Do Art

My first double exposure ever, I'm quite pleased with the outcome .

Detail of artist Ravi Rajcoomar's installation for the Paramaribo SPAN exhibition; Paramaribo, Suriname. Photos courtesy Nicholas Laughlin. An important exhibition of contemporary art, curated by Trinidadian artist Christopher Cozier, this week opens in Paramaribo, S uriname. The exhibition, which ARTSPUB blogger Richard Rawlins has described as " a bubbling, energetic, dynamic"  runs from February 26 to March 14 and serves as a platform for young artists. It is part of a larger conversation about contemporary art and visual culture in Suriname, which has, of course resonance for the wider Caribbean given our similar histories. According to the SPAN blog, " The project has three separate but interconnected platforms: an exhibition, which will open in Paramaribo in February 2010; a book to be published in three editions (Dutch, English, Portuguese); and a blog, which is at once a journal, an archive, and an independent creative undertaking. The project is, in part, a...

Leonardo DiCaprio suffers from one hell of a migraine  The buried subject of Martin Scorcese's Shutter Island is more surprising than the film's final twist. While any viewer is likely to see the closing 10 minutes coming from the start of the movie, she is not likely, however, to have expected Scorcese's brilliant (and oblique) examination of World War II. True, Scorcese's source material, a novel of the same name penned by Denis Lahane (author of Mystic River) does deal with the aftermath of the war. But in this film, the director of Taxi Driver  and The Departed  is doing far more than being faithful to his source material. In 1954, U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio in his best film performance to date) is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's infamous Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. With his partner Chuck (the undervalued Mark Ruffalo), he sets off to the island and arrives to find one hell of a creepy institution. ...

The letters are from the lens cover. I wanted to test how a picture would look like with the lens cover on.

Cobo Town on Carnival Tuesday around the Savannah. Photos courtesy Georgia Popplewell. In between the bikini and beads of this week's Carnival, a band of cobos slinked, darkly. On Carnival Monday, band members held standards bearing individual slogans which band members had painted themselves in red paint. On Tuesday, standards were ditched, with band-members wearing beaked headpieces and large flowing capes, all black.  There was no music truck, only a small music cart. The designs were straightforward and efficient. But in the sea of everything else that passed for mas this Carnival, they stood out. Curious onlookers were struck by what they called "real mas".  The artist Ashraph's band 'Cobo Town'--which this week placed fourth in the small band of the year competition--was not a re-invention of the wheel. But because mas has now degenerated into a mercenary "all-inclusive" experience with little or no edge or individuality, it simply stood out. A...

I took this photograph at New Street, Port of Spain, three years ago. I've had it on my computer for a while now. I used to see the man regularly around the city. People said he was an out-patient from St Ann's Hospital. I don't know his name. He never responded to any questions I asked. I don't see him anymore.

WHO? My name is Nikolai Mahesh Noel. WHAT? I get very excited about images then as the excitement subsides, I feel very embarrassed for having been so excited. WHEN + WHERE? I have shown work regularly from about 2000, twice at the Trinidad Art Society annual open show very early, then twice again at the Trinity Carnival Foundation building in Woodbrook.  I showed work at CCA7 for a number of years. My most recent work I have shown either at or through Alice Yard. I have some things I am working on currently and my intention is to show this work at Alice Yard as well. WHY? Why did I get into this? I do not know that it is a decision in that way. It did not come up as a career choice. I enjoyed seeing, using and creating images when I was very young, and wanted to keep doing just that. I don’t see it as me deciding to get into art, it would be more like not ignoring a desire. PLEASE SAY SOMETHING DEEP (ABOUT ART): [The artist did not respond.] ANSWER THE QUESTION YOU WANTED ASKED: [...

Trinidadian writer, journalist and critic Raymond Ramcharitar's first work of fiction The Island Quintet  has been nominated for a Commonwealth Writer's Prize. The book, a series of narratives published by Peepal Tree Press in Leeds, United Kingdom, last year, has been shortlisted in the category of best first book by a writer from Canada or the Caribbean. You can see some of the other books nominated at the Commonwealth website here . The book has been largely well received, with academic and critic David Dabydeen describing it thus in a review for the UK's Independent  newspaper: The remarkable quality of this book is how closely observed character and landscape are, a precision which pays homage to both Naipaul and Walcott. The prose simmers, then erupts into outrageously satirical commentary on island life, the calms down again, Ramcharitar displaying a superb control of narrative flow. For those of you who missed The Island Quintet, here is its opening sentence: Trying...

