Hi, all! Here are my photos from the rest of the trip:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019433&id=1566240082&l=c7ce303b66
Enjoy!
Love,
Maggie
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Last Day in Paris
Today was our last full day in Paris, so we got up early and waited in line for the catacombs. Very creepy, but worth seeing. Then, we grabbed a crepe from our favorite crepe stand (thanks for the recommendation, Jan!) caught one last movie at the Forum des Images, and had a fondue feast in the Latin Quarter.
To close the evening, and our trip, we waited until after sunset and took a trip up the Eiffel Tower to look at the cityscape of Paris and to play a game of Go -Fish.
Now, we're getting ready for our early flight home. See you all soon!
To close the evening, and our trip, we waited until after sunset and took a trip up the Eiffel Tower to look at the cityscape of Paris and to play a game of Go -Fish.
Now, we're getting ready for our early flight home. See you all soon!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Bonne Fete!
Hello, all! Maggie again. So, yesterday was Bastille Day! Where better to celebrate than Paris?
First, we went to Champs Elysees, where the entire street was decorated with French flags. L'Arc de Triomphe had a huge French flag displayed in the middle of it.
Then, later that night, we went to the Eiffel Tower to celebrate its 120th birthday with a fireworks and lights show! It was 45 minutes, and it was fantastic! Fireworks shooting out of the Eiffel Tower, the Eiffel Tower on fire, and images being projected on it. It was a great show. Vive la France!
Versailles and Movies, Movies, Movies
Today, we went to the Palace of Versailles and saw the Hall of Mirrors and a great many paintings by David, Charles le Brun and Veronese. It was spectacular!
We've also been seeing a ton of movies at the film festival, Cinematheque, the Forum des Images and even *gasp* commercial theatres. (We had to go see Harry Potter. Had to.) We attended the premiere of an Australian clay-mation called Mary and Max -- go see it. It will surprise you.
We've also been seeing a ton of movies at the film festival, Cinematheque, the Forum des Images and even *gasp* commercial theatres. (We had to go see Harry Potter. Had to.) We attended the premiere of an Australian clay-mation called Mary and Max -- go see it. It will surprise you.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Halfway Through
We are now halfway through our trip to Paris, and have been enjoying ourselves thoroughly. In the past couple days, we've been to the Louvre, the film festival, and spent an entire day at the Cinematheque watching a weird assortment of films.
The Louvre was fantastic, but crowded, but we got to see The Raft of the Medusa and the Rubens room, so it was worth it in the end.
The film festival not only includes premieres of new movies, but rescreenings of fantastic classics. We went to see The Magnificent Seven at a great theatre - then again, all of the theatres we've been to so far have been really nice.
The Louvre was fantastic, but crowded, but we got to see The Raft of the Medusa and the Rubens room, so it was worth it in the end.
The film festival not only includes premieres of new movies, but rescreenings of fantastic classics. We went to see The Magnificent Seven at a great theatre - then again, all of the theatres we've been to so far have been really nice.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Clint Eastwood Retrospective and Cine-Party!
Today, after moving to our new hotel, we grabbed some lunch in the Latin Quarter, then sort of aimlessly walked around near the Pantheon until we came across this small theatre ("Action Ecoles") that was in the middle of a Clint Eastwood festival. We, of course, had to stop in. We stayed for a screening of Dirty Harry.
Then we were "feeling lucky," so we went to the Forum des Images for their Martial Arts vs. Westerns Cine-Party. This turned out to be a really weird but really cool event with dj's, vj's and musicians all responding to either the western or martial arts movie genre.
Then we were "feeling lucky," so we went to the Forum des Images for their Martial Arts vs. Westerns Cine-Party. This turned out to be a really weird but really cool event with dj's, vj's and musicians all responding to either the western or martial arts movie genre.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Some Photos!
Hi, everyone, Maggie here! Sorry, I'm kind of a shy blogger. But, by popular demand (I think), here are some photos!
Our adventures during our layover in Ireland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018451&id=1566240082&l=81d74d43f5
Day 1 in Paris:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018575&id=1566240082&l=bba91bad0f
(i know the title says day 2 as well, but the connection wasn't strong enough to get those on. sorry about that)
Anyway, hope you enjoy them!! Dana has more; once we have a strong enough connection (if we get one) there will be many more "pour faire plaisir aux yeux"!
