be*mot /// stuff

be motion 01

2007-04-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's nothing to be excited about, just a first attempt at doing stop motion... Let's just pretend that I was 9 years old and that armoured Chich&Chong and bicyble duck were amateur figurines...

Miniature Earth

2006-10-04T23:39:00.000-07:00

The Miniature Earth

If you consider we were around 6.5 billion people living on earth at the end of 2005, you get the big picture. And we are only talking about human beings...

The Qatsi Trilogy

2006-09-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

Out of balance, in transformation and at war... so is life today and so is it beautifully painted in the Qatsi Trilogy, the informal name given to three films produced by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass. The films consisting mostly of slow motion and time-lapse photography contain no narration and relies heavily on music to set the film's tone. Legendary Philip Glass and Ensemble have toured with the film, playing music live in front of the film screen for the first chapter called Koyaanisqatsi (1983), meaning Life out of balance in Hopi dialect.

This first chapter depicting different aspects of man and technology in the modern life of industrial countries, is the best known of the trilogy and is considered a cult film. The second chapter: Powaqqatsi (1988) focuses more on the conflict in third world countries between traditional ways of life and the new ways of life introduced with industrialization. Powaqqatsi is a Hopi word meaning "parasitic way of life" or "life in transition". In this second film, the score featuring children's voices from South America and Africa increase the impact of the film's message and images.

The final chapter of the trilogy, Naqoyqatsi: Life as war (2002) focuses on technology and the perceived lack of natural environments in industrialized society. In contrast to the first two parts, the majority of this film was created not by filming in the real world, but by using archive footage and stock images, manipulated and processed digitally on non-linear editing workstations and intercut with specially-produced CGI that the director described as "virtual cinema."

These widely acclaimed and awarded films have the power to communicate to you from the realm beyond words. Cant' be labelled, can't be put in a box; the Qatsi trilogy is an intimate journey that takes your mind and soul from the places beyond things, rock and sky, to the things we have girded ourselves in, cities. It is a wordless, feeling thing that even the translation from Hopi dialect can't express. The concept behind "koy.aa.nis.qat.si" are 1) crazy life 2) life out of balance 3) life disintegrating 4) life in turmoil 5) a way of life that calls for another way of living... all existing in one word.

There is perhaps no higher praise for a film than saying it changed the way you think. Once you see the Qatsi Trilogy, they will deserve that praise to you.

Find more info about the QATSI Trilogy
Check this online database: Spirit of Baraka
Learn more about the Hopi language

Niko-nography

2006-09-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

No only does he make great pictures, he also writes! Funny pamphlets, sarcastic comments about petty matters of life, or inspired poetry: the style can be crude or sophisticated, the thought is always clever with a touch (if not a truckload sometimes) of irony. His verve, mostly in French, has a sense of musicality that makes it almost jazzy. The man could actually be a literary offspring of Coltrane and Pierre Desproges. When Niko Biro puts his camera down, he delivers diatribes that will make you burst out laughing or simply smile. But it will always let you think about life in a different way...

Check out his frequent contributions to BE*MOT at the LYRICS page.
And check out his photographs at www.nikobiro.com

Renaissance

2006-09-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Already acclaimed by the critics in France, Renaissance will be realeased in America in Sept this year with much expectations from comics and animation fans. With astonishing designs and a thriller script, Renaissance succeeds to breed film noir genre with sci-fi flick in a pure artistic performance; proving that, when it comes to daring filmmaking, French talents are always cutting edge.
Behind the scenes, a young team composed of gifted director Christian Volkman (Mazz 1998), movie producer Aton Soumache (Nordeste 2005) and master animator Marc Miance (Project BW 1998) combined their talents to build this adventurous new film, following the footsteps of pioneers such as Emile Cohl, Moebius and Jordowsky.
Don't get fooled by the mix reviews, the Sin City look or the low box-office performance compared to any Pixar production; Renaissance is and for a long time will be a landmark in European-made animation movies.

Watch the previews of Renaissance in French or in English now!

