the American film, though today it is hardly recognizable from the great ones that Lubitsch made. One of the prime practitioners of the romantic comedy today is Judd Apatow who has either directed or produced such films as: The 40-year-old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Superbad (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and Pineapple Express (2008). Funny though they are, the humor is of a crass nature and there is none of the subtly or sophistication of Lubitsch films. Nevertheless, they fill the same need for escape that the public needs today during these days of recession and hard times, as the great master Lubitsch provided during the thirties depression.












Apatow’s Romantic Comedies Movie Posters

Assignment 3, Extra Credit #1

Nam June Paik “The Godfather of Video Art”

The Korean born video artist Nam June Paik has a special place in contemporary American Art history; he is widely known as “the Godfather of Video Art.” He resided in New York until his recent death. As the legend goes, in the sixties, Paik was one of the first to receive a Sony camcorder. On his way home in the cab from Rockefeller Center, Paik placed the camera out the window and shot what is widely acclaimed to be the first work of video art, an unedited piece of grainy raw footage. It was an action that today seems so normal, but imagine the importance of an artist so quickly seeing the potential in this new technology. Over the years Paik became internationally recognized as a conceptual video artist and his work has been exhibited and collected by major art museums around there world including ones in Germany, Australia, Spain, the U.S. and so on.

Nam June Paik, 1986 (Photo, Rainer Rosenow)



“Watching Buddha”
Mixed media, 46 7/8 x 15 3/8 bys 475/8 in.

http://www.paikstudios.com/bio.html

This work is for sale and for a million dollars and change, it can be yours.
“Watching Buddha” is a work of art comprised of a wooden painted elephant that has a sculpture of a glided Buddha roped on top of its back. Buddha is sitting in the lotus position on top of a prayer rug. The Buddha is directly facing a video monitor. Next to the elephant is a camera on top of a tripod recording the Buddha’s face, which is staring at the monitor of his own image. The cyclical meditative nature of the piece is critical. Paik drew his inspiration and images from his own life. He was a devout Buddhist and would create many variations on that theme, using the elements of TV and Buddha in his lifetime.





Alexander Roos Extra Credit #2 -1

“Eraserhead”

“Eraserhead” (1977) written and directed by David Lynch is one of the strangest and most unique films ever made. What it is about, I can’t really say; only that there are strange things that happen to and around a young man whose head looks like a pencil eraser. It is all mood and weirdness, but you never forget it once you have seen it.
Lynch began the film while a student at the American Film Institute. It is said of Lynch and “Eraserhead,” according to film historian David Thomson “It was not just a student film, but as private as any solitary art like writing or painting.” Apparently Lynch did everything; he wrote, directed, special effects, photographed. His characters are weird, sometimes grotesque and repelling. The late musician Peter Ivers wrote and sang the song “Everything in Heaven is Fine” for a character that is a strange cupie doll with a melon size growth on her face.
“Eraserhead” found an audience in weekly midnight screenings at a theatre in Venice. It slowly gathered a cult following.
From “Eraserhead” one would expect that Lynch would make only small experimental films. However, he went on to make great films that also found a wide audience such as “Blue Velvet” (1986) and “Mulholland Dr.” (2001), and “Elephant Man” (1980). Lynch also made his mark with a twisted and dark television melodrama “Twin Peaks.”


Links:

AFI
http://www.afi.com/Education/

David Lynch
http://www.davidlynch.de/
http://www.davidlynch.de/head.html

Alexander Roos Extra Credit #2.2

Sam Taylor-Wood's Self Pieta Ass#3

Madonna Reincarnated

Contemporary artists often turn to old masterworks as inspiration or to reinterpret their composition and subject matter. sometimes these artists are referred to as "Copyists" but wha tevery label, masterwork references can be seen in work by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, and too many other artist to list. This is exactly what Sam Taylor-Wood has done in her "Self Pieta," c type print photograph, c. 1976. the artist has photographed a man across the lap of a woman of similar age and positioned them on stairs. the artist is brave if not a clever soul to take on Michelangelo's "Pieta."

