Posted in January 2012

DESCENDING INTO MEXICO CITY No. 010: ALINKA ECHEVERRÍA

Alinka–Mexican, but oh so very addicted to distances–is in town for a while. Talented photographer and anthropologist, this above is her latest project entitled “Becoming South Sudan”.

“On 9 July 2011, six months after nearly 99 percent of four million voters in a referendum opted for secession from the North, the Republic of South Sudan came into being, becoming the world’s 193rd nation. The run-up to independence witnessed a place and a people in transformation, as some of the millions of exiles who had sought asylum in neighboring countries returned to rebuild their communities and construct their identity as a unified nation. The new government has the task of developing law-enforcing institutions such as the police and prison services out of a rebel movement, and from people trained as combatants, not peacekeepers.”

And I am looking forward to hearing more about what she has been up to when we catch up over mezcales this week.

(Take a look at more of her work right here.)

(Alinka was part of “La (otra) maleta mexicana”, a collective Tóxico art proeject.)

 

 

 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Foto by Erwin Jaquez.

And wet cat as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS WILL BE TÓXICO’S SUMMER HOME

Yes indeed. Come August and September, Tóxico will take over this lil’ beauty here called Casa del Lago, by the Chapultepec lake, right smack in the middle of Mexico City.

Plans for the space started to unfurl Friday night over wine, and I am every time more enchanted with the idea of working from here for two months, and filling it up with things and ideas.

(For starters, daily breakfasts on the terrace, no?)

(Gracias a Willy K. por la invitación.)

(Y a Andrés por los vinos.)

 

 

 

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A HANDY TIP FOR THE EASILY DISTRACTED, BY MIRANDA JULY

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc57X0j_UwM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

A scene that did not make it into “The Future“–July’s latest film–has resurfaced as a short video with convenient tips for you and me.

(v Nowness)

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“My work is never only about the story—it is always about what is inside the people who are in the story. But, in the most basic sense, it’s about time: getting through it, minute by minute, stopping it, and the end of it, death.”

-M.J.-

 

 

 

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DE LA PÁGINA A LA CIUDAD: UN TALLER DE MANUEL RAEDER PARA TÓXICO LAB!

Explorar esos espacios enigmáticos entre las disciplinas es sin duda uno de nuestros ejercicios favoritos.  Por lo mismo estamos muy contentos de tener a Manuel Raeder con nosotros en México, impartiendo un taller que seguramente implotará varias fronteras y estará lleno de pre-textos múltiples.

Manuel Raeder vive y trabaja en Berlin. Su estudio concibe el diseño como una herramienta para provocar diálogos, y su principal interés está en generar colaboraciones con artistas, plantas, científicos, pájaros, copiadoras, bibliotecarios, rappers, no profesionales y teóricos, siempre cuestionando los mecanismos internos de su práctica y reevaluando la posición que toma el humano frente a sus objetos. También le interesa la forma en que la historia se altera y reinventa, y cómo un libro se expande dentro del espacio y el tiempo, tiempo no-lineal, tiempo enredado y flexible. Su trabajo explora una ámplia gama de formatos, y los bordes entre ellos.

Además, nos da especial gusto que  la coordinación del taller está a cargo de Santiago da Silva–talentosísimo jóven artista visual, consentido colaborador, y también parte del programa de Internships y residencias internacionales de Tóxico–y quien ha estado trabajando, justamente, en el estudio de Raeder como parte de este programa.

Más sobre el taller aquí, y la página de Manuel aquí.

Quedan sólo un par de lugares, y se formó un gran grupo.

Gracias Santiago por la idea, gracias Conejo Blanco por el espacio perfecto, gracias Taxidermie por el apoyo de siempre, y bienvenido Manuel al D.F.

 

 

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Internet Blackout today at  over 7,000 websites — including Wikipedia and Google — protesting anti-piracy legislation.

Strangely enough (or not) this idea of collectively going dark truly warms the heart.

(Imagine this world now.)

(More info here.)

 

 

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NON-LINEAR STATE No. 057: FLUX

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJD2xlVcgRI&feature=share[/youtube]

This video might be from way back in 2007, but Hussain Chalayan ‘Transformer Dresses’ are quite amazing even as we step into 2012.

