May 2006 Archives
This weekend Abe and I were on the set for the filming of a new documentary in which one of the producer is a friend of his. Half way through, the crew began to get hungry so this producer, her assistant and I hopped onto a copter to pick up 200 falafel sandwiches from the city. They were filming out in South Hampton (how the billionaires that own homes out there pay for the utilities- rent them out to movie production companies). The view of Manhattan at night is remarkable. In case you don't know (a little secret about me), a few years ago I started investing in the production of movies under the alias Drama Empire®. Independent film/theater is one of my deepest passions. Free expression art and funding revolutionary films.
Last week, I was in my new favorite basement-turned-lounge chatting away with some peers- won't post the name of the place because it has under 10 tables and is my only place for seclusion in this city and when word gets around, places fill up very quick, and i would like to savor this place for as long as possible. Bad for the owner, good for me. The dark ambiance of the place makes it almost impossible to see anyone. It finally occurred to me one of the people I'm chatting with is Neve Campbell. She said she'd visit the new studio when I'm done moving in. So if you stop by don't be surprised to see her there :) Anyway, I ordered a round then called it a night.
I happen to be one of those people that finds it ok for men to wear certain beauty products. You see it all over this city, manicured and perfectly pressed. But last night we were in the presence of a total disaster- self-invoked man hair extension disaster. It was so obvious he didn't seek a professional's advice. All manufacturers need to cease distributing them to men immediately! We can all agree that men lack the proper training and do not possess the expertise equivalent to that of women enduring years of painful experiences and application mishaps. Gentlemen, leave it to the pros.
In fashion news: Missoni is opening down the street. So if you come and i'm not in my studio, I'll be there.
Series study films have been posted online for your viewing pleasure:
In the future I'll be posting mini films with commentary on new releases of my artwork online. All depends on how this goes. Right now we're testing the films as far as bandwidth, errors, things of that nature. The windows media file only works in internet explorer browsers, so that will have to change. This blog gets an unbelievable amount of hits as it is, average of over 10,000 hits a day (yikes!). Don't worry you're not alone, i love blogs as well :)
Alrighty now off to have dinner @ 21Club. Have a good evening!
Everyday Life Series Study #1
| Aug.26.2005 04:22:02 NYC |
May.10.2006 07:01:23 NYC |
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We logged onto the Absolute Arts account after about a year and found over 300 unopened emails. I had no idea we received email there. So now we're attempting to permeate through all the messages.
We reply to all correspondences, so if you haven't received a reply please resend your email: [email removed] or if you have my personal email address feel free to forward there directly.
We figured my previous post would upset some people. What I didn't expect was to receive a pronto package from PETA in the mail. I guess someone entered our address into one of their forms and we received recipes and other propaganda materials. We receive postal mail in NY lightening fast quick- but this was drop shipped?!
David's $400 jeans can't breathe and he needs his lap back. Have a good one.
Sunday night after getting back i met up with some other friends who don't have kitchens for dinner. One of them is a devout vegetarian who has been so ever since he grew to maturity in college. I loathe arguing with this guy because he's one of those relentless types, that even at that moment when most people realize there's a remote possibility they could be wrong, he holds steadfast and just keeps on imposing his viewpoint.
So here they all are arguing over my Sunday night, post 3-hour flight, jet lag dinner. I'm simply chewing and ignoring. Going back to my weekend of South Beach Cinco de Mayos and sunny shores.
"Sophia?"
[pause]
"see, she's not eating flesh"
[another pause]
Oy vey. The facts are that I do eat meat (humans are carnivores). Nevertheless, very picky about it. I learned early on to have very strict guidelines, for example, the animal has to be raised in it's natural environment, happy and free, it has to eat it's natural food and it has to be killed with a very sharp knife across the neck to minimize pain, and it cannot see the knife prior to its slaughtering.
And while I can relate to Hinduism in which animal eating is sacrilegious- understandably, one could be eating their relative- this Chilean comes from a culture in which it's perfectly acceptable to eat your next door neighbor.
Vegetarians that kill and eat vegetables. Plants are alive, they have souls called The Vegetative Soul. Some even feel pain, ex: broccoli, which has a rudimentary nervous system. Isn't it hypocritical to eat them just because they can't scream "ouch" or run away? If you don't believe me read St. Aquinas. Even non-Catholics will respect his writings if only for his philosophical perspective on life.
And that's how this story goes.
Cloudy in NYC. Don't spend too much time daydreaming. Have a nice day!
Visuals follow link:
After my friend Ian broke off a 12 day love affair, he finally did something good for humanity and took me to the Mission Impossible III premiere at the Ziegfeld theater. This theater is loud and very crowded. But it's the most extravagant movie theater in the city. I didn't know the media would make such a big deal out of this. Of course we saw Tom Cruise whom I've met previously when my friend's sister was married to a friend of his years ago. Also Keri Russell, who looked much better then when she's slouching around the Village. Those are the only people I really know- and diddy fka puff daddy sean p diddy combs- who wears more sweats than anyone ever could (but didn't last night for sure). It was a little irritating with all the bulbs flashing and swarms of people but enjoyed it nonetheless. Just wasn't prepared for all the chaos. Without Ian there i would have been celeb name-challenged.
We didn't have to pay this time. The other festival premieres were around $12. Oh, I know what you're thinking- That's highway robbery!! For anyone who's never been on a red carpet they're not as spectacular as you may think. Some are nicer than others but mostly those images you see of stars are on a cheap, red 3x10 foot carpet with an 8 foot, logo wallpapered sheetrock behind them. And when your 5'7" and wearing 5 inch heals the wall looks even smaller. Notice how the cameras are always so close and in everyone's face? Because there's no room to move! There was one paparazzo that just couldn't get over pushing himself into Ian. He felt so used and abused. And some fool flashing his camera right into my eyes. What was he hoping to get on film? Besides that it was a good time. Afterwards we joined some other people for dinner; a nice break from the puffy cheese doodle and coke addiction Ian had almost rubbed onto me.
Now back in my studio...
Currently in the process of emptying out my studio as much as possible. This Summer I have to move out of my 2000 sq ft studio which I've been in for 3 years now. And with my schedule seems impossible. In the next couple of weeks we will be selling off some collab art, prints and merchandise on eBay [will update].
As with each August for the past few years, the showroom will be closed. A few friends and I will be traveling around globe hopping and filming which is a new experience, for me at least. Also tossing the idea around of journaling everything on the web- if there are internet connections- and it would be putting that writing course to good use as well. With an interesting commission and exotic places to visit some kind of a documentary style journal would make for good podcast tv.
Headed to Florida for a wedding. Enjoy the weekend!