"Pieta" (1499) is a marble life-size sculpture of Mary holding Christ's body across her knees after his crucifixion. Michelangelo sculpted this masterwork when he was only twenty four years old. This work is highly finished and is considered by most art critics and we commoners to be a masterpiece. Rather than signs of agony and suffering that one would expect on the faces of Jesus and Mary, their faces are serene and in a state of peace. The whole work conveys a sense of promise and hope for the future, rather than tragedy. Did Taylor-Wood measure up as an artist with her work?

Taylor-Wood is the young woman who has a man, the actor Robert Downey Jr draped across her lap. The pose is similar to Christ's body draped across Mary's lap in Michelangelo's work. Again, like Michelangelo's, Taylor-Wood as Madonna shows strong muscular legs, even masculine ones. this is a good thing, as she needs to be strong to bear the incredible burden of of a man's body in her lap. The man's eyes are closed and his arms are out-stretched. He looks fast asleep. The woman/Madonna is gazing into his face with concern. like Michelangelo's you see that there is a a relationship between the two figures. they are in a state of grace , bliss, and rapture, whereas Taylor-Wood in her looks compassionate and amused.

When one views Sam Taylor-Wood's "Self Pieta" you get it- the references and the artist's intent. The Michelangelo's original can leave you in awe, while Taylor-Wood's photograph makes you smile.

Self Pieta 2001 Sam Taylor-Woods b. 1967 C print type 49 x 49 in

Pieta 1499 Michelangelo 147-1564

174 cm St. Peter’s Vatican

http://www.tba21.org/program/exhibitions/9/artwork/380?category=exhibit

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/all/00304/facts.michelangelocomplete_work.htm

Alexander Roos

Blog Ass#3

Willkommen ladies and gentlemen:

Let me tell you the story of Cabaret, that unique and tantalizing art form that flourished in Berlin in the 20’s and 30’s; how it changed and survived during the war and later in the divided city and how its spirit is still expressed today in Berlin, truly one of the most vibrant and sublime cities in the world.






After World War I in the 20’s Berlin became the “go to” place in Europe for the arts, literature, music, film, architecture, and intellectual life. Here, small clubs and restaurants began to put on entertainment shows, which were lively with music dance, scantily clad girls, and always an emcee that commented on the politics and everyday life of the city. The emcee would talk and sing daring and risqué lyrics and patter. He was often effeminate but always charming and entertaining. Drinking and sex were an important part of the cabaret atmosphere. The music was hot, mostly German interpretations of American jazz, Argentine tangos, and Cuban rumbas mixed with German folk songs. There were new songs of the day written by some of Berlin’s best composers such as Friedrich Hollander, Ralph Benatzky, Wener R. Heymann and Mischa Spoliansky.
Performers were the unforgettable Margo Lion, Anita Berber, Rosa Valetti, Paul Graetz, and Marlene Dietrich.







“Life is beautiful. The girls are beautiful.
Even the orchestra is beautiful” (Cabaret 1972).


“There were nightclubs with telephones on each table, from which one could request a foxtrot or proposition guests at other tables. There were clubs with female impersonators, clubs featuring political satire, and clubs where people fornicated on the stage, in which pasttime the public asked to join. And did”(Nebenzal 6).

“I saw imported belly dancers from Turkey, from Egypt, sloe-eyed Armenians, Circassians, Sudanese, Egyptians: quivering, jiggling, driving the German clientele wild. For this was a period in which the Germans were besotted by exotica; Negro saxophone players from America, uniformed doormen from Senegal, mulatto chorus girls from Havana were all the rage”(Nebenzal 14).

By 1933 it was all over...




I love the city of Berlin with all its dark past and hidden secrets, as well its modern streamlined re-incarnation. To me, the artistic soul of Berlin is Cabaret, with its roots traced to the club scene of the 1920’s and early 30’s. During the early Weimar period, it was a time of tremendous sorrow and hardship for most Berliners. Cabaret provided an escape from their misery. They irony was that inside the cabaret, one could feel good and happy for a couple of hours; one could momentarily feel oblivious to the evil that was growing outside as the Nazis rose to power. Everything would soon change and the scene was over by 1933. Many of the great performers, composers, actors, and artists were Jewish and would flee the country or be killed.




