IN 2008, acclaimed japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto bypassed the use of his camera and exposed his Lightning Field series directly onto film. In order to witness what early scientists like Benjamin Franklin saw upon the discovery of electricity, Sugimoto used a Van de Graaf generator to send up to 400,000 volts through film to a metal table. Continue reading HIROSHI SUGIMOTO :: LIGHTNING FIELDS, 2009
From Philip Lorca-diCorcia’s 1990-92 series, Hustlers.
Another fantastic show from Danny Hensley, featuring Americana roots music: bluegrass, country and gospel music. 4 hours, via Mixcloud
a superb Afrique playlist mix from Gallagher, featuring tracks by Habib Koite, Selif Keita, Mahmoud Ahmed , Momo Wandel, Boubacar Traoré and more. Via Mixcloud.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy in the 100th episode of Black Cab Sessions. In this edition of the long-running series, he performs Wolfroy Goes To Town cut “Black Captain” and childrens’ song “My Nurse Smells Like Coconuts.”
Black Cab Sessions started in 2007, inviting artists to play one or two songs while riding around London in the back seat of a cab. Since then the format has expanded and is now taping artists performing in cabs within their hometowns.
Singer/songwriter Bill Callahan (aka Smog) gave this rare Brooklyn rooftop performance in 2007. via Pitchfork’s “Don’t Look Down” rooftop live performanceseries
Bruce Davidson (b. 1933)
London
1960
Gelatin silver print
8 5/8 × 12 7/8 in.
Yale Center for British Art, Friends of British Art Fund
© Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
Bruce Davidson Arrest of a demonstrator. “Damn the Defiant!”. Birmingham, Alabama, USA. 1963. © Bruce Davidson | Magnum Photos
An excerpt/trailer from the documentary, James Baldwin: The Price Of The Ticket Producer/Director: Karen Thorsen, Producers: William Miles and Douglas K. Dempsey
‘James Baldwin (1924-1987) was at once a major twentieth century American author, a Civil Rights activist and, for two crucial decades, a prophetic voice calling Americans, Black and white, to confront their shared racial tragedy. James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket captures on film the passionate intellect and courageous writing of a man who was born black, impoverished, gay and gifted.
James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket uses striking archival footage to evoke the atmosphere of Baldwin’s formative years – the Harlem of the 30s, his father’s fundamentalist church and the émigré demimonde of postwar Paris. Newsreel clips from the ’60’s record Baldwin’s running commentary on the drama of the Civil Rights movement. The film also explores his quiet retreats in Paris, the South of France, Istanbul and Switzerland – places where Baldwin was able to write away from the racial tensions of America.
Writers Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, William Styron and biographer David Leeming place Baldwin’s work in the African-American literary tradition – from slave narratives and black preaching to their own contemporary work. The film skillfully links excerpts from Baldwin’s major books – Go Tell it on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country, The Fire Next Time, Blues for Mister Charlie, If Beale Street Could Talk – to different stages in Black-white dialogue and conflict.
Towards the end of his life, as America turned its back on the challenge of racial justice, Baldwin became frustrated but rarely bitter. He kept writing and reaching in the strengthened belief that : “All men are brothers – That’s the bottom line.”
Produced in association with American Masters and Maysles Films’ -notes on the film from the California Newsreel website, http://newsreel.org/video/JAMES-BALDWIN-THE-PRICE-OF-THE-TICKET
The Incubator 