665 – The Botany of Desire (2009 documentary )

The Botany of Desire is a two-hour program broadcast by PBS based on The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World is a 2001 nonfiction book by journalist Michael Pollan. Pollan presents case studies that mirror four types of human desires that are reflected in the way that we selectively grow, breed, and genetically engineer our plants. The tulip, beauty; marijuana, intoxication; the apple, sweetness; and the potato, control.

The stories range from the true story of Johnny Appleseed to Pollan’s first-hand research with sophisticated marijuana hybrids in Amsterdam to the paradigm-shifting possibilities of genetically engineered potatoes. Pollan also discusses the limitations of monoculture agriculture: specifically, the adoption in Ireland of a single breed of potato (the Lumper) made the Irish vulnerable to a fungus to which it had no resistance, resulting in the Irish Potato Famine. The Peruvians from whom the Irish had gotten the potato grew hundreds of varieties, so their exposure to any given pest was slight.

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Michael Pollan on twitter 

0663 – November (2017)

spacetime coordinates: 19th century Estonia

November is a 2017 Estonian fantasy drama film directed by Rainer Sarnet, based on Andrus Kivirähk‘s novel Rehepapp ehk November (Old Barny aka November).

“Sarnet’s earthbound fairy tale occupies a dreamscape somewhere between the teeming canvases of Brueghel and the existential agonies of Bela Tarr‘s films.” Sheri Linden

November – Official Trailer

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651 – Manifesto (2015)

Manifesto is a 2015 Australian-German multi-screen film installation written, produced and directed by Julian Rosefeldt. It features Cate Blanchett in 13 different roles performing various manifestos. A 90-minute feature version premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2017.

The film integrates various types of artist manifestos from different time periods with contemporary scenarios.

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Manifestos: 
Karl Marx / Friedrich Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)
Philippe Soupault, Literature and the Rest (1920)

Situationism
Lucio Fontana, White Manifesto (1946)
John Reed Club of New York, Draft Manifesto (1932)
Constant Nieuwenhuys, Manifesto (1948)
Alexander Rodchenko, Manifesto of Suprematists and Non-Objective Painters (1919)
Guy Debord, Situationist Manifesto (1960)

Futurism
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, The Foundation and Manifesto of Futurism (1909)
Giacomo Balla / Umberto Boccioni / Carlo Carrà / Luigi Russolo / Gino Severini, Manifesto of the Futurist Painters (1910)
Guillaume Apollinaire, The Futurist Antitradition (1913)
Dziga Vertov, WE: Variant of a Manifesto (1922)

Architecture
Bruno Taut, Down with Seriousism! (1920)
Bruno Taut, Daybreak (1921)
Antonio Sant’Elia, Manifesto of Futurist Architecture (1914)
Coop Himmelb(l)au, Architecture Must Blaze (1980)
Robert Venturi, Non-Straightforward Architecture: A Gentle Manifesto (1966)

Vorticism / Blue Rider / Abstract Expressionism
Wassily Kandinsky / Franz Marc, “Preface to the Blue Rider Almanac” (1912)
Barnett Newman, The Sublime is Now (1948)
Wyndham Lewis, Manifesto (1914)

Stridentism / Creationism
Manuel Maples Arce, A Strident Prescription (1921)
Vicente Huidobro, We Must Create (1922)
Naum Gabo / Antoine Pevsner, The Realist Manifesto (1920)

Suprematism / Constructivism
Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Manifesto (1916)
Olga Rozanova, Cubism, Futurism, Suprematism (1917)

Dadaism
Tristan Tzara, Dada Manifesto 1918 (1918)
Tristan Tzara, Manifesto of Monsieur Aa the Antiphilosopher (1920)
Francis Picabia, Dada Cannibalistic Manifesto (1920)
Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, The Pleasures of Dada (1920)
Georges Ribemont-Dessaignes, To the Public (1920)
Paul Éluard, Five Ways to Dada Shortage or two Words of Explanation (1920)
Louis Aragon, Dada Manifesto (1920)
Richard Huelsenbeck, First German Dada Manifesto (1918)

Surrealism / Spatialism
André Breton, Manifesto of Surrealism (1924)

Pop Art
Claes Oldenburg, I am for an Art… (1961)

Fluxus / Merz 
Yvonne Rainer, No Manifesto (1965)
Emmett Williams, Philip Corner, John Cage, Dick Higgins, Allen Bukoff, Larry Miller, Eric Andersen, Tomas Schmit, Ben Vautier, George Maciunas, Fluxus Manifesto (1963)
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Maintenance Art Manifesto (1969)
Kurt Schwitters, The Merz Stage (1919)

