I really like Jennifer Dorsey’s work now on view at Flashpoint gallery. The series documents two DC schools. Some of the photographs are nearly abstract closeups of surfaces like blackboards. Others are empty rooms in which you can imagine all the generations of students that have played basketball or learned geography in them. Can’t seem to find a link with more examples of her work, but will update if I do.
Categories: dc, the visual
Hunger = highly recommended
Hunger is brutal and beautiful. The film tells the story of Bobby Sands, who led the 1981 IRA hunger strike at Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. Not easy viewing by any means. The visual depth and humanity created by artist-director Steve McQueen earned him a comparison to Rembrandt from the Guardian’s Jonathan Jones.
Categories: the cinematical
Not the actual Georgian dumplings (Khinkali) I ate on Febgiving, but these look pretty similar
This past Febgiving was celebrated at my house with a delicious Georgian feast inspired by Darra Goldstein’s book on the subject. Celebrating Febgiving was my idea. The Georgian theme and most of the menu was Michelle’s idea (see that Tumblr link for a glimpse of some pickled cabbage that was brought to the table). She made these dumplings vegetarian-friendly by swapping mushrooms and Boca crumbles for the traditional meat filling. Finally, the Khinkali were topped with a wonderful garlic-walnut sauce (Bahze) not typically used on dumplings, but I doubt anyone in Tbilisi would complain about the delicious pairing.
Categories: the edible
So, one of my goals since moving to DC is to make art a bigger part of my life. When I lived in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Chicago it was a huge and very natural part of the life of the city. Much of the time I was also working in the arts world until I moved to DC, which certainly helped. In this government town the visual art scene has been tough to crack, but there is a ton of creativity under the surface. In a third new series of series for this blog I’m going to do my best to chronicle some of it.
For now, I give you these candy hearts that cropped up around Logan Circle last week. I suspect they are related to these candy corn traffic cones that appeared last October and are credited to Diabetik.
Wheat pasted candy hearts, 14th & P, February 2010.
This weekend there are openings at Flashpoint Gallery, Civilian Art Projects, and a pop-up space in Colombia Heights called Activation. I hope to see you out there.
Categories: dc, the visual
Fish Tank = highly recommended
Of the many, many films I saw during the days (Weeks? Months?) of extreme snow here in D.C., Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank was most striking. I went into the film not knowing much about where the film would take me. It turns out this is exactly the situation Arnold threw her actors into: no pages of the script beyond the currently-filming scene were made available. The resulting meandering film about sixteen-year-old Mia’s life in an English housing project with her non-parenting mother has been aptly compared to The 400 Blows.
Categories: the cinematical
Unlike Google Street View Day, it was a cold and blustery February Sunday at a nearly empty restaurant.
The best thing I ate since last report: truffle egg toast with bottarga during brunch at ‘inoteca on the Lower East Side.
I can’t say that this is a great brunch spot (it was a last-minute pick). It felt like breakfast was an afterthought tacked on to a (probably good) dinner spot: the menu is short on A.M. comfort food, and something as simple as morning coffee seemed foreign (you’ll get Lavazza espresso served Americano).
THAT SAID, the truffle egg toast with bottarga is delicious. Crunchy toast yields to perfectly soft eggs with a delightful hint of truffle oil. The optional bottarga adds a nice complimentary texture. Yum.
PS: In DC, Pizzeria Paradiso offers something very similar in pizza form.
Categories: the edible, the geographical
The Deer Hunter
I couldn’t help thinking of Avatar while reading Jonathan Rosenbaum’s over-the-top takedown of The Deer Hunter, originally written in 1979. Excerpt:
Try and imagine a boneless elephant sitting in your lap for three hours while you’re trying to think. It’s flabby beyond belief, convinced not only of its importance but its relevance to Americans (i.e., human beings) everywhere, and even winds up bleating a mournful rendition of “God Bless America” in your ear, hoping that you’ll join in or at least have sympathy for its plight.
The Deer Hunter is on my list of Very Important Movies™ that I haven’t seen. Is it time to take care of that? Maybe just to fish for parallels with James Cameron’s Very Important Movie™ ?
Categories: the cinematical
Two strong films about desperation amid tough times in Eastern Europe. The bleakness of the former is haunting even as it verges on becoming a crime thriller. Import/Export paints a much seedier, grittier portrait. Much (all?) of the interior scenes are filmed in static/unmoving camera shots reminiscent of the recently released 1975 classic Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles.
The Seagull = Fine
Screened as part of the National Gallery of Art’s “Celebrating Chekhov on the Russian Screen” series. The best parts were the subtitled translations of Russian insults. I’m still waiting for an opportunity to call someone a “Bourgeois Kievian.”
Encounters at the End of the World = recommended
Werner Herzog’s documentary about Antarctica focuses on the people who live there: scientists, adventurers, wandering philosophers. A nice detour touching on some of Herzog’s old man vs. nature themes. The shots of strange ocean creatures living deep under the Antarctic ice are amazing.
New World Order = highly not recommended
Clearly at least one of the “best documentaries of the decade” lists I added to my Netflix queue was a mistake of enormous magnitude.
Categories: the cinematical
I have no problem with the Academy’s choice to expand best picture nominees to ten this year. It is high-profile exposure for great films. Unfortunately, I’ve seen most of the just-announced ten and they are not great. A look at Metacritic’s assessment of Blind Side inspired me to highlight that site’s clearest critical insult of each nominee.
I’ll probably try to see The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air before the 22nd, but so far I’m not excited to call any of these films the best of 2009. The big winner this year might end up being The Baltimore Sun.
Categories: the cinematical
Mandoo Soup at Java Green
The best thing I ate this week was Mandoo soup at Java Green here in DC. The broth is flavorful, the dumplings are pleasantly plump, and a nice mix of vegetables and rice cakes (with perhaps a touch of sesame) round out the soup. Highly recommended.
P.S. Eat is the second in a series of series I think maybe I can possibly post to this space regularly. Eat will highlight the most delicious things I eat.
Categories: dc, the edible
Hello! I'm Erik Moe: an artist, writer, designer, and activist living in DC. I am now proudly serving as Art Director for New Media at SEIU, where I hope my skills in some small way are helping hard working people and the social justice movement. Enclosed here please find some samples of my work, cultural critique, travelogues, opinion and a bit of snark. Send comments, invitations and vegetarian recipies to:
