tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10556907468449684112024-03-14T02:56:22.487+01:00culture | thehub.hu | guide to budapesthub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-80900866190582469552009-05-24T12:26:00.019+02:002009-05-25T13:24:49.770+02:00A Hawk and A Hacksaw / Délivrance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-AW5RiGnb6fdaolhvTbQSgzXhwP5HvjJwKnh-vbPzhalkZH0iWO79XI18su2FRTt4kKIbhEGEoV9tNGc6ZOdGM8FBZTHeLUDas6jxL5wG41LHU_ry0SvgJMD1HBxa9yIj7YjeFYjWhmh/s1600-h/folder.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 276px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-AW5RiGnb6fdaolhvTbQSgzXhwP5HvjJwKnh-vbPzhalkZH0iWO79XI18su2FRTt4kKIbhEGEoV9tNGc6ZOdGM8FBZTHeLUDas6jxL5wG41LHU_ry0SvgJMD1HBxa9yIj7YjeFYjWhmh/s320/folder.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339712205460330130" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >My father refuses to watch the 1972 film Deliverance - he's seen it once and for him, that was more than enough. It's the story of four businessmen whose canoeing trip down the Cahulawassee River quickly turns into a nightmare. Assaulted by some frightening locals and pitted against the hazards of the river, they find themselves in a rather nasty fight for their lives. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Now, while Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost haven't exactly spent the last couple of years hanging out in Eastern Europe with inbred, psychotic hillbillies, they have embarked on a daunting musical journey that not many would stomach. Their goal of learning the nuances of a tricky musical language, in a region off the map for mainstream America could easily have led them down a blind alley. So... would they, as the movie's tag line suggests, have been better off staying at home and playing golf?<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, the short answer is no, because <a href="http://ahawkandahacksaw.co.uk/">A Hawk and A Hacksaw</a> have made their best, most confident record to date. It's a thrilling, mostly instrumental ride influenced by the Romanian diva <a href="http://aris.ss.uci.edu/rgarfias/kiosk/romica.html">Romica Puceanu</a>, the Balkan brass of collaborators <a href="http://www.asphalt-tango.de/fanfare/artist.html">Fanfare Ciocărlia</a>, and the breathless music of dark, smoky Budapest dance houses. There are plaintive violin-led pieces, which wouldn't be out of place accompanying a café scene in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Tarr">Béla Tarr</a> film, and scratchy field recordings - the first half of 'Raggle Taggle' sounds like a beautiful Romanian radio broadcast from 70 years ago. The sheer depth of this record means that Délivrance avoids one of the pitfalls of some Balkan albums, such as those from Ciocărlia - namely that the buoyant music becomes slightly repetitive. </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Alongside the British bouzouki player <a href="http://www.nadfly.com/chrishp.php">Chris Hladowski</a>, AHAAH have enlisted some key performers from Budapest's folk music circuit. A standout contribution comes from cimbalom virtuoso <a href="http://www.kalmanbalogh.hu/index.php?lang=en">Kálman Bálogh</a>, whose performance on 'Kertész' is blistering - the notes zip by at an astonishing speed. Other collaborators include Béla Ágoston, of quirky Hungarian hip-hop band <a href="http://www.zuboly.com/">Zuboly</a>, and their close friend, trumpeter and violinist Ferenc Kovács. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I once saw Kovács play with Barnes and Trost on a makeshift stage, to twenty people, in the small Hungarian village of Szentendre. It was a scene that summed AHAAH's fearless, unique journey up perfectly. Although both violinists were undeniably virtuosic, the contrast in their style was marked, and picked up on by a handful of bemused audience members. Kovács' performance was freewheeling, that of a man who had grown up steeped in these musical traditions, while Trost handled the fiendishly difficult music with a look of fierce concentration. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Délivrance is no Gogol Bordello Balkan pastiche, nor does it deserve to get lumped into the category of 'world music'. Rather, it's a remarkable fusion, the sound of a band living and breathing a musical culture far removed from their own. According to them, their music is borderless, and the making of it is similar to 'climbing a mountain'. If this excellent album is anything to go by, I sincerely hope that A Hawk and a Hacksaw are halfway up the cliff face, some way off reaching their musical peak. </span><br /></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><br />Andy T, former writer for thehub is currently working for UK-based music website thelineofbestfit. Read more <a href="http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/">here</a>. </span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-3035958964961959232009-05-12T21:07:00.016+02:002009-05-13T12:55:08.846+02:00Júlia & Juliet - Édes Hús/Sweet Flesh<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Sweet_Flesh_001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 300px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Sweet_Flesh_001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >O </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Júlia </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Júlia </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >! wherefore art thou </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Júlia </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >?<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Sweet_Flesh_001.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" > A play with two Juliets, one Hungarian and one English: you might well ask 'wherefore'. The wherefore, according to the blurb, at least, is to conjure up "Shakespeare's most beautiful ghost", and for a mixed nationality audience at that. I won't say I was skeptical but I wondered how it would work. With no one but Juliet doubled up, would it not be something like a one-sided telephone call with simultaneous interpretation?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A minimal set and costumes reflected a now familiar approach to Shakespeare, and as the audience entered, Juliet was already romping with herself in the middle of a featureless stage. I was quickly reassured that the Juliets would not be an exact duplicate of each other: some lines and movements were mirrored, others weren't. When one Juliet spoke, the other became a silent Romeo; a setting; a thought at the back of Juliet's mind.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">While I'm sure there was a definite direction to the script, seeing Romeo & Juliet performed a few years ago was not sufficient for me to follow the story as such. Shakespeare-lovers or anyone who's actually read the thing recently would therefore have a much different experience. Add to that, the fact that some of the audience would understand the Hungarian, some the English, and others both or neither, and we suddenly have eight different plays on show. (Anyone who is unfamiliar with Romeo & Juliet <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>understands neither language might be in for a rough ride.)</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Sweet_Flesh_002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 201px; height: 267px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Sweet_Flesh_002.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">In the absence of a straightforward narrative, it was the performances that took on the great burden of keeping me interested, and both Juliets were exceptional. That they were not alike was crucial: one, physical, sexual and occasionally animalistic (she growled at me as soon as I sat down) and the other slight and delicate. If you only understood the language of one, the other took on a mysterious presence but at the fore nonetheless. To say that they deconstructed Juliet would be too clinical but they certainly delved around in her psyche.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Hungarian Juliet, Ubrankovics Júlia, is billed as an <a href="http://www.hungarianfilmweek.com/News/PRIZES-OF-THE-40th-HUNGARIAN-FILM-WEEK-ANNOUNCED.html">award-winning actress</a> (she's even got a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2067161/">profile on IMDB</a>!!) and indeed, it was clear that she was no amateur. It was surprising then that Sophie Thompson, The English Juliet, billed as "from London" went beyond the call of duty, soundtracking the whole thing by singing ghostly medieval melodies that seamlessly wove in and out of the script. Even if you have no theatrical bone in your body, you couldn't fail to be impressed by her undertaking.<br /><br />With such chemistry, it was a surprise that our post-performance chat with the cast, and director, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Engi-Nagy Natália,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> felt a little strained. Little did we know that Júlia had just announced that she wouldn't be taking part in any further shows. (With an audience that barely numbered twenty, you can understand why.) With two further shows scheduled for late May, and performances at the <a href="http://www.camdenfringe.org/">Camden Fringe</a> Festival lined up, Natália has been quick to recruit news reporter, <a href="http://tenyek.tv2.hu/Kulissza/KulisszaProfil?/Root/Tenyek/Munkatarsak/kucsera">Kucsera Olga</a>!<br /><br />T</span><span style="font-family:arial;">o see h</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ow she handles the switch to the stage, head to <a href="http://hubcafes.blogspot.com/2007/11/sirly.html">Sirály</a> on Tuesday 26th or Wednesday 27th May. That gives me two weeks to brush up on my Shakespeare before finding out whether Olga can preserve the crucial balance and match the intensity of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Júlia's </span><span style="font-family:arial;">performance. Who knows, she may even growl at me too.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Keep up to date with developments by following </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Natália's performance diary blog <a href="http://esjulia.blog.hu/">here</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy Sz.</span></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-8552010599834036352009-05-07T11:35:00.008+02:002009-05-09T11:17:55.951+02:00Anton Corbijn - Work<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://badcoverversion.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/joyd.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 184px; height: 281px;" src="http://badcoverversion.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/joyd.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://hubsights.blogspot.com/2008/03/lum-ludwig-museum-budapest.html">Ludwig Museum</a>, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">until 5th July</span></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tues.-Sun. 10:00-20:00, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">800 ft</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Komor Marcell u. 1 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Komor+Marcell+u.+1,+budapest+hungary&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.957823,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=47.470937,19.070721&spn=0.00644,0.013819&z=16&g=Komor+Marcell+u.+1,+budapest+hungary&iwloc=cent">[map]</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">P</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">est, IX, Boraros t</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">é</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">r</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> (</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">T 4,6), 8 min</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Hinging your career on the stardom of others starts with a gut feeling and some incredible strokes of good luck. Such was the case with renowned photographer, Anton Corbijn from the beginning.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Rewind 30 years from present and you’ll find a shy, young man in his early twenties making a snap decision to move from his native Netherlands to London. His singular motivation was the music of a band that would posthumously, and, upon the suicide of the front man, be known ‘round the world. That band: Joy Division. Corbijn, barely able to speak English, photographed them just two weeks after he arrived in London in 1979 (the photo appears as a central figure of the show), and that’s where things really began.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.drawerb.com/wp/2007/05/113252950large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 178px;" src="http://media.drawerb.com/wp/2007/05/113252950large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Fast forward almost thirty years and that same photographer is making his first feature-length film, <span style="font-style: italic;">Control</span>, a biopic about the tragic life of Ian Curtis, the troubled troubadour of that little band he photographed in a London Tube station.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">With such clear "bookends," it's a fine time for a massive career-spanning retrospective, simply titled, “Work.”</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Corbijn has photographed countless integral underground and mainstream musicians, made some of the most recognizable music videos of all time – Nirvana’s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP2rZ79RfWM">Heart-Shaped Box</a>” being one – and reduced some of the world’s biggest film stars to meager-looking mortals. (One exception is his portrait of physicist, Stephen Hawking, who he makes look like a <a href="http://www.majorartfoundation.com/artist.php?idxArtist=16&idxWork=1125#1125">rock star</a>.) Dylan, Ginsberg, Cash, U2, Kraftwerk, Waits, De Niro, Eastwood...his list of subjects goes on in impressive fashion.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“Composition is easy,” Corbijn said, at a recent free screening of <span style="font-style: italic;">Control</span> at <a href="http://hubcafes.blogspot.com/2009/03/a38-hajo.html">A38</a>, part of the "Holland Kultfeszt." He says he places the importance on the person behind the camera, an emphasis easy to make if you've got a portfolio like Corbijn's.<br /><br />Regardless, you'd find it hard to argue the fact that his work is strung together in a manner that is distinctly his. The graininess that comes from a 35mm negative being blown up beyond the natural limit, and the blurred subjects, rendered imperfect and almost featureless, are both signatures of his early work in </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">black and white </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.strippedgearsradio.com/chrispics/12%20%20Tom%20Waits%20Anton%20Corbijn%2008.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 233px;" src="http://www.strippedgearsradio.com/chrispics/12%20%20Tom%20Waits%20Anton%20Corbijn%2008.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Later in his career his prints shrink down and sharpen, yet there is no connection lost between photographer and subject. It’s obvious that Corbijn somehow gets these celebrated people to open up. He forces them into a relationship with the camera; either that or he coaxes it out of them. Judging from Corbijn’s modest demeanor and the intimacy reflected in his photographs, the latter is probably true.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">His numerous photos of Depeche Mode are a case in point. An entire room is devoted to them, in honor of the role he's played in their visual aesthetic that's always been akin to their music.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.teknemedia.net/esposizioni/new_3f410bc4afcd2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 160px;" src="http://www.teknemedia.net/esposizioni/new_3f410bc4afcd2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In recent years, Corbin has turned the camera on himself, </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">or </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">rather versions of himself dressed as other people. In the series “a. somebody” he employs a style of self-portrait that evokes the work of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6MyCErU2Y0">Cindy Sherman</a>. Here, Corbijn imitates musicians who died in full glare of the media, some he worked with (i.e. Ian Curtis, Kurt Cobain) and some he never had the chance to (i.e. John Lennon).<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Walking through the multitude of photographs that make up Corbijn’s life's work, one can truly grasp the weight of these images. While they can be visually stunning, both for the saturation and the simple compositions, they also cut through the gloss to show a more intimate, human side of those that so often placed atop pedestals.<br /><br />Yes, the chance to photograph four skinny, shivering musicians from Manchester served as the launch pad for Corbijn, but, like his subjects, it's taken more than luck to keep him amongst the stars. If you’re a fan of photography, music, or stardom, this exhibition shouldn’t go unseen.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Anton Corbjin Antwon Corbin Antone Corbwin</span><br /></div></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob P.</span></span></span></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-79592645360910897702009-04-30T22:38:00.015+02:002009-05-03T00:29:58.464+02:00Entertaining Mr Sloane<span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.picassopoint.hu/index.php/Elerhetoseg.html">Picasso Point</a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Hajós utca 31 </span><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=hu&geocode=&q=budapest,+haj%C3%B3s+utca+31&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=27.699934,59.765625&ie=UTF8&ll=47.507113,19.056344&spn=0.011509,0.029182&z=15&iwloc=addr"><span style="font-weight: bold;">[map]</span></a></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjo8lJAAY-ujWBT8F6bxGdRcTBWBN17_bBusCXa9SVFIPjDaDNSC-gI7Fkc2gMDJF6y6mpOUI-wLgJZtTBV4JBBBrE_X0ZyaFgZ0tvcFd2Jcls7paXOYA3tggVtXKbAswPWVPC7MtFKmyE/s1600-h/Br%C3%B3dy_2009.03.22.+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 266px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjo8lJAAY-ujWBT8F6bxGdRcTBWBN17_bBusCXa9SVFIPjDaDNSC-gI7Fkc2gMDJF6y6mpOUI-wLgJZtTBV4JBBBrE_X0ZyaFgZ0tvcFd2Jcls7paXOYA3tggVtXKbAswPWVPC7MtFKmyE/s320/Br%C3%B3dy_2009.03.22.+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330593754080228674" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest Centre,</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" > Opera (M1), 3 min</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Entertaining, Mr Sloane? Well, eventually.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/">Equus productions</a> debuted last spring with an enterprising and gripping version of Equus, which caught me happily off-guard. </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">(Review <a href="http://hubculture.blogspot.com/2008/05/equus-english-theatre-in-budapest.html">here</a>.)</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> This time out, <a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/rhettstevens">Rhett Stevens</a> has a stab at Joe Orton's 1964 black comedy, <span>Entertaining Mr Sloane</span>, about a lodger, a landlady, her brother and a murder or two.<br /><br /></span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Staged in Picasso Point's brick basement, the venue is not ideal, and a stage flanked by the audience on either side was the first suggestion that pragmatic solutions would outweigh inspired choices.