So, recently, I saw the film '(500) Days of Summer.’ It was an honest tale of expectations, perceptions, love and life. However, one facet, among the particulars, that gave the film tremendous depth was the level of detail given to the appreciation of the subtle, captivating urban spaces that remain unspoken in daily interactions. I think the film was largely about the details – the details of relationships, the details of a woman, and the details of everyday life. The film really takes the time to focus, in a very intimate way, on subtleties that a good author will walk through with you – that you would not have noticed otherwise. The details really give this film a rich quality that you can lose yourself in. And, as Mies would say, ‘God is in the details.’
In speaking about the details, I loved all of them – the music choices, the costumes, locations, casting, coloration, editing, cinematography – it was all marvelous. It is pure elation. It bathes in misery. It is honest and heartbreaking. It allows a series of opinions on love. The sequences are all individually crafted and edited in a way that takes advantage of the often-overlooked fact that this is a film. It could be a novel, a short story, a poem, but it is not – it is a film and ‘500 Days’ should be a film; it takes advantage of the medium to tell the story.
The main character, Tom, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, is a greeting card writer and an aspiring architect. He is a romantic and a head-case, however I think this enables him to find beauty creeping up between the cracks in the sidewalk that most would walk right over. Los Angeles becomes a place in the film, with the help of carefully chosen locations, a genius dance sequence, a park bench and actual Richard Neutra sketches, the film really gives you a sense of place.
In addition to capturing ‘place,’ Gordon-Levitt’s character actually has something to say about place, architecture, and urban design. While the commentary is a little brief and understated at times, he finds beauty in an overlook that looks into a downtown flooded with one too many parking lots. He discusses what he sees though - how there is potential and a subtle captivation in the view to a city. He actually takes the time to voice what he thinks of art, architecture and the city – something very rare in film.
Similarly, there are two sequences in the film where Tom takes time to notice the details of Summer (hair, smile, knees etc.). These sequences are something memorable not because Tom merely mentions them, but that each of her details is totally open to interpretation, as a city is – it could be a cute haircut or a stupid 60’s throwback – it could be an intimate view of a city or an ugly view plagued by too much parking. In other words, perception becomes a choice – it is not forced. The film has an acute understanding of the meaning that we attach to places and to people – and that those meanings run much deeper than physical appearance.
I think it is easy to take a critical position and dismiss a city or a view because of what it lacks - one too many parking garages, way too much asphalt, not enough density, and so on. What Tom navigates well, is the ability to resist the modernist urge to write away history and get lost in what something could be. I don’t think Tom would be one to theorize about a new ‘ideal’ type of urban environment or way of life, rather, he represents an embrace of the ordinary along with the hopes of what could be.
Additionally, here is a music video done by some of the same cast and crew.
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21.8.09
20.8.09
absolut rip-off
Notice any similarities?
(note: the picture is one of the projects featured in Stefan Sagmeister's latest book: Things I have learned in my life so far)
(note 2: I'm switching to Grey Goose.)
19.8.09
18.8.09
Today's Special Is So America
Home Shopping anchors are sometimes fiercely good at their jobs, usually creepy (see above), and always so America. The Paris Hiltons of daytime tv, some like David Venable achieve viral fame for shear awkwardness. Dylan and I are working on a celebration of this obsession for the b-side of the scrap cover. Scraps for scrap are being pulled from the blog this week! Keep posting or email thestudio@ new material.
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These are Please God Days
It is unbearable how people keep falling in love
with people far away. Not the lovers in different
states with their loins at convenient distances
so the only times are good times half way between here
and Cincinnati - somewhere in Virginia, skiing,
wine tasting - or not skiing and not wine tasting
but making love in hotels with seven-pillowed beds.
I am thinking of lovers who have flown through windows
to know one another better. For whom the fire is not
cleansing or warm, but cracks like the links of a metal
chain around their ankles, wrists, throats.
There is no perfect faith, she says, don't blame me.
When she says sacrifice is something she understands,
she means there is no God of courage. He tells her he is crumbling.
He keeps his resentment in his front pocket, fingering it
like a buckeye. Sometimes he holds it in the side of his cheek -
a damp apology. They sledge stakes in the yard and in the bed
and throw themselves against imaginary fences, falling
back into each other like wounded dogs trying to escape
the front yard. These are please God days when love is not enough
in the flood. She is languorous in the porcelain tub
when he comes home smelling sad. He takes her wet hand
out of the cloudy water and gently brushes his lips against her
knuckles. He stays there fore a long time, beside the tub
holding her hand. She steps out and stands in front of him.
A puddle forms beneath her naked body. He shudders, has to steady himself.
He can think of nothing better to say so he tells her he loves her.
Think of bad days as long distances, she says. You are a layer
of skin I can't explain. They drive past cornfields and graves
wanting to take back the ugly things they said. They carry
everything with them, words heavy as wood axes, waiting
for a clearing, for some moment they can comprehend, like this one.
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i'm here.
Syracuse's main talent is being seriously sketchville on one block while competing with the world stage on the next. This building is feirce, and it's not even done yet. This sucker is LEED PLATINUM, bling bling. It's some sort of sustainable research mecca, located a 10 minute drive from my place. Think it will be ok if i just go hang out there? Design work done by Toshiko Mori.
16.8.09
Spill It
What kind of designer are you...
Fill it out, Repost or email thestudio@supermanicecreamcolletive.com. In prep for superman ice cream COLLECTIVE.com, we need to pick your brain. Short/Long answer, what makes you and your work tick. If you need a refresher on multi-Local terms, catch up here.
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