Conceptual Art / Minimalism
Sol LeWitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art (1967)
Sol LeWitt, Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969)
Sturtevant, Shifting Mental Structures (1999)
Sturtevant, Man is Double Man is Copy Man is Clone (2004)
Adrian Piper, Idea, Form, Context (1969)

Film
Stan Brakhage, Metaphors on Vision (1963)
Jim Jarmusch, Golden Rules of Filmmaking (2002)
Lars von Trier / Thomas Vinterberg, Dogme 95 (1995)
Werner Herzog, Minnesota Declaration (1999)
Lebbeus Woods, Manifesto (1993)

650 – Guest of Cindy Sherman (2008)

Cindy Sherman von Philipp Kaiser

Analyzing his relationship with the reclusive artist Cindy Sherman leads filmmaker Paul H-O (Hasegawa-Overacker) to confront his own identity in this personal and unexpectedly humorous documentary. Paul H-O became a fixture of the New York art scene in the 1990s with his public access show “GalleryBeat.” Armed with a video camera, he attended art gallery openings, intriguing many with his candid, witty assessments of the work and winning fans in the process. Among the latter was Cindy Sherman, the press-shy art superstar, who invited Paul to her studio for a series of exclusive filmed interviews. In these sessions, he gains insight into her artistic process and a romantic relationship blossoms as they fall in love. Their initial bliss takes a turn when Paul gets caught up in the aura of Cindy’s celebrity and he is subordinated to a role as Cindy’s guest at the star-studded openings and dinners she regularly attends. Spanning over 15 years and with unprecedented access to the great artist, including interviews with a veritable who’s who of the art and entertainment world, the film paints a vivid picture of the contemporary art scene and provides a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, anxiety, and art. (rottentomatoes)

Cindy was initially supportive, but later opposed the project.

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0647 – Timecop (1994) / Timecop 1983

spacetime coordinates: 1929 NY / 2004 / 1994 Washington 

Timecop is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. The film is based on Timecop, a story created by Richardson, written by Verheiden, and drawn by Ron Randall, which appeared in the anthology comic Dark Horse Comics, published by Dark Horse Comics.

The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Max Walker, a police officer in 1994 and later a U.S. Federal agent in 2004, when time travel has been made possible. It also stars Ron Silver as a rogue politician and Mia Sara as Melissa Walker, the agent’s wife.

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Timecop1983

0634 – Anonymous (2011)

spacetime coordinates: 16th – early 17th century London

Anonymous is a 2011 political thriller film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by John Orloff. The film is a version of the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, poet and patron of the arts, and suggests he was the actual author of William Shakespeare‘s plays. It stars Rhys Ifans as de Vere and Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I of England. The effects crew “took 30,000 pictures in England, of every Tudor building they could find, and then they scanned them all into the computer and built real London in 1600.”  (wiki)

The film was a box office flop and received mixed reviews, with critics praising its performances and visual achievements, but criticizing the film’s time-jumping format, factual errors, and the filmmakers’ promotion of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship. (read more: controversy)            imdb

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William Shakespeare – Notes of a Lecture given
by Dr. Rudolf Steiner (On-line here)

0633 – Michiel de Ruyter / Admiral (2015)

spacetime coordinates: 1650s – 1670s  Dutch Empire – British Empire

Michiel de Ruyter (Dutch pronunciation: [miˈxil də ˈrœy̯tər]) is a 2015 epic Dutch film about the 17th-century admiral Michiel de Ruyter directed by Roel Reiné. Paintings from the 17th century served as an inspiration for the design. In the beginning of the movie, when Klaartje the family maid pours milk, it is almost an exact replica of the famous painting ‘The Milkmaid’ by Johannes Vermeer.

Prior to its release, several protest groups had accused the film of glorifying the colonial history of the Netherlands. References to colonialism in the film are however almost absent. The film makes a minor reference to the Dutch East India Company, which contributed highly to the welfare in the 17th century in the low countries, and to the trading vessels which were protected by the navy under Michiel de Ruyter. The film’s main subjects — apart from Michiel de Ruyter himself — are the internal politics of the country, including the brutal murder of Johan de Witt and the complicated relationship with England, up to the engagement of the Dutch prince of Orange with Mary II. (wiki)

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