Our adventures during our layover in Ireland:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018451&id=1566240082&l=81d74d43f5
Day 1 in Paris:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018575&id=1566240082&l=bba91bad0f
(i know the title says day 2 as well, but the connection wasn't strong enough to get those on. sorry about that)
Anyway, hope you enjoy them!! Dana has more; once we have a strong enough connection (if we get one) there will be many more "pour faire plaisir aux yeux"!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Cinematheque at last!
Today was our first full day in Paris, so we had breakfast at the hostel at 8, then headed out to the Cinematheque for our first day of research and to look at the museum.
The Bibliotheque du Film (BiFi) is a really cool place. Housed in a sort of secret part of the Cinematheque Francaise, one can purchase a pass (good for 3 months) that gives you access to all of the films and supporting materials that they have available. We watched movies and searched through their reference materials, then walked around the museum.
Later, we took the Metro up to see Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle, then walked around the Latin Quarter and got Crepes and Orangina. Popped into the Saint- Severin church (amazing) and took a long walk along the Seine and got to see a great view of the back of Notre Dame.
Looks like this is the best internet connection we can find for now, so I probably won't be able to post any photos or video until I get back home.
The Bibliotheque du Film (BiFi) is a really cool place. Housed in a sort of secret part of the Cinematheque Francaise, one can purchase a pass (good for 3 months) that gives you access to all of the films and supporting materials that they have available. We watched movies and searched through their reference materials, then walked around the museum.
Later, we took the Metro up to see Notre Dame and Saint Chapelle, then walked around the Latin Quarter and got Crepes and Orangina. Popped into the Saint- Severin church (amazing) and took a long walk along the Seine and got to see a great view of the back of Notre Dame.
Looks like this is the best internet connection we can find for now, so I probably won't be able to post any photos or video until I get back home.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Malahide
We've just arrived in Paris! We had a layover in Dublin, so we spent the time walking around the coastal town of Malahide. It's a quaint little village reminiscent of New Hope, PA with coffee shops and boutiques.
We took a cab in and got a great tour from our cab driver, Noel, who told us all about how he was disappointed by the size of the White House. We walked around by the marina and up to the castle, then took the bus back to the airport and made it back in time for our flight to Paris.
Right now, we're relaxing at our hostel, but cannot access a good internet connection. As soon as I find a better connection somewhere, I'll upload photos and videos.
We took a cab in and got a great tour from our cab driver, Noel, who told us all about how he was disappointed by the size of the White House. We walked around by the marina and up to the castle, then took the bus back to the airport and made it back in time for our flight to Paris.
Right now, we're relaxing at our hostel, but cannot access a good internet connection. As soon as I find a better connection somewhere, I'll upload photos and videos.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Introduction Part II: What We'll Be Doing
While in Paris, Maggie and I will be staying at a hostel (not the one listed in the proposal). During the day, we will visit the museum and Bibliotheque du Film at the Cinematheque Francaise, various screenings at the Forum des Images and the Paris International Film Festival, and of course the Pompidou, the Louvre and general sight-seeing. At these places, I will sketch and take notes about the development of cinema, and each night I will review my notes and write a brief summary of the day's research.
On this blog, I will post my research as well as photos, stories and videos of our adventures in the City of Lights.
On this blog, I will post my research as well as photos, stories and videos of our adventures in the City of Lights.
Introduction Part I: The Fellowship Process
Hi everyone! I've started this blog to keep you all informed about our trip to Paris this summer!
As you may know, in April, I was awarded the Harriet Sartain Fellowship for International Travel, and because of this I will be spending two weeks in Paris this July accompanied by my sister and translator, Maggie.
Here's how the fellowship process worked:
Annually, Moore hosts its Junior Fellowship Competition in which Junior level students with a gpa of 3.0 or above (and approval from their department chairs) can compete for money to travel and expand their studies.
