A few images from the first stage rehearsal of “Devils at Play”, courtesy of Ballroom’s Jennifer Trammell. Click here to RSVP and secure a seat for one of the two free performances this Saturday at the Crowley.
Scott Myers from The Black List talks to James DiLapo, the writer behind this year’s installment of The Reading. An excerpt from their Q&A:
“Scott: Let’s talk about your Nicholl winning script “Devils At Play.” Here’s a logline I found for it:
“In the Soviet Union, 1937, a worker of the People’s Commissariat for internal affairs finds a list of traitors, which he thinks is going to be his way out.”
What was the inspiration for this story?
James: I was cramming for a mid‑term for a Soviet history course at NYU. I was reading a book by Robert Conquest called “The Great Terror”. There is a chapter in there where Conquest breaks down what the arrest process was like. When you’re arrested, how many people could you expect to share your prison cell? What were the strip searches like? When you were interrogated, what were the sort of methods they would use?
Reading that, reading the details, I started to see flashes of the story. It was inspiring, but it was a script that I knew would take a very long time to research. I didn’t have the time to devote to this project until I graduated and received the WGAE Fellowship.
Scott: Putting on a conventional wisdom hat, right? You’ve got a period piece set in the Soviet Union in the 30′s. You got a deeply flawed protagonist. There’s a lot of violence, and torture. There’s no real love interest per say. You used flashbacks, which some people in Hollywood aren’t fond of. The conclusion, which is beautifully realized, is definitely not your typical Hollywood happy ending. Were you aware that this script was cutting against conventional wisdom on so many fronts?
James: To be honest, I didn’t think about that. I just tried to tell a story to the best of my ability. I think it becomes problematic for us as screenwriters to create only what we think is going to sell, or only what we think is going to attract attention. It’s better just to write as well as you can, and hope that it creates opportunities for you afterwards. At the end of the day, you just have to tell the stories you want to see on film. That will be your best writing.”
Read the full interview — in two parts — over at Go Into the Story: The Official Screenwriting Blog of the Black List: Part 1 and Part 2.
The Reading takes place this Saturday, 18 May 2013 at the Crowley Theater here in Marfa. Click here for more information and to RSVP for this free happening.
As I Went Out One Morning at Storm King is “the first large-scale presentation” of Thomas Housesago’s work. As part of the documentation of this monumental undertaking, the Los Angeles-based sculptor took part in a wide-ranging Q&A with Nora Lawrence, including some interesting observations on his time in Marfa as artist-in-residence with Aaron Curry.
“I was included in a residency at the [Marfa] Ballroom. Me and Aaron Curry were doing a show together. Something about being out there in West Texas, and yet you’ve also got this massive figure of [Donald] Judd there. Anyone going to Marfa is either filming a movie or going to see Judd. And me and Aaron were processing a lot of weird stuff. I had met Aaron very early on in my life in L.A. We were removed from our life in L.A., put in this desert with Judd–so that kind of brought out this extreme behavior in both of us that was very, very alcoholic. We were drinking from morning ‘til night and in this weird room in Marfa. I think what I was doing was processing all these pieces that I had kind of hidden. I was making a series of felt works almost as this kind of degenerate behavior, almost like going back to being a kid. We were sort of acting out all these kind of weird arguments like we we’re kids, like getting mad at each other…it was an odd thing. That really was like a long, drawn-out performance. And the “felty”—I was making it with glue, just like when you’re a child you’re doing these crafts. The desire that both me and Aaron had was that we were going to do that show, then destroy a lot of that work—just light it up, boom, move on. You can almost say Judd is the end of something. And we were playing out this thing of being infantile, young artists messing with this whole idea of Judd, this shining example…”
Keep reading at Storm King.
Houseago’s joint residency with Curry took place here at Ballroom Marfa in the spring of 2009. Their time culminated in the Two Face exhibition, and the accompanying limited edition prints.
Michael Pollan’s new book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, is now available for purchase, and the self-described “nature writer who writes about this particular part of nature that we don’t think of as nature” is popping up all over the place, from The Colbert Report to the Field Lab.