The Nazis could not kill the German spirit. I believe that Berlin’s cabaret-type theatre offers a unique perspective on the human spirit and man’s ability to survive; no matter what trouble and misery people face. People will always adapt and keep living life and somehow find something good to enjoy. In my two trips there, I discovered that the Cabaret tradition has survived even today. It has reinvented itself.

What first grabbed my eye was the sheer decadence of the performances: a fantasy world filled with beautiful blonds with top hats, high heels, and fish net stockings who sang and danced with panache. But as I learned more, I realized it was a true art form and also a way of life. “You can leave all your troubles of the world at the door.” Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel” was a glimpse into that era. She was the original femme fatale. I have done photo shoots in the style of cabaret as well as shot film footage in many contemporary Berlin cabaret clubs and theatres. Images of cabaret pierce into my mind and will stay with me. Berlin Cabaret is hot, sexy, and sublime. Enjoy!


Photos of Berlin and Cabaret Documentary by Alexander Roos

Marlene Dietrich in “The Blue Angel” - film still

Books:

Döblin, Alfred. Berlin Alexanderplatz: The Story of Franz Biberkopf. New York:Continuum,2004.

Jelavich, Peter. Berlin Cabaret “Studies in Cultural History.” Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993.

Isherwood, Christopher. The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr. Norris and Goodbye to Berlin. New York: New Directions Book,1935.

Gordon, Mel. The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity. Los Angeles: Feral Press, 2006.

Knud, Wolffram. TANZDIELELN UND VERGNÜGUNGSPÄLASTE. Germany: Edition Hentrich,1968.

Kaes, Anton. The Weimar Republic Sourcebook “Weimar and Now, No 3.” Berkeley: University of California Press,1994.

Kershaw, Ian. The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation. New York: Oxford Press,2000.

McCormick, Richard W. Gender and Sexuality in Weimar Modernity: Film, Literature, and New Objectivity. New York: Palgrave,2002.

Munz, Lori,ed. Cabaret Berlin: Revue, Kabarett And Film Music Between The Wars.Germany:edel classics,2005.

Nebenzal, Harold.Café Berlin. Woodstock:The Overloook Press,1992.

Peukert, Detlev. The Weimar Republic. New York: Hill and Wang,1987.

Senelick, Laurence. Cabaret Performance: Europe, 1890-1920. Volume 1: Sketches, Songs, Monologues, Memoirs. New York:PAJ Books,1987.

Ward, Janet. Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in 1920’s Germany:Weimar and Now.German Cultural Criticism. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Roth, Joseph. What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933. New York: W.W. Norton & Company,2003.

Film:

Fosse, Bob. Cabaret. Los Angeles: ABC Pictures and Warner Brothers, 2000.

Pabst, G.W. The Three Penny Opera. Berlin: German Films, 1931.

Ruttmann, Walter. Berlin: Symphony of a Great City. Germany, Fox-Europa Films. 1927

Von Sternberg, Josef. The Blue Angel. New York: Kino Video, 2001.

Music:

Benatzky, Ralph, and Heyman, Werner R.Cabaret Berlin. Germany: edel Classics, 2005.

Dietrich, Marlene. All Star Series, The Blue Angel. Denmark: Jezebel, 1991.

Hollaender, Freidrich. Cabaret Berlin. Germany: edel Classics, 2005

Liane & The Boheme bar Trio. Cabaret Songs of Berlin. New York: Omega Record Company,1995.

Lenya, Lotte et al., Die Dreigroschenoper Berlin 1930. Germany: Warner Music, 2002.

Lenya, Lotte et al., The Three Penny Opera. New York: Univeral Classics, 2000.

Les Annees Folles.German Cabaret in the Twenties. Pris: EPM, 2000.

Nelson, Rudolf. Cabaret Berlin. Germany: edel Classics, 2005

Spoliansky,Misha. Cabaret Berlin. Germany: edel Classics, 2005