September | 2016 | timotheories

Quite a few months ago (way, way back in March), I decided to share some examples of my art with you.

I wrote that post with the intention that I would reveal my personal artist identity and foster a greater sense of the purpose for this blog and why you should never give up, and never surrender if you have a creative drive. Something I strive for with many of many of the posts here. After all, there are a lot of different things I write about on a weekly basis, and there are common themes I touch upon monthly, while other themes crop up in other ways, but what really drives all of those different posts is that I am a professional artist who wanted to find a way to build a better statement for himself and simultaneously provide a safe haven for those who are on similar journeys.

So today, I expand upon that idea some more. As I’ve mentioned previously, I have made art to disrupt, I’ve made art to talk about concepts of philosophy, and I’ve worked produce ideas that promote human growth.

But I’ve since expanded on those ideas, and focused more on how I can contribute towards the local community, and to the much broader community of creative professionals in general – I want open up collaboration across art forms, create a digital gallery of art and artists, build a studio for art enthusiasts, and discuss all sorts of theories on the arts.

Which is why I ‘m going to also be building upon this particular series of work The Critique of Pure Art.

The Critique of Pure Art

Effectively a series of work that reflects on the role of artist, subject, object, and the viewer to analyze the limitations of the form. Taken from Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” my series challenges the ideal that not all art is taken from the senses AND conversely art cannot simply be shaped from experiences/ideas either in order to produce something beautiful.

I literally and metaphorically draw with my materials to demonstrate that one cannot operate without the other, and it is all a related. Especially when we take into consideration limited perspectives. Perception is reality, after all, as attributed by Lee Atwater an American political consultant. So we paint with drawing materials, and draw with paint, and as the picture comes together, both parts are forced to exist as we understand them, though both the elements of line and form blur within the frame.

It is a literal construction of pure art, and a metaphorical critique of reason. That the titles of these works are taken rather romantically from song lyrics all the more proves that experience comes before the art, but does that information inform the work afterwards?

As mentioned, I’ll continue to expand upon this series over time and share more works with you, but if I can do all of these things, surely there is a way for you to contribute to the arts too – and if you are interested in commissions, prices of the work I’ve included in today’s post, or if you want more information about the series, please leave some comments below or email me at timotheories@outlook.com.

And of course, please follow the blog to get even more awesome content in the future. I’m out of theories for the week, please have an excellent weekend friends, and I’ll see you on Sunday with a new Cross Talk episode!

Tim!

Turtle Soup (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, review)

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Sometimes life throws you lemons, and so you make lemonade. Other times it throws you lemons and you plant a lemon try, because who has time to make lemonade? That was a throwback to yesterday’s post if you didn’t catch it, but also applies to the story of the day folks.

I have a friend that’s been making lemons for a little while now, but they finally started to get productive and dig themselves out of a pretty deep hole.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

Cast: Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Laura Linney, Stephen Amell, Tyler Perry, Brian Tee
Director(s): Dave Green
released on blu-ray September 20, 2016
*** 3/10

IMDB: 6.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 38%, Audience Score 50%
The Guardian: */*****

David Green is an American film and music video director. He has directed Earth to Echo, and most recently, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

It’s going to be hard to give this movie any positive accolades because it basically ripped off large parts of TMNT 2: Secret of the Ooze, though it did introduce better henchmen in Bebop and Rocksteady, which I’m personally thankful for.

It’s a tale as old as time, four heroes are living in squalor because they cannot accept the recognition they deserve, instead giving it to a minor character who abuses the praise. However, the heroes are then given a second chance to demonstrate their prowess, and after some challenges which include in-fighting over leadership and what course should be taken, the group bands together and takes down an even greater foe. This time they have the opportunity to be seen as the true heroes they are, but they decide to stay where they are, preferring to keep their secrecy.

That’s the shortest and nicest summary I could have come up with for TMNT: Out of the Shadows. Because quite frankly, it’s a hot mess.

I personally thought the turtles were less creepy this time around, both in their presentation and with the flirtations against April, which allowed me to invest in them as characters, but where the crew improved upon the turtles, the supporting cast doesn’t help much at all.

