ANIMALS

 

Hello everyone. I'm so excited because of today's topic, wich is animals. OH GOD I LOVE ANIMALS. I love big animals, small animals, domestic animals, wild animals, fluffy animals, reptiles, birds, mammals, all of them. I can't even seem to concentrate on writing this because I'm thinking in animals.

 





A BABY PANDA ON A PLANE



Well, so I have to start now. Since I was little I always loved animals of all kinds. I had a lot of pets, wich included dogs, turtles, bunnies (a lot of them, because they reproduced really fast and lived in my backyard), a hen (who died in terrible conditions), birds, a cat and hamsters. I love being around animals, they make me feel good, I love to pet them and care for them.

I am very sentitive to topics related to animals. I really suffer when an animal dies in a movie, or when I see pictures of animal torture on internet or TV. Since I have always been around animals, I can't even imagine hurting them, because I know how much they suffer, and how much love they have to share with the world. I don't need scientific data to know they have feelings, and they have their own ways to express them to others. I would never hurt an animal on purpose, that why I don't eat meat from terrestrial animals since I was 14 years old. I even think I can't fully conect to people that aren't fond of animals.

 

 

 

I think animals have to be cared for and loved. We, humans, have destroyed a lot of spaces that did belong to them at some point, so at least we can take care of them. I don't love zoos, because thay offer them as a spectacle, but I know not all zoos are like that, some of them take care of animals that wouldn't have survived in the wild because they were part of private collections (like the ones drug dealers have) and circuses, that really treat them bad. I don't think they are puppets for scientific research either, I think scientifics must have at least respect for all species and kinds of life, so that way we can achieve some kind of developpement respecting others. And otters.

I mean, look at them.

I have never been bitten by a dog. I think it has a lot to do with knowing how to approach animals you haven't met. But I think there are no dangerous dogs, it's all about how are they taken care of. There are lot of people that just have them to defend their houses, and they teach them to attack strangers, and there are a lot of dogs that just live in the street and they have known how bad people can be with them, so they react to these kind of situations. More tan banning some breeds of dogs, I think we need an educational campaing that teaches people how to take care of animals, and that they are not toys or house alarms, they're living beings that suffer as much as we do. I have known dogs that are cosidered in the "dangerous" breed that are really sweet and loving, as cute as a baby.

They can be sexy too.

 



Now I will talk about the pets I have now. I'm originally from Viña del Mar, and I live in Santiago because of my studies. In my house in the coast I have three dogs: Troy, Belén and Greta. They are all really sweet animals who I love very much. As much as I love them, here in Santiago I live with an animal that is really important for me, she has being my companion these years, and she is called Calcetina Plantasia. And she is a cat.

Introducing a lazy Calcetina,

 

I adopted her when she was just a month old, she was really really small. We live in my apartment, just both of us. She is my roomate and one of my best friends. I talk to her, spoil her, and sleep with her at nights, even if she wakes me up licking my hair or biting my feet. She means so much to me. I always wanted a cat, I just had one in my house when little for a couple days, and when I got her I just fell in love with her. She is cute, she purrs when she's happy, and plays with me constantly, bringing little objets to my bed so I can throw them. And she goes running to search them, like a dog. She is funny, makes me laugh with the things she does, and makes me feel good around her. I love her like I love a human, I understand her, how she reacts, like you know a person you've lived with a lot of time. Now I'm definitely a crazy cat lady.





Look at her, she's so cool.



I love cats. If I were an animal I would like to be a cat. They are sophisticated, elegant, intelligent, independent, but at the same time they are really sweet and cute with the people they love. I've always thought they have some kind of mistery, looking through windows for a long time, like they were always philosophising. The fur they have is really soft and nice to caress, and they purr. Purring is so awesome. When I see a cat on the street I can't stop the urge to pet them, or take pictures of them, or talking to them. I believe people on my street think I'm crazy because I always talk to the cats that live there.  They have soft paws, are really clean, and well, they are funny too.

They even have their own drug: catnip.

There are so many famous cats on the internet. But I'd like to talk about one in special. Her name is Lil Bub, and she is a cat from outer space. She was adopted when she was a stray cat, and has a lot of medical difficulties: she has six fingers on her paws, her jaw if really short, she has no teeth so her tongue sticks out, and she is a dwarf permakitten, that means she will always look like a kitten. I really love her, her owner has made a lot of money for animal charities that take care of stray cats, he really cares for her and loves her. Lil Bub has a lot of followers, a documental where she is the star. a YouTube show (witch is awesome, you should watch it, it's called Lil Bub's Big Show), a book, etc. Most of the money goes to animal charities, and she makes campaings for adopting, spaying and neutering cats. And well, she is the cutest space cat ever, she says her home planet is called Bub Ub Bub, and she was powers, like travelling space and time, reading minds and making wishes come true. And she is awesome. She is special and has a lot of fans. She is a celebrity.

