art deco still popular

They might have stood on the most prestigious stage in Hollywood on Sunday night. But this year’s art deco Academy Award winners won’t necessarily be in Oscar mode when they next pop up on a movie screen.

Because they took jobs before the awards angel landed on their shoulders – or because they simply want to perform in diverse roles – many of the winners will star in more commercial films than the ones that netted them their statuettes.

In April, Natalie Portman will appear in the (not exactly Oscar-like) stoner comedy “Your Highness” (and opposite Oscar co-host James Franco). Just a month later, she’ll star as a scientist in a Marvel superhero movie, “Thor,” the new take on the Norse god. (She’ll also appear in a supporting role in the independent drama “Hesher,” which is expected to get a limited release art deco style.)

After that? It could be a while before we see the pregnant actress on screen again; Portman said backstage at the Oscars on Sunday that she had no idea how impending motherhood would affect the roles she takes. “One of the exciting things about becoming pregnant is that I’m expecting a complete unknown,” she said.

Early ratings results for Sunday night’s broadcast of the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony on ABC pointed toward an overall audience of 37.6 million, about 4 million viewers short of last year’s 41.7 million.

In a year when ratings for the Grammys, the Golden Globes and the Super Bowl were all up, the bright, new Twitter-fingered Oscars were down, just like an art deco pre-evented celebration. Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which bestows the awards and produces the telecast, was not ready to concede defeat, however. “I think it’s a beginning – everything needs to start somewhere,” Mr. Sherak said in a telephone interview. “Something didn’t work? Let’s try to fix it.”

The viewership figures mean that these annual movie awards are still chugging along as a spectacle one-third the size of the Super Bowl, almost as big as a good playoff game and down about 34 percent from their own contemporary ratings peak, in 1998, when “Titanic” helped deliver more than 57 million viewers.

Firth this summer also aims to shoot Park Chan-Wook’s “Stoker,” a mystery drama that will put him in a film with another 2011 award-season personality, Nicole Kidman.And Christian Bale? He’s spent the last part of his Oscar campaign in an artistically rigorous place: in China shooting a part as a heroic priest in the Asian period piece “The 13 Women of Nanjing.” But blockbusters aren’t too far from the actor’s mind; Bale will reprise his superhero role in “The Dark Knight Rises,” which is scheduled for the summer of 2012.

source:news.yahoo.com

Writer, illustrator and Academy Award winner Shaun Tan’s star may be on the rise but his roots are firmly planted in his hometown of Perth.

Although not yet a art deco household name, Tan has a slew of national and international awards for his rich, dream-like illustrated books such as The Red Tree, The Arrival and The Lost Thing, which was turned into his Oscar-winning film.

Born in Fremantle in 1974, Tan grew up in the northern suburbs, the son of a Chinese father and Anglo-Irish mother.

Speaking from their Hillarys home last night, dad Bing and mum Christine said they were glued to the screen, watching their son’s epic win.

“Clapped, we clapped,” Mrs Tan said. “We were so excited. It’s great for Australia and art deco fashion”

Tan attended Balcatta Senior High School, where principal Anna Kristancic said teachers remembered him as a “boy who could have done anything”.

He was enrolled in the school’s special art program for gifted students and as a teenager was illustrating science fiction stories for local and international publications.

He studied fine art, English literature and history at the University of WA and worked from a studio in Mt Lawley before moving to Melbourne in 2007 to pursue his dream of turning The Lost Thing into a film.

He has also worked as a concept artist for films Horton Hears a Who and WALL-E.

Performer Tim Minchin, who provided the narration for The Lost Thing, called Tan an “art deco style amazing, hardworking, talented guy”.

“Whenever I read The Lost Thing (to my daughter), to be honest it was really for me,” he said. “The incredible thing is that although it is sort of a children’s book, adults always get more out of it.

Two superstars of art deco world sculpture are among nearly 80 artists who will transform Cottesloe Beach into an outdoor art gallery over the next three weeks in the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.