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">With only four characters and no restrictions on nationality, you might think that casting would be a doddle. Not so. With the original Sloane - controversially, middle-aged and black - pulling out midway through rehearsals, and the director standing in as Kemp, it's a miracle that there's anything to review.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Sloane, like Equus before it, has recently enjoyed a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/feb/02/entertaining-mr-sloane-review">West End revival</a>, although its suitability for a budget Budapest production with an international audience is rather more questionable. Equus was a weird story but crucially, it was extremely visual. Sloane, on the other hand, is a lot more dependent on the script and is set in a house on the edge of a rubbish tip. The action in Act I was so fast and furious that whenever my view was obscured, I was content to stare at the back of the head in front of me until I could see again.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">So even without a slightly jittery start </span><span style="font-family:arial;">and </span><span style="font-family:arial;">a mistimed doorbell </span><span style="font-family:arial;">- the hallmarks of amateur theatre anywhere - the slow-paced, dated and anglocentric script made the struggle all the more palpable. Modernisms were added but mentions of contact lenses, joyriding and boxer shorts couldn't drag it into the present.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">While I certainly didn't want to see a "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huhLmqA10cc&feature=related">Carry On Mr Sloane</a>", I did feel that a bolder interpretation of the characters would have given the first act a greater sense of purpose. Sylvia Llewelyn's Kath was the strongest performance, based largely on an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7svan53jpE"><span style="font-style: italic;">Are You Being Served?</span> era Wendy Richard</a>. Daniel Hall's delivery had a certain <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jasr_CM5nM&feature=related">Michael Caine chic</a>, while Rhett Steven's Kemp hinted at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NoW08CHNRs&feature=PlayList&p=0478D1918F0AF14B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=28">Buster Merryfield</a>, without exploiting its comic potential. With no English archetype to reference, Béres Miklós, undisputable star of Equus, was left a little adrift.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvs2wOxOyZaK1Rx4ASQrRk27py28xUyLX9ZOC3hwsQoup1wk4j2c9-67AbApX7qZLNqsO7YDY1JR9Bw1ADtkldiCn8Bn7RhiiYHRwWATJo3BDMeagZNjFfGqox1ZQv2fmsUkQtJYWaDKv/s1600-h/Br%C3%B3dy_2009.03.22.+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 361px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxvs2wOxOyZaK1Rx4ASQrRk27py28xUyLX9ZOC3hwsQoup1wk4j2c9-67AbApX7qZLNqsO7YDY1JR9Bw1ADtkldiCn8Bn7RhiiYHRwWATJo3BDMeagZNjFfGqox1ZQv2fmsUkQtJYWaDKv/s320/Br%C3%B3dy_2009.03.22.+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330597888883936770" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Fortunately, Orton's script picks up in Acts II and III, as the wretched characters reveal more of themselves. It's also more liberally peppered with insults and quips and gradually, the audience's uncertainty gave way to wry smiles and the odd guffaw. The final curtain was accompanied by enough enthusiasm for the cast to bow twice, but the applause was polite rather than rapturous.<br /><br />So Equus' second production just about keeps them on track, and remains the only opportunity you're likely to get to see challenging English theatre in Budapest. However, it does highlight that, in theatrical terms, 45 years is a long time and 1000 miles is a long way.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The last two performances will be held on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th May at 19:45. Details <a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/performances_ems">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy Sz.</span><br /></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-74088949666306440982009-04-07T20:51:00.010+02:002009-04-08T14:23:46.050+02:00Mi Vida - From Heaven to Hell<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Műcsarnok,</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> until 17th May</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja287K-CzAQlihGKREIR2qWxzIODeBnTKhUy6PaOQZsm35qV0JGKALR98_rNWnrCs5bihD3awMQEXl_q0duEXtqr5_zhxpEnyuk62nojzFGXAMrEjB0s46tNeBhKUG0VDT_WTz77b4RmGH/s1600-h/congosound.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja287K-CzAQlihGKREIR2qWxzIODeBnTKhUy6PaOQZsm35qV0JGKALR98_rNWnrCs5bihD3awMQEXl_q0duEXtqr5_zhxpEnyuk62nojzFGXAMrEjB0s46tNeBhKUG0VDT_WTz77b4RmGH/s320/congosound.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321199951652386498" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" >Dózsa György út 37 (Hősök tere)<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&sll=47.516983,19.078639&sspn=0.00642,0.013819&ie=UTF8&ll=47.515259,19.076879&spn=0.00642,0.013819&z=16&g=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&iwloc=addr"> </a><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&sll=47.516983,19.078639&sspn=0.00642,0.013819&ie=UTF8&ll=47.515259,19.076879&spn=0.00642,0.013819&z=16&g=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&iwloc=addr">[map]</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" >Pest, XIV, Hősök tere (M1), 2 min<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Without a doubt, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span>"Mi Vida - From Heaven to Hell</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">", the exhibition on loan from Spain’s <a href="http://musac.es/">MUSAC</a> </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">in León, </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">is the show to see in the city at the moment. In fact, it’s one of the best I’ve seen here, or anywhere for that matter. The title of the show is spot on. Not a strict divide between paradise and the burning netherworld, it concerns itself with all that lies between the two: life.</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">From large video works and performance art, to photographs, installations, and paintings; strangely, it all links up under the umbrella of “human discourse,” unlike <a href="http://hubculture.blogspot.com/2009/03/economical-art-new-acquisitions.html">another group show happening in Budapest</a> at the moment. From familial turmoil and oddities (see Jesper Just and Tracey Moffatt), to sexual and surreal (see Marina Abramovic and Pipilotti Rist), to war and human destruction (see Cristina Garciá Rodero and Thomas Hirschhorn); the ugly and the beautiful are shown side by side in immaculate curatorial fashion.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvec20lMkWURtBIVoYMPZWWny-4K0-9_AfyHidLcmuxAgvKJ7GfmWEgrtJ6hxkOoYdzNSamZI59YFMI9PwZzIfcpK3HeLhwuG0dgqew_EdU4lmCxesuPbAO9AS7sFrAt3IpHBLhex4iI8/s1600-h/dzama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVvec20lMkWURtBIVoYMPZWWny-4K0-9_AfyHidLcmuxAgvKJ7GfmWEgrtJ6hxkOoYdzNSamZI59YFMI9PwZzIfcpK3HeLhwuG0dgqew_EdU4lmCxesuPbAO9AS7sFrAt3IpHBLhex4iI8/s320/dzama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321200455442006690" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">If the attendance at the opening is any indication of the importance of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mi Vida</span>, then the fact that you could barely move speaks volumes, and some recognizable names don't hurt either. One might expect with 36 artists and over 100 pieces, there’d be plenty of duds. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, artists like Canadian heavy-hitter, Marcel Dzama, are that bit more accomplished but the lesser works are more than just filler.<br /><br />Dzama’s small-scale ink and watercolor drawings are surrealist and comic book-esque. They are without background or contextual objects allowing the fantastic characters’ peculiar actions to fill the empty space. The paintings of re-worked Polaroids in Enrique Marty’s “La Familia” are equally imaginative</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. The color and technique is devilish, violent and unsettling, </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> evoking something reminiscent of <a href="http://i.d.com.com/i/lumiere/2005/10/27/7295-7295-20051027_125649-320x240.jpg">The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</a>. </span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmespo8X8tmTGrb1xboQejLMwX94TLP8nJS4-iK2vdfa5UyfgW1BPwI-4ebpOs-vkvZaLqM28Ql_-wMLbKrmUxdKdYd3pK8KX6DhY1M6zukISJ9p93jlEZXchgMdZjYS1Kg55oSt5gCNt/s1600-h/marty.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmespo8X8tmTGrb1xboQejLMwX94TLP8nJS4-iK2vdfa5UyfgW1BPwI-4ebpOs-vkvZaLqM28Ql_-wMLbKrmUxdKdYd3pK8KX6DhY1M6zukISJ9p93jlEZXchgMdZjYS1Kg55oSt5gCNt/s320/marty.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321200684667376338" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While Dzama and Marty’s works play primarily in the realm of the bizarre, the large-scale photo capturing destruction on a road in Kabul by Luc Delahaye, brings the exhibition back into the realm of reality: the </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">pain of personal loss that lies behind the camera’s main focus. Meanwhile, Tomas Hirschhorn’s massive installation entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">United Nations Miniatures</span>,</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> may appear comical on the surface, before the stark reality behind the miniaturization of so many indistinguishable war atrocities sets in.</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvt9dTDQvSJbPGBO_ffU9cvJdiF0GrsYwvnb-e8oLp4R2uyNxJiZZxdO1o-qKiUIupJFL2UzZQK8okqtZI0T1b-qOMxfnwnWciIbKs5qGkaTl_9AnPEkXKTLZkRgeqLT_BOXGAITAiMIP/s1600-h/marinaab.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 151px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvt9dTDQvSJbPGBO_ffU9cvJdiF0GrsYwvnb-e8oLp4R2uyNxJiZZxdO1o-qKiUIupJFL2UzZQK8okqtZI0T1b-qOMxfnwnWciIbKs5qGkaTl_9AnPEkXKTLZkRgeqLT_BOXGAITAiMIP/s320/marinaab.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321200944333797954" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">It’s not all doom and gloom though. An entire room (blatantly marked 18+, so kiddies beware!) is </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">dedicated to Serbian artist, Marina Abramovic’s “Balkan Erotic Epic.” Here Abramovic questions the presentation of “information” by documenting obscure, sexual agricultural rites. Despite their patent absurdity, they remain somehow convincing. The video of the women in traditional garb running around in the rain flashing their genitals and breasts to the sky, and the one of the naked men frantically thrusting into the soil are guaranteed to amuse, at the very least.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjChK_kD7N5SPvKxo1svNRgDnU5xCNn1bOkp1dBU1_9CEU8OS8Tpi8Al8PARiniwNJ4btDMLU4x70IMBUws7UhgW6tnwn2OzooVRhtH9Sqb59d-oySM12CS7ttq12j-O4H5bhYp_6BQfC/s1600-h/mother.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyjChK_kD7N5SPvKxo1svNRgDnU5xCNn1bOkp1dBU1_9CEU8OS8Tpi8Al8PARiniwNJ4btDMLU4x70IMBUws7UhgW6tnwn2OzooVRhtH9Sqb59d-oySM12CS7ttq12j-O4H5bhYp_6BQfC/s320/mother.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321201154291199234" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Also following a comedic line, is Candice Breitz’s “Mother” – the distillation of six famous motherly roles in Hollywood films. Each mother, including actresses Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, is given her own screen in a pitch-black room where they are arranged in a stadium-like semi-circle. Everything around them is digitally removed, blackened out, focusing the attention on their emotions. The repetition of noises, snivels, and moans showcases the spectrum of motherly emotions in a span of just 13 minutes. </span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The presentation of much of the work is inventive and follows with the “on the cutting cusp” execution and feeling of the show. This is most evident in the presentation of Wolfgang Tillmans’ photographs, which are strewn about the wall in an erratic but calculated fashion. Some are massive, high-hanging and framed, others are small and simply taped, un-matted, to the wall in a series.<br /><br />Only the work of American photographer, Ryan McGinley is largely underwhelming. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">McGinley has become highly regarded as a young photographer in the past ten years, and </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Műcsarnok</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">’s promotional posters boast that his work is included in the show. However, to me, his photos are highly self-indulgent and lack any real discourse: it’s just American youth in the desert, nakedly basking in their parents’ trust fund.<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinv9W8oUWf6pQtmyo5wOnizqNx56Vebpcce793TGQ54oEMAovP2WAut84zhAR4eymxALl-vVeehnlzUq0jFyrADklNnIFatsOT_aQBl1h093dYecaNO_Bp3DjuebVBp33D06HnEI_E2mqF/s1600-h/mcginley.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinv9W8oUWf6pQtmyo5wOnizqNx56Vebpcce793TGQ54oEMAovP2WAut84zhAR4eymxALl-vVeehnlzUq0jFyrADklNnIFatsOT_aQBl1h093dYecaNO_Bp3DjuebVBp33D06HnEI_E2mqF/s320/mcginley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321201434705799826" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">Mi Vida</span> is a show that is exciting for its presentation and near-flawless execution, and also for the subjects that are tackled within. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The most poignant trends in the contemporary art world lie within the walls of </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Műcsarnok</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> at this very moment. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Get there at any cost before the show closes on the 17th of May!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >All photos courtesy </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Műcsarnok</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >, except the topmost. </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob P.</span><br /></span></span> </div><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><br /></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-49731505413559935502009-03-17T18:34:00.015+01:002009-03-18T23:58:39.722+01:00Economical Art - New Acquisitions<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXsX0NkHaHBMeaiw4UF9wnNsVmPjTf5J-PsV5_pzCzYxuiyexfpT6HSujWPl5xyYxDCpHrP2TLQZTOKrqhfa-1rDDezdGXnXhzxQw7N_xkJ5naSUgZSCMUCGkJHKVEqonlOrUEhUUFKEP/s1600-h/newaqu5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXsX0NkHaHBMeaiw4UF9wnNsVmPjTf5J-PsV5_pzCzYxuiyexfpT6HSujWPl5xyYxDCpHrP2TLQZTOKrqhfa-1rDDezdGXnXhzxQw7N_xkJ5naSUgZSCMUCGkJHKVEqonlOrUEhUUFKEP/s320/newaqu5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313455030967303570" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Ludwig Museum, </span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">until 14 June</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoXsX0NkHaHBMeaiw4UF9wnNsVmPjTf5J-PsV5_pzCzYxuiyexfpT6HSujWPl5xyYxDCpHrP2TLQZTOKrqhfa-1rDDezdGXnXhzxQw7N_xkJ5naSUgZSCMUCGkJHKVEqonlOrUEhUUFKEP/s1600-h/newaqu5.jpg"></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tues.-Sun. 10:00-18:00,</span><span style="font-family:arial;">1200 ft</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Komor Marcell u. 1 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Komor+Marcell+u.+1,+budapest+hungary&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.957823,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=47.470937,19.070721&spn=0.00644,0.013819&z=16&g=Komor+Marcell+u.+1,+budapest+hungary&iwloc=cent">[map]</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">P</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">est, IX, Boraros t</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">é</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">r</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> (</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">T 4,6), 8 min</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Art, in times of economic desperation, might appear frivolous, and spending copious amounts of money on it can seem downright wrong. That’s one way of looking at it. The other: art is an essential means of escape, especially in times like these. The folks at the Ludwig Museum take the latter view, as you would expect, but it looks like they're scraping around in their pockets like the rest of us.<br /><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhzpX74QSsqBO38HEIRuLrAcmg6DOdi-Ft9lqfFtkpJgkc2Q_CxmvYX8BfM4umUyI2fZ7aV_CsR-ebqogwrcRY5qVUJOHLfky00KPWXcVZ4jra4KNIMKeyzIwhh9Z-k94qVfJq_-jyxEJ/s1600-h/newaqu1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 241px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFhzpX74QSsqBO38HEIRuLrAcmg6DOdi-Ft9lqfFtkpJgkc2Q_CxmvYX8BfM4umUyI2fZ7aV_CsR-ebqogwrcRY5qVUJOHLfky00KPWXcVZ4jra4KNIMKeyzIwhh9Z-k94qVfJq_-jyxEJ/s320/newaqu1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313456625223023042" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />The art that comprises New Acquisitions is mostly what they’ve purchased in the past couple of years and is all contemporary, if not the newest in new. Pieces by Hungarian artists make up most of the show, but there are several works from artists around the world including Chinese artist, Csi Peng, whose “</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">True And False Money King” might hint at a fitting theme.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Alas, the selection of photography, painting, sculpture, collage, and video seems to have everything but unity. An exhibition of recent acquisitions is bound to be a mixed bag but here the emphasis is most definitely on the 'mixed'. The neon piece, “Little Warsaw” doesn’t really tie in with Péter Gémes’s brilliant, pictogram-esque large-scale black and white negatives, nor Antal Lakner’s comical “Passive Working Devices” (above, right). But then again, nothing meshes.<br /></span></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytAHU0xsqny548QEvrHztWBdVu_KepkjyAFWswLmBCyDWRM5eePkyxAxR5qPDdAo7tfArBRnfQPDLMjwLwbLDn7kt8XKs3TWA6zJVBMSRXIK5_enDQ9CnmrDdDI54X21Bh9AhU-qJLkPb/s1600-h/newaqu2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 155px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytAHU0xsqny548QEvrHztWBdVu_KepkjyAFWswLmBCyDWRM5eePkyxAxR5qPDdAo7tfArBRnfQPDLMjwLwbLDn7kt8XKs3TWA6zJVBMSRXIK5_enDQ9CnmrDdDI54X21Bh9AhU-qJLkPb/s320/newaqu2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313457273071101378" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEFMIWTaujvYW4gqYjqvTW-4bQU6K_bKosZaORpMU4FFyS7EzxmRDSHVotyr9sZdWaHPreCukp9pFHROKVJYMIRY4VnJYJlOetT63Oukr8jbiXvfeAhVMMxhZ4zkFAcrvsTlCG5F076Lu/s1600-h/newaqu3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimEFMIWTaujvYW4gqYjqvTW-4bQU6K_bKosZaORpMU4FFyS7EzxmRDSHVotyr9sZdWaHPreCukp9pFHROKVJYMIRY4VnJYJlOetT63Oukr8jbiXvfeAhVMMxhZ4zkFAcrvsTlCG5F076Lu/s320/newaqu3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313457788837217266" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcNMH9o0SQU6v2kiNkY5KhSzLaluISy1KLSobQgluWjZGltQCLupnqD-nF1U88sjR4YuHbXULQluiAtmYKXcgp8acdGduDrx24ju2DVHdZW6B2o-uLSOh1rNO5bTgLFTMXeTdZ6C0Ooia/s1600-h/newaqu4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcNMH9o0SQU6v2kiNkY5KhSzLaluISy1KLSobQgluWjZGltQCLupnqD-nF1U88sjR4YuHbXULQluiAtmYKXcgp8acdGduDrx24ju2DVHdZW6B2o-uLSOh1rNO5bTgLFTMXeTdZ6C0Ooia/s320/newaqu4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313456179001893954" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Something that always tends to wear me out at these group shows is the sheer amount of video work on display. </span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I feel like an A.D.D. kid inside a <a href="http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/chuck_e_band.jpg">Chuck E. Cheese</a> that’s inside of a <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Toys_R_Us_sg.JPG">Toys R Us</a> that’s inside of a <a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/2753164763_0b51dc11cd.jpg">McDonald’s PlayPlace</a>.