Her YouTube cannel is filled with magic and wonder. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWLaxwI_LSmP0X3Kdq8blvg
 

Well, I think this is all I will write for now. I think I could write much more about animals, how much I love them. I could make a post just for cats. But well, I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope you're doing okay. See you next time.

Summary of a career related article.

Hello everyone, today I have to write the summary of an article that is related to my career, so it has to be related with arts.

Incisive exhibition reveals range of Iranian modern art.
A review by Shadi Harouni.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/iran-blog/2013/oct/17/iran-modern-art-new-york-asia-society

Detail from Parviz Tanavoli's Innovation in Art from the Iran Modern exhibition.

 

This article makes a critical approach to an exhibition called Iran Modern in the Asia Society of New York, witch consists in works of art of iraní artists from the 1950s until the Revolution in 1979. The autor thinks this is a good curatorial work, because it doesn't show the work of these artists in an exotic way, just to approach the american market. Even if he finds the need to make comparisons with the art that was being made in those years in Europe or USA, later he finds out that it's complex than that. In the exhibit of 26 artists, you don't find the curatorial need to classificate them into a unique style. The autor analizes different artists in the exhibit to find out there is no homogenic “other”, and shows that irani art is not only islam and veils. Making very little clear political statements, the show manages to deal with the oppresion in those years, but working with the individualities of the artists, that range from influences of pop art to conceptualist installations. The autor concludes that contemporary irani art must be looked at with high standarts, not just as something exotic and hermetic, making critical works like the one made in this art show.

Japanese Animation

So, this week I have to talk about Anime, and one of the questions was if I knew what it was. And of course I do. Anime was such a big deal for me when growing up. I always loved it and I have seen a lot of different series that have contributed to my life in many different ways. I don't even really know how to start.
Well, first of all anime stands for japanese animation. It's not a homogenic genre: this concept includes many different series of different drawing styles, themes and ideas. Most of the are basen in mangas (comic books) and videogames. The concept just locates it in the Japanese animation industries: there's series for children, young women, young men, mature series and porn. Seriously, lots of porn. Weird porn. Well, besides that, I have the belief that there is an anime for everyone. After seeing a lot of series when I was younger I can assure that.

I believe that one of the first animes I saw when I was little was Pokémon. And I still love it to death. After seeing the first episodes that aired in public TV, I was obsessed. I started playing the videogames (that are way better than the anime series, I've played most of the generations) and it became something really important to me. I really liked reading about Pokémon, playing, thinking how the world would be if it was all real. I cried when Butterfree left, when Lapras left and when Charizard left (Ash was such a bad trainer). Well, this hasn't changed much: just some days ago I watched a alternative anime series called "Pokémon: The Origin" that aired in Japan some weeks ago, witch is based in the first games. It moved me almost to tears, I swear. Last week the new videogame was released and all I think about is getting it and playing. I wanna be the very best.

Since then I watched different series on TV, like Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, but everything changed when I got Internet. I remember having a very slow and bad computer, and I filled it with chapters from series that took days to download. I had to watch them then erase them because if I didn't the PC may have exploded. Back then I couldn't burn CDs, but I could download pictures from animewallpapers.com and put then into a disquette. But it was all worth it: when I was in fifth grade I watched series like Azumanga Daioh!, Mushishi (beautiful and ethereal, I really recommend it), Shaman King, Chobits (witch was king of shocking back then because of the sexual content), Fullmetal Alchemist (my favorite one back then), and many more. I always looked for new series to watch. I watched movies too, like Hayao Miyazaki's, witch are masterpieces of worldwide animation (and everyone in the world should watch it). Then I watched it Rozen Maiden, Monster, Loveless, NANA and many more I don't even remember the name. Now I realize this is making me look like a big nerd.

I really liked CLAMP's mangas and character desings.

Thinking about it right now, I don't really know what really attracted me to anime in that way. Maybe it was because, underneath the most superficial contents of the series, like comedy and romance, there was always something that attracted my attention. In Fullmetal Alchemist was the ethical problems and political undertones, and in Neon Genesis Evangelion was, well, everything. When I watched it back then I didn't understood all the metaphors, complexities and allegories, that are filled with christian images in a postapocaliptical world. I watched it again this year, and now I saw it all: the complex problems, the relationship with psychoanalysis theories, and use of the Bible's Apocalipse to create a world filled with images of the destruction of the self and the world, in a dystopic wold where the self if seen in all it's complexity. This was always there, when I saw it in fifth grade and now: maybe it was this sophistication of animation that really got me into it. The gigantic possibilities and themes. Since then I started to be attracted to more mature and complex themes, and I think is helped me understanding a lot of things that didn't appear on regular TV. And the opening themes. I still know a lot of them by heart, and in japanese. Now that I remember, I even tried to learn japanese. Failing, of course.