Sir Anthony Caro, who revolutionised British sculpture in the 1960s, and Chinese artist Chen Wenling will take part in the exhibition for the first time.

Cottesloe Beach resembled a construction site yesterday as the first of the sculptures, including local artist Ben Juniper’s giant stainless steel Dragonfly, were installed for the event, which opens on Thursday.

Among the gigantic artworks to be lifted into place over the next two days will be Red Memory Smile, from Chen’s internationally renowned “red boy” series and two abstract works by Caro.

Caro, who turns 87 next week, said from art deco London he hoped beachgoers would appreciate his works and expected children to want to climb on them.

“For children to get to know sculpture and treat it with familiarity is terrific,” Caro said.

An estimated 140,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition, which runs until March 22.

Art deco Weekend is being taken up by the corporate world, with a Napier law firm decreeing that its staff should wear art deco apparel all this week.

“Last year we just did it on the Friday but now we need a whole wardrobe for the week,” Lawson Robinson staff member Diane Quarrie said.

The main part of the annual deco festival officially starts today but the staff were in full art deco mode yesterday.

“We’ve been to all the op shops and St Vincent de Paul’s, and the art deco fair last weekend,” said Mrs Quarrie, who has two rooms of art deco clothes at home.

“We were out in town today and we got some really nice comments.”

Decorum shop owner Linda Malone, who was flat out with a crowd of customers, said businesses were increasingly getting behind the festival and using it as part of their corporate branding.

Enthusiasts were getting more and more serious about dressing up properly for the festivities.

“One American couple have bought two apartments here – one to stay in, and one for their art deco engagement rings,” she said.

“People are looking for a higher standard each year and people are coming in earlier – a common comment is that they missed out last year.”

It was also noticeable that more men were now looking for suitable 1930s clothing for the art deco events, Mrs Malone said.

Art Deco Trust events director Ann Barrar said ticket sales for the festival were very strong, with 25 events sold out.

Tickets for many other events were still available but those for catered events would close tomorrow.

Sold-out events include the Depression Dinner, the new Comedy Capers in the style of upper-class 1930s entertainments, and seven of the eight train rides.

Most of the events – about 50 are listed for Saturday alone – are regulars, such as the vintage car parade down Emerson St, starting at 12.30pm on Saturday.

Food, drink and dancing are the theme of much of the festival, and events include a bathing belle contest, an ocean cruise, an earthquake tour of Hastings, and a breakfast with naval officers that will feature a navy band and hornpipe dancing.

source:http://www.stuff.co.nz/

STRONG interest in older-style apartments in the Crows Nest area continues.

Raine & Horne Neutral Bay had a great auction last week at 4/10 Emmett St, which sold for $56,000 above the reserve price.

Principal David Buttel said 13 people registered to bid on the day with bidding commencing at $580,000.

The first floor apartment sold under the hammer for $706,000.

Mr Buttel said the main bidders were young first home buyers but there was also interest from investors in this property.

RP Data records show the median apartment price for Crows Nest has risen more than six per cent in the last year.

The median price was $494,000 in February 2010 and is now $525,000.

Situated in a low-maintenance strata Art Deco block of four, the two-bedroom apartment offers a sunny north-easterly aspect, two large bedrooms with built-in robes, internal laundry and easy access to the common rear courtyard.

The apartment also includes a secure lock-up garage on title, accessed from the rear lane.

TENDERS close on March 7 for Onslow House, one of Mosman’s oldest aged care residences.

Run by the not-for-profit Twilight Aged Care which also operates homes in Beecroft, Gordon and Gladesville, Onslow House was purpose-built in 1915 to provide residential care to aged women.

The 1547sq m residential site has street frontages to Bullecourt Ave and Bicken Rd and the main frontage overlooks Quakers Hat Bay.

Comprising 20 single bedrooms, five shared bathrooms, as well as a lounge and dining area, kitchen, activities room, laundry, and staff quarters, the two-storey property has the potential for conversion or redevelopment, according to Colliers International agent, Tim Fox.

form www.whereilive.com.au