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Arts - Entertainment & It |
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“Cornelages” – Creative Artwork at Gallery116
By Jai Pee
On Saturday evening, May 4th, Gallery116 on Charoen Muang Road
opened its doors to a most unusual and fascinating display of creative
artwork by Chiang Rai resident artist Cornelis Hoek. Despite the low numbers
at the opening, this was a prestigious event, the opening ribbon being cut
by Chiang Mai Senator M.L. Preeyapun Sridhavat, who is not only is the first
woman Senator in Chiang Mai but also the city’s Honorary Consul of Peru.
The name “Cornelages” comes from the merger of two words – the artist’s name
Cornelis and collages, the latter being a type of artwork where different
materials or sections are put together to form a whole. And that is just
what this wonderful exhibition is all about. Cornelis has spent hours upon
hours selecting sections of pictures that he has intricately fashioned, cut
with scissors and then assembled to produce incredible pictures that show
impressive imagination and immense creativity. They are unique – something
quite mind-blowing and astonishing to see – resembling no other art form
that I have ever seen.
His array of 40 frames is divided into five distinct sections – A Love of
Theatre (Cornelis was an impresario for 12 years); The Power of Creativity;
Nature lover; Loving Thailand; and finally An Italian Lover. The
similarities between the five sections are the techniques of assembling and
presenting the work; the differences between the five sections are the
incredible visually creative effects that make each frame a real sight to
behold. In the theatre section there are stunning collages of the Russian
and Chinese ballet, with one entitled Swan Lake Adoration expressing a deep
love of ballet, capturing its elegance and gracefulness while having a
stunning effect on the viewer.
His unrelenting creativity comes to a peak with a stunning assembly of
buildings almost coalescing in the frame, entitled Remembering Mokum – it is
a masterpiece. Cornelis explains that he was so impressed with the changes
between China – dull and grey – and northern Thailand – bright and vibrant –
that he fell in love with this area and along with four very contrasting
Pagoda collages, his strength through creative power reaches another peak in
a delightful picture entitled The King and I (is that the theatrical side
emerging yet again, I muse?).
His love of Italy stems from earlier years when he was studying in Firenze
(Florence) as well as performing as a concert singer. His collage Venus Born
Again is something utterly remarkable. Finally Cornelis expresses his
appreciation of the beauty of nature through several interesting pictures
that show the richness and diversity of plant life here in Thailand. Can you
honestly afford not to go and see this remarkable display?
The Gallery is situated some 300 metres from Nawarat Bridge on Charoen Muang
Road on the right-hand side heading towards the railway station. Closed on
Mondays, the Gallery is open from around 1.00pm until 7.00pm the remainder
of the week and all the pieces of work by this remarkable 75-year-old
creator are for sale at very reasonable prices.
The exhibition is open until July 28th. For more information phone 053 302
111 or 089 853 2488 or email: the116artgallery@gmail.com. But do not miss
this golden opportunity to share in something very unique and very special
at the heart of Chiang Mai.
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Life at 33 1/3: The swingin’ 60’s started here
The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night (Parlophone)
By Carl Meyer
Released in July 1964.
Side 1:
1. A Hard Day’s Night
2. I Should Have Known Better
3. If I Fell
4. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You
5. And I Love Her
6. Tell Me Why
7. Can’t Buy Me Love
Side 2:
1. Any Time At All
2. I’ll Cry Instead
3. Things We Said Today
4. When I Get Home
5. You Can’t Do That
6. I’ll Be Back
(All songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
Lineup:
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica,
tambourine
Paul McCartney: vocals, bass guitar, piano, cowbell
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, claves
Ringo Starr: drums, conga, bongos, tambourine
George Martin: piano
By the summer of ‘64 they were the kings of the whole wide world, but when
the famous Rickenbacker chord kick-started the song, the LP and the movie “A
Hard Day’s Night”, The Beatles turned into gods. That chiming Fadd9 is where
the myths and wonders of the 60’s really begins. Wham!
The recording itself is extremely
exciting and way beyond its time. The noise is overwhelming, intoxicating,
its hard, metallic and chiming sound has an urgent forward push, there’s no
time for breathing, an effect strengthened by the vocal overlaps - Paul
taking over the baton in each bridge long before Lennon’s voice has faded.
