beauty is in the eye of the beholder no 2

'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', a line i have used in the blog entry below about the poem, actually is a quote from a song by dan le sac vs. scroobious pip, called 'tommy c'. it has been combined in this video with footage of tommy cooper, who the song is about. check them out on their myspace-page, VERY recommendable! and listen closely to their lyrics when you do.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

picture taken by me

Here is a poem that a friend of mine has written recently. It is very dark, and even though I am in favour of emphasizing the wonderful-ness and beauty of life I find this poem beautiful exactly because of its darkness. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; every moment, even the dark ones, can give you something to make out of.

Written by MJ:

Gejagt von der Traurigkeit, die ganze Welten auflösen kann.
Ist es da noch möglich zu entkommen, wenn man ihren kalten Atem im Nacken spürt.
Jene Traurigkeit verschlingt jeden Wunsch nach Leben und spuckt dafür etwas Dunkles aus.
Der Zweifel, den man so tapfer versucht hat zu überlisten, gewinnt langsam an Raum.
Die Tage werden trüber, Licht wird zu Schatten und die Dunkelheit unumgänglich.
Träume versinken, der Boden unter Ihnen verwandelt sich zu Treibsand. Und jeden Tag bleibt weniger von ihnen übrig. Bis sie ganz versunken sind. Am Ende bleibt die stärkste Kraft.
Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt. Sie verliert an Farben bis sie sich ganz auflöst.
Am Ende bleibt nur noch die Ahnung von dem was einmal da war, wenn der letzte Funken Licht
wie ein Stern verglüht.


 

home art vol 2

I have done some artwork to a picture frame into which you can stick photos in between its strips. it is the same style as the love-canvas i have shared here earlier; several kinds of material are the same as well. i gave it to someone as a present. as you might recognize one of the photos i have put on it is from my photo collection i have posted here some time ago.

 

 

all pictures taken by me

an inspirational collage-painting on canvas I have done. four parts supposed to be hung up each with a small distance from the others but still creating an entity.

some detail:

as i have taken a liking to patterns and surfaces i have experimented with different kinds of materials such as stencils, beads, stickers, brags, buttons, wood, rock, metal, glas, a tube of paint, ribbons, different kinds of paper, cork, etc., and used acrylic paint.

all pictures taken by me

The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Mark Mineart: an Esoc Theatre and FEST production - review from echo-online.de translated into English

I had the pleasure of watching what I find is probably one of the best plays that have ever been written on the  stage of the International Theatre Frankfurt last weekend, and I must say it exceeded my expectations! 'The Importance of Being Earnest', directed by Mark Mineart, is now being performed in Darmstadt and Wiesbaden as well and I strongly recommend it to anyone who can still get tickets! 

There has been a review of one of the Darmstadt shows on echo-online.de which I felt obliged to translate into English and post here so that a wider range of people can find out about the show as it is itself performed in the one language every Oscar Wilde play should be performed in due to the remarkable beauty of its language: English.

taken from Echo online, 12th February 2011   

translated into English by me

Attitude, or countenance, is the main thing

Comedy: two theatre groups perform Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Hoffart in Darmstadt.

Witty hedonists: Mike Marklove (left) as Jack Worthing, Harald Schoppe as Algernon Moncrieff. 

Picture taken by Günther Jockel

Dates

The performance this Saturday (12^th) at the Hoffart-Theater is already sold out. The play will be performed coming Friday and Saturday (Feb 18 and 19) at the Amelia Earhart Playhouse Wiesbaden, Konrad-Adenauer-Ring 39, though. Performance times are 7:30 p.m.on both days; the box office can be reached under 0611 8162473. The next production of the Esoc Theatre Group will be shown at the Hoffart-Theater in May: ‘Die Physiker’ by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

