I've been living for in Vienna several years and my plan is to change the city when I graduate from university. But until that happens I'm going to extract everything possible from this city. And something that has long interested me and stems precisely from Vienna is the Lomography. That's why I want to dedicate this so long planned post to my new hobby. The story of the Lomo started by a group of Viennese students. At their vacation to Prague, they bought some LC-A cameras for fun, which they bought in an old photo shop. After that they held their impressions of the city with their new cameras. When they came back to Vienna they made the films develop at a supermarket (the smallest and cheapest preparation format). The photos exceeded their expectations and they were thrilled by the expression of the images. The term Lomography wah born at this event.
There are different types of lomo cameras. V. wrote a post about her new Diana F+ Camera a few months ago. At the same time I bought my fisheye camera. I chose this camera because it is the most affordable it is not so diffucult to use... Perfect for beginners in lomography exactly like me. But with practice I realised that it's not as easy as it seems. Some photos are really dark although there was enough light and I still don't understand why. But I'm convinced that with time it will get better. I have just to follow the ten golden rules of Lomography.
Here is my first tryout with the lomo fisheye camera:
Today I decided to share one of my favourite places in Vienna which name is Donau! No, I'm not speaking about the river, I'm speaking about the most unique bar which I know.
Donau has no signs or obvious entrance that's way you can find it only if you already know where the bar is or you are with someone who knows it. Otherwise you will probably pass by several times at the nondescript door and wonder if you have not made a mistake in the address.
But what makes Donau such an unique place? Anyway, not the fact that it's hidden and difficult to find, but thanks to the atmosphere. Actually the bar is a former synagogue which is transformed into an underground bar which exist since the ‘80s. The result is impressive.
Today I found something interesting of one not very lively retail park (I would say even a little seedy). It's about street art, which is an initiative of the Urban Renewal of Vienna and the Association Stuwart. They have invited artists to help for the regeneration of life in this retail park. The motto of the initiative is: Everything is possible. I find the idea very good and hope that it will be effective.
Every year, on the first Saturday of October, young and old, residents and tourists in Vienna take the oppotunity to visit as many museums as they could in one night, when more than 90 of the city's museums and galeries stay opened until 1:00 a.m. for one of the most successful cultural manifestation - Long Night of the Museums!
My tour through the museums last night looked like this:
06:00 p.m. - FIRST STATION:The Film Museum
The Film Museum presented some of the most significant works since 1964 that have been created. The exhibition begins with three animated films from different decades that show the evolution of animation through time:
Cartoons or animation as we know it today have changed dramatically during the past years. With the evolution of the technology many possibilities have opened up and the traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame films are being replaced by computerized cartoons. My thought is ... Would not it be a shame if our children don't know Mickey Mouse, Popeye, Tom and Jerry ...?!
07:20 p.m.- SECOND STATION:"Street and Studio" exhibition at the Kunsthalle
It is about works that form a connection between street art, counter culture, manifestations in public space and contemporary art. At the exhibition I had the chance too see some of the works of Basquiat, Futura2000, Banksy, Keith Haring, Belk le Rat and Charlie Ahearn, the director of the Graffiti movie "Wild Style" and many more. Of all these artists I'm most impressed by the works of Banksy. I'm a fan of his for quite a long time.
Something new for me and really very impressive was an animated art short film by BluBlu - "Muto". BluBlu is an artist from Buenos Aires. What he has done here is simply incredible. No idea how much time he has put it:
08:30 p.m.- THIRD STATION:Zeiss Planetarium
Here, there is not so much to tell, because you just have to see it. After coming out of the planetarium and looking to the sky I thought: here's one drawback to living in a big city because of the air pollution in the sky and the bright city lights we cannot see the stars in the night sky. This is really unfortunate.
10:20 p.m.- FOURTH STATION:Frida Kahlo Retrospective Proudly upright, dressed in folk costume and Indian jewelry. Unibrow. Her eyes simultaneously attract and distance. This is a mythical image of Frida Kahlo, the daughter of the Mexican Revolution, one of the legends of the 20th century, who laid the foundations for a painting, fashion and lifestyle renewal.
Frida Kahlo is one of my favorite artists and the exhibition was something more than unique. Mariyachi stood up to a portrait of Frida Kahlo and blew in her honor. I think that if you want to understand the paintings of Kahlo you must be familiar with her biography,perhaps because as she said "I paint my own reality".
Her paintings are extremely influential, the detail and the colours are amazing, as much as the stories she tells. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically express her own pain, both physical and emotional. This may be my favorite painting of her:
00:10 a.m.- FIFTH AND LAST STATION:Haus der Musik (House of Music)
At the fifth stop I was tired so I visited the museum pretty fast. But House of Music was a good choice for the last station because there was a concert of the Krautrock pioneers Cluster, which closed the night.
These were the museums that I visit this year. I think, I have already started to plan, which I'll visit the next time. K.
