Leaving WordPress behind. I just don’t have enough time or desire keep a full blog up to date. Tumblr is more casual with shorter posts. So I’m now at http://stephenhoang.tumblr.com
The Watchmen was only the second graphic novel that I ever read. It was complex but accessible, visually engaging and consistent, and it featured fully developed characters. Though I never liked how the story ended, I always thought that it was worthy of all the praise it has received.
Just last Friday I saw the film adaptation. When I first heard about this project, I was apprehensive. Not because I believed that The Watchmen was not film-able, I’m not that ardent a fan. Rather, I doubted the director, Zach Snyder. His previous film, 300, was flashy and nothing more. The Watchmen had to be the opposite. It’s super heroes weren’t necessarily heroic in the classic sense. And there was substance behind the costumes, something that Frank Miller’s works have never possessed, and probably will never possess. So I approached the film with low expectations. read more…
I’ve been bad about keeping this blog updated, so here I am completing a draft that’s been waiting to be finished for weeks.
Over the winter break, right after New Years, I visited the Menil Collection for the first time. I first learned about this building during a mid review last spring. I had designed a series of fins for the roof of my art gallery and had done so rather clumsily. One of my reviewers suggested that I look at how Renzo Piano had designed the fins in the Menil. I never actually got around to looking at the building, as other concerns took precedence, but I told myself that the next time I was in Houston I would visit.
Well, I kind of forgot during the summer, but in a way this was good since I learned a lot more about Renzo Piano and how he works over the next semester. When I finally visited with my cousin, I was surprised by how hidden it was. A rather modest parking lot was connected by a short path to the main entrance. It really didn’t feel like I was about to enter a rather prominent museum both architecturally and artistically. read more…
It’s winter break, meaning I have the free time to catch up with some movies I’ve been wanting to see. What I thought of each movie in the order that I saw them.
Man on Wire
Heavily praised documentary, perhaps overly so. It’s about a French high wire artist named Philippe Petit who walked, without safety nets, between the twin towers. The documentary recalls other impressive walks leading up to the WTC walk and the planning and implementation of the penultimate walk. It didn’t quite live up to all the hype, but was interesting nonetheless. Footage of Petit performing, both in film and in photographs, is mind blowing. A solid straightforward documentary of an incredible feat.
Do you remember when Who Want’s to be a Millionaire was a national sensation? When it was on four times a week, when “Is that your final answer?” became a catch-phrase and Regis started a new fashion trend… of colored dress shirts? I certainly do. I remember watching the show after Thanksgiving dinner with my entire extended family, intrigued by the questions, the contestants, and yes, even Regis. But once that IRS guy easily won the first million dollars, followed by eight other millionaires, the show stopped being interesting, and started being a poor imitation of a more difficult British original. Soon, we were all sick of the show, and sick of Regis.
Thus, it amused me when I heard that Slumdog Millionaire centered around the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. I thought that it would be played more for laughs, or used as a plot device. But, after watching the movie, I was reminded about just how suspenseful the game show could be. There were really two climaxes to the movie, and they both happened at the same time, centered on the same thing, the last question. read more…
Austin American Statesman: Austin chooses architect for new central library.
I remember when I used to go to the Faulk Central Library everyday after I got out of middle school. I would go to the southwest corner of the second floor and work on my homework for an hour or two until my dad picked me up. For about a year and a half, this was a daily routine. In that time, I got to know the library really well. I knew how the books were organized, from the oversized art books on the third floor to the graphic novels on the first. I knew all the employees and security guards. I even taught myself how to use the micro film for viewing archived newspapers. And, in that time, I grew to hate the Faulk Central Library. It smelled bad, it was poorly lit, and it was always filled with homeless people.
I was listening to the most recent All Songs Considered podcast earlier today about The Beatles White Album, and it got me feeling all nostalgic. The host was talking about how, because of the digital age, some of the magic of the album has been lost. When it was originally released, the White Album was split into four sides on two vinyl records. Because of the limitations of vinyl, the album was designed to be listened to in four parts. Thus, when side one ended with “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” it was supposed to lead into silence. There was a definite end to it.
But, with the CD, the album was split into two discs, meaning “Happiness is a Warm Gun” lead directly into “Martha My Dear,” an entirely different feel. And then, now with mp3s, the whole album can be listened to without pause, which of course is how I’m listening to it right now. When the host started talking about how different it was to have to physically flip a record over and start a new side, I realized how right he was. Vinyls force you to really experience the music.
Lately, everyone has been referencing the Eiffel Tower whenever a new project is criticized. From Calatrava to the new Herzog & de Meuron project, supporters claim that over time these structures will be appreciated for the brilliance that they actually are, just like the Eiffel Tower. I say, not true.
When first built for the World’s Fair, people hated the Eiffel Tower. Somehow, though, the building survived demolition and is now one of the most recognizable in the world. Yes, people thought that the Eiffel Tower was ugly, but most of that stemmed from a desire to preserve the current architecture of Paris. The Eiffel Tower was tall when everything else was short, and it was made of iron when everything else was made of masonry.
Right now, I’m working on a yoga studio near Zilker Park. We’ve been given a truly amazing site. We’re right next to Town Lake, or now Lady Bird Lake, in a heavily forested site that is surprisingly secluded considering its proximity to downtown.
While developing my yoga space, the climax of the entire building, I came across Smiljan Radic’s Casa CR. I was originally looking at one of his other works, Punta Pita, but Casa CR caught my eye. In this project, Radic wrapped the entire second floor in canvas. It creates this amazing lighting effect, while also keeping the space inside simple, perfect for yoga. I’ve since developed my project around a canvas light box that would appear to float among the trees.
The only problem is that I really can’t seem to find much about Smiljan Radic. Everything I find on him is in Spanish, and his project titles seem to have been translated into English differently. Thus, I don’t even know if Casa CR is this project’s real name. Nevertheless, I really like his use of canvas. It’s even inspired me to use it on my own studio window, since the university is too cheap to replace missing window blinds. It blocks out the harshness of the afternoon sun while still allowing light to enter. Now if I could only get this canvas all the way to the top of my window. I’m in need of a ladder.
My precedent study for this semester was on an outdoor gallery in Venice used once a year for a summer art festival. The circumstances around this building were pretty interesting. Situated in the only park in Venice, architect Sverre Fehn had to navigate his building around trees, which the city really wanted to keep. He was also building a gallery that would be representative of all three Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The Venice Biennale, that art festival that I mentioned earlier, wanted to have individual galleries that represented many of the major countries. Thus, there is a United States Pavilion, a Canadian Pavilion, a Spanish Pavilion, and so on. Most of these pavilions are rather tame, featuring classical columns and what not, but the Nordic Pavilion is a standout.
Fehn wanted to capture the shadowless light conditions from the Nordic countries. To do this in the much harsher Venetian sun, he had to filter the light through layers of tree canopy, fiberglass gutters, and perpendicular concrete fins. This roof configuration really is the highlight of the building.
The end result really is amazing. Simple, straightforward, elegant. The building does what it needs to do beautifully.