For instance, April O’Neil (Megan Fox) gets less screen time, but when she does show up onscreen, it’s usually to help move the plot forward/feature as a sex object. But Dr. Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) is an oddball scientist and cameraman Vern (Will Arnett) makes almost no connecting jokes. Also the inclusion of Krang feels somewhat shoehorned in, and we never get to connect the dots over why he wants to leave Dimension X nor why Earth is a great choice to migrate to.

Pros: The action scenes are more fun, the turtles banter is more relevant, and I cannot emphasis this enough, they are WAY less creepy to look at.

Cons: The story is bland, the supporting cast is painful to watch, and the ending just doesn’t make sense. Need I say more?

Runtime: 1 hour 52 minutes

Points of Interest: The mutagen in this film is purple, much like that from the 1987 cartoon, which had a whole host of varieties. This is the first live-action TMNT to feature Krang.

While it is pretty obvious I didn’t love this movie, I will admit that it felt a lot closer to the heroes in a half shell that we know and love than the bastard child of 2014. I will also caution parents of small children to share the other movies and cartoons with their offspring if they are going to watch this movie, because it’s not okay to only call them Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey. Those turtles are much more interesting then Michael Bay gives kids credit for. Seriously, there will be shell to pay.

As mentioned numerous times already, this is not an excellent film by any means. It doesn’t improve on anything already canon in the TMNT universe nor does keep up with the continuity proper. However, it does appear to be the case that the franchise is making a u-turn after many months off course. So with that said, I can suggest you watch this movie if you really like TMNT. Otherwise, it’s probably best left in the shadows.

Tim!

Sweet ‘n Sour (Beyoncé, Lemonade review)

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

At first I was afraid, I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights thinking about how you did me wrong, and I grew strong, and I learned how to get along.

I Will Survive is a fantastic song, and while I have no real proof that it inspired the song Survivor, Gloria Gaynor did sing a mashup of the two songs this past January, which I think is proof enough.

Even before this week’s Melodic Monday artist broke out on her own, I knew she was a survivor.

Beyoncé – Lemonade
released April 23, 2016
********* 9/10

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, better known by her stage name Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, producer and sometimes actress. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of Destiny’s Child, which was managed by her father, Mathew Knowles.

Destiny’s Child eventually took a break though, which saw the release of Beyoncé’s debut album, Dangerously in Love in 2003, and firmly established her as a solo artist and Grammy award winner. That was five solo albums ago though, and now Beyoncé has had Golden Globe nominated film appearances, married rapper Jay Z, came up with an alternate persona in Sasha Fierce, won 24 VMAs and 20 Grammy awards.

Let’s talk about bae, no not Jay Z. I mean Bey, Queen B, Mothe Bee, Sasha Fierce, JuJu.

Despite what the tabloids and internet have been telling you, this album was not about Jay Z, he features in it, whether he wants to or not. This is an incredibly raw and wriggly portrait into the soul of a pop music entity which acts like Adele, Taylor Swift, and Ellie Goulding might get to see some day. Bey says it best herself “who the fuck do you think I is?” somehow making Jack White more venerable and snarly then we’ve seen from him in years.

But there are three other songs that cover the gamut of her feelings on being forced to deal with a broken heart – from middle-fingers-up, feeling crazy, to praying over and over. And we get these tracks right out of the gate via Pray You Catch Me, Hold Up, Don’t Hurt Yourself, and Sorry. As someone who was in a LT relationship at one point (and which ended badly), I can very easily identify with her mourning over wasted love.

However, as the album moves along at a breakneck pace, we get to explore civil rights issues as they exist today, for black woman, in Freedom, which is my favourite track by far. AND there is a country track called Daddy Lessons that has more twang than anything I can think of on the local radio station dedicated to those sounds. But there’s also Formation which is also rather political and important to consider in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Other songs talk about a relationship on the mend in Sandcastles, Forward, and All Night, though I would agree with others in saying that Sandcastles is the weakest link in the chain.

At first I thought the album name was stupid, but upon reviewing it months later, and especially at the recommendation of some much respected cultural gurus, I can see how she was able to to make lemonade out of pretty substantial jar full of lemonades.

Beyoncé probably says it best herself though when she exclaims “I’mma keep running because a winner don’t quit on themselves.” She figured out a way to stay strong and move on even if her album does have a happy ending. I suspect this has a lot to do with her ability to run with whatever life throws her way, just adding another chapter to the book of B.

Tim!