By Lesedi Tidd * PLEASURE blogger “Accept with simplicity everything that happens to you” The Coen Bros. are weird. Not David Lynch weird, but still weird. It’s as if they approach their projects with a self-serving ambivalence which, more often than not, manages to appeal to the (or rather, ‘an’) audience.  A Serious Man  seems to exemplify that very idea. For an everyday audience the movie may be inaccessible; it is ambitious in the way that Coen Bros. jaunts often are (i.e. somewhat), but the darkly intelligent and absurdist humour which holds the film together is bound to go over the heads of the average moviegoer. This isn’t by any means a bad thing, as it draws on a twisted Woody Allen-esque pastiche of Jewish wit and neuroticism, but it’s bound to present a hurdle to some viewers and, at times, even utterly alienate the audience. I suppose however, that it’s par for the course when the movie is supposed to be a modernized reinterpretation of the Book of Job. It begins w...

Welcome to all our new students for 2010, and welcome back to our returning students. Most of our courses are full, classes have started, and we're looking forward to a vibrant and exciting year ahead!

_guroga (2010) - Venezuela

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By Fédon Honoré* Guest PLEASURE blogger The stage, Northern Greens, Queen's Park Savannah, on Dimanche Gras night. Yes folks, another year, another Dimanche Gras. The Kings and Queens of Carnival were really lackluster. And, well, the Divine Echoes were terrifying. Let's not even mention those weird musical interludes, complete with people dressed as plants dancing with a giant caterpillar. Amidst all that crap, the calypso provided treats. Here's how the songs went down, in order of appearance: Mr. Shak - "Rogue" Seemed somewhat handicapped by the replica assault rifle he was using as a prop and lacking the assurance the lyrics of the song demanded. However, this was a very brutal commentary on the seedier aspects of certain members of the police force. Would have benefitted from being slowed down; more calypso and less soca. Skatie - "A cry for life" A forthright presentation, but came across as hackeneyed moralising while not providing anything parti...

My standard for use in the Carnival band Cobo Town, brought out by the artists Ashraph and Shalini. I played with them last year as well, in a band of cows. Read an older post about the band which PLEASURE published in January here .

Lights, cameras, action! Yes, dear readers. I'll be blogging the show 'live', from the comfort of my home. If you don't know anything about the Soca Monarch read this . Meanwhile the rest of you should grab some tea and biscuits quickly. It's going to be a long, but gloriously overdone night! Things should get started at about 9.15pm (TT time), so I'll see those of you sad folks who'll be home and online this Carnival Friday then! Don't forget to click the 'Refresh' button on your browser for updates, and feel free to post comments. As a general disclaimer, I'd just like to say if you notice my updates becoming erratic, assume the electricity in Belmont is gone or my internet is down or I'm off somewhere having fun! * * * 7.25pm: It's early days yet, but I thought I'd fill you in on one of the favorites to win this year's competition. One word: PALANCE . Watch this NOW . They should perform in position number 11 in what's...

You are not my mother so you hold my hand tighter than you should. The wind blows my Indian feather, And throws red dust into my face. This is supposed to be fun, but when We reach the Savannah stage I am terrified...      -- READ full poem in the Boston Review .

Miembros - Artworkproject

WHO? Halt! What measure is the Fool who stares into the Nameless Face of Talking Death and inquires as to its true identity, history and genealogy while ignoring his own rapidly fading chronology? I am the seed of the everlasting Reincarnation of O Cangaceiro, Acolyte of the Agent of Death Valley, that Master Midnight Robber, And the Vicious Veteran Vivisector The Ocean Raider. First was the Word, the Word became Flesh, the Flesh became Spirit, the Spirit became Legend and the Legend became the Reincarnation. When he spit his verbose vitriol upon the steaming sod Sprung forth from his saliva Warriors of the Word Like King Cobo, the Mellancolly Marauder, Son of Pretty Boy Floyd, the Artic Avenger, Rob Roy, Double D – Destruction and Death, D Spectre, The Chaos Bringer, The Robber Queen And my partner in rhyme, the Wrathful Wonder Woman. But as I stand before you, his one true son; Behold the Midknight (of the Talking Death) and run! WHAT? With my bombastic brethren, we formed the Myster...