Was taken by Maren Ade's work in Everyone Else. The film gets really close to a couple, examining their relationship over days spent on a summer holiday on the island of Sardinia. It explores a certain identity crisis of gender and cultural roles of a modern relationship between an architect and a rock record label publicist, and to what extent cultural pressures and personal notions of success and happiness define self-esteem and confidence. Although the moral of the story might be “don’t change who you are or who you love because that’s what is expected,” it also examines the psychological struggle to challenge cultural expectations. The emotion and tension throughout the film was very natural and subtle, and really loved the casual dark humor of the ending with what I believe was the most ironc choice of song - Paul Bryan's Listen.
Michael C. McMillen is a mixed-media artist based in Santa Monica, California, whose installations and sculptures made out of recyclable materials, or as he calls them "the cast-offs of our material society," play around the themes of time, change, and illusion as a means to create what he refers to as "visual spiritual poetry." It's very interesting work with a magic of its own. The two friends I've brought with me to view his work have referred to his pieces as post-apocalyptic. I see it more as a beautiful display of decay. They had a similar eerie effect on me as when I visited a ghost town of the Gold Rush era, here in California, for the first time. Like a glimpse at the ancient ruins of the future. To fully appreciate his installations you really must experience them. You can view his work in person at an upcoming exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California from April 16, 2011 to August 14, 2011, entitled Train of Thought .