Each student wishing to compete must submit a formal proposal for travel and research she intends to undergo if awarded the fellowship and must also work with the Galleries at Moore to execute an exhibition of her artwork related to her proposal.
The fellowship committee reviews the exhibitions and the proposals and chooses four students to fund. This year, approximately 20 talented and well-qualified students participated in the competition.
Here are images from my exhibition:
My show was an interactive installation with three videos, movie star head necklaces, a couch and a life-sized dummy of Clint Eastwood called "The What-If Viewing Station."
In order to view the installation, the viewer was required to choose a movie star head necklace from the wall, wear it and sit on the couch next to the dummy and watch the videos.
Here's my proposal:
The cinema has perhaps been the most influential visual medium in the creation of contemporary popular culture. The heroes and myths created by the popular cinema are the focus of my studio work. I take these characters ingrained with their own stories and experiment with the possibilities of changing their context in order to create new, more personal narratives. In order to fully understand these mythologies, I must understand how they have developed. The purpose of this fellowship is to research the development of popular cinematic mythology by traveling to the birthplace of cinema, Paris, France and studying at the Cinematheque Francaise.
An unparalleled collection of posters, costume and set drawings, press reviews, photos of film shoots and directors, books about movies, periodic collections, videos and DVD's are available for public view at the Cinematheque Francaise. During my stay in Paris, the Cinematheque Francaise will feature a special exhibition highlighting the career of Georges Melies, a defining filmmaker in the development of early cinema, whose work is credited as providing a basis for contemporary filmmaking strategies. Being able to research these materials is crucial in furthering my work as I attempt to discuss themes in cinematic popular culture.
In addition to the study of mainstream, popular cinema, it is essential that I investigate rare films in order to fully understand the context from which the mainstream emerges. In order to do this, I will visit the Forum des Images, an archive cinema featuring approximately five daily screenings of rarely screened and little known films. Like the materials at the Cinematheque Francaise, many of the materials shown at the Forum des Images are only available on site, and therefor traveling to Paris is essential in the furtherance of my studio work.
I will stay in the city for two weeks at the Woodstock youth hostel. My daily activities will include regular visits to the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images, as well as the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, at which I can gain exposure to the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking. Also during my stay in Paris, I will be able to attend the Cinema en Plein Air, an outdoor cinema event at which the public can view films on Europe's largest inflatable screen. Because Paris is not only the center of world cinema, but also a hub of the visual arts, I intend take advantage of its vast resources by visiting the Louvre, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the Musée de l'Orangerie. Though many of the places and events listed in this proposal have some English language offerings, to effectively research and make use of all of the resources available, I will travel with a friend who is fluent in French and will act as my translator.
While in Paris, I will write and sketch from the information at these institutions and events, and when I return to the United States, I will produce a ten-minute video piece based on the research compiled in Paris. The video will focus on key elements of cinematic narrative, especially with regards to American cinema, which developed specifically from the pioneering filmmakers of the French film industry. I hope to use the greater understanding of this aspect of popular culture so that I can more effectively appropriate these ideas into new contexts and narratives in my own drawing and video work.
By engaging directly with the numerous and often one-of-a-kind materials at the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images, I will gain invaluable insight into the nature and development of the cinematic narrative that can only come from a combination of extensive research and actually experiencing films. Having the world's largest cinema archive at my disposal offers me a particularly crucial opportunity to sample from the entire history of film, both from mainstream works and rare films only available at the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images. In addition to studying the history of mainstream and avant-garde films, attendance at the Paris Cinema International Film Festival will provide insight into the future of cinema and its relationship to its historic roots. The benefits of being able to work from primary source materials and to travel to the birthplace of cinema will not only benefit my current studio work by expanding the imagery and content of my drawings and videos, but will also serve to benefit future endeavors by establishing a solid basis for expanded research. I anticipate that this research will not only inform my work, but provide an understanding of humanity and how it creates its own image through the cinematographer's lens.
As you may know, in April, I was awarded the Harriet Sartain Fellowship for International Travel, and because of this I will be spending two weeks in Paris this July accompanied by my sister and translator, Maggie.
Here's how the fellowship process worked:
Annually, Moore hosts its Junior Fellowship Competition in which Junior level students with a gpa of 3.0 or above (and approval from their department chairs) can compete for money to travel and expand their studies.