Six years faster

2006-09-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

It is rare to find something worth watching on YouTube. Thanks to Noah for having put together this 6 year long project into a great clip. And if you ever want to broadcast yourself and are (still) not aware: you can do it at You Tube...

Stardown

2006-09-06T05:55:00.000-07:00

Think Meshel N'degeocello meets Herbie Hancock and Buckshot LeFonque in the twilight zone of modern jazz. A perfect mix of hip-hop, DJ scratchs, brassy funky grooves and drums programming. The sound is super dynamic, pure and it's a pleasure to listen to these talented young musicians, notably Guillaume Poncelet (also playing with No Jazz) and Julien Birot who produced this little sonic gem. World famous jazzmen like Flavio Boltro and Didier Lockwood joined the 13 musicians band and contributed to this very energetic exploration of the future sound of jazz.

Listen to samples of Electro Deluxe's Stardown at SUCH Production.

Super Zero

2006-09-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

What happens when a generation of American brought up with Comic books as literary references acquires substantial purchase power? Multimillion dollar blockbusters and TV shows are designed to promote the senseless consumption of merchandising originated from their childhood heroes. After the return of Superman on screens, the lastest product of reality TV, called "Who wants to be a superhero?", demonstrates that new pathetic ways can be explored in the ever downgrading western popular media culture. Based on the "last man standing" principle of trials and elimination, the show is hosted by legendary comic-book creator Stan Lee and features 11 people who invented their own character and costume. Their goal is to prove that they have what it takes to be a superhero...

Expectedly politically correct, the show tends to demonstrate that, in addition to having cool super powers, the true American hero is all about courage, integrity, self-sacrifice, compassion, and resourcefulness. It is not evident that these are main characteristics of Fat Momma nor CellPhone Girl... but let's not be pessimistic. After all, the modern superhero who truely represents America today could effectively be a fat afro-american lady hooked on her cellphone, a bit obnoxious but with a big heart, not much education and whose only genuine ambition in life is to eat all she can in donuts and win a reality TV show contest...

Where was Big Momma during Katrina events? Oh, I forgot, superheroes are fictional; in times of disaster people can only rely on themselves and their government. Unfortunately the White House is currently run by Super Zeros...

Have a look and a laugh at Who wants to be a super hero?

Good Planet

2006-08-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

When talented photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand partners with sustainable development folks, you can be sure there'll come up with an interesting communication project. Jumping on the video-blog wagon, Good Planet podcasts a project called "6 milliards d'autres", organized as a series of video portraits shot all around the world. Yann Arthus-Bertrand, most known for his photographs of the earth from the sky has filmed for two years and conducted over 3.500 interviews in 35 countries to collect unique footage of people answering basic questions about their fears, dreams, laughs... A simple but effective way to connect with others who, despite their cultural differences, have more in common with us than what we think.

Have a look at the other activities of Good Planet and get the podcast!

Le journal du futur

2006-08-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

French speakers will like that subsersive and clever spoof of radio news broadcast. Edited by the Manifeste Du Sous Realisme, the show sounds like what you could be listening on France Info thiry years from now. You'll hear about a world gone insane. News reporters bring to you the latest news about global warming, legal cloning, civil conflict, ruthless multinationals and ... football as it could be happening in 2036. Sarcastic, cynical, funny and well written.

Check out the website and get the podcast!

10,950 people...

2006-07-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Warning! This is probably one of the most addictive video blog on the net at the moment. Started in April 2006 by film-maker Lawrence Barraclough the ThirtyYearProject is an unprecedented challenge: collecting random people's interviews at the rate of one per day for the next thirty years. For the next 1,560 weeks, Lawrence plans to ask one person everyday 3 questions: "What is the biggest regret they have about their lives so far? What is one thing they would change about their lives now? And what is one thing that they are definitely going to do in the future?"

"In the futur everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes" Warhol predicted about people and TV. But the ThirtyYearProject takes the famous quote to the next level via the internet. If completed by 2036, the challenge of collecting 10,950 stranger's answers about their own life (past-present-futur) could constitute a fantastic reservoir for retrospective analysis for the next generation of sociologists or historians of the western civilization. In that regard, the ThirtyYearProject acts like complementary source of information to the Dropping Knowledge project (although the latter has a more universal ambition).