I dare you to say this isn't awesome.

Since those years, from fifth grade to eighth grade I think, I watched most of the series I've watched. But this year I started to fall in love with some movies and series again, finding in them interesting things. I watched Evangelion again, I watched Shingeki no Kyojin and I watched Akira. Everyone should watch Akira, it's a masterpiece. Post-apocalyptical and dystopic again (a place you can see the gravitation of the disaster that meant the nuclear bomb in japanese culture), it's really interesting both visually and in the narrative.

Now that I started writing about this I got really excited. Anime is such a big part in the way I grew up, and it definitely open my mind to other cultures, narratives, images that have been part of me for a long time. It showed me things I couldn't see anywhere else. I don't really mind if I sound like a nerd.

Did I said I love kawaii stuff?

A place I'd love to visit.

Here I am again. Today I want to talk about a country I've always been fascinated by: Iceland. This is a nordic island at the North-West of Europe, between the Artic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The population is really little, only 331.000 inhabitants. The main city, Reykjavik is populated by over the half of people living in the entire island. The thing that more attracts me from this far away land are the most marvelous landscapes you have ever seen.
My first encounter with this island was through music: four or five years ago, I really loved some bands from here, like múm or The Sugarcubes (best known for the singer Björk). I started learning more about this place, and it was the photos from the landcapes that convinced me to go there at least once before I die. I always thought icelandic music had a very special feel to it, wich was confirmed later when I watched Heima, a documentary about a band called Sigur Rós, wich shows the band playing in different scenarios all over the country.
 The green valleys, the infinite ices and roads, the eternal cold, and the different phenomena that happens in the countries that are near the poles: aurora borealis, White nights and the midnight sun. All these are things I'd love to live. If I ever go, wich I really hope, I'd like to stay in Reykjavik, wich looks like a little sweet town from a movie. But I'd like to go to the rural places too, travel all along the island, and, in the best case scenario, stay in the tradicional houses in the country, wich are covered in grass because of the difficulties of the climate. I don't know how to drive, but I'd learn if I go: I'd rent a car and travel through the infinite green lands, lakes and glaciars, listening to music (an special playlist I'll create). The other thing I'd love to do is to visit the Imagine Peace Tower, an outdoor work of art by Yoko Ono, in memory of John Lennon, wich is a tower made of light proyected to the sky.



Icelandic turf house, and a cute cat.


On the other hand, this country is really open-minded and interesting in a social way. All the electric sources are ecological, the country has no analphabetism, all education is free, really high reading rates, homosexual marriage is allowed  (since 1996, and the prime minister is openly a lesbian), and when they had en economical crisis, they nationalized the banks and arrested the bankers, wich worked. It's known as the most peaceful country in the world, with the lowest crime rates and no army.

Heysátan by Sigur Rós, from the Heima documentary.

So, this is one of my biggest dreams I hope I can achieve, even if I have to learn the (rather difficult) icelandic lenguage, wich has a north germanic origin, and has being mantained for centuries, because of the isolation of being an island with really little population. I'd love to know more about their history, art and culture. I'd like to stay several weeks, even more than a month, to have enough time lo travel slowly, enjoying every minute of it, losing myself in all the things the island has to offer to the curious eye. Maybe, sometime, go back and live there, who knows.

Imagine Peace Tower, in the Kollafjørður bay.

 

And, by the way, the country has more sheep than humans. I love sheep.

My ideal job

It’s difficult to talk about a perfect job in a carreer associated with arts, because it probably doesn’t exist, it requires to take risks. I have a lot of interests in the area, and I’d love to work on them constantly, but I can’t work only in my investigations or personal proyects, because it means really little stability, but I still want to continue studying and getting degrees in the area. So, my plan until now is to have a main job, I hope in a museum or gallery (or anything that is associated with what I studied, specially having to work with actual works of art and a lot of reading), and having time for my projects associated with my interests: investigations, writing, being a curator, among others. The balance I have to get to do this is pretty difficult, but I always knew the risk when decided what I wanted to do, specially in this country, but I don't think I want to get out of here, maybe traveling sometimes, but not leaving the country. I’ll probably have to work as a teacher at some point, but that doesn’t bother me at all, I think it could be very interesting and rewarding. I always had interest in teaching, but I'll have to work on my patience, because I don't have much. The balance I'm searching could include working in a nice ambient that enriches me and with enough time to spend in myself. This means I have to be very organized to achieve putting all the things together, but I am pretty organized so I believe I can do this, even if it scares me sometimes, specially because the lack of stability. Well, al this are just assumptions, so maybe the reality will be a lot different, specially now because I'm really young. I can't really see into the future, all I hope is I can work in something relative to arts and maintain myself and my cat.

My cat helping me to study so I can feed her in the future. I hope so.