paul habeeb. portfolio. blog. bio.

Interesting little piece of controversy here:

“Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages.”

http://yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24513

However,

“According to a statement released by the University today, Aliza Shvarts ’08 was never impregnated. She never miscarried. The sweeping outrage on blogs across the country was apparently for naught.”

http://yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24528

All I can say is “interesting”.

When I was looking at my portfolio page earlier tonight, I could not help but think “Dependent” seems out of place among my other projects. Or, out of place in “Art”. Conceptual art. Serious art. Pretentious art. I feel like I would not see something like it in a gallery or a museum or anywhere similar. Not that it is tremendously creative or fresh, but it seems to me that those institutions would shun a piece like it. I don’t know why, either. It is not without meaning, and I feel that the concept is at least decent. I just cannot figure out why I feel like it seems out of place as art. It draws on the tradition of cinema, but films are art. Sure, you wouldn’t see a retrospective of Ingmar Bergman at the Art Institute, but his films are most definitely works of art. Why is there a rift between art and cinema? I suppose this is a larger question, and addresses several things at once.

Really, I feel like I am trying to do two things at once: conceptual art and film. And I feel like I have to decide between the two.

For the second workshop in my design class we had to make videos/short films. I went through several ideas and filmed a couple of them before I came to something I thought was good. It took me about an hour in my dorm room to think of the concept, film it and edit it down. Probably the quickest I have ever made anything, but I suppose all the tries before only added to it.

http://www.oliverlaric.com/5050.htm

I thought this was hilarious, sad, and amazing all at the same time.
Originally from Montage: Unmonumental Online at http://rhizome.org/art/exhibition/montage/.

…and what I think of them:

Pierrot le Fou (9/10)
Thumbsucker (7/10)
Rocket Science (7/10)
Margot at the Wedding (8/10)
F for Fake (9.5/10)
Punch-drunk Love (8/10)
Pretty in Pink (6/10)
Broken Flowers (7.6/10)
Sydney (Hard Eight) (8/10)
There Will Be Blood (10/10)

I am so relieved that I do not have to go to class for the next week. Yes, I will be working on multiple projects the entire time, but the removal of class from my day makes life much more simple. On Thursday or Friday I will probably be going to Chicago to check out some shows in galleries/the Institute/MoCP/MCA and also shop for some clothes as well. In the past couple of weeks I decided that I would like to start only wearing white, grey, and black. This idea was inspired by an article I read about five people in New York who only wear one colour. I already have a lot of grey/black clothes, so I figured it should not be too hard to wear such a limited palette. I am having trouble with it, though, as my clothes recycle faster than I would like them to. On a semi-unrelated note, I would like to purchase a suit in the near future. Grey, white, or black, of course. Express has two that I really like right now, but due to my current state of unemployment I cannot afford to buy either and subsequently get it tailored.

Elsewhere in life I have been slacking. I have many ideas for projects, but none of them have come anywhere near seeing the light of day. If I can get through this school year then I may feel like working on them this summer. I would like to at least begin a book or script and start work on some sort of long-term photo project before the end of the year (school or calendar).

I have been slowly progressing my study abroad application. I am pseudo-accepted by my home university, and my host uni application has been filled out and should be in the mail. I have been attending all of the required meetings here and if all goes well I should be abroad this fall and next spring. This is my second attempt at going abroad, as the first one was foiled by my change of major approximately a year ago.

I finally uploaded the Lamp Posts project. There are 36 lamp posts total.
Today I dropped off the film for Out the Window and I get it back tomorrow. The series should be up then, as well. Several other new projects are in the works, as well.

theDeadArtists.com

a work in progress

Like always around this time of year, I present to you my favourite music and movies from the past year. I am posting this a little early because I will not be home on New Years day, nor have access to a computer where I am. In music it looks like Arctic Monkeys and Copeland have a two year streak going on. Also, just like before, the movie list is weak due to my watching of older movies throughout the year instead of going to the theatre.

Top 10 Albums of 2006 (That I Didn’t Hear Until 2007)

10) Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer
09) Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
08) Castledoor - Follow the Dove (EP)
07) Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire
06) Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
05) Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
04) mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister
03) Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
02) John Mayer - Continuum
01) Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s - The Dust of Retreat

Top 10 Albums of 2007

10) Copeland - Dressed Up & In Line
09) Kanye West - Graduation
08) The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel
07) Albert Hammond, Jr. - Yours to Keep
06) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
05) Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
04) Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
03) White Stripes - Icky Thump
02) Radiohead - In Rainbows
01) Feist - The Reminder

Top 10 Movies of 2007
10) Beowulf
09) I am Legend
08) Ocean’s 13
07) Grindhouse
06) The Bourne Ultimatum
05) Reign Over Me
04) The Darjeeling Limited
03) American Gangster
02) Paris je t’aime
01) No Country For Old Men

Some more animated gifs for you. This time they’re from sophomore year of college.