Susan Arena got her MFA at Yale. The following paintings are selections from her collection called Joseph's Alphabet (2001):

Thanks to CSP for sending me the link to this fantastic new short film by my old friend and film collaborator, Jerad Formby; it's called There's A Zombie At The End Of This Movie:

British collage artist John Stezaker:

Marriage IV
(2006)

Untitled (Film Portrait)
(2006)

Underworld IV
(1990)

Amelie Chabannes's new collection is called My Portrait of Your Identity:

Music from La Blogotheque for your Saturday:

Lightening Bug Situation - "Mary Denardo (Is Awake)"




Alela Diane - "Pieces of String"




A Hawk and a Hacksaw - "Oriental Hora"

Jessalyn Haggenjos earned her MFA at California College of the Arts:

Continental Lithosphere
(2007)

New Sightings on Asthenosphere
(2007)

Del Amo Batholith
(2007)

Alain Robbe-Grillet died on Monday.

Today, Fidel Castro, the world's longest serving president, officially resigned from office.

Marcus Kenney received his MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design:

Life is Good
(2006)

War on Terror (Ain't Nothin' But A Party Yall!)
(2007)

Heretic Heritage
(2007)

Finnish artist Anna Tuori:

Heat
(2005)

Fugitive Kind
(2005)

Even If Never
(2005)

Also, you should pick up the new issue of Film International. It's a special issue devoted to legendary French critic and theorist André Bazin, guest edited by the brilliant professor who taught me film theory and criticism at UNLV, Dr. Jeffrey Crouse. The cover of the issue looks like this:

Two music videos for your Saturday:

The Cave Singers - "Dancing On Our Graves"
Directed by Mike Ott:




Alessandra Celletti - "Hundred Points"
Directed by Tony Sbarbaro

Lisa Dahl earned her MFA from Rutgers University:







ps - Caitlin and I went to see Vampire Weekend tonight and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen; to top it off, they were the first band - in my experience - to ever come right out and say at the end of the show, "Instead of faking you out with the encore thing where we leave the stage and then come back, we're just going to play our last song." Brilliant! Finally someone is smart enough to put an end to that ridiculously annoying custom. Viva la Vampire Weekend!!!

Anthony Minghella’s production of Samuel Beckett’s Play, with Alan Rickman, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Juliet Stevenson:

Part One




Part Two

Czech illustrator Akhmetov Timur:

Yesterday my brother introduced me to a band called Teargas & Plateglass, who describe themselves on their myspace page as electronica/breakbeat/dub.

Here is a video for their song called "One Day Across The Valley", directed by Andrea Giacomini. (The lyrics come from a Frontline special called "Ghosts of Rwanda") :

One of Frank Chimero's ongoing projects is called The States:

Wyoming

California

I just read David Ohle's Motorman.

Wow.

Seriously.

Wow.

Now I understand why it is loved by Ben Marcus, Matthew Derby, Shelley Jackson, Brian Evenson, Joanna Howard, Gary Lutz, Deb Olin Unferth, Gordon Lish, etcetera.

If your eyes haven't touched it, your eyes have yet to touch.

Tonight I went to a Pedro Costa double feature: O Sangue and Ossos. Both were fantastic, but O Sangue was one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen, in terms of lighting and composition. Unfortunately, Costa's films never get US distribution and are also unavailable on dvd. If you live in a bigger city and get a chance to catch something by this guy at an art house, you should do it. We here in Columbus, Ohio are lucky enough to have all of his films screening this week and next and will also get a chance to ask him questions tomorrow night as he will be here to screen his film Colossal Youth. I will be there with wide eyes and a grin the size of Wyoming.

The other day, Julie posted work by this Michigan artist named Julianna Swaney, and I couldn't resist echoing her:

Featherhead

Ladybird

Here are the books I got in New York City. You can click on the pictures to find out more about them:











Also, CSP sent me this supercool new Mountain Goats video for their song "Sax Rohmer #1." It was directed by Ace Norton:

You should go right now to New York City, to MoMa - which is on 53rd & 8th (or thereabouts) - and stand in front of Jackson Pollock's One: Number 31, 1950 for at least two hours. It is incomparable. This tiny little image of it does no justice: the painting is bigger than you are, no matter how big you are, and it is vertiginous. Afterwards, you will see the world differently.