my rims are matte The Raafmonster and MHB were in Harlem this morning scouting locations. We snapped our pics and moseyed down the 125. Raafi took a few bonus shots and said “I think you might need to email those to me”. And so here they are. My friend’s got a crush on Depth of Field and on Flat Planes. It may seem to be at odds, but they kiss close like jimmies and soft serve. iced for daze
Fresh off the wire, this is the most surreal music video of the summer. Kanye’s personal trainer is friends with Zach. Kanye gave Zach carte blanche to do a video. Will happened to be at Zach’s farm that weekend. Amazing. I’m gonna go remix some Palace Brothers now.
Occasionally, some of us here at Desedo volunteer to help a group called 24 Hours for Darfur. It’s an interesting project and worth checking out and supporting.
Because of this broad and common exposure, it’s taken on a familiar buzzword-numbness and abstraction, becoming just another part of the sea of information and ideas we dip in and out of every day. (For an unmatched exploration of this phenomenon see Regarding the Pain of Others.)
But I recently saw a film, The Devil Came On Horseback, which broke through that numbness and caused me to feel very deeply about Darfur, the people in it, what it means to know such things about such a place, what I can or can’t do to help or prevent or make any kind of change, what my duty is as a citizen, and on and on. Like most things, if you really sit down and think about it, there’s a lot to consider, and after watching the film, you’ll most-likely find yourself checking your own values and assumptions about a range of topics that reach all the way into your own home, head and heart.
What’s more, the main subject of the film besides Darfur, is former marine Brian Steidle, someone who demonstrates many qualities most of us would be very lucky to share. I’ll take him as an inspiration.
The film is well made: well shot, arranged and edited, has a clear focus and subject, is the definition of bearing witness, and has to be seen.
What’s interesting?
The lightest points always grab our interest.
Movement grabs our interest.
Promise is interesting.
New is interesting.
Loud is interesting, as is weird.
We’re vying for interest. Your interest.
Info-sthetics manages understanding information, but not interest.
Entertainment manages interest, but often, not understanding.
Interest begets entertainment, understanding, motivation, and the flip reverse of this.
The things that are often the least interesting, if painted in the right manner, would grip us in blockbuster numbers, which would change the world.
Colors are interesting.
Texture is interesting.
Conflict and emotion are interesting.
Suffering? interesting.
Interest fuels emotion. More often, emotion fuels interest.
What do you want? What are you looking for? What’s in it, for you? What’s your bag? Deal? Situation?
What are you interested in?
(p.s. since posting this entry, the cyclist pictured above tested positive for an homologous blood transfusion, meaning he was caught illegally transfusing somone else’s fresh lab-treated red-blood-cell-rich blood into his body in an effort to gain an unfair advantage over his competition, which advantage he did gain, winning 2 stages of the tour de france, even after a spectacular failure and appearance of irrecoverable weakness earlier in the race. interesting.)
Has there ever been a media personality like Eldrick Woods? And aren’t you glad no one ever started calling him T-Dub? (T-Dub on the V.O.!!!). He’s something like the fourth Chipmunk, but cocky, and a cold-blooded killer in his profession. Add to that the fact that he may be the first athlete to become a billionaire, and, like Snoop Dogg, he wears his own clothes. In fact, he might be the only man on earth who is allowed to carry around a stuffed animal — a tiger naturally.
This summer I keep meeting new photographers. They run the gamut – cell phone experimenters, studio theorists and some who rock large format. And so I’ve been looking at heaps of photos and wondering if and how our relationships with these images have changed in the digital era. Do they carry the same emotional weight when shared and seen onscreen as opposed to in print? It’s obviously more efficient for all parties, but lately I’ve resolved to print more and email less.
