Whereas many of Laguna Beachs festivals focus on local artists, Art-A-Fair is unique because every summer it attracts 125 artists from around the globe.
The festivities begin Friday and carry on until Aug. 28.
Mike Cahill, president of the board, is looking forward to the 45th annual festival.
Tags: Art
Facebook Facial Recognition Flub: Not Enterprise Grade
Facebook continues to stumble on privacy decisions, damaging its enterprise future faster than you can say Winklevoss twins.
Tags: Enterprise
Cars 2 might be a better James Bond film than five or six of the actual Bond films, and the fact that its hero is a bucktoothed, redneck tow truck without a hood does nothing to detract from its (admittedly modest) appeal. I get the feeling that a lot of critics are going to beat up on Pixar head John Lasseters widely hyped sequel to the 2006 worldwide hit Cars, and as Tow Mater himself might say, heck, opinions are like headlights, and everybodys entitled to at least one of em. No, Cars 2 absolutely does not have the semi-adult wistfulness or the emotional depth of the last several Pixar releases. But it doesnt aspire to, and indicting it on the basis of being a fun, silly, kid-friendly summer popcorn entertainment that wont linger long in your memory seems like a category mistake.
Ive already written, perhaps tiresomely, about the Pixar problem, which in many peoples eyes isnt a problem at all: The companys expensive Disney collaborations have skewed more and more toward a nostalgic or even tragic adult sensibility, especially as the generation who grew up with Toy Story moves into parenthood. Yet they arent quite adult movies, even if Up and Wall-E came pretty darn close; they still have to have sufficient action, slapstick comedy and simple characterization to engage at least some younger viewers. Theres nothing wrong with that combination, and the results speak for themselves, in terms of popular passion, critical response and marketplace success. But I cant help feeling that Pixars films have been consistently overpraised, which may simply reflect the fact that I dont belong to the right micro-generational cohort, or that Im a snob who prefers molasses-paced, Soviet-era art films. Where others see a moving masterpiece in Toy Story 3, for example, I see an ingenious pastiche that mixes nostalgic thrill ride and mawkish emotional porn. (Oh, and hey: Theres a Toy Story short that runs before Cars 2. So get there on time!)
Tags: Art
The average person perusing the booths at an art festival is confronted with a series of fundamental aesthetic questions: Is this art? Is this a craft? Or is this crap?
In the 159 booths at the Utah Arts Festival, which opened Thursday at downtown’s Library Square, you’ll find plenty of excellent examples of the first two categories. As for the third — well, that’s all a matter of taste.
For instance, Shao Lin Xia makes model airplanes out of aluminum soda cans. To many, this would not exactly be high art. But Xia, 75, is a retired Boeing aeronautic engineer. Each of his models of aircraft — from World War II planes up to the latest stealth crafts — are designed from the actual blueprints, miniaturized using computer-aided design software. Just like real aircraft technology, Xia says.
Xia puts an artistic spin on his models when he painstakingly cuts and bends aluminum from beer cans following his tiny templates. How much work goes into, for instance, a B-26 Martin bomber model?
It takes me five hours for this plane, Xia says as he probes the plane’s tail with a tiny file. It’s not easy!
The prices of Xia’s models range from $15 up to more than $200 for a B-17 with a two-foot wingspan.
Tags: Art
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