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Post by Phalon on Jan 22, 2011 8:48:48 GMT -6
The other night, I went to a community screening of one of the most moving documentaries I've seen in a long time. "Play Again" is about the growing disconnection between children and nature. Today's kids spend more time in the virtual world than in the natural world; on average, a typical American teenager spends between 6 to 15 hours a day behind a screen of some sort: a computer, cell-phone, television, etc.. The film follows a group of teens as they leave their virtual world - a world some of feel is more real than the 'real world' - to spend time in a wilderness camp. The movie is visually beautiful; it's content is shockingly disturbing, humorous in places, and emotional. I felt my eyes welling up more than once. "Play Again" won awards at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival, EkoFilm in Prague, and the "Best Documentary" award at the Long Island International Film Festival. After the screening, in kind of an ironic twist, there was a live web conference with the film's producer, where we all got a chance to ask questions and make comments. It was pretty neat. If you ever get a chance to view it, it's well worth the time spent. Here's a link to the movie, and trailer: www.groundproductions.com/playagain/index.php
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Post by Phalon on Mar 19, 2011 8:10:49 GMT -6
Last night, a group of us got together over a friend's house to watch "Rivers and Tides", a documentary about nature artist's Andy Godsworthy's work, and his philosophy behind it. I don't think it's something I would have normally sat down to watch by myself - although watching him construct his sculptures is mesmerizing. The film is slow, but then again, it's meant to be - his work takes an amazing amount of patience; a gust of wind can take down hours and hours of work in just a second. That is the point, too - his work is ephemeral; it's not meant to be permanent. The rising of a tide, or a slight breeze gives it back to the earth from which it came. Here are some examples: www.rwc.uc.edu/artcomm/web/w2005_2006/maria_Goldsworthy/works.htmlwww.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.htmlIn the second link, I love the sculpture titled "Treesoul" and the serpentine tree roots.
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