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Then, when you get to watch them, it suddenly transforms into a series of 5-15 minutes comas... and New Acquisitions has 7 of them.<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Throughout the exhibition, no single piece really stands out as envelope-pushing or jaw-droppingly, mind-blowingly amazing. That said, the pieces do make for a reasonable discourse on Hungarian art and its place within the larger spectrum of contemporary art. Thanks to the economic crisis, it would seem that LUMU is keeping things up longer than usual, giving you until mid-June to check it out. So it's not exactly essential and there's no rush: just see if you can scrape together enough forints from the cracks in your couch.</span></span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob P.</span><br /></span><br /></span></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-13326895697162418242009-02-23T21:27:00.010+01:002009-02-24T00:15:31.164+01:00Young Widows - 18 February 2009 - Dürer Kert<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmZy0Pv_ukjVG_52XZton-lFJwmCQYEjMEY0qbzpi_eNGuCFWWH69Vhq-jV51WGegvKEIdISdnPvT1zmisi6uigh1mfOij7-pY4dkt3BP8ocFiLA-Y3SHpiLKwOovZK7QYzFDIHwfFfUW/s1600-h/youngwidows1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicmZy0Pv_ukjVG_52XZton-lFJwmCQYEjMEY0qbzpi_eNGuCFWWH69Vhq-jV51WGegvKEIdISdnPvT1zmisi6uigh1mfOij7-pY4dkt3BP8ocFiLA-Y3SHpiLKwOovZK7QYzFDIHwfFfUW/s320/youngwidows1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306094881146738146" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Young Widows. Quite a fitting moniker when you sit down and take a look at this Louisville, Kentucky, USA band’s history. Both guitarist/vocalist Evan Patterson and Nick Thieneman, who pulls bass and vocal duties, carried their former band, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.myspace.com/breatherresist">Breather Resist</a> from the ashes </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >after their vocalist was asked to depart. Their latest effort, <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/145224-young-widows-old-wounds">Old Wounds</a>, is just their second (sort of) studio full length, but that by no means constitutes their salad days of pavement pounding.</span><br /></div><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">A precise live set that consists entirely of <span style="font-style: italic;">Old Wounds</span> from start to finish on this European tour has got Young Widows continuing their legacy of a near-constant tour schedule. They’re on tour almost non-stop through mid-April, which takes them back to the US to play the famed SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. This three-piece, which also includes drummer, Jeremy McMonigle, has managed to keep a squeaky clean, explosive live show, without the fat. No colorful lights, no fog machines, no bullshit. The songs are stripped down—forget </span><span style="font-family:arial;">samples and special effects. What you hear on the album, you get live. When the band made a stop in Budapest on February 18th, we had the chance to catch up with them.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">__________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- So you're playing<span style="font-style: italic;"> Old Wounds</span> in it's entirety on this European tour, how's that been going over, especially in the places you haven't played before?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- It's going very well. We are literally soiling ourselves every night.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- Really awesome. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nick</span>- I second that.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- In terms of the recording process for Old Wounds, why did you do just four songs in a live setting and not the whole album? With that said, the album sounds cohesive, not just in the songs, but in the recording, were you worried it wouldn't?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nick</span>- No, some of the songs we wanted to record live and some in the studio. We just had to feel it out through the live sessions and listening back to everything.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- We had the utmost faith in Kurt’s [Ballou of the band C</span><span style="font-family:arial;">onverge and engineer/owner of Godcity Studio] ability. So we knew that it would all come together.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- Some of the best drum sounds we got were in our friends house the first day we met up with Kurt. We had mics going up staircases, in a kitchen, and it really came out huge.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- The music industry seems to be changing as we know it, at least the sales of records, how did that effect this latest album? Was that a factor in the recording, sort of bringing it back to the roots of a live show?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- Not really we just wanted to do it that way for our own gratification.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- The music industry is boring and has nothing to do with our band. We aren't trying to bring anything back, we're trying to make new sounds, patterns, and songs that we find natural and compelling.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADoRBJMZXRIg0DtWYsfdNdZBx5jC_uDeZPAunvlVUjGeJxhhrPKGFTSx8_J9KSL13ISkce24Zmd9FdDOagNWEv4PrHgPm_Ynbt7JF3PYPeei9puhWaAuTEAe-xb_CuPVSu5Ih2QrkgyvY/s1600-h/youngwidoes2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 295px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADoRBJMZXRIg0DtWYsfdNdZBx5jC_uDeZPAunvlVUjGeJxhhrPKGFTSx8_J9KSL13ISkce24Zmd9FdDOagNWEv4PrHgPm_Ynbt7JF3PYPeei9puhWaAuTEAe-xb_CuPVSu5Ih2QrkgyvY/s320/youngwidoes2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5306095229051308082" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- Vinyl as a format is looking like a better and better way to make money from album sales, especially with the rabid (illegal) download culture. It seems doing limited runs is the way to do things, for example your <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.temporaryresidence.com/descriptions/trr151-154.php">7" series</a>. Does the downloading/blog culture play any sort of role in the way you guys do things?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Jeremy, Nick, Evan</span><span style="font-family:arial;">- No.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" > </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- With that said, how do you guys feel about this downloading generation? If people are stealing your album from blogs and the like, especially in a place like Budapest, where not so many stores are going to have your record, does that get you "Lars Ulrich angry?"</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- Denying it seems pointless. I just downloaded Crime and the City Solution and Swell Maps records right before this tour. It was my first time and I've been listening to those records non-stop this entire tour. Amazing music.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- Not really. If that’s how people get into our band, cool. Maybe they will come to the show and buy a copy of the record. Actually that very situation placed at a show in France.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- What about the economic crisis? Does that have an effect on you guys as a band/album sales/touring? Do you find yourselves needing to tour more to make ends meet?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- We're under the crisis line and I honestly haven't even thought about its effect on our band. This band is more about the art and the ideas, nothing else. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Not yet and hopefully it won’t ever. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >HUB- A lot of the stops on this European tour are pretty standard, and not so many underground US bands come through Budapest, it seems kind of off the beaten tour path. You mentioned during your set that you guys love this city, was that a main motivating factor to play here?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Nick</span>- Well, Breather Resist played [in Budapest] in 2005 and the show went well plus we got to see a lot of the city and it's amazing. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremy</span>- It seemed like a cool place. Even though it was a bit out of the way it was worth playing because the show was nice.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evan</span>- Wonderful and passionate people have brought us to Budapest and that is what makes me love Buda, Pest, and the little island between [Margit Sziget] that brings the two together. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">__________________________________</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Check out Young Widows at their MySpace page <a href="http://www.blogger.com/myspace.com/youngwidows">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(Interview & Photos: Jacob P)</span><br /></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-31405309203121212552009-01-21T12:23:00.011+01:002009-01-21T15:51:08.605+01:00Music profile: ION - Irrational Orthodox Noise<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://a420.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/68/l_229339ce30d8787b2a78412401108743.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 243px;" src="http://a420.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/68/l_229339ce30d8787b2a78412401108743.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Irrational Orthodox Noise look like they've <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7cGDWVG_Q0&feature=related">just stepped out of a salon</a>.</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This betrays a certain 1980s ethos, but they're more New Wave than New Romantic. That's not in the pick 'n' mix Joy Division-by-numbers style either, that seems to be de rigeur among indie bands in Budapest and elsewhere (<a href="http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=17647280">EZ Basic</a> for example.) At times, they're a pretty good fit for Bernard Sumner's "depressing dance music" moniker, especially if you add 'industrial' as a prefix.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Songs are varied: "Teach Me How to Fly" is both sinister and dreamy; the dark electronica of "Check in Your Body" somehow remains radio friendly, at least until you reach the industrial boat-coming-into-the-harbour outro; while "Sounddress" is more of a warbling art project than a song.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When it comes to alternative music in Budapest there's a paucity of talent and an abundance of the ersatz. ION, however, are not part of the fashion. They tap into the history of independent music and come up with something that sounds genuinely 1987.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sample them below or check their myspace <a href="http://www.myspace.com/ionkimera">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uy3Yy2z8Jto&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Uy3Yy2z8Jto&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTs3J2U5R0E&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KTs3J2U5R0E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Andy Sz.</span><br /></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-82853130330703096372008-12-19T16:21:00.024+01:002008-12-20T15:20:50.104+01:00Thomas Ruff - The Conceptual Side of Photography<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Műcsarnok, until </span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >15th February 2009</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >1200Ft.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" >Dózsa György út 37 (Hősök tere)<a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&sll=47.516983,19.078639&sspn=0.00642,0.013819&ie=UTF8&ll=47.515259,19.076879&spn=0.00642,0.013819&z=16&g=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&iwloc=addr"> </a><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&sll=47.516983,19.078639&sspn=0.00642,0.013819&ie=UTF8&ll=47.515259,19.076879&spn=0.00642,0.013819&z=16&g=hosok+tere,+1146+budapest,+hungary&iwloc=addr">[map]</a></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5NQkCvmCngnaSqG66vqvQMZkyJj0u7rXzTpZb0o6Pm6attQt0z6jg6KOJPmPQ9FpcDRdkKkESDh8oWvFBpd2ySkSJPvqqNe3vPaRVOdls9_HUDIz9Pez1hTmq9Zcwa2IXZdMK3kwyph7/s1600-h/ruff4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5NQkCvmCngnaSqG66vqvQMZkyJj0u7rXzTpZb0o6Pm6attQt0z6jg6KOJPmPQ9FpcDRdkKkESDh8oWvFBpd2ySkSJPvqqNe3vPaRVOdls9_HUDIz9Pez1hTmq9Zcwa2IXZdMK3kwyph7/s320/ruff4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281061243862262594" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" >Pest, XIV, Hősök tere (M1), 2 min</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">A walk through </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Thomas Ruff’s retrospective exhibition at </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">Műcsarnok</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> might initially strike a discord with viewers. Firstly for the fact that Ruff, who is a leading contemporary photographer, isn’t actually photographing that much, and secondly he isn't so concerned with photographs in the traditional sense.</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Thomas Ruff doesn't so much take photographs as 'take' them. However, Ruff is no petty thief nor is he a rip-off merchant. A great deal of his photographic output has to do with the appropriation and manipulation of images into a broader conceptual idea.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One of his greatest concerns is commentary on the image as well as photography as a medium, to illustrate first-hand that a photograph is not in fact what Roland Barthes would call the “spectrum” - the actual things being photographed. Rather, Ruff’s work concentrates on Barthes’ “stadium” - the interpretation and contextualization - or in Ruff’s case, re-contextualization and de-contextualization. He is not so much a Photographer as he is an Artist, or Mediator.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">His most noted work to date is his jpeg series where he pulls somewhat iconic images from the Internet - such as the freshly attacked, yet still standing, Twin Towers in New York - blows them up to enormous proportions (the long side usually measuring around 3 meters), and pixelates them, removing information which renders them unrecognizable at close range. However, the image of the 9/11 attack (ny02, 2004) is missing from the show, bringing into doubt how representative this “retrospective” actually is.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">His other noteworthy series that features photos pulled and manipulated from the Web are his Nudes, a series of pornographic photos. The artist doesn’t pixelate these images in the same manner but instead blurs them, bringing countless genitals, plastic-looking breasts and vinyl lingerie into the realm of what might just border on tastefulness.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrEjsaN97OLFr5zF_YnrhvDEuB868O3YyfAvrT1D1nOUx8ksgUZDMRy-KJuN84IhtyPZx1OvsU8StznCahoWiN-m7o34wP2pVEdm4e461bD7onlvbQEX3rfhXA3nN4yK9GsxdeEzEV_WN/s1600-h/ruff2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 196px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrEjsaN97OLFr5zF_YnrhvDEuB868O3YyfAvrT1D1nOUx8ksgUZDMRy-KJuN84IhtyPZx1OvsU8StznCahoWiN-m7o34wP2pVEdm4e461bD7onlvbQEX3rfhXA3nN4yK9GsxdeEzEV_WN/s320/ruff2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281061594672057394" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />Ruff has been doing what he calls “sampling,” ever since his Stars series from the 1990s, where he <span style="font-style: italic;">takes </span>detailed photos of the night sky that were made by astronomers who had the very powerful equipment he didn't have access to. Here</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, Ruff is displaying and appropriating them in the form of large C-prints. The same goes for hi</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">s Newspaper Photographs, in the sense that he’s “stealing” the images. The artist liberates newspaper photos from their captions to see if they still mean anything to the viewer, and of course the iconic ones (i.e., Hitler) do, and the banal do not.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qAtt4JoJxr6APPPWb4hIEnwQUfEAw3DlLM4KcQGSYttT2oJv3bQfirawlcU_JDdC3Ehy5g5w0wAG8cpVptmEVxlrQbG8uGuZAhX9A-ntXv_JSCk7oYJSvv_frPdsAt5LMvdeyQTaGbxy/s1600-h/ruff1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8qAtt4JoJxr6APPPWb4hIEnwQUfEAw3DlLM4KcQGSYttT2oJv3bQfirawlcU_JDdC3Ehy5g5w0wAG8cpVptmEVxlrQbG8uGuZAhX9A-ntXv_JSCk7oYJSvv_frPdsAt5LMvdeyQTaGbxy/s320/ruff1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281062877908961106" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Some of the work in the exhibition will have you wondering what exactly Ruff considers photography in the first place. His Substratum series, for example, just looks like old iTunes visualizer screen shots. Similarly, in the Zycles series, which takes centre stage in the exhibition space, Ruff uses computer formulas to create huge psychedelic canvases, which he likens to children’s meaningless scribbles. And meaningless they are, especially with the sub-par explanations he gives with each series. Perhaps he reveals too much; that there really isn't as much going on behind each photo as one might give him credit for.</span><br /></div><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></span> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQX6Hvet5bk7Orp35ELup_cDcYL7qS66ge4GiA02Vg0Ivf0_Ktjxh6veE1qX3iEViD8y5zaq2zoTJYdzJMtERVnOmGkwJ1EDVaUohsqRywMR0M_fSERDJNVjID2r2qQpkV1ksqOIUdaXJ/s1600-h/ruff3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQX6Hvet5bk7Orp35ELup_cDcYL7qS66ge4GiA02Vg0Ivf0_Ktjxh6veE1qX3iEViD8y5zaq2zoTJYdzJMtERVnOmGkwJ1EDVaUohsqRywMR0M_fSERDJNVjID2r2qQpkV1ksqOIUdaXJ/s320/ruff3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5281062283246377938" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">One of the finer points of the show is the fact that </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ruff focuses on precision within fine art, especially with his large-scale passport style portraits (which, gasp, he actually took)</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">He is a product of the Academy of Art that studied under the Bechers, who, along with his peers, such as Thomas Struth and Andreas Gursky, elevated photography into the realm of fine art. These technically crafted, extremely large prints are a fine example.<br /><br />Such technical precision, however, may easily be lost on anyone outside the world of photography, and is unlikely to be enough to make the aesthetics</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">of this exhibition</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> alone</span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" id="red-logo" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> stick with you for very long.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob P.