The drums adds to the song’s majestetic power while the percussion elements
makes the whole thing simmer.
When “A Hard Day’s Night” (the song) checks out with Harrison’s fading
Rickenbacker you feel exhausted and ready for a cigarette, like you just had
sex with the girl of your dreams.
I guess it is hard for those who weren’t there to imagine how one’s first
encounter with this wonder of a record felt in July 1964. Music had never
sounded like this before. Me, I walked on air, madly excited, I thought
anything was possible. And it was.
In Norway we never got a chance to see the Beatles in flesh and blood. Until
the “A Hard Day’s Night”-movie came along all we had were the grainy black
and white photos in papers like New Musical Express and the colourful fan
pics in magazines like Fabulous and the glossy Pop Pics.
The movie was a revelation, the four
characters not only moved across the canvas but popped out of it , they were
in the same room as us, alive as you and me. The cinema exploded in
deafening cascades of screaming girls and pounding teenage feet. It was like
nothing I have seen or heard in my whole life. The experience filled me with
a strange pride and shudders of happiness.
The Beatles. The musketeers. Our heroes. They talked, they laughed, and most
important: They revolted. Against managers, TV producers, journalists,
elderly passengers on the train. Against anything and anyone who tried to
cage them in. “A Hard Day’s Night” was a wonderous cry of freedom that spoke
to the baby boomers like nothing or no-one, not even Elvis, had ever done
before. It was so easy to relate to.
Hell, parents hated this stuff, they hated the music, they hated the
haircuts. And so did the teachers at school. The Beatles cracked the
generation gap wide open. It was an awakening. We didn’t know sh*t about
politics, we were too young for that, but the sense of togetherness against
the establishment was joyous. A special kind of generation awareness was
born, taken for granted today, but before 1964 youth culture did not excist.
Suddenly you were not alone, there was an “us” and a “them”.
We watched that movie with eyes that were defenitely not the same eyes that
had watched the Disney-flick “The Sword In the Stone”. We were young
freemasons in the company of our mop top Grand Masters, taking it all in,
every detail, the way they walked,they way they sat, the way they stood, the
way they talked – and most of all, the John Lennon mimicry, our secret
signs. Eyes sparkling in awe, cameras zooming in and out capturing The
Beatles as they delivered their comedy act or sang and played music unlike
anything anyone had ever created before. Boy did we enjoy it.
Shooting the movie in monochrome was a stroke of genius. “A Hard Day’s
Night” is an equally strong argument for the superiority of the black and
white movie as “Casablanca” and “Citizen Kane.”
The cover art of the album sleeve is one of rock’s most powerful. Five smail
black and white portraits of each beatle laid out like a proof sheet. Very
elegant, very tasteful. And because each portrait is different, the faces
become alive, like moving pictures. You can read them like you read a comic
book.
The US version of the soundtrack album was released in June, one full month
earlier than in Europe. But it wasn’t the same album as it contained only
eight songs. The rest were George Martin instrumentals. The British version
was a much more attractive package sporting 13 beatle songs and no Martin
plodding.
It was the first and only time a Beatles album contained only
Lennon/McCartney originals. It is also the only original Beatles-album
besides “Let It Be” with no Ringo vocal on it. He got to sing
“Matchbox”during the sessions, but as that was a Carl Perkins cover it did
not fit in. So “Matchbox” was relegated to the “Long Tall Sally” EP.
Almost all of the 13 album cuts are classy tunes. High-spirited, saturated
in the silvery chiming of the 12 string Rickenbacker (Roger McGuinn built an
entire career on the guitar sound of the “A Hard Day’s Night” movie), lush
vocal harmonies, the voices so tightly interwoven with the lead vocal that
they almost became one, the redemptive use of acoustic guitars that give the
sharp and often hard hitting songs an airy feel.
People tend to forget that The Beatles were a guitar band, and a tight and
sophisticated little combo to boot. I hand you the “A Hard Day’s Night”
album as exhibit 1.
