Vanamie Art and Info Blog

UPDATE (4.February):
Public Movement is an Israeli performance group. The action you see below was made by them in Łódź, Poland.
A short explanation: before WW2, Łódź used to have a very large Jewish minority. The Jews were, among others, the owners of a significant part of the textile industry thriving in the city. Today, there are practically no more Jews there - and no more industry as well (although the industry did go on until the 70's, I believe). It is a poor and degraded city, with a lot of social problems, and where antisemitism is still present (although the vast majority of the inhabitants have never seen a Jew).
It is one of the very few places I know where one can still find antisemitic slogans on the walls.
So here you have it: the Israelis arrive and correct the Star of David. They basically make a grafitti of how it should look like, and put the correct form over the incorrect one.

And a few little ideas:
- The grafitti they choose to work with are not openly antisemitic. They simply replace one of the letters of the name of a soccer club (ŁKS) with a Star of David. So this is a "neutral" correction on a "neutral" sign.

- The ritual. Ah, the ritual. Turns it all into an action of purity. Precious.

- Notice one other, much more hidden, interpretation: the Jews are back in town. They are here, after our land. They put their stamp on the walls. They claim what is theirs (the club, the building). They are tagging their city.

- But one idea I think is crucial, and might be overlooked in all this will to interpret every single aspect of the work. Public Movement seems to be saying "Yes, this is who we are. We see no reason to be ashamed of it. Do you? Are you not embarrassed to have thought this was inappropriate or even silly, in any way?"

This is some brilliant playing with street art, semiotics, identity and politics.
The one question that I find problematic is - yes, this is on the spot. But for whom? Who is the audience? Is it public art, or just private art in public space? Or maybe it is public art, only for the audience that is reading about it now? So where does that leave the people who walk by this daily? Do we expect them to have a surge of initiative and paint over the whole signs? Or are we, deep inside, enjoying the fact that it's still there, everything is just the same, while we, the smart ones, know and watch?
I really do not know. I do not have better solutions. This, of course, is not a solution either - it is highliting the question(s). But what are we to make of this insistent neutrality right in the middle of a political issue? Is it a curse, the curse of constant distance? Or the blessing of a delicately balanced gesture, for once?

Miley Cyrus has her driver’s permit and is out on the streets.

Kim Kardashian – Drives a Black Bentley Continental
GTC.

Paris Hilton with Pink Bentley Car :

Paris Hilton's customized Pink Bentley car. Her new Hot wheel car arrived this Christmas , Paris hilton presented to herself worth an estimated $200,000 - fulfilling a childhood fantasy of owning a vehicle like children's toy doll Barbie.

Kardashian is not your average trust-fund kid from Beverly Hills, California. Just because she is the second-eldest daughter of the late O.J. Simpson attorney, Robert Kardashian, and a step-daughter of 1976 Olympic Games decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner, doesnt mean all she does with her days is sit around the pool and go shopping. Okay, maybe she shops, but only because its her job. Yes, I said job
Despite growing up in a world of immense privilege in what is quoted on her official website as an almost fairytale childhood, Kim Kardashian has actually been working since she was 16 years old with her fathers company, Movie Tunes.

I find it funny when people just see me as being one of those rich kids, she said. I stopped getting money from my parents when I turned 18-years-old. There's more to me than that; I'm a sister, a daughter and'fashionista.


With the inherited entrepreneurial spirit from her father and a passion for fashion, Kim started her own celebrity styling business. Her first styling stint was for best friend Brandy Norwood when she was asked to style for her promotional tour for Afrodisiac (Atlantic Records, 2004).

I thought she was kidding but then I got a call from her record label saying that I only had a week to style Brandy and all her backup dancers for the tour, she said. It gave me an amazing opportunity to get into the business I loved, and I never left it.
She now has a successful business as Hollywoods go-to girl for closet makeovers, where she dissects celebrity closets and even sells their outdated clothing on eBay. My first closet makeover was for my godmothers closet, she said. I also sold $25,000-worth of her old clothes and she took that money and placed it on a down payment for a Mercedes.

In June 2006, Kim and two of her younger sisters opened up their own upscale clothing boutique in Calabasas, California titled DASH after their last name.

My sister opened up a childrens store three years ago and when a space became available next to it, we jumped at the opportunity to open up an upscale clothing boutique, she explained. It was a dream of mine.

The young WRO Center, devoted to new/media art, is hosting one of the first serious exhibitions of Nam June Paik's work since the artist's death in 2006.
This is not the largest exhibition, and fans of his complex multi-media installations might be disappointed - few of those are present here.
But if the budget did not allow to bring the lasers, projections, and intricate video circuits, the taste and knowledge of the organizers allows for a fascinating and multi-faceted look into Paik's creation.

Here is an example - Self-Portrait-Head, created in 1982.


On the TV screen, a young Nam June Paik stands facing the camera. His eyes are closed. Very slowly, his hand moves through the surface of his face, up and down. He is feeling his own face. The movement is slow and delicate, and after a while we realize he is not touching the face. The hand seems to know the face so well, this becomes a movement of recognition, as in, re-calling one's face. This is me. This heat emanating from the surface of my face, this is my boundary.

