Diego Rivera Mural Studies at the DIA

One of the gems at the Detroit Institute of Arts is the Diego Rivera mural. The main panels depict workers at the Ford Motor Company River Rouge Complex. The murals, painted in 1932 and 1933, were considered controversial at the time, partial due to Rivera’s Marxist views. Also, some clergy members were offended by what they perceived to be blasphemy, and petitioned to have it destroyed.

It stands today as one of the DIA’s most significant works and represents Rivera at his best.

The controversy was so great, during the Joe McCarthy years the DIA posted this disclaimer:

“Rivera’s politics and his publicity seeking are detestable. But let’s get the record straight on what he did here. He came from Mexico to Detroit, thought our mass production industries and our technology wonderful and very exciting, painted them as one of the great achievements of the twentieth century. This came after the debunking twenties when our artists and writers found nothing worthwhile in America and worst of all in America was the middle west.”

“Rivera saw and painted the significance of Detroit as a world city. If we are proud of this city’s achievements, we should be proud of these paintings and not lose our heads over what Rivera is doing in Mexico City today.”

I’m wondering where the Rivera mural will wind up if the DIA eventually closes…

To see the rest of the photos go here: http://stefanstudios84.wordpress.com/dia-rivera-mural-studies/

To learn more about the mural go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Industry_Murals

and here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103337403

Remembering Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen, a true breakthrough special effects artist died on May 7^th in London, England. Ray Harryhausen produced trailblazing special effects for the 1950s and 60s science fiction classics It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), Mysterious Island (1960) and his arguably best work, Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

Cheezy science fiction movies? Classics that defined a genre, more likely. The 1950s were the Golden Age of science fiction movies and , even though they  mostly low budget productions, Harryhausen films stood out like cats eyes in a field of plain marbles. Every Harryhausen film has a unique look and feel to it- fresh, energetic, and creative. There’s an economy and clarity in his scenes that I have not seen anywhere else.

How did Harryhausen evolve into who he was? From what I’ve read there were two overriding influences on his creative life- King Kong and his parents. Harryhausen saw King Kong with his mother and aunt in Hollywood when he was thirteen and was fascinated how inanimate objects like Kong and the dinosaurs were able to move and look so lifelike (opposed to fins glued on live lizards). This set his life on its creative path. The other big influence were his parents.

Quoting from the Ray Harryhausen website biography section, he said, “My obsession with fantasy has been lifelong, growing during my formative years and being taken to new heights by novels, paintings and of course films, and I was always encouraged by my parents. They nurtured this unusual passion in me by taking me to films and theatre, and later enthused about my experiments with marionettes, models and animation, eventually helping me with productions. They never tried to discourage me in any way from my obsession, and could just as easily have said, ‘Get out there and be a doctor or a lawyer or follow some other profession that is bring you in money’. Fortunately, they didn’t.”

Great parental guidance, I believe. Life is short and Ray Harryhausen followed his passion, excelled and never looked back. Talk about a life well lived.

The official Ray Harryhausen website is here:

 http://www.rayharryhausen.com/index.php

B24

I haven’t posted much on the blog lately since I’ve been focused on producing B24. It’s an account of my father’s experience as a bombardier in a B24 Liberator in Europe during World War II. Piecing together old photographs, reconstructing timelines via old notes has been a challenge, and I’m almost done with the first draft. I’m shooting to have the manuscript complete by the end of March and will release it as a Kindle Single.

Here’s a couple of photographs:

Jersey Boys

Barb and I went to the Fisher Theatre in mid-town Detroit last night and saw Jersey Boys. I was a little reluctant to go at first but man, I’m really glad I went. Jersey Boys is a “jukebox-musical” about the Four Seasons, from when they first met to where they matured and finished their careers. The pace is fast- almost too much so, but the music and performance is spectacular. I can honestly say it’s the best performance I’ve ever seen live. If it comes near you, try and see it. You get your money’s worth- it’s around two and a half hours long.

Here’s a couple of links:

http://www.jerseyboysinfo.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Boys

 

Main Art Theatre

We went to the Main Art Theatre today in Royal Oak, Michigan to see Hyde Park on the Hudson with Bill Murray and Laura Linney. It’s about FDR’s affairs with women on the side mixed with a visit from King George and Queen Elizabeth looking for support for England on the eve of World War II. It’s pretty good and here’s a link to the trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1477855/

It’s interesting to compare Samuel West’s performance of King George (Bertie) to Colin Firth’s in The King’s Speech.

I’ve always liked the Main’s old school marquee so I decided to go back and shoot it this evening. Here it is:

The Main Art Theater one of the last few art theaters around and we certainly value and support it.

 

Edison’s Lab and Phonograph Prototype

We went to Greenfield Village on Friday September 28th and I specifically wanted to revisit Edison’s Menlo Park lab. A lot of structures in Greenfield Village were carefully moved from their original sites and re-erected by Henry Ford’s staff. This is partially true with Menlo Park. Edison built his lab in 1876 and it served as the vanguard of industrial research labs. Ten years later it was completely abandoned. When Ford wanted to move the lab to Dearborn, he and Edison went to Menlo Park to find the buildings in ruins. Here’s a picture of the partially abandoned lab taken in 1880.

 

Ford had his staff recreate the lab from original material salvaged from the site. The rest of the lab was reconstructed and completed using photographs and drawings as de facto blueprints. Here’s what Edison’s lab looks like now:

 

 

Here’s an early Edison phonograph:

 

 

I used this exact prototype in the first chapter of Thomas Edison: RESURRECTOR. Note the delicate tin foil recording material on the right. The foil was wrapped around the recording cylinder and acoustic energy excited a diaphragm that held and vibrated a recording stylus in its center. The vibrating stylus etched the tin foil. When played back the etchings excited the diaphragm and reproduced the recorded sound.  I’m still amazed that this all-mechanical device worked as well as it did.

 

Hey, Check These Out!

Ran across this on the Web. Never heard of them before, but I guess they still make them in Sweden and Finland.

 

 

 

This is kind of a cool 60’s retro ad.

 

If I’m ever over there I’ll buy a pack but I’m still glad I quit smoking many years ago!