Movie Directors and their Operatic Debut: Sky Arts Opera Shorts

I was browsing one of my favorite music genres on Youtube and came across this. The English National Opera and Sky Arts teamed with 3 outstanding visual artists: Dougal Wilson (Director of music videos for LCD Soundsystem, Coldplay, Goldfrapp, etc); Werner Herzog (Director amongst other things of "My son, My son, What have ye done", a new version of Aeschylus' Orestia, originally performed by a killer during the 70's which I personally didn't love but found interesting) and Sam Taylor-Wood who recently directed "Nowhere Boy", a movie about John Lennon's childhood.

Descriptions and curricula aside, these guys made three short films for the English National Opera Season and brought the good old fashioned genre to the XXI century videoclip format. For your beautiful eyes and ears: Sky Arts Opera Shorts.

www.eno.org

www.skyarts.co.uk

Sunday Mix - Music for your beautiful ears: M-2011

Today I took some tracks I've been listening to lately and tried to mix them into a 1-hour compilation. I'm not a professional DJ, but I think it went pretty decent. I used Traktor Pro, and it worked like charm. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did doing it. For your beautiful senses: M-2011 Mix by The King of Senses. Enjoy!
PS: There's a limited number of downloads....so Hurry up!

Track List:

1.- Rain of Gold (French Horn Rebellion Remix) - Young Empires
2.- I Am The Beat (Treasure Fingers Remix) - Señor Stereo
3.- Invisible Light (House of Stank Remix)- Scissor Sisters
4.- Holidays (Sam Sparro and Golden Touch Remix) - Miami Horror
5.- I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix) - Likke Li
6.- Spaceship (EDX Remix) - Benny Benassi Ft. Kelis & APL & Jean-Baptiste
7.-  Take Me Over (Flight Facilities Remix) - Cut Copy
8.- Inviters (Lipelis & Simple Symmetry Remix) - Pompeya
9.- You Can Dance (Gemini Club Remix) - Chilly Gonzales
10.- Hot Mess (Duck Sauce Remix) - Chromeo
11.- Metropol (Original Mix) - Christoph Andersson
12.- Bad Gal feat Robyn - Savage Skulls
13.- Don't Turn The Lights On (Christina Martin Remix) - Chromeo

Book Dissection: Brian Dettmer

This artist from Chicago takes surgery to a whole new level. He manipulates the pages and spines of different books and then dissects them using surgical instruments. The catch? He doesn't add anything new...he just removes parts of the book to expose what's already there. In an era where information is shown in digital formats in real-time and can be accessed by clicking rather than turning pages, these books show a new way of interaction with the traditional media. It is also a way to reveal -or build- new stories out of old ones. 
"My work is a collaboration with the existing material, and its past creators, and the completed pieces expose new relationships of the book’s internal elements exactly where they have been since their original conception" Brian Dettmer.
For your dissection coffee table: Brian Dettmer.

www.briandettmer.com/

Psychedelic Painting: Holton Rower

I just came across this New York Artist. His paintings are a bit Psychedelic but what I found more interesting was the process itself. By pouring paint over solid objects, he creates a beautiful effect similar to that found in old marbled papers. Look at the artist in action and enjoy the ride: Holton Rower

www.holtonrower.com/

Chile's brightest star: Altaïr Vineyards & Winery

It was time for me to write about one of the things I enjoy the most: Wine, and I decided to start with one of my favorite south American vineyards. Altaïr is located in the Cachapoal Valley on the slopes of the Chilean Andes. The fresh air that comes down the Andean mountains and the dry soil make the perfect combination for the grapes to stay longer in the vine and develop the distinctive subtleness and delicate flavor that gives life to this resplendent jewel. That's on the side of nature. On the side of man, the craftsmanship and attention to detail of the wine harvest or "vendimia", is a key factor in this winery where quality prevails over quantity.

Altaïr is the brightest star on the constellation Aquila, and it represents a Greek myth where Zeus transformed himself into an eagle to kidnap Ganymedes -a beautiful young man- to make him the God's cupbearer.

Delicate, brilliant, and extremely elegant, the Altaïr's wines are the brightest star in the Chilean Andes' night. Try to find it near you or in online stores. You can find it in two presentations: Altaïr and Sideral. 

Sideral is a sophisticated and complex blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Carménère with some hints of fruits and earth.

Altaïr uses the same blend but with an accent on the Carménère stock (this grape, originally from Bordeaux, was considered lost and extinct until it was found in the New World, specifically in Chile and Argentina), and it's a very good example of a fine Chilean Wine, with beautiful crimson color and hints of red fruits and smoked wood.

For your anxious taste buds: Enjoy the shine of Altaïr.

Altair Wines

Worlds within worlds: Hugo Lugo

Just discovered this Mexican artist, and I'm in love with his work. The way his sketches cross the barrier between reality and, well...other realities is just amazing. The carefully presented objects and the way his characters interact with them make you think twice about their context and show how easily this artist offers an alternative world... a world within worlds. For your beautiful brain: Hugo Lugo.

Hugo Lugo on Artsy

Almost Alice: Maggie Taylor

This American artist makes digital collages by scanning old pictures and different objects and then creating fantastic environments for them. She is the Queen of Photoshop, and her work is detailed and beautifully finished. I just found this series, "Almost Alice," inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Enjoy!

www.maggietaylor.com

Family Portraits: Travis Louie

I just bought a book called Curiosities from New York artist Travis Louie. He took a whole catalog of fantastic and grotesque characters and portrayed them in a Victorian fashion with some hints of Film Noir. They all look like family portraits that you could easily hang on one of your walls, along with that picture of your great grandmother or that aunt that survived two world wars. I'm sure that in many cases –like mine– they resemble many non-fictional crazy families. This guy created a world for himself where monsters look friendly, and candid and destroyed that horrible prejudice that the media has created around them (like sharks or snakes). In the book, he also includes a small biography of each character. In any case, I want one to hang beside grandma's picture, although I'm not sure if she would appreciate that. For your family album: Travis Louie's Curiosities.

www.travislouie.com