THERESA GANZ

hanging out at 49 geary (and after being a little disappointed by the selection of Avedon's images at Fraenkel), i had the nice surprise to discover Theresa Ganz's work. She recently graduated from SF Art Institute. The pieces on display at Steven Wolf are pretty large (52'' x 52") and made of hand-cut C-prints.

i was blown away by the composition and the delicate construction of all of the collages. the contrast between the abstraction of the whole piece and the concrete details of the actual photographs is amazing. she got inspired for that work by some of the greatest american poets and writers (Melville, Whitman). you can read more about it on her website. very, very inspiring work.

Agathe

Zoo Photographs

We've discussed our reactions to zoo and taxidermy photography, as well as admitting if we engage in such practice , and no matter what side of the issue you are on doesn't really matter for this discussion.

Britta Jaschinski published a book of black and white images in 1996 called simply enough Zoo. This book really helped sell me on photography as a viable art form and helped bring me to where I am today.

--Chris Bjuland

LIVEBOOKS

I spoke with Kathryn MacDonald, our edu advisor about things we all would like to have improved upon with our edu websites. We had a long conversation, and she seemed really receptive to our concerns, which was great. 

We all have similar issues with our sites, so let's make a list of things we'd like to see changed! I'll start the list and feel free to agree, disagree, or add anything. Being told 'upgrade to the pro site' also doesn't solve the problem. Te point is we are paying for a product that we should be satisfied with. Are we supposed to be limited because we are 'students'?

- Type Options - Having one font choice per layout is just not OK. We are creative, visual people and the design of our sites is so important and personal... we need many more options here!! 

- Color Backgrounds - We should also have options here too. Why not have a color picker where you can choose any color you want? 

- The Thumbnail Sidebar - Some of us like it, some of us hate it. It overlaps the image and is bothersome to use. Again, all we're asking for here is the option of use, and be able to put in on bottom, left, right, etc. If we were able to customize our sites more, it wouldn't look like we all have the same site! 

- Margo

(www.margomoritz.com)

WALTZ WITH BASHIR / ARI FOLMAN

Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 "animated documentary" film by Ari Folman. It entered the competition at the 08 Cannes Film Festival; it is an international co-production between Isreal, Germany and France.
Traveling through the lost / reappearing memories of a former israeli soldier traumatized by what he witnessed, the film tells the story of the 1982 Lebanon War (and especially the Sabra and Shatila massacre).
I am not a huge fan of animated movies, but this one is so complex, smart, sensitive and aesthetically successful that it is probably my favorite movie of the year. I never thought i could physically feel the fear of a lost soldier swimming in the sea at night to escape the bullets, only by watching drawings. And I won't even mention the soundtrack -a crazy mix of 80's rock and classical music.

Agathe