11 Ways People Die Before Death (Cross Talk Ep. 9)

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Death is a difficult thing to write about, I think. After all, I’m still alive and so I have no life experience (death experience?) with this particular topic. Films have addressed death since their inception in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that more honest portrayals of death started to come to light. Much like sex, drugs, and rock n ‘roll, filmmakers have slowly opened up and arts and culture have become more accepting of these harder to digest themes.

For instance, one of my favourite movies about death is The Fault In Our Stars, which is full of love and beauty, but is also a very real in its depiction of the nearness to death that the two leads are experiencing.

But when we record an episode of Cross Talk, we want to present a nuanced view of whatever topic we set out sights on. So why would we treat death any differently. We wouldn’t, is the answer – because we think using our brains is important.

With that made clear, we are going to explore a lot of great examples of the nature of death, in film on this episode nine of Cross Talk. You want to know more, dear readers? Well how about I lay it out for you?

We’re going to share an example of a character that can’t die, but not for an very obvious reason, associations of death and greed, an animated movie death that changed a franchise, whether we are really alive, dead or somewhere in between, if death is as unique as life is, and two movies that explore the idea of what we might do if knew we couldn’t die OR if we knew when we were going to die.

Just a quick disclaimer, Singh won’t be present for this episode, but we do give him a shout out, so please stay tuned for his next appearance; and as always, I’ve included a direct link to the full video for you here, but because we have the ability to embed vidoes you can click through here. After all, wouldn’t want you to waste any precious life overexerting yourself watching episode nine of Cross Talk!

I’m out of theories for now, but please check back tomorrow for an album review that is full of lemonade and bae. It’s a heart breaker for sure. Please comment, subscribe, and share this with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

Nuit Blanche Takes A Break (Petite Nuit)

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Tim Kuefler

Write a post about a festival you’ve never been to they said, it’ll be fun they said. I’d rather be sleeping right now.

Let’s get down to business, dear readers. I was tasked with the opportunity to write about Nuit Blanche, which lots of my friends have attended in 2015, but which I have absolutely no experience with.

If you haven’t heard of it before, you shouldn’t be too surprised, as it’s fairly new to Edmonton and area. Though the festival has been active since 2002. Formed in the city of Paris, France under the direction of Jean Blaise, founder of the Centre de recherche pour le developpement culturel (Research Center for Cultural Development), Nuit Blanche is an annual all-night AKA “night-time” artists festival that begins in the evening and carries through to the following morning.

The goal of the festival is to attract people to the streets and buildings of a concentrated area, allowing local businesses to participate in and support the display of all kinds of art works. Since the first event was successful, the idea has slowly expanded to be featured in over 120 cities across the world – Paris, Brussels, Rome, Madrid, Riga, Bucharest, and Valletta to name a few. In Europe, several of these capital cities work together to share and exchange ideas and artists, keeping up with the theme of community.

Canada of course is not one to shy away from opportunities to support the arts, and has slowly integrated each of it’s capital cities and major urban centres into the mix. Edmonton hosted it’s first Nuit Blanche last year on Saturday September 26th in Edmonton’s downtown. It had over 30 artworks and 50,000+ attendees, which was pretty awesome.

I wasn’t able to attend at the time, but as I mentioned previously, a number of my friends in the arts admin scene were talking about it like crazy. So I decided to check it out this year, and report back with my own findings later.

This year, Nuit Blanche Edmonton will be putting on Petite Nuit, a smaller scale version of contemporary art and urban spaces. Featuring 5 artworks and taking place on both Friday night (September 23) and Saturday night (September 24) between 7pm and midnight. You will need to go to Beaver Hills House Park (10440 Jasper Ave NW
Edmonton, AB) in order to see the exhibits, but you can easily get there via LRT, bus, bicycle or car.

I hope you’ll be there, because it’s near Enterprise Square, and you wouldn’t want to get caught being one. But that’s just a theory. I hope you creative cuties have an excellent weekend, and I’ll see you on Sunday with the new episode of Cross Talk.

Tim!

timotheories

digital curating at heart

Month: September 2016

A Priori And A Posteriori (Critique of Pure Art series)

The Critique of Pure Art

Turtle Soup (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, review)

Sweet ‘n Sour (Beyoncé, Lemonade review)

11 Ways People Die Before Death (Cross Talk Ep. 9)

Nuit Blanche Takes A Break (Petite Nuit)