Frida, The woman behind the canvas.

Frida Kahlo was a mexican painter born july 6th 1907. Though her life was turbulent at times she did experience success with her artwork. Her real recognition came after the end of her life in 1954. Her paintings were something unique of her time and is what gave her notoriety. In 2002 Frida's life was depicted in the movie "Frida". The movie brought new meaning of her art to me personally because now i was able to visualize what convinced her to paint what she did.

 In the movie you learn that Frida was a believer that women were just as capable as men. Throughout the movie she challenges the typical looks of a women and their roles. She fashioned a unibrow and once dressed as a man in a family picture. Frida being in a bus accident was confined to a body cast and was unable to move which is when her artistic abilities began to flourish. After recovering, Frida was able to walk again and met her soon to be husband Diego rivera a fellow artist. They marry and do not have the easiest life as a couple. They travel to New York City in order for Diego to paint a mural at Rockfeller center but because of confronting ideas his mural was taken down. While in New York Frida has relations with women while in N.Y.C. and experiences a miscarriage. She then returns to mexico for her mother funeral and leaves Diego because his mounting infidelity peaks when he sleeps with her her sister forcing their departure from one another. Soon after Frida has an affair with Alexander Trotsky, remarries Diego and once again becomes disabled after the amputation of her foot and eventually dies.

 Frida's paintings were based in surrealism. She took event in life to feed her paintings. As her life progresses it is clearly evident of the hardships she endured. Her art was challenging at her time and was what made her so different and admired. Out of all of her work I find the paiting "My Birth" to be such a stimulating image that shows the pain Frida felt. To some it might be somewhat disguisting but they need to realize the misery she faced.I Think the movie shows the real truth of Frida's life and one is able to sympathize with the troubled artist. I like the way it was directed and found it enjoyable to watch.

Born into Brothels

Born into Brothels is an academy award winning documentary that chronicles the time that its director Zani Briski. Briski spends her time in the the red light district of Calcutta in India documents the lives of children born of prostitutes. Throughout her time spent in the brothel  Zani is able to befriend many of the kids and thus she sets on out a mission to teach the children the art of photography. She teaches them the basics of beginner photography. She gives them all basic cameras to which the children are to take pictures of anything they wish. The end results are something quite note-worthy for the level that they are at. Not only does Zani dedicate herself to teaching photography to the children she also helps the kids by trying to improve their educational opportunities. She insists upon having the children be entered into formal schools only so that they they can flourish as intellectuals. I find this the most important part of her time in Calcutta because she was able to take these kids out of the brothel and into boarding schools. This has altered their lives from being stuck in slums of life into the ability of having a life well valued. The way she is able to afford schools for them is from the money she receives from selling their photographs. This documentary is Heart-breaking and makes the viewer question all that they take for granted like a good education; throughout the documentary the kids repeatedly say that they would love to actually go to a school.  The fact that the art  photography has such an impact on the lives of these unfortunate children. This shows how great an art is to the advancement of well-rounded adults. The children's work has been in exhibits in amsterdam as shown in the documentary and one of the children was even asked to be present to represent the children. Zani Briski did not stop at only helping children in the red light district of calcutta but has also had programs which are called Kids with Cameras in other countries such as Haiti, Jerusalem, and Cairo. Briski's commitment to exposing children to photography is inspiring to all. I found Born into Brothels  to be a movie that will make you hope for the enrichment of children all around the world.

This is the website for Kid with Cameras where you can find all the work by the children and history about the program:    http://kids-with-cameras.org/home/

'Metamorphosis', a novella by Fanz Kafka

The 'Metamorphosis' is a novella that details the events of the nightmarish-tale of Gregor Samsa. Upon waking one morning Gregor find he has become into a huge insect. The discovery of his appearance left them shocked and repulsed and even prompted his father to attack him on the basis of his horrible appearance. Left without the ability to communicate Gregor must sort out the details of what has happened to him with out any help. As the novella continues you learn that Gregor's family  was dependent on his steady income and only saw Gregor as a paycheck. Gregors sister starts to feed the hunger of Gregor but the steady flow of food begins to diminish as she starts to feel as if Gregor is a burden who consumes her time. With the occurrence of another attack by his farther Gregor was left disabled and hardly able to crawl and ultimately with the gaining of total dislike of his family Gregor eventually dies of starvation.

 I find the idea that Gregor has become a giant bug to be fascinating. Although Gregor shows little emotion one is compelled to feel bad for him for anyone who has gone through such an ordeal is emotionally crippling and to express that did not come easily. You learn that Gregor was the not valued by his family for who he was but for the money he was made which his father used to pay off debts acquired from a previously failed business. I think that Gregor becoming an insect symbolizes how he was not valued in his family; insects are for the most part not thought of as the best creature on planet earth like how Gregor was treated by his father. As the story progresses Gregor continues to lose any support of him by his family and essentially is left to die alone which I feel is reason enough to feel sympathy for him.  I find Kafka's ' The Metamorphosis' to be enjoying to read yet upsetting. His story is one of lost life, a life no longer valued.

For the love of music

What makes me love living in New York the most is the fact that I'm surrounded by such awesome music. In Brooklyn alone there are many different bands that although have great music, but have little recognition. The brooklyn music scene is booming. I personally listen to many indie  New york -based bands and I find there music the most appealing. These bands go under the radar because the music is deemed "unpopular". The alternative music coming from New York is a mix of all types of musics and people need to give them a chance. I know that when people listen to my ipod they instantly have the same reaction on their face "huh" as to what is this and why do you listen to it. To name a few brooklyn-based bands that I'm particularly fond of are Bear hands Grizzly Bear, Chairlift which you might recognize their song "bruises" from the apple commercial,vampire weekend who gained some notoriety this year with their self-titled debut album, MGMT, The National,White rabbits, Bishop Allen,Tv on the Radio, and two of my favorite bands Matt and Kim and The Virgins who's music is addicting. All of these bands have grown to be staples in my i-pod. music is influenced from all types of music and all eras.Of course these are not the only bands from new york but these are bands who I know produce quality music. The great thing about all these bands is that we live right where their located so anyone is able to go see them perform somewhere like at different venues across N.Y.C and festivals like the Siren festival in Coney Island . All of these bands have a diverse type of music, which I why I like brooklyn music so much because I'm able to so much variety all the while supporting brooklyn. At the end of this blog i hope that people who read this become more accepting of all types of music and not only the songs blasted from and selected by a radio station. I think that if one would take the initiative to give some of these bands a chance and check out their music, they might be pleasantly surprised. I also hope people dig deep for new and different types of music even if not from New York at least a new genre of music because the finds will be well worth it. Whenever i find a song I like it doesn't matter what type of music it is as long as it is pleasing to my ear.