Lennon’s voice dominates the proceedings. He also wrote most of the songs,
including the title track itself, the lovely harmonica driven “I Should Have
Known Better” (so in love with its own verses that it simply skips any
attempt at refrains, providing very strong middle eight instead, though),
the quite advanced and dazzlingly beautiful “If I Fell” (John and Paul’s
two-part singing here is simply divine), the on the verge of rupture
over-produced “Tell Me Why” which swings madly, the country-ballad “I’ll Cry
Instead”, the marvellous “Any Time At All” (could and should have been a
single), the painfully hard “You Can’t Do That” and the acoustic
album-closer “I’ll Be Back” (another wonderful round of multi-layered John
and Paul vocal harmonies).
It is undoubtedly John’s LP, although Paul’s contribution to his songs
should not be underestimated. If Paul delivers few songs of his own, the
ones he does offer are as good as anything by his patner. “Things We Said
Today” with its blistering triple attack on the Am chord and its dark,
haunted lyrics, is up there among The Beatles’ best recordings - it was
actually marked for double A-side status with “A Hard Day’s Night”, promo
copies were pressed. “And I Love Her” is sensitive and exceptionally
beautiful and includes a lovely acoustic solo from Harrison. And the jazzy
swinging “Can’t Buy Me Love” had already proven itself, being a huge hit in
early spring of 1964 and also the first single A-side written by a Beatle
alone.
“A Hard Day’s Night” might not be the best Beatles- album, but it’s at least
top 3 and definitely the most perfect of them all. Every time I put it on,
the music lifts me into the bright, cheerful optimism of 1964. Nothing beats
these 30 minutes in their company. The movie? I am not ashamed to admit that
I have seen it more than one hundred times. Actually, the last time I saw it
was three weeks ago!
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EU Film Festival on June 13-23
The Delegation of the European Union to Thailand in cooperation
with SF Cinemas will hold the European Union Film Festival 2013
in Bangkok, Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai in May-June 2013.
 Protector
is a stylish and handsome film about a relationship held
together by petty insecurities. A Czech journalist, Emil, joins
a Prague radio station that broadcasts Nazi propaganda in order
to protect his wife, Hana, a young Czech film actress who also
happens to be Jewish. However, as the Nazi rule over
Czechoslovakia calls for more and more collaboration, his
relationship with his wife spirals downward.
The festival will showcase 18 quality films from 15 EU countries
including Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg,
Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and many more. Admission
to all screenings is free of charge. All films are screened in
their original languages with English subtitles. Of these, five
films also have Thai subtitles.
The European Union Film Festival 2013 will be screened at SF
World Cinema, Central World, from 16 to 26 May. Then, for the
first time, the festival will move to SF Cinema City at Central
in Khon Kean from 1 to 2 June before going to Chiang Mai at SF
Cinema City, Promenada, from 13 to 23 June.
Ambassador David Lipman, Head of the Delegation of the European
Union to Thailand, said “For the first time, the festival will
take place in three locations. Bangkok and Chiang Mai have
hosted the festival for some 20 years, and this year Khon Kaen
is added. One thing that has not changed is that entry to the
festival is free of charge.”
“The European Union Film Festival showcases the cultural
diversity of Europe as portrayed in 18 films from 15 different
EU Member States. A wide variety of genres and topics are
represented in the festival including drama, action, thriller,
romantic comedy and documentary. Some examples of the films are
‘Blind Spot’, an action movie from Luxembourg, ‘Wonderful
Summer’, a black romantic comedy from Poland, ‘Goethe’, a
historical drama about the German poet, and ‘London: The Modern
Babylon’, a documentary about London city from the UK. This
year, five of the movies have been translated into Thai, i.e.
Tom Boy from France, Cool Kids Don’t Cry from the Netherlands,
The Death of Carlos Gardel from Portugal, Medal of Honor from
Romania and Frozen Silence from Spain, so even a non-English
speaking audience can enjoy these films,” added Ambassador
Lipman.
Free tickets will be available from 30 minutes before screening
at European Union Film Festival 2013 booth in front of cinemas
at the three screening venues. A list of films and the film
synopses for Bangkok, Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai are enclosed. For
the film trailers and the screening programmes, please visit
www.facebook.com/EUinThailand and
www.sfcinemacity.com.
EU Film Festival Schedule; June
13-23 at SF Cinemacity at Promenada Resort Mall.
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