Being an Irishman, Oscar Wilde observed England from an Irish perspective in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, a British member of the audience explains in bright English accent during one of the intervals of Thursday’s sold out performance at the Hoffart-Theater. The Esoc Theatre Group and the Frankfurt English Speaking Theatre are performing what is probably Wilde’s most known comedy as a co-production in English language. And even as the audience member’s statement might sound a bit contemptible she cannot help smiling to herself about all the moments in which Wilde holds the mirror up to the English society of the Victorian Age. For the German member of the audience, these moments seem to confirm flawless clichés, for example when the butler Lane’s first action on stage consists of pushing the silver tea set into the correct position in an almost affectionate manner. Lane himself seems to be a blueprint of the British servant: displaying a deadpan expression, a humble attitude, and entirely under control. He is sure to get loud laughter. His employer, Algernon Moncrieff (Harald Schoppe) is a man-about-town. In order to flee the burden of being a gentleman he has invented the ailing Bunbury as his alter ego. His pal Jack Worthing (Mike Marklove) has created a second existence for himself as well in order to turn his back on country life: in town he visits his brother Earnest who he impersonates there. When Algernon visits the country one day to play a joke on Jack the roleplay is discovered.

Directed by Mark Mineart, the ensemble succeeds very well in portraying the often satirically trenchant behaviour and character patterns of the English society on the threshold to the 20^th century.  The actors relish in their characters’ shallow conversation and accompany their cup of tea with faces grinning like a Cheshire Cat. And when everyone’s true colours are shown it is vital to keep countenance and drink tea – even though it has been drowned in sugar.

A real stunner is the performance of Bobbie Lording-Pfanner as Lady Augusta Bracknell. A British Grand Dame, she radiates a wonderfully accentuated aristocratic arrogance. When talking she cranes upwards with rapt attention and follows her words narcissistically. In that moment, every single muscle in her face seems to be active: her lips form a smugly curve, her eyebrows are pulled upwards. Even Joan Collins as Denver-minx Alexis couldn’t be any more arrogant and trenchant even though her acting (Joan Collins’s; note by translator) was a lot worse.

The only member of the Esoc-Theatre in the ensemble is Melanie Zander as Miss Prism. She wears an elegantly flowing robe with implied corsage, as do all other actresses. A gentle and subtle head of the household, she stays inconspicuous at first but keeps a secret about Algernon and Jack, the disclosure of which will cause amazement.

frankfurt's got art in the streets

 I was on a small shooting tour yesterday (shooting pictures, no casualties involved), trying to discover what my neighbourhood looks like from a closer perspective, and i found a couple of interesting street art samples, whether they are graffitti or stickers or posters or of other kind. to some of the pictures i've done some editing so have included myself in them as well.

it always depends on how you look at things...

 

                                   

all pictures taken by me

the book(et) list...

a friend of mine has had the brilliant idea of asking all her facebook friends for book recommendations publicly on her facebook status. this is what she got as a reply: 

SIRI HUSTVEDT, DIE ZITTERNDE FRAU

MILAN KUNDERA, DIE UNSTERBLICHKEIT

JOYCE CAROL OATES, WIR WAREN DIE MULVANEYS

JOHN IRVING, DAS HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE

FLORIAN BECKERHOFF, FRAU ELLA

PETER USTINOV, DER ALTE MANN UND MR. SMITH

JACK KEROUAC, UNTERWEGS

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA, TANTE JULIA UND DER KUNSTSCHREIBER

AMÉLIE NOTHOMB, METAPHYSIK DER RÖHREN

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, SCHRECKLICH AMÜSANT - ABER IN ZUKUNFT OHNE MICH

ZERUYA SHALEV, LIEBESLEBEN

GARCIA MARQUEZ, DIE LIEBE IN DEN ZEITEN DER CHOLERA

HEINRICH BÖLL, ANSICHTEN EINES CLOWNS

ALTES TESTAMENT, PREDIGER SALOMO (KOHELET)

SIEGFRIED LENZ, SO ZÄRTLICH WAR SULEYKEN

TS ELIOT, OLD POSSUM`S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS

WM PAUL YOUNG, THE SHACK

ECKHART TOLLE, NEUE ERDE

JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER, EXTREM LAUT UND UNGLAUBLICH NAH

RAFIK SCHAMI, DIE DUNKLE SEITE DER LIEBE

HOMER, ODYSSEE

VLADIMIR NABOKOV, TRANSPARENT THINGS

PAUL BOWLES, HIMMEL ÜBER DER WÜSTE

CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON, DER SCHATTEN DES WINDES

