Viggo Mortensen, SignLanguage
Registered by someprimate on 3/26/2003
2 journalers for this copy...
What can I say? My first on-line purchase ever....
Signlanguage is the second book by Mortensen and features his photographs and art. Some of the former were taken during the filming of Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.
While the art and layered meaning were delightful, I must admit that I was disappointed that there was very little poetry (other than what was presented in the foreword that was not written by Mortensen).
I heard that his other book, Recent Forgeries has a better mix of his work, including poetry. Would be keen to pick it up if I wanted to splurge on-line again. :-)
(hey! US$25 is pretty pricey for the likes of me!)
Anyway, I'm still pretty happy with the book. It's one of those rare, visual delights, no matter how much of a fan you are (or not) of Viggo Mortensen.
Signlanguage is the second book by Mortensen and features his photographs and art. Some of the former were taken during the filming of Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.
While the art and layered meaning were delightful, I must admit that I was disappointed that there was very little poetry (other than what was presented in the foreword that was not written by Mortensen).
I heard that his other book, Recent Forgeries has a better mix of his work, including poetry. Would be keen to pick it up if I wanted to splurge on-line again. :-)
(hey! US$25 is pretty pricey for the likes of me!)
Anyway, I'm still pretty happy with the book. It's one of those rare, visual delights, no matter how much of a fan you are (or not) of Viggo Mortensen.
Journal Entry 2 by someprimate at --- controlled release in Kuching, Sarawak (Kuching) Malaysia on Sunday, March 30, 2003
Released on Sunday, March 30, 2003 at Released to local BC'er in Kuching, Sarawak Malaysia.
This was a surprise for fellow bookcrosser, autreyu.. and it was worth it, watching her eyes lit up when she saw the book. :-)
This was a surprise for fellow bookcrosser, autreyu.. and it was worth it, watching her eyes lit up when she saw the book. :-)
Viggo Mortensen is a Renaissance man. He's a painter, photographer, poet, actor and musician. I would love to be able to do something like that.
This book features Mortensen's paintings and photographs (including some taken while filming Lord Of The Rings in New Zealand). I'm still undecided about his artwork, mostly because I'm trying to understand it. But I like the texture he had created on his art, very layered: painted over, written over, sanded, crossed out, repainted, rewritten, resanded so on and so forth. Some of his art are mixed media - a blend of collage and paint, like "Sunshine on a Plain Wall" (2000).
I absolutely love his photography. He has a good eye for the simple and common. He finds beauty in them while others overlooked. I love the dramatic shadow play on a boy with beautiful lashes in "Tommy Black" (2001); the black-and-white shot of Elijah Wood in "Te Anau #2" (1999), and several others - it'll be too long a list if I were to write them in here.
Like someprimate, I am also disappointed that Mortensen's poetry was not included in this book - thought it was delightful to find excerpts of his journal entries in here. There was only a lengthy foreword written by someone else.
I find the back cover of this book amusing. Why? Because it's an up-close photo of a woman's cleavage so low that you could even see her bra!
This book features Mortensen's paintings and photographs (including some taken while filming Lord Of The Rings in New Zealand). I'm still undecided about his artwork, mostly because I'm trying to understand it. But I like the texture he had created on his art, very layered: painted over, written over, sanded, crossed out, repainted, rewritten, resanded so on and so forth. Some of his art are mixed media - a blend of collage and paint, like "Sunshine on a Plain Wall" (2000).
I absolutely love his photography. He has a good eye for the simple and common. He finds beauty in them while others overlooked. I love the dramatic shadow play on a boy with beautiful lashes in "Tommy Black" (2001); the black-and-white shot of Elijah Wood in "Te Anau #2" (1999), and several others - it'll be too long a list if I were to write them in here.
Like someprimate, I am also disappointed that Mortensen's poetry was not included in this book - thought it was delightful to find excerpts of his journal entries in here. There was only a lengthy foreword written by someone else.
I find the back cover of this book amusing. Why? Because it's an up-close photo of a woman's cleavage so low that you could even see her bra!
Back with me. Available on loan only to local bookcrossers.