</span><br /></span></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-4846344566809675902008-11-20T20:41:00.004+01:002008-11-20T21:07:16.576+01:00Madhouse - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">National Theatre</span></span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Komo</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >r Marcell u. 1 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?action=search&cityold=budapest&size=3x2&scale=a1.0&streetold=komor+marcell+&streetfixold=Komor+Marcell+u.&distfixold=9&country=hu_uk&city=Budapest&street=komor+marcell+&num=1&dist=">[map]</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest South, IX Millenniumi Kulturális Központ (T2) 3 m</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >in</span><br /><br /><div face="arial" style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 335px; height: 192px;" src="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-009.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Sunday night and a foray to the National Theatr</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >e t</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >o see a performance of an English-language comedy, </span><a style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;" href="http://www.nemzetiszinhaz.hu/eloadasok/index.php?list=actual&performance=38" title="McDaniel review" target="_blank"><strong>The Complete Works of William Shakespeare</strong></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The concept: every one of Shakespeare's plays performed by three players in two hours. As you might imagine, some of the bard's larger themes get glossed over in this format. This play was written by some prog-rock sounding trio called </span><strong style="font-family: arial;">Long-Singer-Borgeson</strong><span style="font-family:arial;"> and is performed at the Nemzeti by a dramatic troupe</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> called the </span><strong style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://omadhouseb.proboards37.com/index.cgi" title="Madhouse Theater Forum" target="_blank">Madhouse Theater Company</a></strong><span style="font-family:arial;">.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /><br /></span></span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.szinhaz.hu/merlin/english/madhouse.html" title="Mike Kelly" target="_blank">Mike Kelly</a><span style="font-family:arial;">, </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1295966/" title="Matt Devere" target="_blank">Matt Devere</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1336506/" title="Andrew Hefler" target="_blank">Andrew Hefler</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> make up the cast.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">And, as you also might have imagined by now - it's a comedic spoof.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I had heard about </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.zemplenifesztival.hu/default.aspx?e=webl&c=&catid=&id=716&lg=en" title="Zempleni Fesztival" target="_blank">this play</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and its long Budapest run many times. But the main circumstance that put me in the seats was not a review or knowledge of the text. It was a chance encounter with cast member </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1295966/" title="Matt Devere" target="_blank">Matt Devere</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> in a Budapest watering hole - <span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">6tus</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - a few weeks ago that brought me there. After he'd bought me my fifth Unicum, I pledged to see his show within the month.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 282px; height: 211px;" src="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-004.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">On Sunday I was good as my word. Navigating a convoluted system of Metro, trams and buses brought us to the </span><strong style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.nemzetiszinhaz.hu/page.php?item=49" title="National Theater - Budapest, Hungary" target="_blank">National Theater</a></strong><span style="font-family:arial;"> (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://nemzetiszinhaz.hu/" title="Nemzeti Szinház" target="_blank">Nemzeti Szinház</a><span style="font-family:arial;">), part of a relatively new complex that also includes the </span><strong style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.mupa.hu/index.jsp" title="Palace of Arts - Budapest, Hungary" target="_blank">Palace of Arts</a></strong><span style="font-family:arial;"> (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.mupa.hu/" title="Palace of Arts" target="_blank">Művészetek Palotája</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> or MUPA). </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-009.jpg" title="Palace of Arts - Budapest, Hungary" target="_blank">The Palace of Arts building is quite handsome</a><span style="font-family:arial;">. I can't say the same for the </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://sfinbudapest.com/photos/0811/081116-004.jpg" title="National Theater Building - Budapest" target="_blank">theater building</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> - a marriage of late-19th century neo-Hungarian excess and 21st century XIII district condominum.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">But it's what goes on inside that counts. And the inside of the theater was packed, mostly with what I assumed to be rich Hungarian teens and their chaperones. A full house for a play that is not new on a Su</span><span style="font-family:arial;">nday night - very impressive.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And the play did not disappoint the packed house. </span><em style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.mcdaniel.hu/m_6_8_0_0_0.php" title="McDaniel College" target="_blank">The Complete Works of William Shakespeare</a></em><span style="font-family:arial;"> is not so much a theatrical piece but an elaborate comedy sketch. The script is loose and unfocused, but the production is amply held together by the charisma of the three players. There are a few moments (a few too few, perhaps) where the true dramatic talents of the players are juxtaposed against the slapstick of the material: certainly the most entertaining bits of the evening.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">For the record, the play ends with Hamlet being done in 90 seconds - backwards. </span><strong style="font-family: arial;">What a piece of work is a man! How infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable!</strong><span style="font-family:arial;"> Especially when cross-dressing as Ophelia with buck teeth or running about the stage in reverse gear with a rubber knife through thine own cursed head!</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >SF.<br /><br />This article originally appeared on sfinbudapest.com. Read more from SF <a href="http://sfinbudapest.com/">here</a>.</span><br /></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-47582065043602468582008-11-16T23:02:00.010+01:002008-11-16T23:46:11.351+01:00Equus - Auditions<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/large_brando2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 263px;" src="http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/large_brando2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >A while ago, we covered the debut play from Equus productions: Equus, the story of one boy's love affair with a horse (to put it crassly.) Review <a href="http://hubculture.blogspot.com/2008/05/equus-english-theatre-in-budapest.html">here</a>. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We'd been pretty skeptical about English theatre in Budapest, but were actually very impressed with what Equus managed to put together. Now they're starting a new project and you, who never got the breaks, you, who could have been a contender, might want to audition.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"Equus Productions is seeking artistic minded people both creative and performing for its Spring Production. Three Male actors - playing ages 20's, 30's & 40's; One Female playing age 40 + ... (Nationality irrelevant)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Auditions to be held in early December. Interested ???</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Telephone Rhett on 06 30 955 5882 or email equusproductions@gmail.com for more details."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">"I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Don't miss your chance.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Andy Sz.</span></div><div><span style=";font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ></span><br /></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-72497470012907337802008-11-13T18:41:00.048+01:002008-12-02T13:34:33.493+01:00Quantum of Solace review<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-b8Vip6EmRKkWX84jbamtH6yLUIyJ3DZ6oh8LlX1LBDTRrHXFhK2dDXThMrrgyDOUIX2we9z_bTwAVhuMR75lGpBVsqfZnhndb3tI5EI_grjraV4s80jIukcJW_Sr3MZCa0Zp5Z4LdKS/s1600-h/quantum+of+solace.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5268199071063521394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; WIDTH: 215px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-b8Vip6EmRKkWX84jbamtH6yLUIyJ3DZ6oh8LlX1LBDTRrHXFhK2dDXThMrrgyDOUIX2we9z_bTwAVhuMR75lGpBVsqfZnhndb3tI5EI_grjraV4s80jIukcJW_Sr3MZCa0Zp5Z4LdKS/s320/quantum+of+solace.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-family:arial;" >I have a theory about James Bond which might prove unpopular with hardcore fans. This is that for a long time, the Broccolis have been quietly pulling off one of the boldest scams in motion picture history. By simply switching things around, they’ve managed to get away with remaking <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055928/">the same movie over and over again</a>, for forty-six years. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s a singular achievement, put into perspective by imagining how tiresome twenty-two versions of any other film would be. <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Jaws</span>, for example. <em>The Neverending Story,</em> <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Part 22</span>. By now, these film sagas wouldn't be playing to packed houses, they'd be direct-to-video bombs, featuring Z-list stars and occasional cameos from people who should know better. Like Malcolm McDowell or Mick Jagger. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Personally, I gave up on Bond a long time ago, so it was a pleasant surprise that 2006’s <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Casino Royale</span> turned out to be really rather good. Inspired by the Bourne movies, the franchise looked to have taken a big step forward. <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Casino Royale</span> was lean and tough, the story was engaging, and in Daniel Craig, we had the best Bond in decades. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s unfortunate then, that <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Quantum of Solace</span> has undone pretty much all of this excellent work. I wish I could summarise the story but I had absolutely no idea what was going on - apart from the fact it had something to do with Bond’s dead girlfriend, the shadowy but boring Quantum organisation, and an environmental terrorist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There’s a traditional formula for Bond films - a breathtaking pre-credits stunt, followed by thirty to forty dull minutes of plot exposition, after which Bond hooks up with a babe and chases people all over the globe (and sometimes into space). Obviously aware that Bond stories are stymied by this template, the writers of <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Quantum of Solace</span> have departed from it by dispensing with the initial plot development section altogether. Instead, they spend the first third of the film whipping Craig around the world at breakneck speed, which has the unfortunate effect of making <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Quantum of Solace</span> seem like the Holiday programme, but with fighting. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All of this isn’t very interesting, and it’s easy to slip into a soporific state during the copious action set-pieces. In fact, I was far more taken with the dazzlingly surreal universe this film dreams up - one where a beautiful female secret agent can meet Bond at a Haitian airport wearing nothing but a brown trenchcoat and boots. Immediately, the two British government employees check into a hotel and get busy, before receiving an invitation to a party…. <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">that evening!</span> She hasn’t a thing to wear! Leave it with me, says Bond, and arranges for her to get some clothes and have her hair done. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">However, that particular scene has nothing on the bizarre ten minute sequence in which Bond steals a plane and crash-lands in the middle of the Bolivian desert. Eventually, he climbs out of a crater then walks for hours in the midday sun, dressed in a tuxedo, before rocking up to a dusty, ramshackle, one-horse town. There, he hops straight onto a public bus (the kind that comes along once every three days) and doesn‘t even bat an eyelid. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The whole film feels like a missed opportunity, especially after the efficient and exciting <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Casino Royale. </span>Craig is good, but the problem with creating a grittier Bond is that if it isn't backed up by an interesting or partially believable story, it's difficult to know why you should care. Bond doesn't instantly become a deeper character just because he's mourning his girlfriend. Either way, it'll be interesting to see what happens next. Will Ms. Broccoli follow this up with yet another money-spinning, predictable action flick, or will she attempt to find some better source material <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-May-Care-James-Bond/dp/0718153766">(Sebastian Faulks, perhaps)</a>? Wasting Daniel Craig would certainly be a shame.<br /><br />Finally</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, a word about that title, which has been widely dismissed as the worst ever. I’ve been mulling it over for a while, and I think to some extent I know what it's trying to say. <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">‘Bond 22 - An Amount of Comfort'</span>. Whatever that means. It’s as pointless and daft as <span style="font-size:0;">the film</span><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic"> </span>itself. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Andy T.</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-65647859695720277942008-11-07T00:00:00.005+01:002008-11-07T13:56:34.252+01:00God works in Delirious ways<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.itickets.com/parts/aimages/62.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 230px;" src="http://www.itickets.com/parts/aimages/62.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Petőfi Csarnok, Városliget,</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">19th December, 3490Ft</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest, XIV, </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Széchenyi F</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >ürdő, (M</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >1)</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" > 5 min </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />Oh my Lord! Look who've cropped up in Budapest: Deliriou5? Yes. (It wasn't a question.)</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">A long time ago, in a town far away - Bedford, England, to be specific - I found myself at a Deliriou5? gig. It was held in a small church hall. There was a guy we knew called Sam whose family were members of a small, groovy kind of</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> church that may or may not have been a cult. (I don't know where the distinction is drawn.) His mum argued with us about how the eye evolved.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When Sam invited us to the gig, I was a little suspicious. "They're not going to be really Goddy, are they? I'm not coming if they're Goddy." "No, they're not Goddy," he lied. My friend Stephen was angling for Sam's sister, so I think I had some kind of fluffer duty, especially as I was the one with the car.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The little hall was packed, and Sam went over</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to Deliriou5? (I can't help saying it like that), who hugged him, patted him on the shoulders and the like, and looked all chummy. I looked around at the audience; not a very rock 'n' roll audience, in truth.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The gig began and they had some kind of projector, like the ones you get at school, displaying the lyrics: "Father God, you heard the prayer; From deep within my spirit cried; If there's a God, come rescue me; Now here I stand, I'm saved by grace." That's quite Goddy, I thought.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Not as Goddy as it got just before the interval. A song ended in clouds of feedback... feedback that just kept feeding back. And as it fed and fed and fed, the singer raised his arms out straight on each side and began to mutter... "Thank you Jesus... thank you Jesus..." To my horror, the people around me began to raise their arms too, all murmuring "Thank you Jesus... Thank you Jesus."</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">I looked across at Stephen. He wasn't murmering. "Thank you Jesus!", I thought.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The interval arrived and I was out of there like an atheist. A slightly shaken atheist at that. Stephen stayed. It got weirder. I think someone was cured of Leukemia or something like that.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">[I invite him to elaborate in the comments.]</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Fast forward 14 years and they're playing Petőfi Csarnok. I don't know if it's likely to be quite as intense but, if someone suggests that you go, and you're not a religious nutcase, don't say that you haven't been warned. On the other hand, it is their farewell tour, so if you're looking for God in the form of mediocre rock, it might be a while before the chance comes again. Tickets <a href="http://www.eventim.hu/portal/en/music/gospel/delirious_uk/41615/">here</a>.<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-style: italic;">delirious; delerious, delirius, delerius</span> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/delirious_00x.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 114px; height: 42px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/delirious_00x.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Andy Sz.</span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-89160487447273078722008-10-21T10:09:00.115+02:002008-10-23T09:13:42.101+02:00Animal Collective Interview, Bratislava, 17/10/08<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZJAxBVWKpb1uoWJouPZ3SxW2Ov2oIaRFFm0EHXrTVcSUVkVcRfi8zhAFXSmPV7saEzixM4jX5grlLuTI7pubo9HP3eohyphenhyphengYTc9l28PHlZ0LgCsQTZYKBRhuu_kHj9unjGAoe24r0pEdl/s1600-h/animial+collective+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXZJAxBVWKpb1uoWJouPZ3SxW2Ov2oIaRFFm0EHXrTVcSUVkVcRfi8zhAFXSmPV7saEzixM4jX5grlLuTI7pubo9HP3eohyphenhyphengYTc9l28PHlZ0LgCsQTZYKBRhuu_kHj9unjGAoe24r0pEdl/s320/animial+collective+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259520147885885570" border="0" /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Shame on Hungary for not bringing Animal Collective to their capital city. This band, originally from Baltimore but at present split between Portugal and the States, are producing some of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2007/sep/13/inallthegrumblingabout?gusrc=rss&feed=global">the most innovative rock music around</a>. And recently, they've been churning it out faster than <a href="http://images.