1 post categorized "End of Civilization Countdown"

The End of Civilization Countdown: 100/100

Eyesore_201006

I'm curious as to when, exactly, art lost its primary association with beauty.

Once upon a time, the two words were nearly synonymous. Back in the day, art's main duty was to bring something beautiful into the world. Everything else was secondary. First, and foremost, create beauty.

By that measure, we, as a people, have never really matched the efforts of Michelangelo.

Even so, one might hope that we would still make an attempt. Yet, sometime around the appearance of Duchamp's toilet, artists apparently decided to do otherwise.

This desire to create ugly probably came along with industrialization and our separation from nature and it fits right along with all the other paradoxes of our time.

Still, as much as it might make sense, it's still rather disturbing that we decorate our public spaces with pieces such as this and it makes a strong statement as to the hollowness of our current culture.

Therefore, it is a fitting start to my new countdown series on the imminent collapse of industrial civilization.

on October 29, 2010 in End of Civilization Countdown | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Jakit Philosophies

  • Weston A. Price Foundation
    The Weston A. Price Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity founded in 1999 to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated nonindustrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. Dr. Price's research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.
  • The Idler
    The Idler is an annual periodical that campaigns against the work ethic. It is edited by Tom Hodgkinson. The intention of the magazine is to return dignity to the art of loafing, to make idling into something to aspire towards rather than reject.
  • The Distributist Review
    The Distributist Review is a journal analyzing current events through the theoretical and practical socio-economic theory of Distributism; combining provocative and sharp commentary along with golden age Distributist essays. Whether discussing capital and labor, urban and rural reform, politics, or “what is wrong with the world,” we also strive to deposit the proper perspective on the fundamentals needed for the creation of a practical Distributist culture.
  • Transition Culture
    How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? This site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations.
  • Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
    Perpetual economic growth is neither possible nor desirable. Growth, especially in wealthy nations, is already causing more problems than it solves.

My Favorite Cinema

  • Francois Truffuat: The 400 Blows

    Francois Truffuat: The 400 Blows
    My favorite film. This goes straight to my heart and stays there. I absolutely love this movie. If I could ever make a film as simple and poetic as this, I would consider my efforts done and spend the rest of my days drinking wine and playing petanque.

  • Blake Edwards: Breakfast at Tiffany's

    Blake Edwards: Breakfast at Tiffany's
    Yeah, I know... but I'm a sucker for a good love story, cuz that's what it's all about, after all. And this is the best love story I know (with another Audrey movie Roman Holiday, coming in a close second).

  • Vittorio de Sica: The Bicycle Thief

    Vittorio de Sica: The Bicycle Thief
    The story of mankind's eternal struggle told through the tale of a man's bicycle being stolen. This was one of the first Italian Neo-Realist films and the only professional actor was the fella who played the character of The Thief.

  • Carl Dreyer: The Passion of Joan of Arc

    Carl Dreyer: The Passion of Joan of Arc
    Pauline Kael, one of the most famous and respected film critics, hailed the performance of Maria Falconetti's in this film as the greatest to ever appear on the silver screen. Not to be a film snob, or nothing, but this is the movie that serparates the boys from the men. It's hard to sit through. However, with this flick, you'll earn your chops.

  • Charlie Chaplin: City Lights

    Charlie Chaplin: City Lights
    The perfect blending of humor and pathos. Chaplin's greatest film with the single most beautiful ending in the history of cinema.

  • Satyajit Ray: Pather Panchali

    Satyajit Ray: Pather Panchali
    This film is black and white with subtitles and the entire thing takes place in a little Indian village. It moves very, very slowly and the first time I saw it I couldn't wait for it to end. Yet, afterwards, I was unable to shake the movie from my mind. For weeks it sat around in my head, poking at me. It's films like this that make me feel like I have no idea what I'm doing as a filmmaker. It's difficult to grasp the subtle, yet extremely powerful methods at work here.

  • Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in the West

    Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in the West
    The western to end all westerns. The baddest bad guys, the most mysterious strangers, and the epic scope and theme of the wild west. Be dedicated when you watch this, for it moves slowly. But most definitely watch it.

  • Kevin Costner: Dances with Wolves

    Kevin Costner: Dances with Wolves
    A great example of how good Hollywood can be. This film is not just a great film about America, or the West, or a new attitude towards Native Americans. On a much deeper level, it's about man's attempt to truly be free. Throughout the film, the main character slowly frees himself from the bonds of his Western/American society. But he doesn't just replace one set of rules with another, moving from being a White man to that of an Indian. Instead he frees himself altogether, and, along with his woman, enters the wild. The final scene of him on his horse is one of the truly liberating scenes in cinema.

  • Richard Linklater: Before Sunrise

    Richard Linklater: Before Sunrise
    My favorite current director and the best depiction of our generation, as well as a keen observation on the differences between Americans and Europeans.

  • Federico Fellini: La Strada

    Federico Fellini: La Strada
    I don't really remember why I liked this film, but I know that as soon as it was done I turned to Erika and said "That was a great movie". That's significant to me because people usually complain that I never have anything good to say about movies... that I'm jaded. That idea was actually bugging me around the time I saw this. So, afterwards, when I realized that I totally dug this flick, it became clear to me that I'm not jaded after all... it's just that most movies suck.

  • Stephen Daldry: The Hours

    Stephen Daldry: The Hours
    I don't think I have ever been as emotionally affected by a film as I was by this one. When it was finally over, I actually had trouble breathing, and couldn't talk to anyone for several minutes. Since then, it has deeply impacted by life and my worldview. I don't expect it will effect everyone nearly the same, but for me, it hit just the right button at just the right time.

  • William Wyler: Roman Holiday

    William Wyler: Roman Holiday
    This is the other great Audrey Hepburn love-story. I defy anyone to see this movie and not be sad as heck at the end. If you aren't, you're a cold, heartless Republican.

  • Tom Cohen: Family Business
    Hands down, this is the best documentary I've ever seen. It's the story of some guy and his family in middle America somewhere trying to make a living by running their Shakey's pizza restuarant. It is so intimate that years later you'll swear you experienced these events yourself. In the end, it's as good a portrait of the American Dream as you will ever see and it's a magnificient testament to the ability of art to say so much with so very little. Icarus Films
  • Chris Horvath: Leisure

    Chris Horvath: Leisure
    A fine, fine film. Great characters.

Julian Hice Horvath

  • Photo

Berlin 2002

  • Crazy Berliner
    On our way from Greg's wedding in Goteburg, Sweden to our wedding in Lugano, Swirtzerland, Erika and I spent a few days in Berlin. It was quite a moving experience for me since it was my first time visiting the city where my father grew up. What I found was an inspiring and dynamic city that had suffered through so much but always looked ahead. It was unlike any other place I'd ever been.

Goteburg 2002

  • Leaving the Stena