 

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CORTA

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/34269442[/vimeo]

Our muy querido Felipe Guerrero–film director and also the editor of “The Man Who Lived in a Shoe”, my first doc–just wrote to let me know that his newest experimental film will have its World Premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Fest, in the Bright Future section.

“Corta” (i.e. Cut) shows how agricultural labourers in Valle del Cauca, Colombia (where Felipe grew up) harvest a field of sugar cane using machetes. “The hypnotic rhythm of the timeless (yet rapidly disappearing) handiwork is masterfully reflected in the making of the 16mm film. Contemplative and pure cinema.”

Hit play, and enjoy a tiny taste. While we celebrate in DF with manzanilla and mezcal.

 

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BECKETT’S WARTIME MANUSCRIPTS

Manuscripts of Samuel Beckett’s novel, Watt.

“Although popularly thought of as a rather dour and ascetic writer, there is a wonderfully playful aspect to Samuel Beckett’s creative output: the pictorial array of raggle-taggle characters and baroque broidery that scampers through his notebooks and manuscripts. Continuously—from decorating 1930s exercise books to embellishing the scraps of paper bearing his 1970s “Mirlitonnades”—doodling provided an amiable outlet when, yet again, he found himself up against the obduracy of words.

(v @ A piece of monologue)

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“THE MAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE” COMPETING FOR BEST MEXICAN DOC AT THE GUADALAJARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST

 

 

Yes. News just out. We are soon off to the Guadalajara Film Festival–considered one of the most important showcases for Latin American Films–with our Man and his shoe.

After the break you will find the complete list of selected films.

(I am specially eager to see the new films by Juan Carlos Rulfo and Everardo Gonzalez; two of Mexico’s best doc filmmakers, who are also in competition.)

Continue reading

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NON-LINEAR STATE No. 055: OTHER LANDS

“This moment yearning and thoughtful, sitting alone,
It seems to me there are other men in other lands, yearning and thoughtful;
It seems to me I can look over and behold them, in Germany, Italy, France, Spain—or far, far away, in China, or in Russia or India—talking other dialects;
And it seems to me if I could know those men, I should become attached to them, as I do to men in my own lands;
O I know we should be brethren and lovers,
I know I should be happy with them.”

                     -W. Whitman-

(They say Whitman was very fond of yearning, using forms of the word 64 times in his poems, according to the LION index.)

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WOLF WAR

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/28552670[/vimeo]

Wolf War, by the dearest dear señor Carlos Casas, padrino from another continent and Tóxico record taco eater (16).

(It came to mind when I read about the unmanned drones that will be killing wild wolves in Montana.)

 

 

 

 

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NON-LINEAR STATE No. 054: INTERSTICIOS DE SINRAZÓN

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“El mayor hechicero (escribe memorablemente Novalis) sería el que hechizara hasta el punto de tomar sus propias fantasmagorías por apariciones autónomas. ¿No sería ese nuestro caso?” yo conjeturo que es así. Nosotros (la indivisa divinidad que opera en nosotros) hemos soñado el mundo. Lo hemos soñado resistente, misterioso, visible, ubicuo en el espacio y firme en el tiempo; pero hemos consentido en su arquitectura tenues y eternos intersticios de sinrazón para saber que es falso.

-JL Borges-

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TÓXICO PROJECT RESEARCH No. 037: EVEN IF

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/11712366[/vimeo]

France, summer 1944. The public punishment of women accused of having affairs with Germans during the war.

By Jean-Gabriel Periot.

(Great use of archive material and sound.)

(Gracias querido Andrés C.)

 

 

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QUOTE OF THE (YESTER)DAY

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JDaOOw0MEE[/youtube]

“A Trip to the Moon. 1902 French black and white silent science fiction film, loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells The film was written and directed by Georges Méliès, assisted by his brother Gaston. The film runs 14 minutes if projected at 16 frames per second, which was the standard frame rate at the time the film was produced. It was extremely popular at the time of its release and is the best-known of the hundreds of fantasy films made by Méliès. A Trip to the Moon is the first science fiction film, and utilizes innovative animation and special effects, including the iconic shot of the rocketship landing in the moon’s eye.”

This Version features a Soundtrack by Erich Wolfgang Korngold & Laurence Rosenthal.

Though I must say I like it more with the sound muted.

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2012

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“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language

And next year’s words await another voice.

And to make an end is to make a beginning.”

~ T.S. Eliot

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