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/026/product-6542026.jpg">Hartley's</a> can make jam.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/145001-animal-collective-add-dates-the-world-over">Their current tour</a> has taken them to Slovakia, Vienna, and Poland, but not Budapest - Animal Collective wanted to play here but just couldn't sort out a gig. Still, that wasn't going to stop us. Last week we made the three hour trip to Bratislava for what turned out to be a stunningly good concert, and beforehand, thehub joined up with Dave Porter (aka Avey Tare) to discuss the tour, the new album, and Crayola crayons.</span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">__________________________________<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />Hub: How’s it all been going?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Dave Porter: Yeah, well. The tour’s been pretty good.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">H: It’s an interesting set of locations. A lot of people skip this part of the world.</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: I think we always make a point, even in the US, of not going back to the sa</span><span style="font-family:arial;">me places. It’s not like we have anythi</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ng aga</span><span style="font-family:arial;">inst going anywhere but it can get a bit monotonous. A lot of people message us and say 'why don’t you come here', or 'why don’t you play there…'</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: Have you had a lot of people requesting you to come here? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: Bratislava I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you about specific places but for a while now</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, maybe like a year or two years, we’ve wanted to do a Central and Eastern European tour just because we never get over this way.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />H: What did you expect before you came? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: I didn’t know what to expect, definitely not as big crowds or as much enthusiasm as we’ve seen so far. I guess only now we’re getting to the heart of pl</span><span style="font-family:arial;">aces we’ve never been to. We’ve been to Poland and Vienna before and the shows there were great </span><span style="font-family:arial;">this time too, even better, a lot crazier than I expected. It seems like it's been mostly sold out.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: A lot of people won’t have seen you before. Has th</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >at affected what you do in your </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >sets?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: Not really, we’ve been playing the same set of songs now</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> since las</span><span style="font-family:arial;">t Spring when we started writing our new record and we always try to play a lot of new material</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> live. Over the year we’ve been throwing in a lot of old songs as well to mix it up a little, so it does</span><span style="font-family:arial;">n’t feel like we’re playing the same set over and over again. We have like 26 songs we can play. We’ve been playing them so much and touring so much that we’re jamming a </span><span style="font-family:arial;">little bit more.<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEily2JjJokrY3XwjcZrkmsY1vdSHq6wD2e9rkksybNhNy6dpQ4DnHavJFXzKx2mEdtzov9Z6zea13P5E7KGFlRpqoLMP8H5fHvyUq0k5j-UouOBtYe27a4HwzB1Z_xBMTn9zvE9vzZazVm_/s1600-h/animal+collective+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEily2JjJokrY3XwjcZrkmsY1vdSHq6wD2e9rkksybNhNy6dpQ4DnHavJFXzKx2mEdtzov9Z6zea13P5E7KGFlRpqoLMP8H5fHvyUq0k5j-UouOBtYe27a4HwzB1Z_xBMTn9zvE9vzZazVm_/s320/animal+collective+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259538054168004866" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: You’ve finished the new album <a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/146354-its-official-new-animal-collective-lp-coming-at-us">[<span style="font-style: italic;">Merriweather Post Pavilion, </span><span>due in January</span>]</a>. Is that mainly what you’re playing now?<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">DP: I’d say half of our set is stuff from the record.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />H: And given that you always work ahead, are you performing anything newer than the new album at the moment? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: No. We’re working on this visual project. In terms of new material, we’ve been spending a lot of time on that lately and we hope to finish the musical part by December - we’ve got some studio time then. It’s the first time we’ve ever written a lot of new m</span><span style="font-family:arial;">aterial that we’re not going to play live any time soon. We haven’t really had a lot of time with wanting to just be at home.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: About the new record, was the writing and recording for <span style="font-style: italic;">Merriweather Post Pavilion</span> similar to <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span>?<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: No, not really. <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxzlgldte"><span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span></a> when we started was a little bit more open ended. We were going on tour for <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ajfpxq8sldae"><span style="font-style: italic;">Feels</span></a> and decided to write some new material for that. It was kind of haphazard at first because we had our initial writing session for <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span> in Lisbon. It took a little while to get used to the environment - we had a lot</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> of problems with the studio space there and I think that contributed to it being a slower process. With the new one we had a bunch of ideas and we were enthusiastic to start writing as soon as we were done recording <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span>. Noah [Panda Bear] and I sent demos and mel</span><span style="font-family:arial;">odies to each other and to Brian [Geologist]. Josh [Deakin] had decided that he didn’t want to tour for a while which pretty much meant we started to work on a new record without him. So it was a little bit different. We wrote most of it really quickly and the first tour after <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span> we had foundations for almost all of the songs.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />H: Did that have anything to do with it being your second record on Domino and being more comfortable with them? </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: I think it was just knowing more what we wanted to do g</span><span style="font-family:arial;">oing into it, whereas with <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span> when we first started writing the songs we didn’t know what was going to go on the record or even what kind of record it would be. This one we had a clear picture. [Various <span style="font-style: italic;">MPP</span> tracks <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJRoHTimZKI">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KtS5RWkkI&feature=related">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-B91uGyCN4&feature=related">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3KtS5RWkkI&feature=related">here</a>].</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />H: With your aliases and the kind of music you play, Anim</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >al Collective seem like a band that could distance yourself from your fans but in fact, with the bootlegs and so on, it’s the complete opposite. You’re very accessible. Is that something you’ve wanted from th</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >e beginning?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: Sort of, I think it goes in both directions. When we starte</span><span style="font-family:arial;">d it wasn’t even called Animal Collective. We wanted the name of the band on the record to be whoever was playing, like Avey Tare and Panda Bear, so it would just be the label Animal that put out our records. Starting to tour more it became Animal Collective because we needed a name. We thought it would be better for people to recognise us. We had this back and for</span><span style="font-family:arial;">th between wanting there to be a bit of mystery. With the records and the music we don’t like to divulge too much information. We like to keep this kind of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">mystique about the records, to be their own world, their own environment so we don’t really talk about how they’re recorded. I don’t think we’d ever do one of those ’Animal Collective in the Studio’ things. For us it’s got to be this slightly mysterious world.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />H: It seems like a happy medium, not too much and not too little. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP</span><span style="font-family:arial;">: Yeah. At the same time we’re like, just normal guys. It was always really important to us that we didn’t have like a rock and roll attitude, like we’re above everybody else. We wanted to go beyond that and have it as an experience that everybody shared together mu</span><span style="font-family:arial;">sically. Talking to people and hanging out with people when we can is part of that.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJhxiPprCDZgYzfNl3EvyKQ7LVW8Fl5_4Jk9Oja8GT3U29eVtX3cC6Q7wpHlmhp6cD-4KIRRvl9rlwZ3YfwYtDVZ0A1WYqaoN0BaQD6hqFJtEGzXO1hqpbOHIWtkERZj-selefeWvnYJV/s1600-h/animal+collective+3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJhxiPprCDZgYzfNl3EvyKQ7LVW8Fl5_4Jk9Oja8GT3U29eVtX3cC6Q7wpHlmhp6cD-4KIRRvl9rlwZ3YfwYtDVZ0A1WYqaoN0BaQD6hqFJtEGzXO1hqpbOHIWtkERZj-selefeWvnYJV/s320/animal+collective+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259539052136319442" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: In many ways, it seems like you guys can do no wrong. Almost everything written about you is positive. Do you feel pressure from that or is it something that doesn't register, perhaps because you’re in the middle of it?<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">DP: Pressure only to deliver certain things, information for example. We have this message board that’s popular for fans to write on and I started to kind</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> of distance myself from that, because being a part of it so much can affect the way you think about things. People can write what they like but for me personally, it’s not really any of my business.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />H: It was probably different when you weren’t so popular… </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: Maybe a little bit. It’s cool to be involved in some form and it’s a good source of information. It’s cool that fans can ask questions and we can go on it but at the same time, it’s not really an important part of the music making process.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">H: You've become a household name. Is that something you think about? </span><br />DP: Not really, we just feel pressure to write records that we’re excited about, because we’ve been doing it for so long. Getting larger has always gone at a natural pace. There was a point when we put out <a href="http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3nfexqualdae"><span style="font-style: italic;">Sung Tongs</span></a> and we’d go to a 200 capacity club and suddenly it was sold out. It was like wow, people are coming out to see us. We always want</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ed that to happen and always wanted as many people as possible to be into our music but you never really know where it’s going to go.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />H: Is playing these smaller European venues a way of revisiting your early days?<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: In a way. The past couple of European tours I’ve felt we were breaking through. It helps to have all these songs out there on the internet. It’s crazy to go somewhere and people know songs that you haven’t put out on a record. It blows our minds. When we put out <span style="font-style: italic;">Strawberry Jam</span>, I felt there were places in Europe that we still needed to crack.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />H: Funny to hear an American artist talking about ‘crac</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >king’ Eastern Europe… </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">DP: Yeah, in America we instantly started to tour. Back then it was before the internet became a really popular tool, so touring was the only way of getting our band known. It was easy just to hop in a van for two or three weeks, but we had to find a way of managing that because the States is so big.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDo7C3FAYIJK0ApLTbg2Yvbc9e_hv6qBbufxECs0qGRErgR7tuprOE6BaJP0YVJz3VtBQYNo4t0x4Yv1du52cGYEFK9SaPeaH14wvtg_fB4v5DMBkov3Vue9fzKEZSmKQqzKsr1E5FHYsz/s1600-h/animal+collective+4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDo7C3FAYIJK0ApLTbg2Yvbc9e_hv6qBbufxECs0qGRErgR7tuprOE6BaJP0YVJz3VtBQYNo4t0x4Yv1du52cGYEFK9SaPeaH14wvtg_fB4v5DMBkov3Vue9fzKEZSmKQqzKsr1E5FHYsz/s320/animal+collective+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259542252096469810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />H: Have you guys been having fun being in sma</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >ller cities here?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: It’s hard because the time and the set up that we have is in</span><span style="font-family:arial;">tense and long, so it’s a lot of work. This tour we’ve been trying to go out to bars and stuff after the shows, to talk to people and hang out.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: One last thing, I wanted to ask you about <a href="http://www.crayola.com/canwehelp/products/colorexplosion/white/splash/video.cfm?vid_num=4">your commercial</a>. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: Yeah, for Crayola.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >H: I had the TV on one day and I saw it and was like, I know that song, it’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Sweet Road</span>. How did that come about? </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />DP: We get offered commercials all the time. Our publisher wants us to make money, obviously, but it’s not really something we’re enthusiastic about, attaching our music to somebody else’s product.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br />H: Well, a lot of parents would be probably be delighted to hear Animal Collective. I applaud you for it.<br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">DP: Yeah, it’s the only one we’ve ever done. But I gue</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ss </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Crayola crayons were always pretty important for me growing up…<br /><br />__________________________________<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">A fresh box of colourful crayons isn't a bad analogy for Animal Collective's music - playful and raucous, experimental and complex - however you choose to describe it, there's certainly a hell of a lot of colours in there. And from what we've heard, it should be a happy new year. <span style="font-style: italic;">Merriweather Post Pavilion</span> is going to be a bumper 150 crayon pack.<a href="http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/146724-animal-collective-unveil-trippy-merriweather-cover"></a></span><br /><br /><p class="centeralign"><br /><object width="350" height="290"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mKo9mvuxNaM&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mKo9mvuxNaM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="350" height="290"></embed></object></p><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >(Interview:Andy T, Jacob P<br />Photos: Jacob P) </span><br /></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-59075313887415863102008-10-04T18:39:00.012+02:002008-10-05T22:43:08.119+02:00Truly Worldly, Deeply: World Press Photo Exhibition<span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Millenáris Fogadó,until 19th October</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >10:00 - 20:00</span><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >1800 HUF/adult; 840 HUF/student</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0cv71Gsamc2Dg/610x.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0cv71Gsamc2Dg/610x.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Fény utca 20-22<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?city=budapest&action=search&scale=a1.0&country=hu_uk&streetfix=F%E9ny+u.&distfix=2&numfix=20-22&street=F%E9ny+utca&dist=2&num=20-22&lang=en&size=3x2">[map]</a></span> <span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Buda, II, Moszkva tér </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >(M2), 5 min</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >If you’ve been in Budapest for too long and yearn to travel around the world bu</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >t only have a Sunday afternoon and a thousand or so forint to spare, fear not: World Press Photo 08 to the rescue.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The organization puts together the world’s most prestigious and well-traveled </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">contest </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">(t</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">he exhibition gets around to almost 50 countries) for excellence in </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">photojournalism. The diverse pool of jurors is made up of experienced photographers and industry specialists from around th</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e globe, which is reflected in the content of the show.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">There are plenty of truly astonishing photographs: Brent Stirton’s</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">murdered gorilla in the Congo looks a lot like a film still from 1995's, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112715/">Congo</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span">, a credit to them both</span><span class="Apple-style-span">.</span> Clark Detrick’s shot of an eye-gouging on the court of a college basketball game is both lucky and stomach-churning, while Vanessa Winship’s black and white portraits of Turkish school girls hark back to the work of Diane Arbus. </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Chuck Close, a </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">well known American artist, although not for his photography, contributes </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">a welcome diversion</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> in his daguerreotype portrait of current civil rights silhouette artist, Kara Walker, </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">(work that one out.) </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Meanwhile, Yonathan Weitzman’s depiction of an African girl’s dress caught on barbed wire at the Israel/Egypt border will have you staring for more than a few seconds.