After watching a few episodes of weekly encounters, Lawrence succeedes to transmit to the viewer the desire to meet random people and talk to strangers. That if evidently the ultimate goal of this project. Whether it lasts 30 years or not, it would not fail if it could contribute to reconnecting people together. Who knows. It might become a vector of social change for the next generation's society where kids will be told: "it's okay to talk to strangers"...

Start watching the ThirtyYearProject now!

And if you're travelling and would like to make connections, check out the Couch Surfing community.

Free voices

2006-07-15T01:59:00.000-07:00

What is the common denominator between Isabel Alliende, Sean Penn, Nick Cave, Robert Thurman, Douglas Oronto, Wang Dan, Marina Silva...? They all have had an innovative, creative, or humanistic impact on the international public. Thus they are well placed to answer questions on pressing issues from the global public with a perspective that hopefully can challenge conventional thinking, inspire conversation and encourage further inquiry.
For the Table of Free Voices event in Berlin on September 9, 2006, Dropping Knowledge will bring together 112 inspiring individuals to drop their knowledge at 100 of these questions; the answers will be filmed, generating some 600 hours of footage. The "ask yourself" campaign, Table of Free Voices and other DK activities exemplify the practice of asking and answering questions. Together, these activities pave the way for participation in a "Living Library".
In a world of complexity and contradiction, apathy has become a sort of survival technique. How could you face the evening news without it? Another famine, another flood, another terrorist attack - if we truly identified with the pain and suffering of others, it would paralyze us. And so our apathy extends not only to those on the other side of the world but to our families, friends, neighbors, selves. Ask yourself: "When was the last time I questioned the way things are? The last time I refused to accept the unacceptable? The last time I turned my apathy into activity?" Ask yourself.

Drop your question(s) on the Dropping Knowledge website

Vote for Mustachos

2006-01-20T05:24:00.000-08:00

They did it! How could they? Well you know, life can be pretty boring in Paname, and you always need a super hero. But not any hero. You need: LOS MUSTACHOS. They are 3, they are crazy and they wear facial hair like no one else. But there is more, they unconditionally voted for Pedro and started the movement as a sort of tribute... Not convinced yet?

Check out Los Mustachos pics...

Check out Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite...

You're fired!

2005-08-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

There are plenty reasons why I don't have a TV. NBC's smash hit "The Apprentice" is the best anti-TV argumet I found so far. The show's star and executive producer is Donald Trump who selects, over six weeks of business challenges, the candidate who will become the "apprentice" at The Trump Organization and receive the ultimate award for Wall Street shark: a millionaire's salary. Of course, the biggest american multinationals are enlisted to participate in many of the tasks, which supposively test challengers intelligence, chutzpah and street-smarts. The multi-billionaire Trump does not tolerate loser and fires them all one after the other. Hence the success of the show, watch by millions of Americans who just got laid off by a sky-profit making muntinational company.
So what does the audience exactly learn from watching "The Apprentice"? First that Donald must have fired a lot of people to become so rich. Secondly the message is loud and clear: NBC hits the jackpot with the advertisement junk supposed to fill our emptied brain at a rate of every fifteen minutes during the two-hour long show. Finally the show confirms established values of modern capitalist democracies: success defined by how much of the production line you control, team work as serving personal interests, the fittest survive, no pity nor second chance for losers, etc... Some still call it the American dream. What is actually concerning me is the influence of these values in international trade agreements, domestic and international politics, social policies, environment, etc. Whether directly inplemented by reductionist policy-makers or imposed by the IMF or the World Bank, some core components of development policies tragically ressemble the world of "The Apprentice": deregulated labour markets, the hegemony of privatization, the power of multinationals over medias, the individualistic attitudes and the ruthless business oriented competitive environment... You're not watching TV, you might be watching the decay of western society.

Besides Trump really needs a haircut.