Each student wishing to compete must submit a formal proposal for travel and research she intends to undergo if awarded the fellowship and must also work with the Galleries at Moore to execute an exhibition of her artwork related to her proposal.
The fellowship committee reviews the exhibitions and the proposals and chooses four students to fund. This year, approximately 20 talented and well-qualified students participated in the competition.
Here are images from my exhibition:
My show was an interactive installation with three videos, movie star head necklaces, a couch and a life-sized dummy of Clint Eastwood called "The What-If Viewing Station."
In order to view the installation, the viewer was required to choose a movie star head necklace from the wall, wear it and sit on the couch next to the dummy and watch the videos.
Here's my proposal:
The cinema has perhaps been the most influential visual medium in the creation of contemporary popular culture. The heroes and myths created by the popular cinema are the focus of my studio work. I take these characters ingrained with their own stories and experiment with the possibilities of changing their context in order to create new, more personal narratives. In order to fully understand these mythologies, I must understand how they have developed. The purpose of this fellowship is to research the development of popular cinematic mythology by traveling to the birthplace of cinema, Paris, France and studying at the Cinematheque Francaise.
An unparalleled collection of posters, costume and set drawings, press reviews, photos of film shoots and directors, books about movies, periodic collections, videos and DVD's are available for public view at the Cinematheque Francaise. During my stay in Paris, the Cinematheque Francaise will feature a special exhibition highlighting the career of Georges Melies, a defining filmmaker in the development of early cinema, whose work is credited as providing a basis for contemporary filmmaking strategies. Being able to research these materials is crucial in furthering my work as I attempt to discuss themes in cinematic popular culture.
In addition to the study of mainstream, popular cinema, it is essential that I investigate rare films in order to fully understand the context from which the mainstream emerges. In order to do this, I will visit the Forum des Images, an archive cinema featuring approximately five daily screenings of rarely screened and little known films. Like the materials at the Cinematheque Francaise, many of the materials shown at the Forum des Images are only available on site, and therefor traveling to Paris is essential in the furtherance of my studio work.
I will stay in the city for two weeks at the Woodstock youth hostel. My daily activities will include regular visits to the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images, as well as the Paris Cinema International Film Festival, at which I can gain exposure to the cutting edge of contemporary filmmaking. Also during my stay in Paris, I will be able to attend the Cinema en Plein Air, an outdoor cinema event at which the public can view films on Europe's largest inflatable screen. Because Paris is not only the center of world cinema, but also a hub of the visual arts, I intend take advantage of its vast resources by visiting the Louvre, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and the Musée de l'Orangerie. Though many of the places and events listed in this proposal have some English language offerings, to effectively research and make use of all of the resources available, I will travel with a friend who is fluent in French and will act as my translator.
While in Paris, I will write and sketch from the information at these institutions and events, and when I return to the United States, I will produce a ten-minute video piece based on the research compiled in Paris. The video will focus on key elements of cinematic narrative, especially with regards to American cinema, which developed specifically from the pioneering filmmakers of the French film industry. I hope to use the greater understanding of this aspect of popular culture so that I can more effectively appropriate these ideas into new contexts and narratives in my own drawing and video work.
By engaging directly with the numerous and often one-of-a-kind materials at the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images, I will gain invaluable insight into the nature and development of the cinematic narrative that can only come from a combination of extensive research and actually experiencing films. Having the world's largest cinema archive at my disposal offers me a particularly crucial opportunity to sample from the entire history of film, both from mainstream works and rare films only available at the Cinematheque Francaise and the Forum des Images. In addition to studying the history of mainstream and avant-garde films, attendance at the Paris Cinema International Film Festival will provide insight into the future of cinema and its relationship to its historic roots. The benefits of being able to work from primary source materials and to travel to the birthplace of cinema will not only benefit my current studio work by expanding the imagery and content of my drawings and videos, but will also serve to benefit future endeavors by establishing a solid basis for expanded research. I anticipate that this research will not only inform my work, but provide an understanding of humanity and how it creates its own image through the cinematographer's lens.
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