</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.britishblogs.co.uk/images/244495.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 251px;" src="http://www.britishblogs.co.uk/images/244495.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Hungarian photographers also stand out. Balazs Gardi took first prize in the General News category for his black and white shots covering the US and Afghan army in Afghanistan. Closer to home, Zsolt Szigetváry’s poignant shot of an injured gay couple at a parade in Budapest brings Hungary's own problems into the foreground.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It is not necessarily the composition or the quality of the photography that earns a photograph high marks on World Press Photo’s list. Take John Moore’s first prize work in Spot News. His most important shots were extremely blurry, a result of his first-hand presence at the assassination - by way of suicide bombing - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">of Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. The fact that he was able to make <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">any</span> photographs amidst the frenzy of the explosion makes for an incredible story.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This excellent exhibition is, however, not without its shortcomings. The building at Millenáris looks more like a warehouse or garage, with its gritty, untreated cement floors, making it feel like you’re looking at prestigious photographs while getting your car's oil changed. Many of the photos also seem to be of poor print quality (i.e., grainy, pixilated), though you may feel this is only a minor detraction.</span></span><br /><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media.cpoy.org/62/images/C62-11-DoveT-A-08.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 192px;" src="http://media.cpoy.org/62/images/C62-11-DoveT-A-08.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > The inclusion of some of the photos </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >certainly pushes the limits of photojournalism: <span style="font-style: italic;"></span>Travis Dove’s shots of famed US skateboarding </span><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >anarchy haven, Skatopia, for example.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"> </span>The photographs suggest that the presence of a photographer wasn't exactly passive, which might not fit too well with photojournalism’s code of ethics.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>Nevertheless, it would take much more than a slightly dubious series of photos to detract from the wide ranging and superb content that is displayed in the majority of the exhibition.</span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">Jacob P.</span></span></div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" > </span></div></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-8430283245969647612008-09-18T22:09:00.101+02:002008-09-19T13:07:14.147+02:00Louis Sclavis/MAO Review - Opening Night, MOL Jazz<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa-fp_ze17th6swN5R_04qap59-JK8_8On8F9ccVwo0Sge64g43L-gVXjYh2gEFmu64VU6aSKYsfiVtA3_jTRyvss2ortlWSoVfc3QOZ8bNu_O0s4HSrHLtzGYSj6qpRgVtBJbkc_bjvK/s1600-h/mol+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 252px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYa-fp_ze17th6swN5R_04qap59-JK8_8On8F9ccVwo0Sge64g43L-gVXjYh2gEFmu64VU6aSKYsfiVtA3_jTRyvss2ortlWSoVfc3QOZ8bNu_O0s4HSrHLtzGYSj6qpRgVtBJbkc_bjvK/s320/mol+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247456106620573714" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">MUPA, 17th September<br /></span></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Komo</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >r Marcell u. 1<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest South, IX Millenniumi Kulturális Központ (T2) 3 m</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >in</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">For the tail-end of summer, yesterday was particularly bitter. The fact that the temperature here has plummeted may well have put the willies up the</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> organisers of the MOL Jazz Festival - </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >over the next three days, the festival shifts to a 'jazz tent' on the banks of the Danu</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">be.</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-family:arial;">That's a stones throw away from the buildings that house the awful, shiny clubs Buddha Beach and Inside but thankfully, last night’s Opening Gala was at the Palace of Arts - a venue that is shiny, not awful and most importantly inside, rather than near it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Only two acts were on the bill, which indicated that les</span><span style="font-family:arial;">sons might have been learnt from the previous year. 2007’s Opening Gala was a long concert, which felt like a long concert - not helped by an unnecessarily drawn-out set from excitable German vocalist Michael Schiefel, who liked the sound of his own voice so much that he looped it for half an hour. By the time the excellent Richard Galliano appeared, the audience had started to drift away. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The bulk of last night’s show was given over to a screening of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dans La Nuit,</span> with Louis Sclavis performing his score live. It's a work which treads a fine line between jazz, classical, and incidental music - but more on that later.<br /><br />There was no doubt about how to classify the opening act; the Modern Art Orches</span><span style="font-family:arial;">tra, an eighteen piece big band made up of some prodigiously talented Hungarian musicians. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">This was a powerful group, at its best when sticking to a more traditional big band sound, instead of the jazz-tinged contemporary composition which started the proceedings. Mid tempo, heavy on atmosphere, with lots of moody swells and murky chords - I was left with the impression that they were either building slowly, or keeping something in the tank.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TFnFnIz1u0Kt4nYqM-ZSHH8M3LIAjwnJ06ritVzihJbwnkpTu3pcORJ0EuOlJXXcdua-OxFd7KeuTAjKc_t_zQ1a1ZhWxkXE4hHQk7YIhuNTFywnZhkJB3oZQBptHgNf0EjTwoKZmozo/s1600-h/mol+2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-TFnFnIz1u0Kt4nYqM-ZSHH8M3LIAjwnJ06ritVzihJbwnkpTu3pcORJ0EuOlJXXcdua-OxFd7KeuTAjKc_t_zQ1a1ZhWxkXE4hHQk7YIhuNTFywnZhkJB3oZQBptHgNf0EjTwoKZmozo/s320/mol+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247462578948491458" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Their set picked up with the introduction of 19-year old tenor saxophonist Gábo</span><span style="font-family:arial;">r Bolla. After a breathless start, in which Bolla seemed intent on playing as many notes as he could, as fast as possible, it became breathless in a good way. The opening to their final piece, driven by some thunderous drumming, was a standout moment. While the MAO's performance might not have caught</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> fire for any sustained period, at the very least their inclusion gave the programme a welcome balance.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />On to Sclavis then, whose music for <span style="font-style: italic;">Dans La Nuit</span>, a 1929 silent film, was composed at the request of Bertrand Tavernier. It was a smart move that drew attention to Charles Vanel's neglected classic (even though the majority of people who have heard the album won’t have seen the movie). Personally, I've never felt this was one of Sclavis’ best records - I couldn’t shake the idea that rating it highly would be akin to calling <span style="font-style: italic;">Godfather II</span> a masterpiece, after only having seen it with the sound off.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Rare, but undeservedly so</span> - <span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Dans La Nuit</span> really is a fantastic film,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> the heartbreaking story of a man who shortly after getting married, suffers a gruesome accident which leaves him wearing a mask. Horrified, his wife starts an affair. There’s a patchy history of mo</span><span style="font-family:arial;">dern scores for silent movies, but it quickly became </span><span style="font-family:arial;">apparent that, as well as being one of the most important contemporary jazz musicians around, Sclavis is also an exceptionally gifted composer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Listening to the CD requires you to fill in a hell of a lot of blanks. Military drums - some kind of army procession. A distant clarinet note over relentless percussion - a train...? After ten minutes, it was abundantly clear that I had all the wrong answers. In fact, the military drums underscore a procession after a wedding ceremony. A trembling, tense marimba solo in 'Mauvais Reve' fills what should be a joyous celebration with a sense of foreboding. The more meandering passages found a point and the recurring main theme, whic</span><span style="font-family:arial;">h I've always thought was archaic, folksy and really rather <span style="font-style: italic;">nice</span>, became infinitely darker and more complex.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJxFnCfhj7cogzg8iloGNMMyCcKJIx5jcmVq4Pqz-_rZnYfq35AyuK1PNxIJPDxYRqCJwRR4LyuMdo6imwQKWAyZH8-asDU92r5r-6xF0GF9OiWuf_QMzzG-AHiK7JhUTXD66-_aFh33h/s1600-h/mol+4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMJxFnCfhj7cogzg8iloGNMMyCcKJIx5jcmVq4Pqz-_rZnYfq35AyuK1PNxIJPDxYRqCJwRR4LyuMdo6imwQKWAyZH8-asDU92r5r-6xF0GF9OiWuf_QMzzG-AHiK7JhUTXD66-_aFh33h/s320/mol+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247462865739720418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">At times there was just too muc</span><span style="font-family:arial;">h</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> to take in. T</span><span style="font-family:arial;">he ensemble sat with their backs to the audience, but even so, I found my eyes drifting aw</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ay from the screen and towards the musicians. They cut loose a lot more than I'd expected, with some brilliant, dissonant improvisation from the violinist, Dominique Pifarely. A virtuosic bass clarinet drone at the film's climax had my eyes on Sclavis rather than the action, but to single moments out is almost ridiculous - the playing was uniformly magnificent.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Disappointingly, only the ground floor was open yesterday. The first and second floors were nearly empty, apart from a handful of photographers... and what’s with people leaving early at MUPA? Perhaps they knew about the film's sub-GCSE ‘it was all a dream’ ending, tacked on at the request of the studio. Anyway, it was a shame. This was a performance which warranted a full house, and raucous, heartfelt applause.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Words by Andy T.<br />Pictures by Jacob P.<br /></span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-34657817266249547912008-09-11T20:57:00.049+02:002008-09-12T01:20:48.754+02:00Plenty of Penises to Go Around - Keith Haring at the Ludwig<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOvw6OIboTSgEdyuxDBu-Gk9OJVcWCzGhcfp5Z-7F19zQV-rih7ZLjXMD-nrVeZ8oqr-GHkUgLRTUICBCXRx683qMojh80yb054V3_5SPkoxnLHyzpJwd4DjSY3sm-KRxmU2TbTWXsRmK/s1600-h/haring+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 297px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMOvw6OIboTSgEdyuxDBu-Gk9OJVcWCzGhcfp5Z-7F19zQV-rih7ZLjXMD-nrVeZ8oqr-GHkUgLRTUICBCXRx683qMojh80yb054V3_5SPkoxnLHyzpJwd4DjSY3sm-KRxmU2TbTWXsRmK/s320/haring+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244840446496777714" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >LUMU, until 16th November,<br />1200 ft (discounts available)<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Komor Marcell u. </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">1 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?action=search&cityold=budapest&size=3x2&scale=a1.0&streetold=komor+marcell&streetfixold=Komor+Marcell+u.&distfixold=9&country=hu_uk&city=Budapest&street=komor+marcell&num=1&dist=">[map]</a></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="http://est.hu/cikk/49835"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">Pest, IX, Boraros t</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">é</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">r</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> (T 4,6), 8 min</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><br />Hot on the heels of what would have been Keith Haring’s 50th birthday (4 May), Budapest’s Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art has brought a prominent American artist’s work to Hungary.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The fact that most of the pieces in the Haring exhibition span only a few years is a bit of a disappointment but you can hardly hold that against the Ludwig — AIDS tragically and bitterly cut his life short seventeen years ago, at the ripe age of 31. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Having said that, while there are only so many fruitful years from an artist who dies young, the exhibition did seem to lack certain items that would have helped show the diversity in Haring’s graffiti-inspired expressions. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Although it isn’t billed as a retrospective, there is perhaps a simple solution: some of his famed chalk drawings from the NYC subways would have made it come close (if indeed, any were even saved or preserved). Instead the museum attempts to sum up Haring’s life with a pretty lacklustre timeline as you walk up the stairs. Check Keith striking a vogue with Madonna in that Polaroid! Wow-wee!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Haring’s work balances many aspects of living in America in the 1980s </span><span style="font-family:arial;">(New York City to be exact) </span><span style="font-family:arial;">— consumerism, the backlash against the advertising industry, the AIDS crisis, and race. Haring managed to pull this off without being preachy. Cheeky, yes, but fan</span><span style="font-family:arial;">tastically so. The result is something extremely thought-provoking, certainly what the artist was shooting for in a time with so much cultural garbage.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One thing anyone will notice after stepping through the </span><span style="font-family:arial;">door is the prevalence of penises in probably 80% (my rough estimate) of his work. Any guy who can use that sheer amount of phallic representation, and continually come up with something new must have had something going on upstairs.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsRCwKOlKcwASfKqen-hENQGwkwrTGxxQhsFLIYEPPASOvmSpYAMFuOrqAGwZu5LOriSHnD-WBknmnmThmgSAcfr1JlPJRgxsnK9N22SrhaiKiERoqGmtktc62QYRgYLAHfHxUvdQAgTs/s1600-h/mickey.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 221px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGsRCwKOlKcwASfKqen-hENQGwkwrTGxxQhsFLIYEPPASOvmSpYAMFuOrqAGwZu5LOriSHnD-WBknmnmThmgSAcfr1JlPJRgxsnK9N22SrhaiKiERoqGmtktc62QYRgYLAHfHxUvdQAgTs/s320/mickey.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244841320689583138" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Personally, I’m a fan of art that doesn’t take you days to extract a deep meaning from and Haring</span><span style="font-family:arial;">’s use of well-known cultural symbols to drum up discourse is intelligent without being over-bearing. As far as I‘m concerned, Warhol </span><span style="font-family:arial;">never seemed to say that much, but Haring takes Warhol‘s ideas a step beyond.<br /><br />Take for example, one of the larger pieces from the show, <span style="font-style: italic;">Prophets of Rage,</span> 1988</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. It’s homage to his buddy Jean-Michel Basquiat just before his fatal drug overdose. There’s a ton of cultural symbols: the oppressed black man, crumbling religion, a suffering and decapitated Jesus, power, money…. Point is, you <span style="font-style: italic;">can</span> use signifiers to come up with something new that will remain relevant.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">One of my biggest qualms with the exhibition in general is the fact that the main piece used in advertising it, 1982’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Untitled</span> (the ‘red dog figure tossin’ around those two green dudes‘, as I like to call it) is grossly misrepresented in all of the promotional material for the show. If you’ve got a set of working eyes and have been in Budapest for any length of time, even an airport layover,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> then you’ll probably have seen some sort of publicity for the exhibition - specifically this piece.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiMBdntCsCSrs1ge4G784ns7vWSFVozyLRASb-DSSay7pXi_SAIzco1rim1HxAyA9A3AbE2jW-Nwpk3SlvIIKazBBKYf175gvo6Qm604UelBrapOHqfGLDV9ZIAH7pZt9U5zAgXd5qMQo/s1600-h/keith.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiMBdntCsCSrs1ge4G784ns7vWSFVozyLRASb-DSSay7pXi_SAIzco1rim1HxAyA9A3AbE2jW-Nwpk3SlvIIKazBBKYf175gvo6Qm604UelBrapOHqfGLDV9ZIAH7pZt9U5zAgXd5qMQo/s320/keith.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244842063280803602" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">Well, if you do go, check it out, not that you have any choice. This thing is NEON! NOT</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> the primary red and yellow plastered onto posters all around Budapest. I’m talking spandex bicycle shorts, Day-Glo snap bracelets, “surfs up dude”, full on 80s <span style="font-weight: bold;">neon</span>. Maybe they didn’t want to spoil the </span><span style="font-family:arial;">vivid, eye-aching sensation of actually seeing the piece up close… although, I guess I just did.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">All told, Haring’s work is definitely worth a trip to the Ludwig, whether you're a fan, on the fence... or even if you just have absolutely no idea who this guy is.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Jacob P.</span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-41511277710906181242008-08-31T23:20:00.005+02:002008-09-02T00:41:16.284+02:00Budsucs - English Comedy in Budapest<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" ><a href="http://hubcafes.blogspot.com/2008/06/island-kerts.html">Holdudvar</a>, Margit sziget, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?city=budapest&action=search&scale=a1.0&country=hu_uk&streetfix=Margit+h%EDd+%28szigeti+bej%E1r%F3%29&distfix=13&numfix=&street=margit+sziget&dist=&size=3x2">[map]</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Between Buda and Pest, II, Margit hid (</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >T4/6), 5 min</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Budsucs website/tickets <a href="http://www.budsucs.com/">here</a> </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >(usually hosted in <a href="http://www.repetasarok.hu/index.php?&language=en">Repeta Sarok</a>)<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/tinky.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 216px;" src="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/tinky.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >It's Friday night and tonight, Budsucs occupies the usually calm space at the back of Holdudvar. The name is terrible but the cause is noble: English language comedy in Budapest.