Knowldege is power

2005-06-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Launched in the summer of 2006, "Dropping Knowledge" is a historic high profile event that will gather 112 participants as a group to respond to 100 of today's most pressing questions. The questions will be asked one by one, and the participants will respond simultaneously into individual cameras (see picture of the Table of Knowledge). The responses of each participant will be recorded as a single audio visual portrait. Together these portraits create the base of the archive-672 hours of recorded material. The table of free voices provides the initial momentum and content for all the components of dropping knowledge. The participants were selected for their innovative, creative, or humanistic impact on the international public. Amongst other you might recognize: Milan Kundera (Czech Rep), Joseph Stiglitz (USA), Yungchen Lhamo (Tibet), Ravi Shankar (India), Thar Ben Jelloun (Morocco), Manu Chao (Spain-France), Francis Deng (Sudan), Naomi Klein (Canada), Oscar Olivera (Bolivia), Fernando Solanas (Argentina), Jose Bove (France), Isabel Allende (Chile), Neela Marikkar (Sri Lanka), Yosepha Alomang (Indonesia), etc... Musicians, farmers, writers, activists, political leaders, philosophers, dancers, researchers, journalist, environmentalist, poet, lawyer... Join this great initiative by dropping your question on the website and talking about it to your friends. Knowledge is power, and it's time to put the power back in the hands of people!

Visit DROPPING KNOWLEDGE

The beginning of the end...

2005-06-25T14:56:00.000-07:00

The war in Iraq was a bad idea, needless to say. The Bush Administration planned that the transition phase would result a reduction of human and economic costs. Instead, the conflicts totals over 15,000 Iraqi civilians deaths, plus a count of over 40,000 wounded, coalition casualties nearing 10,000 soldiers, and an average of 17 non-Iraqi contractors dying every month. And the health impacts of the 2,200 tons of depleted uranium weaponry used during the March 2003 bombing campaign are yet to be known. This was all approved by the US Congress, which released $151.1 billion and is currently debating a supplemental appropriation of $60 billion. As I write this article, the total financial cost of war was $161,667,491,991… How can there be any money left to invest in social development?
The war budget voted by the Congress could have paid close to 23 million housing vouchers; health care for over 27 million uninsured Americans; salaries for nearly 3 million elementary school teachers; 678,200 new fire engines; or health care coverage for 82 million children. But it won’t. It won’t because the Congress has not social agenda. The price to pay for poor Americans goes far beyond actual figures. The war in Iraq will generate decades of economic troubles in the US, including an expanded trade deficit and high inflation. This economic crisis will be cushioned by the usual policy of social budget cuts, which will causally increase poverty, inequalities and discrimination; and consequently exacerbate civil unrest and internal security issues. Such predicament, accompanied by the increasing power of China and the EU, can only precipitate the weakening and the inevitable end of USA hegemonic position in the international scene. Thirty years from now, some folks in Texas will remember: “This war was a bad idea… a bad idea.”

Cesar desde Norwich

2005-05-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

You have to give a look at my friend Cesar's Blog: DESDE NORWICH (www.desdenorwich.blogspot.com). Sometimes funny, sometimes poetic, sometimes political, his Blog reflects his open-mindness and his sense of productive criticism. Also check out some of his great pictures and the interesting links he posts frequently.

bye bye JPII

2005-04-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

Part of the world says fairwell to JP2 who was the most mediatized catholic in contemporary history. Global superstar, he participated to the end of the Cold War, the 'democratization' of Poland his home country, the launching of online catho-websites... He also wrote several books to share his holy perspective on HIV/AIDS, homosexuality and religious extremism... But not one line about the very controversial behaviour of his staff members. JP2 is gone. A man died. An institution is waiting for its new guru. The vote of Cardinals is motivated by political and strategic purposes. The new Pope might be African, Latin American or Italian; but the job description is a tough one! Check it out. The new guy will have to be the Pope of the global War on Terror and he will have to make Poverty History? What kind of man fits the profile?... Hey! There might be one guy... Be afraid, be very afraid...

