Tetsuwan Atom (鉄腕アトム) opening (1963)

Osamu Tezuka is my idol. He earned a medical doctor degree but decided to heal the soul of the Japaneses hard hit by the war and recession. He built his own studio and pioneered animation, when this phrase was not even exist. He not only made movies to entertain people but wrote manga serious enough to deliver and discuss messages such as the purpose of life and humanity in a way much more effective than any thesis or novel.

My favorite work from Tezuka is the Phoenix (火の鳥,) series. The depth and the scope of the series can beat any Asian philosophy text book. The purpose of life and humanity, karma, human cloning, jealousy, hatred, human interactions with artificial intelligence, preservation of ancient local religions. Masterpiece. It will blow your mind away.

Banksy

News comes in today having uncovered the identity of the elusive Bristol graffiti master Banksy. I was curious and found his webpage showcasing some of his great works.

From his work, you understand that you need to provoke people's examination of current society to become an admirable master of art.

NES controller-coffee table

Dude! This guy has built a WORKING NES controller doubled as a coffee table out of wood! That's awesome!


He has put up a video of the progress shot in his blog.



He's got a nice artwork of the sinister space invaders!

The Art of Treason

上星期說過九龍皇帝駕崩，早幾天在商務印書館看到一本收錄了曾氏的作品的小畫集，還以為是為著記念曾氏而愴拙推出的劣貨。先翻看頭幾頁和最後幾頁，都看不到悼念曾氏的文字。細看之下，這本畫集原來是由一位認識了曾氏十多年的文化界人氏Joel Chung編寫，在今年七月初，曾灶財入院後出版的。

本書中英對照，但並非純粹中文文本英文翻譯。它的中文是由Joel Chung編寫，而英文則由陶傑執筆。本書的序言也是由陶傑用英文寫出。

本書的英文名稱《The Art of Treason》說明，曾灶財幾十年來，不論在英皇治下，或特府自治之下都自稱九龍皇帝，是可被問叛國之罪。書中有不少篇幅大力評擊政府的官僚作風，將曾氏的大部份作品清洗淨盡。例如位於觀塘翠屏村翠屏道佳廉道交界一幅牆的作品，被房署人員抹去後竟被塗上質素低劣的圖畫，宣傳父慈子孝之道。「更可悲的是，財叔的字跡被抹走之後，取而代之的竟是這般貨色！香港就只有這種水平嗎？再一次證明政府自打咀巴，一邊高嚷保留本土文化，另一邊大力清除本土文化，換上毫無特色的次貨。」「... It was whitewashed away a few days later, then replaced by a propaganda work promoting filial piety. A piece of mediocrity, which echoes well how Hong Kong is being governed after the Chinese takeover.」有幸地，香港還有不少有心人，保留了不少皇帝的墨寶，令它們不至於消失於香港的街道中。

這本《九龍皇帝 The Art of Treason》只是一本小畫集，賣九十五元。雖然它介紹了曾氏的一些背景和他的作品的內容，以一本小型畫集來說訂價仍偏高，但我想也沒想便將它買下來。算是收藏，也是對曾氏、所有令這本書得以出版的人和本土文化的支持。希望所有真正愛香港的人也買一本，支持這些有熱誠的有心人。

暗戀桃花源

今天看了一齣很有水準的話劇—香港話劇團的《暗戀桃花源》。

香港話劇團的網頁如是說：《暗戀》和《桃花源》，兩個不相干的劇組，都與劇場簽定了當晚綵排的合約。雙方爭執不下，誰也不肯相讓。演出在即，他們不得不同時在劇場中綵排，還成就了一 齣古今相對，悲喜交錯的舞台奇觀，讓觀眾在劇場裡笑了又哭、哭了又笑......

這是香港特別行政區成立十周年紀念*活動的其中一項。我們看的是香港版，上星期上演了「三地聯演版」。因為《暗戀桃花源》的故事是兩個話劇團因為場地安排 上的錯誤被迫同時在同一個舞台上排練兩個劇《暗戀》和《桃花源》，所以「三地聯演版」之中，《暗戀》由中國國家話劇團演出，而《桃花源》則由香港話劇團演 出，可說是真的由兩個劇團在香港文化中文大劇院爭台。但這「三地聯演版」的戲票一個月前已經售清，我們看了這天香港版的第一場，當中有些很香港context的gags，可能不會在「三地聯演版」中看到。

《暗戀桃花源》是台灣著名劇作家賴聲川八十年代的作品，1986年首次在台灣公演，之後二十年不斷在世界各地公演過。我一直都想看話劇，但不知從何入手。以前看過一些小劇團的創作，感覺質素很參次。這次適逢其會遇上這齣好戲，很高興。

這是一篇對這齣劇的評論，有興趣請看看。

*注意，不是慶祝「回歸」

Who else is still up?

Scream

Yvette has hung the Scream of Edvard Munch at home.


And I happened to come across this on the web today..


It seems like the Simpsons people are escalating our dear Homer into the classics...

Mati Gallery

We ran into an art gallery in Fira, Santorini. There are a few art galleries there, but this Mati Gallery is most interesting.

This Galllery is owned by Yorgos Kypris, a Greek artist and a Canadian art dealer. The gallery itself is only about 600 square feet big, but your attention will be caught immediately to one of its walls, where over a hundred of silhousette of fishes carved out of thin aluminum sheets were posed like a flock of fish swimming down from the upper right corner.

Among the other works of Kypris's, the Gallery features some impressive bronze casts: A 3 feet long shark head sticks out of the wall into the street, and a full-size man sits on the roof, looking out into the Aegean Sea. He might have the best seat for the famous sunset of romance, but he has also taken the best spot to look at the joy and misery of the visitors of the island.

Mati Gallery, Fira, Santorini, May 9, 2006

Alex Gerasev

We have a gallary here at work. Artists are invited to show their works for 2 months.

A while ago the works of one artist caught my eyes and my soul. His name is Alex Gerasev.

He has most of his works shown on his web site: http://www.alexgerasev.com/


Alex Gerasev, Waiting, 2001, pencil & oilstick, 22" x 28"

My Fourth Halloween

Although it was the fourth Halloween I spent in the US, it was the first time I carved pumpkins.

Sophie and I bought a pumpkin for each of us from Russell Orchids. Yvette bought a kid's pumpkin carving tools.

I looked up one of the books of Phoenix, and carved the Japaneses Sacred Guide against the devils on the right.

PUMPKIN CARVING, Oct 22, 2006