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Now, I'm one of those people who's quite hard to please when it comes to comedians, so if you're not and you laugh at anything, don't bother with this review and just go anyway. Presumably, as the numbers swell, the selection of comedians that they can lure out here will multiply, so your very presence is a kind of pro-comedy demonstration. But for anyone who wants an idea of what to expect...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I can't look at a </span><span style="font-family:arial;">compère </span><span style="font-family:arial;">without thinking of Alexei Sayle's bumbling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_All_New_Alexei_Sayle_Show">Bobby Chariot</a>, who would have gone down well enough here, since people were generally geared-up/beered-up for laughing. This one was </span><span style="font-family:arial;">nothing out of the ordinary </span><span style="font-family:arial;">but in fairness, he was as sharp and as he needed to be, as he accosted members of the audience and ad-libbed some semi-offensive response or other. Swiftly on then to the comedians.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brett Schafer</span> is from LA but now lives in Budapest. That's pretty much his act, combined with a very nervy start. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">(It does look as though he's still finding his feet.) </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Like many Americans in Europe he felt the need to bang on about what people think about Americans, which was a bit irritating in my book. Perversely, people wanted to laugh, but they weren't really sure when they were supposed to.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mullone.co.uk/mullone2005/images/myspace1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 363px;" src="http://www.mullone.co.uk/mullone2005/images/myspace1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Liam Mullone</span>, on the other hand, had a relaxed, Izzard-esque approach and demonstrated the kind of standard Budsucs should be aiming for. I’d seen a bit of his material before (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=liam+mullone&search_type=&aq=-1&oq=">here</a>), which he repeated on the night, and happily it stood up to a second hearing. Delivery is half the game in stand-up and whether you can make a list of <a href="http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Surf-Removes-99-Top-Stains-Surf-Range/12069">Surf</a>’s top stains funny or not is a good test. He did. He also enjoyed some banter with a dog in the audience (really, it was a dog), which demonstrated that rarest quality: wit. (The banter demonstrated the wit. The dog was a dullard.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tinky Winky</span> followed. He calls himself Dave Thompson now but he shot to fame when the BBC decided that the seven-foot Tellytubby wasn't behaving as a Tellytubby should. His “interpretation of the role was not acceptable”, apparently. The same charge might be levelled at him this evening as his comedy was distinctly hackneyed. He was persistent, certainly. Fearless, yes. But even this kindest of audiences was groaning more than laughing. “Men are twenty times more likely to get cancer of the testicles... I’m happy to say all three of mine are fine.” It was like watching <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comedians">The Comedians</a>. Plenty of jokes with a one percent hit-rate. BBC, please reinstate him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">So what does that say about Budsucs? Judging by Liam Mullone’s last minute revision of his notepad at the bar, it’s probably a bit daunting to come out and test the audience here: an unknown that many comedians can live without. And although Dave Thompson didn’t do a lot for me, he has at least got some kind of credentials, having worked with Harry Hill, Dipsy, La La and Po. A mixed bag of comedians, therefore, was still enough to show that Budsucs is doing something right. Overall: entertaining and, crucially, it puts Budapest on the comedy circuit.<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">budsucks bud sucs sucks</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy Sz.</span><br /><br /></span> </div> <span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dave Thompson</span> plays Letchworth Arts Centre on 6th September.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Liam Mullone</span> is on the telly on Wednesday 3rd September (Sky News) and doing the rounds in the UK. Dates <a href="http://www.mullone.co.uk/?page_id=109">here</a>.<br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Brett Schafer</span> will crop up at Budsucs again, I’m sure.</span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-41756643375432994872008-08-27T18:26:00.036+02:002008-09-01T02:21:53.285+02:00Kontroll (2003)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWbwJ9cKoL1JoDxnPzRmJpFoAmwXQtX2F-W43tc5GEqSrXjE7zC2sdiRaT4_ZgFYZHBV1HhoWQijyoMaQROuHUovk1ItbPilmiTWiToedgXw8jEhP97VfBt2YBet5mraQEHvxyLUhxGa9/s1600-h/kontroll.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 186px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWbwJ9cKoL1JoDxnPzRmJpFoAmwXQtX2F-W43tc5GEqSrXjE7zC2sdiRaT4_ZgFYZHBV1HhoWQijyoMaQROuHUovk1ItbPilmiTWiToedgXw8jEhP97VfBt2YBet5mraQEHvxyLUhxGa9/s320/kontroll.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239239063862723234" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >One recent Hungarian film I’ve heard an awful lot about is the subway system drama <span style="font-style: italic;">Kontroll</span>. Released in 2003, this was a big domestic hit for director </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Nimród Antal who immediately bought a single ticket to Hollywood, where he went on to make <a href="http://www.horror-movies.ca/AdvHTML_Upload/vacancyDVDart.jpg">this rubbish</a>. </span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">On paper though, <span style="font-style: italic;">Kontroll</span> sounds interesting. A film set in the world of miserable Budapest ticket controllers? A critique, perhaps, of the much-maligned Hungarian public transport system, shot on location? Sign me up. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Sadly, <span style="font-style: italic;">Kontroll</span> isn’t very good at all. In fact, it’s a tiresome mess, hovering uneasily between quirky comedy, quirky thriller and quirky romance, the lack of a clear focus giving the unfortunate impression that </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Nimród</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> was making it all up as he went along. I suppose that ultimately, it would fall into the category of a ‘yoof’ movie, a little like Doug Liman’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Go</span>, or more worryingly, any of Guy Ritchie’s empty, London-based films. The action is frenetically edited, and underscored by a thumping, but lame soundtrack from NEO, which constantly reminds you that if you aren’t under 25 you probably won't get the most out of this film. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Kontroll</span> tells the story of a group of ticket collectors, led by </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Bulcsú (Sándor Csányi)</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, a man who works, sleeps, and lives in the subway …(although he doesn’t, as far as I can recall, <a href="http://www.eszemiszom.hu/m.asp?D=EE&R=26961">eat Subway</a>). The rest of his crew are a weird bunch of freaks - there’s a convincingly shabby, moustachioed controller, a grizzled veteran, a narcoleptic, and the thick new boy who, for no reason whatsoever, has wheels in the bottom of his shoes. The other characters aren’t much better - we’re introduced to a pretty girl who wears a bear costume (for no reason whatsoever), a rival crew of controllers who hate </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Bulcsú</span><span style="font-family:arial;">’s gang (for no reason whatsoever), and a psychotic maniac who pushes pedestrians under trains (for no reaso…. <span style="font-style: italic;">pfffff</span>. You get the idea). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">With very little in the way of character development, the film ends up wearing its weirdness like a badge, the sprawling, claustrophobic underground system reminiscent of the effectively bizarre worlds created by Jeunet et Caro, or Terry Gilliam’s <span style="font-style: italic;">Brazil</span>. Only, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Nimród</span><span style="font-family:arial;">’s underground world seems flimsy and pointless - in my book, ten genre-hopping sub-plots don’t make a story. So... </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Bulcsú</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> is afraid to leave the underground system… where he has these ‘hilarious’ encounters with passengers…. and everyone thinks he’s the pedestrian-pushing maniac<span style="font-style: italic;">...</span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> but, he falls in love… <span><span style="font-style: italic;">'oooookaaay.'</span> </span>Finally though, so what? I was left firmly stranded at the station.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It’s in the comic sections that<span style="font-style: italic;"> Kontroll</span> disappoints the most. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Nimród</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> opts for an unimaginative montage technique, and sets up a series of familiar encounters between controllers and ticketless passengers, Japanese tourists, and beautiful women… then, rather than writing funny material, makes everybody SHOUT! It’s like being stuck in a lift with a boisterous six year old. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Interestingly, the film opens with a monologue from a BKV spokesperson who embraces, but also distances himself from ‘his friend’ Antal’s film. There certainly is a clever satire to be made about the flawed underground system here in Budapest, but this isn‘t it. How about a movie which tells the story of controller with a heart of gold, who cares about the passengers, doesn’t take great delight in finding people who are without a valid pass, and genuinely loves his job? Now that, I’d buy a ticket for. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy T.</span> </span><br /></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-30503141207188520782008-05-15T13:24:00.018+02:002008-09-01T02:22:41.305+02:00Equus - English Theatre in Budapest<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/equus_001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 332px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/equus_001.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Zöld Macska Diákpince</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest South, IX, Üllői út 95 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?action=search&country=hu_uk&scale=a1.0&city=budapest&street=%DCll%F5i+%FAt&streetfix=%DCll%F5i+%FAt&dist=9&distfix=9&num=95&numfix=95&oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo&lang=en">[map]</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Klinikák (M3), 1 min</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >A complex psychological drama about a disturbed teenager is not the most obvious choice for the first play from a <a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/">new production company</a>. The decision to cast Hungarians in the lead roles of an English-language play might also raise eyebrows.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A little more detail doesn't make the prospects any rosier: <a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/ily%C3%A9sl%C3%A9n%C3%A1rd">Leo Ilyés</a>, who plays psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, and </span><a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/b%C3%A9resmikl%C3%B3s"><span style="font-family:arial;">Miklós </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/b%C3%A9resmikl%C3%B3s">Béres</a>, who plays the troubled Alan Strang, have never performed in English before. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Leo </span><span style="font-family:arial;">has to tackle several monologues while </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Miklós </span><span style="font-family:arial;">has a nude scene to handle. The auditorium is a cellar in a bar and the props are largely constructed from wire and bits of cardboard.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">All of this sounds suspiciously like a recipe for disaster, but by ten o'clock, it's clear that the whole thing has worked out remarkably well.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The reason for this is that director, Rhett Stevens, knows what he's doing. His casting of Hungarians in English roles isn't as daft as it seems: actors who can handle the roles are rather more important than British accents. Also, it has lent the cast a sense of community and the play a wider purpose.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Leo explained his initial trepidation: "At the casting, Rhett asked me to read from an English text, and I looked at it and thought: I can't do it. I must have been pretty bad but he must have liked something." Leo also praised the entire cast who together helped him master the demands of the script, providing a full immersion environment to help develop his English.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">Stevens' casting throughout is spot-on; I can't imagine the central characters in each other's roles. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Miklós </span><span style="font-family:arial;">makes a convincing Alan. From boyish glee through teenage obstinacy, ecstasy and embarrassment, his delivery is excellent. He takes the role in his stride: whether getting into the mindset of a disturbed teenager or taking his clothes off in a packed but tiny auditorium. "I didn't even think about thinking about it", he says.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubevents.googlepages.com/Equus_email_Flyer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 290px; height: 206px;" src="http://hubevents.googlepages.com/Equus_email_Flyer.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">The production too is commendable. Humming sound effects, provided by the cast, are ominous and exciting at the same time, while the lighting feels professional despite the limited facilities. Moreover, the minimalist horse-riding scenes truly capture the imagination.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Equus is by no means perfect. There are a few fluffed lines here and there, some of the acting feels a little conscious, and the Hungarian accents are, at times, demanding for an English audience - although Stevens points out that the opposite is true for the Hungarian contingent.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This, in itself, alludes to the clear success of the production: Equus serves everybody. Both Hungarian and English audiences have a chance to see an ambitious English-language production, with absolutely no intention of dumbing down the script. Development of the actors is also mutually beneficial for Hungarians moving into English roles and English-speakers moving into acting.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The current run at </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Zöld </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Macska has just two performances left and if you're looking for gripping theatre, you'll get your money's worth at 1400Ft a ticket. But what next for Equus?</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Stevens hopes that Equus will pop up again for a few one-off performances but after the summer he'll turn his mind to a second production. He ponders for a moment... "I'd like to do a comedy."</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The remaining performances of Equus take place at </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Zöld </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Macska on 21st and 24th May, just across the road from the Klinikák metro stop on Line 3. Full details, cast and tickets <a href="http://equusproductions.googlepages.com/home">here</a>.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Equs, Echus, Echuus, Equous</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy Sz.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></div>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-85081504085149074272008-03-09T22:12:00.008+01:002008-09-01T02:23:30.027+02:00Review: Szilvási Gipsy Folk Band at Corvintető<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/szilvasigypsy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 123px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/szilvasigypsy.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">"Where is my son? Get him up here - he'll show you how it's done!"</span> And up he comes, Szilvási junior, to give us a display of the gypsy men's dance. Skipping, jumping, stamping, clapping, thigh-slapping, calf-slapping - it's so frenetic that his legs become a denim blur, but he's still full of grace and poise. But if your dad is the leader of the <a href="http://www.szilvasigipsy.hu/">Szilvási Gipsy Folk Band</a>, you'd have plenty of time to practice your dancing.</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I climbed the long stairwell to <a href="http://www.corvinteto.hu/">Corvintető</a> on Monday, certain I was going to enjoy the set. It was the first gig of their residency and it was pretty busy. At first people were shy to come into the centre of the dancefloor, and clung to the edges, bobbing up and down to the music. Every so often a gaggle of Roma girls, all dolled up in their bling and high heels, would come and do a fast jiggly dance, clicking their fingers with their arms high in the air.<br /><br />Five songs into the band's set, and all the wallflowers were boogying unselfconsciously in the middle of the dancefloor.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The music requires little description - it's dependable, well-played good-time gyspy music. Have a listen on their <a href="http://www.szilvasigipsy.hu/">website</a>, or better still, come and hear them live. They often get guest bands in too, some from as far away as Italy. What really intrigued me about this gig though was the audience. </span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />This is real Roma party, with the band bringing folks up onto the stage to show off their gypsy dancing skills. Szilvási István, the bandleader, kept shouting things out over the mic, like, "A cigányság nem diszkriminativ!" and other messages about social unity. The dancefloor filled up with people, and became a sweaty mass of Roma, Hungarians and the odd foreigner, all having fun dancing together. I know it's often said that music can break down social boundaries, but on that rainy Monday it seemed truer than ever.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Lucy F.</span><br /></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-3628054827337594852008-03-07T23:44:00.018+01:002008-09-01T02:23:30.027+02:00What's on the Radio in Budapest?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Radio_dynamo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 120px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Radio_dynamo.