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I’m writing through bleary, jet-lagged eyes. I traveled to Nairobi for work this week, and while the trip was great, it was also busy. Which means I haven’t been online or paying attention to photo news.
But it also means I got to catch up on some movies on several long-haul flights.
I finally watched Dune, and while slow, it was beautifully shot. Though I’m guessing it may have looked better on the big screen.
I cried through Notting Hill (stupid airplanes!), because who doesn’t love young Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts plus a sappy, comedic love story?
I thought Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper were both really good in A Star is Born. It was a heartbreaking look at what fame can do, but also a good reminder to stay true to yourself as an artist and use your voice to tell the story only you can tell. The music was a bonus. What I didn’t realize until the credits rolled was that this classic Hollywood tale is a remake of a remake. And now I really want to watch the 1976 one written by Joan Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne, starting Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Heck, I’d maybe even watch the 1954 one with Judy Garland.
The Engine Inside is a solid doc about the bicycle’s power to transform individuals and communities told through 6 interwoven narratives from around the world.
And I tried to watch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice but gave up after 30 minutes because I just couldn't get into it .
However, the one I want to talk about is an inspiring and thoughtful documentary called The Colour of Ink told through the eyes of illustrator-turned-inkmaker Jason Logan and the artists he collaborates with. I feel like it flew under the radar, but if you’re at all visual, I think you’ll dig it. It’s well filmed. And it’s fascinating look at the natural world, as he forages for many of the materials he’s using and creating — from rusty nails to brick dust. I actually took notes the film was so interesting.
Here are some of my favorite takeaways from The Colour of Ink:
Ink is still the most durable record of the written word and for thousands of years, it was the only record.
The earliest evidence of ink wasn’t found on papyrus or parchment, the oldest ink is carbon ink, made from burning wood or bones. And it’s oldest surviving canvas is human skin on the mummified body of Utsy the Iceman. He had 61 tattoos. It seems they weren’t just decorative though as many aligned with acupuncture points (He had arthritis).
“The blackest black is always an eternal search. My only thought about ink is how can I make it blacker.” —Roxx (tattoo artist)
Living in NY at the age of 20, illustrator Jason Logan found a bottle of black walnut ink in an art supply store, and had a revelation that ink grows on trees.
Color is a language. Humans first began to record the world with a colorful dust made of rock. That rock is rec ochre. It’s our oldest pigment. For Jason Loga, ochre is ink because it’s lasting and communicates in a ritualistic way.
“The brush is a sword. The white canvas, paper, is the enemy. Ink is the proof of battle.” —Koji Kakinuma
Jason Logan believes that the digital world is a monument to short-term memory, and this shift affects how we engage with the world, reducing our involvement almost exclusively to the two dimensional.
I agree with that last statement whole-heartedly. Now go forth and create. And if you’re interested in the documentary. You can watch it here.
<tldr> I’ll be back next week with 5 things I was looking at and loving.