In September of 2012 Pollan joined us here in Far West Texas for the second Marfa Dialogues symposium. He and Hamilton Fish had a sprawling conversation in front of a packed house at the Crowley Theater, the entirety of which is available for your viewing pleasure up above.
The move comes as lawmakers are looking to rein in Medicaid spending
The Wildcats took a 42 38 halftime lead, having held UCLA to just 38.
Zardari is saying do not expose our corruption otherwise we will expose yours.
Cameron also comes with the bonus that he knows new offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s scheme because Shanahan was the Browns’ offensive coordinator last year.
Super Bowl XXXVI was the most memorable Super Bowl for Patriots’ fans, and for patriots in general.
8 yards per attempt; passer rating of 106.
Outlook: Third team All Area catcher Christiana Roberts is a big graduation loss, but considering the Spartans return, virtually, all the rest of last year’s squad, things are looking quite promising for Immaculata.
Images from Sunday night’s Beach House/Holy Shit show at the Crowley Theater. All photos courtesy of the wonderful Lesley Brown.
I am looking at a picture of Mick Barr playing in front of Martha Stewart and not believing it. fb.me/RMJo7FaW
— Lars Gotrich (@totalvibration) April 21, 2013
Here are six things to know about him, at least until we get to know him betterAsimismo, la excepcional cosecha goleadora de su compa de club Hassan Abdel Fattah en la competici preliminar asi es uno de los principales motivos de que su equipo siga con opciones de acudir a Brasil.
The Daily Deal is pleased to offer tickets to see “Carousel” for only $26 (regularly $37 $52 for adults, based on performance and seating section).
“They’re 16 and 19 and Riley here is 18 and my heart just went out to them,” she said.
She was 91 years old.
Elon MuskNet worth: $9.
For several decades we have focussed our research on the prediction and control of these noise sources.
Sticking true to the game plan, the Capitals would go on to outshoot the Rangers 15 10 in the opening stanza.
Check out more ways to know if you need a new mattress after the break.
Just in case you’re not joining the army of 60 Minutes tourists who are expected here in our quiet Far West Texas town any day now, you can now take a virtual tour of our gallery space and Rashid Johnson’s New Growth solo exhibition via Google Maps.
And if you do come by IRL, just a reminder: New Growth is on view until 7 July 2013 — and the Ballroom gallery is open with free admission Wednesday through Saturday, 10a–6p and Sunday, 10a–3p.
Roman Empire 228-345 AD (East), 2012, hand-stitched cotton, 71″ x 53″
Ballroom alumna Anna Von Mertens‘ solo exhibition Gold! And Other Fallen Empires opens this Friday at the Boston Center for the Arts, and she writes with word of myriad Marfa connections:
“First off, the title gets its spark from the Gold Rush work exhibited as part of Data Deluge and which Cat Clifford has generously agreed to loan for the exhibition. The Ballroom Marfa diptych will be the first piece viewers see as they enter BCA.
In the main gallery is my latest series Migrations, Invasions, Plagues and Empires which also has a Ballroom connection: when I first started researching ideas for my Ballroom commission I was reading about Texas drought cycles and came across several studies linking climate change and the fall of empires through the study of tree rings. While I was hoping to create a piece in time for Data Deluge, I had to adapt to the timeline of the researchers who were generously collaborating with me. So a year later the series finally exists, and all thanks to Ballroom.”
Anna Von Mertens
Gold! And Other Fallen Empires
BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS, MILLS GALLERY
April 19-June 16, 2013
Opening Reception
Friday, April 19, 6-8 pm
Artist Talk with Guest Curator Kirsten Swenson
Saturday, May 11, 4 pm
On view for the first time is Migrations, Invasions, Plagues and Empires, a series of large scale black-and-white quilted panels whose stitch patterns of historic tree ring cross-sections are derived from studies linking climate variability and periods of human instability. Working for the last two years with international dendrochronologists, Von Mertens culled images from their archives. The events represented in the series–the Fall of the Roman Empire, the Aztec Conquest, the Black Death, and Anasazi migration in the 12th century–correlate to periods of drought recorded by the tree rings. The tree rings (and hence the tree) become a stand-in for empire while being, as W.H. Auden puts it in his poem The Fall of Rome, “altogether elsewhere.”