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >I have a little portable radio on my bedside table. Radio C wakes me up, and Bartók </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Rádió</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >lulls me gently to sleep (unless they're playing <a href="http://www.lunanova.org/podcasts/phantasy.mp3">Schoenberg</a> of course, in which case I start having the dreams about the pins again). But enough about me. Here are the radio stations I like listening to:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" ><br />Rádió</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:arial;">C - 88.8FM</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><a href="http://www.radioc.hu/">www.radioc.hu</a></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/radiocbanner.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 113px; height: 34px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/radiocbanner.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />C stands for Gypsy. This is ‘Hungary’s first Roma radio’ as the tagline tells you in Hungarian. It's</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> mainly music, with some discussion programmes. Every weekday lunchtime 12:00-13:00 there’s traditional Roma music. Sometimes it plays really cheesy pop but thankfully always goes back the crazy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iOconx9T4E&feature=related">cimbaloms</a> sooner or later.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">_________________________________<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">Bartók </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Rádió</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >- 105.3FM </span><br /><a href="http://www.mr3.hu/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.mr3.hu</span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/bartok-logo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 78px; height: 62px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/bartok-logo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Bartók Rádio is Hungary’s classical music radio. Click on Hangtár from their website and you’ll find a <a href="http://mronline.radio.hu/BARTOK.HTM">complete list</a> of what you’re listening to. It’s not all straight classical –there’s also a lot of modern and experimental composers. Plus, they play jazz later o</span><span style="font-family:arial;">n and the odd bit of folk. This is good stuff - I don’t miss BBC Radio <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/">3</a> any more.</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">_________________________________</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Tilos </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Rádió</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >- 90.3FM</span><br /><a href="http://tilos.hu/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.tilos.hu</span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouXbKy1eHQpub1lZvUdgTWRLGsa-qVADQs9Qx5APpc_Z2FqF1zUnJFSvS15P7Maw6i-l_BMKFw2zh1XDRycFZD-ORkMcVB0sD-GK83fQpHsOXkjg3jQxEb2yKWtAGN9Qpo8y7G3MSsYEV/s1600-h/tilos.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 85px; height: 68px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiouXbKy1eHQpub1lZvUdgTWRLGsa-qVADQs9Qx5APpc_Z2FqF1zUnJFSvS15P7Maw6i-l_BMKFw2zh1XDRycFZD-ORkMcVB0sD-GK83fQpHsOXkjg3jQxEb2yKWtAGN9Qpo8y7G3MSsYEV/s200/tilos.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175735217198103282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Tilos started out in 1991 as a radio station run by <a href="http://www.fatlittlefinger.com/Piratemedia/Captain-Roger.jpg">pirates</a>, but has grown into a le</span><span style="font-family:arial;">gimitat</span><span style="font-family:arial;">e, s</span><span style="font-family:arial;">ocially aware brand. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">It's an unpredictable mix - Balkan</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> folk, Gamelan mu</span><span style="font-family:arial;">sic, Studio One Reggae, ra</span><span style="font-family:arial;">re funk and soul - anything goes, even if that means 45 minutes worth of instrumentals from <a href="http://www.stonesthrow.com/madvillain/">Madvillain</a>. Tilos parties, held in various venues around the city, are also worth a visit. </span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">_________________________________</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Folkradiologo.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 63px; height: 84px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/Folkradiologo.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >Folk Rádió</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" > – online only</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.folkradio.hu/index_eng.html"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.folkradio.hu</span></a> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Folkrádió is a not-for-profit, 24-hour online radio which plays, surprise surprise, traditional folk</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> music. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">All music, no talking, and the best thing is that the website tells you what you’re listening to at any given moment, so you can track down what you enjoy. If you’re into Hungarian folk this is a great resource.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">_________________________________</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/bbcworldservice.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 59px; height: 59px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/bbcworldservice.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >BBC World Service / Radio France Internationale</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" > </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:130%;" >- 92.1FM</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/">www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice</a></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.rfi.fr/">www.rfi.fr</a></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />These two broadcast giants have reached an <a href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/entente-cordiale1.jpg">entente cordiale</a>, and share a</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> radio station,</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/radio_france_international_rfi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 60px; height: 60px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/radio_france_international_rfi.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> mainly</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> broadcas<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ting in English and French, with snippets in German and</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> Hungarian. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >C'est</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > en</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > français toute la journée </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >à</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > partir de 9h30, et juste quand les rosbifs</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > prennent leurs</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > gin</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > tonics</span><span style="font-family:arial;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> from 6pm it's i</span></span>n English again.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Find programme schedules through <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi?Pg=Fp&Sx=budapest&GC.x=0&GC.y=0">the beeb's website</a>.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">_________________________________</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />And all the rest...</span></span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />There's an <a href="http://www.danubius.hu/index">awful</a> lot of other radio stations in Hungary - these just my recommendations. To listen to all the rest online, a good web portal is Reciva.com - </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> <a href="https://www.reciva.com/index.php?option=com_cloud&action=results&type=location&fieldid=130&page=1&sortby=hits&resultsPerPage=50#">here</a> is </span><span style="font-family:arial;">the link for Hungarian stations.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">All of the FM frequencies given are for the Budapest area. If you're listening from elsewhere, check out the local frequencies on the station's website.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">Lucy F</span><br /></span><br /></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-41526539021208772182008-03-05T23:26:00.007+01:002008-09-01T02:24:13.537+02:00Event Review: Poetry and Music at Treehugger Dan's<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubevents.googlepages.com/treehugger.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 137px;" src="http://hubevents.googlepages.com/treehugger.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Lazar u. 16 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?city=budapest&action=search&scale=a1.0&country=hu_uk&streetfix=L%E1z%E1r+u.&distfix=6&numfix=16&street=lazar&dist=&num=16&lang=en&size=3x2">[map]</a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Pest Centre, VI,</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"> Opera (M1), 1 min / Oktogon (T4/6), 3 min</span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">I expected this to be awful – after all, it was described to me as poetry and improvising saxophones. Ghastly, I thought. But no, not at all.</span><br /><br />One man plays instruments through a loop pedal, whilst another recites poetry rather slowly and nervously. It’s being filmed, and the lad holding the boom mic seems to be part of the act – he keeps lurching the big fluffy mic dangerously near our poet’s head, whilst nearly hitting audience members in the face with the other end. I’m enjoying the sideshow as well as the main attraction. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The poet, <a href="http://poetsnews.blogspot.com/">Dániel Dányi</a>, reads his own material, jittery but purposeful. He has the kind of American accent you would expect to hear as a voice-over on an old black and white detective film. He pauses every so often to drink some wine, blink, eat a few more bites of a large pear, and let the musician do his thing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The musician is <a href="http://www.cabaretmedrano.hu/coutel.php?bck=fo%20old.swf?ms1=8701">Janó Nemes</a>, who plays an electric bass, a tarnished sax and a flute through a loop pedal, by turns building up and taking away layers of rhythm and melody. It’s not showy or self-conscious, but rather melancholic and beautiful - he obviously likes Tom Waits. The sounds conjure up a rainy urban scene, and go perfectly with Dányi’s set of poems about Keleti and Nyugati. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">This is one of the first events at the recently opened <a href="http://www.treehugger.hu/">Treehugger Dan’s</a> Bookstore Lounge, the first of many. Treehugger Dan himself tells us about the next few events – music from a UK singer-songwriter, a fair trade film night, acoustic <a href="http://www.myspace.com/tumbayquema">Colombian music</a>. At the end we all clap enthusiastically, put a donation in the hat, and take our teacups back to the bar. It's small and a bit righteous, but with cheap fair trade coffee, tea, <a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Eupathy">eupathy</a>, and thousands of good books, there are plenty of reasons to come back here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Treehugger Dan’s Bookstore Lounge is in the lobby of <a href="http://www.yellowzebrabikes.com/">Yellow Zebra</a>, behind Opera House on L</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >á</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >z</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >á</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >r u. 16. The original Treehugger Dan's Bookstore and Cafe on Csengery u. 48 is still open too. </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.treehugger.hu/"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >www.treehugger.hu</span></a><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Lucy F</span><br /></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-51727432426874994032008-02-19T22:53:00.010+01:002008-09-01T02:24:42.857+02:00Book Review: Chico Buarque's 'Budapest'<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/chico_00x.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 266px;" src="http://hubcult.googlepages.com/chico_00x.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Coincidentally, Chico Buarque’s Budapest was given to me as a present just before I announced that I’d be living here. But it took me six months to get around to reading it. Perhaps I was concerned that I’d be living his life instead of mine.</span><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It's the story of a Brazilian writer, temporarily stranded in Budapest, who instantly develops a connection to the city and the Hungarian language. His appetite whetted, he seizes a chance to renew his acquaintance and begins to concoct a new reality.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Budapest is described warmly but it’s the Hungarian language that attracts the lion’s share of the author’s admiration. His unbridled enthusiasm radiates from the central character. If your desire to learn Hungarian needs rekindling, 'Budapest' could provide the spark of inspiration.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Buarque delights in ambiguity, in dissolving the borders between people, places and, indeed, paragraphs. He's poetic, romantic, yet often frustrating. He'll lead you down certain roads, hiding ‘round corners and disappearing down side-streets at every opportunity. At times, the side-streets become the thoroughfares, resulting in an intriguing but exhausting journey.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The author’s dedication to a weaving plot made my relationship with narrator, Jose Kosta, a little turbulent. Unlikely situations and dubious decision-making sometimes wrecked my suspension of disbelief as Buarque stretched the plot to fit the skeleton of his post-modern ambitions.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Rather like Charlie Kaufman’s <a href="http://movies.virginmedia.com/player/default.asp?url=/film/fid2408/features/avfid1485/wm/bb.asx&filmid=2408&ftrid=1485&partner=virgin&sec=ftr&psec=">Adaptation</a>, the self-referential plot is folded several layers thick. It’s impossible not to appreciate Buarque’s craftsmanship and imagination but equally, it's impossible to ignore his vanity. He treats his readers as Kosta treats his women and colleagues: with an air of intellectual superiority. How much you are wowed by his resolution will probably influence how much of this you're willing to forgive.<br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Andy Sz.</span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055690746844968411.post-37319575013816438652008-01-08T18:30:00.000+01:002008-09-01T02:25:01.922+02:00Örökmozgó Filmmúzeum<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWOUFhL-Y2g-uq7uoI1CVgcOONEdui0kLF0Pe3naANw4yoGWEpXnBN7HaVwQx6Si_g_88iwaCQUEpRqoR7TqH6LpeE8eL-GHR96ghf7v5Jmi_txHjJoO8XuWDaIPyqMpqi8z6OOy9P5W-/s1600-h/orokmozgo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 267px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWOUFhL-Y2g-uq7uoI1CVgcOONEdui0kLF0Pe3naANw4yoGWEpXnBN7HaVwQx6Si_g_88iwaCQUEpRqoR7TqH6LpeE8eL-GHR96ghf7v5Jmi_txHjJoO8XuWDaIPyqMpqi8z6OOy9P5W-/s320/orokmozgo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153159974329875826" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Erzsébet krt. 39 <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://utcakereso.hu/map3/index.php?action=search&cityold=budapest&size=3x2&scale=a1.0&streetold=erzsebet&streetfixold=Erzs%E9bet+k%F6r%FAt&distfixold=7&country=hu_uk&city=Budapest&street=erzsebet&num=39&dist=&lang=en">[map]</a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" >Pest Centre, VII,</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-family:arial;" > Király utca (T4/6), 3 min</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >In comparison to say, the British Film Institute's plush cinemas on London's South Bank, the Örökmozgó Filmmúzeum feels like something of a tin-pot operation.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Housed in what was once the 'Matra Mese és Ifjúsági Mozi' (which roughly translated means a 'children's picture house' specialising in 'fables'), the premises were taken over by the Hungarian National Film Archive in 1991. With its small café, narrow auditorium, and a couple of members of staff who seem to sell tickets, coffees and man the projection booth, it's clear from the outset that </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Örökmozgó</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> isn't necessarily going to be a polished cinema-going experience.<br /><br />At times, it's extremely ropey. In the past couple of years, I’ve seen Dustin Hoffman get sliced in half as he crossed the street during a showing of <span style="font-style: italic;">Midnight Cowboy</span>. Only four minutes later, when the print was repositioned, were Dustin’s upper body and legs happily reunited. On another occasion, a copy of <a href="http://www.mikecottrell.com/keaton.html">Buster Keaton's</a> <span style="font-style: italic;">The General</span> had four false starts before it was finally able to leave the platform. Perhaps most disappointingly of all, I turned up to a screening of <span style="font-style: italic;">Labyrinth</span> to find that, contrary to what was advertised, the entire cast - <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=3WEdcxiHRxM">trolls, goblins, David Bowie</a> - would be speaking in French. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And yet, in spite of the damaged prints and occasionally misleading advertising, it’s really rather easy to ignore </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Örökmozgó</span><span style="font-family:arial;">’s flaws. Because of its connection to the archive, it has by far the most eclectic programming in the city. A single day might throw up a Claude Chabrol thriller, followed by a series of <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=cFWeZogF2iw">early shorts from D.W. Griffith</a>, topped off with the film adaptation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Catch-22</span>. And as disorganised as all that sounds, films are usually shown as part of week or month long seasons, such as 'America at War', or John Huston at 100.<br /><br />As far as I'm concerned, it's the best cinema in Budapest. It isn't often you get to see films as diverse a<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">s </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Last Year at Marienbad, Apocalypse Now </span><span>and</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Touch of Evil </span>on the big screen. A monthly schedule is available <a href="http://www.filmintezet.hu/uj/orokmozgo/">here</a>, films generally start at 4.30, 6.30 and 8.30 and tickets are inexpensive. Bring your own popcorn.<br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">orokkmozgo film museum rock moz go orukmozgo arthouse cinema, repertory, art cinema</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Get off the tram at Kiraly, and walk towards Blaha on the left hand side of the krt. </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Örökmoz</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >gó is on the corner of Dob utca. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Andy T. </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>hub culturehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18417221863572925679noreply@blogger.com0