Facing the TV set is another face.

This one is a sculpture. A metal cast of the artist's face, made many years later. He is an older man now, and it takes some imagination to become convinced this is the same person. His eyes are closed, and the gesture is similar to the one on the recording.


They are looking at each other with their eyes shut. They are feeling each other - as they are the very same. Time has gone by, and yet stands still, trapped in the matter, the reproduction, the loop.
They/he are/is having a conversation with them/him selves/self.
The young man is moving, as if unable to realize his movement is still. The old man is cast, he is immobile, he is the return of the sculpture, the mimetic power of art, the noble texture of statue. He is the deathmask of the other, his self. And yet, he is life-size, he is freed of the flatness and squareness, he is a real fragment, as if ripped away off the face, a witness. And yet, he is facing the TV, as if watching it, or feeling it with his unmoving gesture.
It is clear, here, that the Narcissus' myth got it all wrong. The reflection is not a risk - it is a reality we may wish to ignore, but that will remain nonetheless, echoing our past in a loop that designs the warm and uncertain borders of identity.
Watching this installation reminds me of a curious definition of art: art works, to the extent to which it is the opening of poetry.

Kate Winslet was a double winner at the Beverly Hills, Calif., awards bonanza — capturing best supporting actress for The Reader and then best actress (drama) for Revolutionary Road.

"I'm so sorry. Meryl, Kristin. Oh God, who's the other one? Oh, Angelina. OK, gather," a weeping and breathless Winslet said near the end of the night.

"I've had two extraordinary years in which I played two remarkable women, and I'd like to thank my agents who've been with me for so many years," continued the 33-year-old British thespian, who beat out Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Kristin Scott Thomas (I've Loved You So Long) and Meryl Streep (Doubt) for the best actress prize. Kate Winslet poses with her supporting actress award for The Reader backstage at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kate Winslet poses with her supporting actress award for The Reader backstage at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

Winslet also paid homage to the abilities of her Revolutionary Road co-star Leonardo DiCaprio — the two reunited more than a decade after their Titanic pairing — and her husband, Sam Mendes, who directed the film.

One of the biggest ovations of the night was for the best actor in a movie drama — an award handed to Mickey Rourke, whose own down-and-out life parallelled that of his character in The Wrestler.

"It's been a long road," a gruff Rourke said to hoots and hollers from the crowd. "I want to thank my director for fighting for me because he couldn't get money because of my name. Darren Aronofsky.... As they say in sports, great players come out every 30 years, and Darren is one of those players."





Kate at Gloden globe winner 2009



KATE WINSLET PHOTO SHOOT

Sexy Kate Winslet - For more amazing video clips, click here

KATE WINSLET EXCLUSIVE VIDEO MOVIE THE READER


Kate Winslet Nude - The best video clips are here

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS REDCARPET



Miley Cyrus



GoldenGlobesRedCarpet


Aaron Eckhart 2009


Jenna Fischer at the 2009 Golden Globes


AmandaSeyfriedGoldenGlobesRedCarpet

2009 Golden Globe Award's Best Dressed Red Carpet

HOLLYWOOD, CA, January 10, 2009 – More than 50 Hollywood stars have been set as presenters at "The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards" The Beverly Hilton.


Megan Fox : Who needs to wear diamonds when you've got a body like that to show off?

Miley Cyrus worked the red carpet in a flowy Marchesa gown with some gold sequin


Golden Globe Award Movie : SLUM DOG MILLIONAIRE

Below is a list of this years nominees with an (**) next to the winners. Make sure to refresh for updates!

FILM
BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
**Slumdog Millionaire

BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
**Vicky Cristina Barcelona

ACTOR, DRAMA
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
**Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

ACTRESS, DRAMA
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
**Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
**Colin Farrell, In Bruges
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey

ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
**Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes, The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
**Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penélope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
**Kate Winslet, The Reader

DIRECTOR
**Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
**Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare, The Reader
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
**WALL-E

TELEVISION
TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Dexter
House
In Treatment
**Mad Men
True Blood

ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
January Jones, Mad Men
**Anna Paquin, True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
**Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, The Tudors

TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
**30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds

ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
**Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
**Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Kevin Connolly, Entourage
David Duchovny, Californication
Tony Shalhoub, Monk

ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Judi Dench, Cranford
Catherine Keener, An American Crime
**Laura Linney, John Adams
Shirley MacLaine, Coco Chanel
Susan Sarandon, Bernard and Doris

ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Ralph Fiennes, Bernard and Doris
**Paul Giamatti, John Adams
Kevin Spacey, Recount
Kiefer Sutherland, 24: Redemption
Tom Wilkinson, Recount

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Eileen Atkins, Cranford
**Laura Dern, Recount
Melissa George, In Treatment
Rachel Griffiths, Brothers & Sisters
Dianne Wiest, In Treatment

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
Denis Leary, Recount
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Blair Underwood, In Treatment
**Tom Wilkinson, John Adams