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More photos @ http://www.kingtexas.net
Download the full set here.
August 7, 2009 at 4:08 pm / No comments / View King Texas's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
Ever a devote fan of the ballet, I have often been shamed by the fact that I had never seen Yinka Shonibare’s piece Odile and Odette, 2005. I finally had the opportunity to experience the 14 minute film; I sat through it twice. If you’re not up on Shonibare you had better get your Wiki on and head to the Brooklyn Museum for his exhibition Yinka Shonibare MBE. Shonibare is known for colliding Victorian garments with African-inspired prints, often placing his Victorian garbed mannequins in sexual errr…orgiastic positions as satirical commentary of Victorian contradictions.
Odile and Odette, 2005, is Shonibare’s version of a scene from Swan Lake, where the evil Odile pretends to be the innocent Odette to seduce the Prince. Traditionally, both parts are played by the same dancer, wearing different costumes of course: Black for the evil Odile and White for the innocent Odette. In Shonibare’s remix, he uses two dancers, and exchanges costumes for race. Perfect syncronization. Flawless lines.
Art is subjective, so what Shonibare is saying is open to interpretation. It’s pretty much accepted that the two dancers are used in tradition of Tchaikovsky’s characters, to convey the ideas of color and race associations of Black is evil and darkness, and White is purity and innocence. Or it’s meant to show off his amazing tutus and the dancers’ gorgeous lines.
August 4, 2009 at 2:24 pm / No comments / View Brew's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
I’m super excited about this!!!
August 4, 2009 at 1:53 pm / No comments / View M.J.'s Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
Design: Suppose Design Office, Japan
Lead Architect: Makoto Tanijiri
More details here.
August 2, 2009 at 1:14 pm / No comments / View M.J.'s Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
So i’m always on the hunt for new teachers. Masters of light, visuals and sound. Where the hell have I been!? I introduce to you Alejandro Jodorowsky. Known for his endless amounts of symbolism and mysticism, Jodorowsky work is sheer brilliance. Did I mention he is an accomplished tarot reader??
I mean who doesn’t like a good warp on reality? I’m praying my copy of Holy Mountain I ordered gets here soon. today. now. If you get a chance to scoop up some of his work, do so. It will be well worth your shiny penny I promise you.
August 2, 2009 at 12:56 pm / No comments / View The Bastard Gentleman's Profile /
August 1, 2009 at 11:35 am / No comments / View King Texas's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
A few weeks ago, I found myself at the Compound for their Rural Haiti Project benefit. Artists discussed the importance of honesty and integrity in their work, belly dancers played with fire, children danced to the rhythm of the bongos. No one in attendance seemed to have anything in common as far as appearance is concern, least of all the man who trailed behind me as I made my exit, who begged the question: “What kind of people are these?” Before I could turn to answer, the sky opened up.
I came across that same bongo beat, a slower version of “Bongo Jam” by Crazy Cousinz, a few blocks later. A cipher had formed around Afro-Cuban beats, where head-nods blended with pounding of dancing fingers–and the rain. Emcees spouted poetry, and weaved fables through the beats: “Don’t call me a rapper/I speak truth./I am a storyteller./I hail from on high to bring…” Heads rolled and every mind expanded.
I left the cipher with the answer to his question:
They–We are artists, creators, innovators. Leaders of a new tomorrow–emissaries and revolutionaries, fighting for a utopic symbiosis of life, love, creation, and freedom. We are the past, the present, the future, and the NOW. We are LIFE. We are individual grains of sand comprising our self-made island, knowing no walls, and no country. We stand together–alone. We are Maroons.
July 31, 2009 at 10:15 am / No comments / View Brew's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
July 31, 2009 at 8:38 am / No comments / View King Texas's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
Brooklyn Bridge
July 29, 2009 at 1:04 am / No comments / View King Texas's Profile / Follow this Maroon on Twitter!
“I’m an artist, a musician, a magician, a writer, a singer; I’m everything. My name is Lee from the African jungle, originally from West Africa. I’m a man from somewhere else, but my origin is from Africa, straight to Jamaica through reincarnation; reborn in Jamaica…”
July 29, 2009 at 1:03 am / No comments / View The Bastard Gentleman's Profile /
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