Journal – Page 3 – JULIA RITSON

Sleeping Cowboys by Claudia Brennan

Architects often favor incongruity with the surrounding environment in order to imbue their work with gravitas.

True Western by Joseph Brennan

Along the Arizona-Utah border, just off Highway 163 and deep within the Navajo reservation there lies a series of stratified plateaus, which sit like great fists of rock, pounding a docile plain. It looks like something out of a movie, and it is. | Glen Canyon, Arizona-Utah, image by Joseph Brennan 2012 | The imageryContinue reading “True Western by Joseph Brennan”

Utah Minutiae by Joseph Brennan

There’s something brewing in Utah’s deserts.

New York High by Claudia Brennan

There is a stanza in Emily Dickinson’s “I died for beauty” that examines the inevitable supremacy the natural world holds over the follies of mankind.

Unfinished NYC by Joseph Brennan

Upon his first visit to New York City, early 20th century novelist O. Henry commented; “It’ll be a great place, if they ever finish it.”

Tessellating Rooftops by Claudia Brennan

In the both universal and sheepish pursuit of metropolitan voyeurism, windows seem to garner the bulk of attention.

Upstate New York by Joseph Brennan

When one thinks of the dense and dark forests of a Grimm tale, each creaking bough the home of some mythical monster of Germanic villagers’ construction, one doesn’t immediately connect this imagery with the surrounds of upstate New York.

Hampton Strangeness by Claudia Brennan

I only spent three days in East Hampton, Long Island but it didn’t take long to be struck by the strangeness of it all.

Reflecting Johnson

Philip Johnson was a celebrity architect.

Indoor/Outdoor Nonsense

I really like Philip Johnson’s Wiley House in New Canaan.

Glass Concepts

I think one of the reasons I’m such an architecture junkie is because I’m always trying to understand the polarising nature of the profession.

Philip’s Glass House

What I like about Philip Johnson’s Glass House is how humble it seems.

Glowing Glass

Mussolini got me thinking about the whole glass house concept.

The Greatest

What a perfect satire from the wonderful Chaplin.

House of Fascism

The Casa del Fascio on the beautiful Lake Como was to be a temple to Fascism.

Giuseppe Terragni

While Mussolini was getting on with his unique way of leading, in 1926 a group of seven young architects in Milan were introducing Rational Architecture.

Rome Tames

Back to Mussolini and his aphorisms.

Square Colosseum

I remember first coming across the building known as Colosseo Quadrato (Square Colosseum) in Rome in the 1990s.

Cities & The Sky 1

In Eudoxia, which spreads both upwards and down, with winding alleys, steps, dead ends, hovels, a carpet is preserved in which you can observe the city’s true form.

Cities and Memory 5

In Maurilia, the traveler is invited to visit the city and, at the same time, to examine some old postcards that show it as it used to be:

Thin Cities 4

The city of Sophronia is made up of two half cities.

European Montage

Looking back at these photomontages I made 20 years ago I’m reminded of European landscapes.

Beach Time

Sunny times in Melbourne, Australia.

The Holy See

Finally in my mini retrospective of Reggio I learn he has a new work out next year. With Philip Glass music. Again. Looks good and mysterious. Click on the image below to see the two promos. | The Holy See, Godfrey Reggio, 2012 | Julia Ritson

Evidence

Here’s one for the parents. Godfrey Reggio again. With Philip Glass again. | Evidence, Godfrey Reggio and Angela Melitopulo, 1995 | Julia Ritson

Naqoyqatsi: Life as War

Here’s an excerpt from Godfrey Reggio’s final piece of the Qatsi trilogy. Still loving the music from Phillip Glass. This one is about the transition from nature to technology. So he went all out with the computerised images. I’m really attracted to the non-narrative nature of Reggio’s work. And the Glass music allows your ownContinue reading “Naqoyqatsi: Life as War”

Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation

Godfrey Reggio chose to use footage of the Serra Pelada mine in Brazil to open his second film, Powaqqatsi. To quote Reggio, “Awesome beauty, terrible beauty, beauty of the beast.” Click on the image below to see and also hear another perfect Philip Glass score. | Godfrey Reggio, Powaqqatsi, 1988 | The voice of OrsonContinue reading “Powaqqatsi: Life in Transformation”

Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance

Guardian journalist Leo Hickman, recently chose Koyaanisqatsi as his favourite film. The film was made by Godfrey Reggio in 1983. Hickman’s article got me thinking about the Reggio trilogy. This was formative stuff for me. I have vivid memories of seeing and hearing the film. But I’ve never really known much about the director ofContinue reading “Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance”

The Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work

The Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work was held at the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne for five weeks in 1907. People could see arts and crafts including paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, pottery, needlework, leatherwork, woodwork, spinning and weaving. One of the women carvers exhibiting was Tasmanian born Ellen Nora Payne and she went on to winContinue reading “The Australian Exhibition of Women’s Work”

Churchly Prenzel

Robert Prenzel produced a lot of ecclesiastical woodcarvings. When many of his private clients abandoned him during and after the war he became the odd job man of Toorak and South Yarra. But the churches continued to support him. He said My Roman Catholic friends were always loyal to me. I wanted to get to Trinity CollegeContinue reading “Churchly Prenzel”