This survey exhibition will also include a 2012 commission for Ballroom Marfa as well as a selection of aura interpretations of iconic paintings from Von Mertens’ 2009 series Portraits.
Additional images and project statement for Migrations, Invasions, Plagues and Empires can be seen here:
http://www.annavonmertens.com/portfolio.php
I think it bonded them for lifeBangkok, Namibia and Monaco are among the locations where CBS has revealed filming took place.
But given his track record, it becomes difficult not to believe that McCain generally believes that military action works better than compromise.
King Abdullah apparently said he would deal with IS in the way Eastwood’s character acts in “Unforgiven.
Why some Israeli settlers are willing to live in a Palestinian state
But unlike most settlers on such outposts, who insist on Israeli sovereignty and Israeli security, Mr.
In the interview, Jordan recounted the events leading to the leak investigation.
Situated in the most sought after location of Wentworthville is this original family home, with only a short few hundred metres walk to Schools, Shops Train Station.
In early July, Ritchie announced that he had changed the Photo ID amendment’s title to: “Changes to in person absentee voting voter registration; provisional ballots.
As part of their visit to Marfa, 60 Minutes stopped by Prada Marfa, declaring Elmgreen & Dragset’s installation to be “the most bizarre spot in these parts.” Skip ahead to the 11:35 mark in the above video for a brief interview with Boyd Elder, the sculpture’s caretaker.
But he made them
“I bet Bill Harding is going to show up and talk about his big lawyer job in San Francisco,” McCabe said.
Hopefully he does well, gains some confidence and he can build on that for next year.
DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul named to all
DeAndre Jordan Chris Paul NBA Los Angeles Clippers Golden State Warriors San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan DeAndre Jordan and Chris Paul join Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green and Tony Allen on all defensive first team
Clippers’ center DeAndre Jordan and point guard Chris Paul were named to the NBA’s all defensive first team, the league announced Wednesday.
And he did a couple things really nice and really good and made a couple throws that weren’t so good.
From “The Nothing Act”, a profile of Alex Pearlstein’s recent work in Art in America:
“The circling camera of The Drawing Lesson was a device Pearlstein also used for her 2008 show at the Kitchen. Having created the four-channel video After the Fall in the venue’s black box theater downstairs, she then showed the piece in the white box gallery upstairs, alluding to the differing modes of performance in theater and art. Filmed using a set of four cameras, the video first shows a couple on the verge of having sex, and then the interplay between two groupings of actors, one in pink-and-red costumes and the other in gold-and-black. A couple of the actors feign injury from altercations. The way the actors are divided by costume and actions harkens back to Pearlstein’s earlier, more allegorical work. But the constant observation of the actors by the camera, as well as the greater immediacy of their connection with the viewer, makes the work feel more elemental. Building on such effects, Pearlstein went on to adapt the premise of the musical A Chorus Line (the 1975 play and 1985 film) for her video Talent (2009). A Chorus Line, which ran for over 6,000 performances, setting a Broadway record, is about actors auditioning for parts in a new musical. They laugh, cry, sing, dance and tell heartbreaking stories about themselves and their careers. Pearlstein stripped the musical of its songs and dialogue, leaving only the wondrous, spontaneous ephemera of actors at an audition: waiting, hopeful, bored or yearning for attention. At one point they share a loaf of bread. They turn their acting personas on and off and mingle occasionally, though they mostly stay in line as the camera moves in a parallel track back and forth across them.”
Alix Pearlstein is the featured artist in this year’s Artists’ Films International, a program organized by Ballroom in conjunction with London’s Whitechapel Gallery, opening 19 July 2013 in Marfa. Read more here.