MARIO VARGA LLOSA, DAS BÖSE MÄDCHEN

MITCH ALBOM, DIENSTAGS BEI MORRIE

MARINA LEWYCKA, CARAVAN

PAULO COELHO, KRIEGER DES LICHTS, DER SIEGER BLEIBT ALLEIN

VOLTAIRE, CANDIDE

OSHO, LEBEN LIEBEN LACHEN

MICHAEL MOORE, YES, WE CAN: MIKES ULTIMATIVER WAHLFÜHRER

SHMUEL BOTEACH, KOSHER SEX: A RECIPE FOR PASSION AND INTIMACY

ALAIN DE BUTTON, WIE PROUST IHR LEBEN VERÄNDERN KANN

MIKHAIL BULGAKOV, DER MEISTER UND MARGARITA

HENRI CHARRIERE, PAPILLON

FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT, DIE PHYSIKER

ANDREAS FRANZ, EISIGE NÄHE

PATTIE SMITH, JUST KIDS

YANN MARTELL, SCHIFFBRUCH MIT TIGER

DENIS THERIAULT, DAS LÄCHELN DES LEGUANS

STARHAWK, 5TH SACRED THING

DAVID SAFIER, MIESES KARMA

FRANK MCCOURT, DIE ASCHE MEINER MUTTER

WASSILI GROSSMANN, LEBEN UND SCHICKSAL

DAVID GILMOUR, UNSER ALLERBESTES JAHR

MARKUS FELDENKIRCHEN, WAS ZUSAMMENGEHÖRT

MORITZ NETENJAKOB, MACHO MAN

JONATHAN FRANZEN, FREIHEIT

HERMANN HESSE, SIDDHARTA, STEPPENWOLF

KHALED HOSSEINI, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS 

SELIM ÖZDOGAN, DIE TOCHTER DES SCHMIEDS

JOSEPH HELLER, CATCH-22 

JOHN FANTE, ASK THE DUST (ICH -ARTURO BANDINI)

ERNEST HEMINGWAY, FIESTA, DER ALTE MANN UND  DAS MEER

TONY KUSHNER, ANGELS IN AMERICA

JOSE SARAMAGO, TABUCCHI

my friend is very into arts, photography, literature and writing on a professional level, and i adore a lot of things she does and have come to realize that many things she liked and shared with me have inspired me immensely. this is why I assume there will be quite a number of very entertaining, thoughtful and high quality proposals among her friends' recommendations and i thought i'd share the list here, even though so far i have not read many of the books myself. but as i plan to use her result as a source for new novel material when i am in search for new inspiring books i thought somebody else might want to do so as well... so here you are.

on her request i myself have actually added a couple of recommendations to the list. any idea which ones they might be? feel free to take a guess...

if you are interested in finding out about my friend's artwork and writing you will get a slight notion of it in her blog

alan ayckbourn about writing and directing for the stage, and michael caine about acting for film

for those of you who are interested in theatre, writing, acting or the art of directing, i have two book recommendations to share with you. the first one is the book 'The Crafty Art of Playmaking', or the german translation 'Theaterhandwerk', written by alan ayckbourn, the famous british contemporary playwright, director and theatre practitioner (and translated into german by gustav e. grumbach). it is divided into two parts, the first one about writing a play, the second about directing one for the stage. in 101 guidelines, he gives advice on the how to do it best and describes the process of a play coming onto the stage in very entertaining language giving a lot of practical examples from his own work. Not only is it valuable for everybody who wants to adventure into the art of playmaking but also highly recommendable for those interested in the british theatre landscape and alan ayckbourn as a person.

 

'theaterhandwerk' on amazon.de     and 'the crafty art of playmaking', also on amazon.de  

the other brilliant book that i'd like to share is 'weniger ist mehr', written by stunning actor michael caine (and translated by petra schreyer). the original english version is callled 'acting in film: an actor's take on movie making' (this is the amazon.co.uk page). in it, caine takes the reader on a tour through what it means to act for film and advises on how to do it properly. with a lot of practical examples from his own career, the book makes you begin to understand why he is that good at his job. it gives you a great insight and makes you admire the art of acting.

my photographies and photoshoppies

I've done some shooting and photoshopping lately and enjoyed it a lot. Here are some of  the results...