The Florida Project: Disneyland's fore-project
"During the planning and construction of Disneyland, Walt had been introduced to the basic concepts of urban design and slowly became a self-taught expert in the field. Such seemingly dry concepts as city planning and urban decay fired his imagination. When Disney's Chief Archivist Dave Smith catalogued Walt's office in 1970, one of the books on a shelf behind Walt's desk was architect Victor Gruen's The Heart of Our Cities: The Urban Crisis, Diagnosis and Cure.
'Walt was serious about that city,' Marty [Sklar] explains. 'And he had a lot of work being done at the time' to explore its viability. Walt asked for Marty's help to coalesce his thoughts so he could produce a film to explain the project, and, over the next several months, Marty wrote a script for a 24-minute film that detailed the 'Florida Project.' In the film, an ebullient Walt explains the concept of Epcot - a full-scale city of the future where people would live, work, and play in comfort. An international shopping district would re-create scenes from around the world, and American industry would have a showcase for the latest technologies.
Walt shot the short film in October 1966. Eight weeks later, he was gone.
The brief-but-potent film, however, lived on. It was shown a handful of times in early 1967 to key constituencies: the Florida Legislature, invited guests (for a packed presentation in a Winter Park theater), and once on statewide television. The film proved vital in convincing both the Legislature and voters that Disney's Florida Project should be approved, which it was. From the moment the project was given the go-ahead, Marty says, the Company's resources were dedicated to getting Walt Disney World up and running and to regaining confidence in the absence of its founder and leader."
(John Singh and Steven Vagnini, 07 June 2012)
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Oramics to Electronica: Revealing Histories of Electronic Music
"The story of Electronic Music, from the sound experiments of the 1950s through the digital revolution to today, is one of invention and innovation. Developed with a team of electronic musicians, our exhibition charts this history with examples of music making technology spanning more than 50 years. ...
The story begins with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and Electronic Music Studios (EMS), two organisations that broke musical boundaries in the postwar years. Objects from this era include the EMS VCS3, the first portable synthesiser.
Also on display is the Oramics Machine, a revolutionary music synthesiser that was created in the 1960s by Daphne Oram, founder of the Radiophonic Workshop. Daphne created this visionary machine that could transform drawings into sound, and it was recently acquired by the Science Museum in co-operation with Goldsmiths, University of London."
(The Science Museum, 2011)
Fig.1 "Oramics to Electronica", Directed, Produced, Filmed and Edited by Jen Fearnley & Nick Street, Commissioned by The Science Museum, London.
Fig.2 "Daphne Oram", Mick Grierson, Director of Creative Computing at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Director of the Daphne Oram collection.
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
Gangpol und Mit: sonic & visual in love
"As a music and graphic duet, Gangpol und Mit works on a peculiar world of digital pop inhabited by colourful and geometrical characters - a bestiary that evolves in lysergic musicals and takes part in apocalyptic cartoons. In this project, music jumps from synth assaults and woody flute leads to mondo beats and cinematic harpsichord keys, with futuristic social songs wrapped in fake MIDI string quartet attempts. Meanwhile, on the visual side, salarymen dive into greasy food, call-center employees start a batucada, and computer motherboards are slaughtered on a wild island while some terrorist confettis explode everywhere."
(Gangpol und Mit, 29 Octobre 2011)
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Spomenik: monumental geometry echoing the shapes of flowers, crystals, and macro-views of viruses or DNA
"During the 1960s and 70s, thousands of monuments commemorating the Second World War - called 'Spomeniks' - were built throughout the former Yugoslavia; striking monumental sculptures, with an angular geometry echoing the shapes of flowers, crystals, and macro-views of viruses or DNA."
(Photo-Eye via Amazon.com)
Jan Kempenaers (2010). 'Spomenik', Roma Publications
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Simon PerkinsSHARE
Marshall McLuhan predicts 'world connectivity'
"We waste too much time racing from home to office, says Marshall McLuhan, an English professor at the University of Toronto who's becoming known internationally for his study on the effects of media. Society's obsession with files and folders forces office workers to make the daily commute from the suburbs to downtown. McLuhan says the stockbroker is the smart one. He learned some time ago that most business may be conducted from anywhere if done by phone. McLuhan's prescient knowledge: In the future, people will no longer only gather in classrooms to learn but will also be moved by 'electronic circuitry.'"
(Marshall McLuhan, 1965)
Medium: Television; Programme: Take 30; Broadcast Date: April 1, 1965; Hosts: George Garlock, Paul Soles; Guest(s): Marshall McLuhan; Duration: 3:25
CONTRIBUTOR
Simon PerkinsSHARE