Essaye encore...

2005-03-21T11:40:00.000-08:00

I remember seating in grandma's stairway during Christmas break, playing Speak & Spell with my cousins this for hours. In 1980, shortly after the invention of the synthesizer technology to reproduce human speech with tuned voices stored in ROM's (integrated circuits) Texas Instruments developed this funny product. The idea was to spell the name of that picture correct. The Speak & Spell used a different approach: The spoken word was generated by the built in loudspeaker and you had to type it in correct.

Want to hear it talk to you...?"Perfect Score"
Nostalgic visit at the Datamath Calculator Museum

UEA foto amigos

2005-03-20T12:01:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to show your family the picture that your friend took of your campus mates during a diner party or at the Union pub or when playing with Norfolk snow? Here are two sites to satisfy your curiosity... If you know other sites, let me know.

Keyvan Minoukadeh's galleries
Nic Winkler's galleries

Christo & Jeanne Claude

2005-02-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Christo's art projects can be seen as temporary large-scale environmental works (both urban and rural environments) which incorporate elements of painting, sculpture, architecture and urban planning. Achieved in the 1980s the Surrounded Islands in Florida featured as a series of giant paintings. The Umbrellas, Japan-USA 1984-91 has more to do with rural-urban planning. The logistics required for Christo's work is collosal: "3,100 umbrellas, each two stories high, 59.3 square meters (638.17 square feet), spread on a total span of 49 Kms (30 miles) by a width of 4 Kms (2.5 miles) along roads and highways, adjacent to barns, temples, churches, gas stations, schools, habitations and cattle."

Unlike the usual architecture and urban planning, "we are our own sponsors and we pay for our works of art with our own money, never accepting any grants nor sponsors" say Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude, who are currently working on two new projects in the USA: The Gates in Central Park, NYC (started in 1979) and Over the River, on the Arkansas River, Colorado... "tout simplement genial".

For more information visit Christo & Jeanne-Claude Website

Photos by Wolfgang Volz

WISE - Electrology

2005-02-26T09:36:00.001-08:00

Revisiting the fusion of jazz and electronic music, WISE explores new dimension between live improvisation and computer generated music. Electronic as a base to invent, to support emotions and ambiances. Around the founders of the band (Julien Birot, Robin Notte, Guillaume Poncelet), 17 musicians and singers united their talents to produce a modern and innovative first album. Electrology is a skillful mix of swing, soul, hip-hop and jazz. Wise is produced by Such Production and distributed by NAIVE. Chapeau bas...

Photo by Niko Biro

Documentary - Dark Days

2005-02-26T09:36:00.000-08:00

Mark Singer, ex-model and improvised filmmaker captured a different perspective of NYC the Big Apple... Dark Days is a first documentary on homeless people living in the train tunnels under Manhattan. Tunnel-dweller for over 2 years, Singer moved in with them and together they filmed this underground neighbourhood of this unknown low cast: a filthy shantytown with electricity and running water courtesy of the city of New York. With the assistance of Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst at the Coalition for the Homeless in NY, the movie eventually served as an advocacy tool in the effort to provide decent housing to the tunnel community.
Dark Days was nominated at the Sundance Film Festival when released in 2000. A must see for its theme, its creativity and its human dimension.

Click here to watch a Video Clip from Dark Days

Wondering about history...

2005-02-26T09:35:00.001-08:00

"First man to die / For the flag we now hold high (Crispus Attucks) / Was a black man / The ground were we stand / With the flag held in our hand / Was first the redman's / Guide of a ship / On the first Columbus trip (Pedro Alonzo Nino) / Was a brown man / The railroads for trains / Came on tracking that was laid / By the yellow man / We pledge allegiance / All our lives / To the magic colors Red, blue and white / But we all must be given / The liberty that we defend / For with justice not for all men / History will repeat again / It's time we learned / This World Was Made For All Men (...)"

Lyrics by Stevie Wonder
Song "Black Man" / Album "Songs in the key of life"
Mowtown Records 1976
Find out more about Stevie Wonder

Photo by BE*MOT