Image: Félix Busso.

Friends of the home (And neighbors!), photographer Felix Busso and illustrator Feroz Babun presented tonight “I like Mar del Plata”, en el marco de la exposición Documentos de verano del Taller Luz y Fuerza.

Will be 19 about 23, the end of the day arteBA, in The Factory cultural space (Peru 442, San Telmo).

With winter breathing down our necks and the weekend is gray, seems a good opportunity to escape to the beach, at least in the mind. There is more to say about the city of sea lions, pero habrá tiempo después de la muestra.

Photos: Paula Alvarado.

Around this time of the year, in 2011, I took a trip from which I came back as inspired as confused.

This trip through Brazil was a different one, one in which I could incorporate references, ideas and visuals, but in which I identified and valued, as well, many wonderful things Buenos Aires that one takes for granted. The human scale of the city, the incipient but unstoppable cycling culture, the number of small and self-managed art and culture spaces, son algunas de las que vienen a la mente.

The Brazilians have their share: I think about their economic strength, their artisan tradition, their colors and warmth. I think these are well reflected in the pictures I share below, highlights of my stay in Sao Paulo, Curitiba y Río de Janeiro.

Some links:
SESC Pompeia and the funding of arts through taxes on commerce (in English)
Arte da Vila: Open art studios in Sao Paulo
Brazilian Museum of Sculpture in Sao Paulo
Amoreira, design store in Sao Paulo
Novo Desenho design store in Rio de Janeiro

Photo: Hart Preston for Life.

If the ideas that run through the brain during anxiety attacks could be materialized by telepathy (a signal to an assistant who would execute to perfection without any questions, for example), BA Inspiration would have a lovely new look now, several new articles and other novelties. Y yo seguramente hubiera hecho el triple de lo que hice en las últimas semanas.

But I have not yet mastered intentional telepathy (I do it very well randomly) and there is work to be finished and my head is hanging out closer to the location of the picture above than the streets of Buenos Aires. Así que voy a invertir un poco de compost en cultivar esa cosa extraña que es la paciencia y a dejar todo para mayo.

Espero que todos estén arrancando el otoño con buena energía.

PS: I'm going to Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Rio, and all suggestions of galleries, design spaces, parks, beaches, etc.. son bienvenidas.

As it has become usual for me, when I visited the French Embassy yesterday for the launch of the French cinema week, Les avant-premières, I got more distracted looking at the interiors of the Ortiz Basualdo Palace que haciendo otras cosas quizá más pertinentes al evento.

I have a contradictory attitude towards this type of building. On one hand, I reject some of the values ​​that they symbolize (the worship of Europe, the prosperity of the export of raw materials in the conservative republic); On the other, no puedo dejar de admirar el trabajo artesanal y la riqueza de materiales que hay en sus interiores.

It was the first time I walked in, but apparently the embassy opens its doors annually at the ‘European Heritage Day, las últimas realizadas en septiembre de 2011.

I was saying the motive was Les avants-premières, which is the French cinema week in Buenos Aires, organized for the past four years by Green Tara. The series presents thirteen recent films, which are screened from 15 to 21 March at the cinemas of Patio Bullrich (Av. Libertador 750).

Among the films one highlight is Polisse, about the day to day life of the children's unit of the Paris police department, winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes 2011. Also interesting sounds A happy event, another approach to the issue of modern parenthood which writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida explored in Away we go. And a film relevant to the city seems The Minister, about a politician who has to make decisions while approaching the site in which a bus has just crashed. The complete list can be found here.

Here I share some pictures of the place and the event. If anyone has a special recommendation to see in the cycle, se agradecen los comentarios.

Images: Paula Alvarado.

Because Buenos Aires is so small, a few days ago I learned that my boyfriend's grandfather was a close friend of the owner of San Bernardo Cafe, to whom he fixed the pool and billiards tables when the man could not fix them himself. The fact suggests something about the age of the place, which this year turns 100 años.

We were talking about it because we have been going with some friends to play ping-pong and pool, alternativa sana de salida de noches de verano.

The degree of gentrification of the cafe and bar shows that the tip is no secret, but what I like about this space is not so much that it is a cool spot for hipsters in Buenos Aires, sino que en sus paredes y mesas y barra se mezclen señas de la Buenos Aires de antes y la de ahora.

During day and night you can play pool and ping-pong ($22 per hour), and also billiards, burako, dice, domino, chess and cards, though I only tried the first ones. As I saw in this video, el bar tiene un séquito de fans del club Atlanta que juegan a las cartas allí.

If you don't know it yet, I recommend a visit. It is open 24 hours at Corrientes 5436 (Villa Crespo).

More at the cafe social page.

Beautiful video by Black Sheep Films which recreates an amusement park with games that float in different parts of Buenos Aires. To view full screen. Enjoy.

[Viewed here]

Images: Paula Alvarado.

The space has been open for ten years and works as artist residency since 2009, but I had not had a chance to visit it until a few weeks ago I went to a photo fair organized by the workshop Luz y Fuerza.

I'm talking about The Factory en la zona de San Telmo.

Juan Tobal, one of the resident artists and current director of the project, comments by email: “The Factory works as a big creation space shared by artists from various disciplines, in which all proposals are welcome if they are feasible”.

Inside the big house that hides behind a simple door which faces Peru street there are, on one hand, particular studios where each artist develops their work and, on the other, exhibitions, concerts, works in collaboration, and production of projects (both from resident artists and from visiting artists who come into contact with the residents).

Currently living at the place are five artists (Martin Lapalma, Pablo Mozuc, Escandar Pinto, Nahuel Santiago and Marcelo Strada), three bands (Morbo y Mambo, Mompox and Banda de turistas), the photography collective Luz y Fuerza (Lala Iezzi, Mauricio D’ortona and Lorena Fernandez), the festival of art trends directed by Jose Jimenez Tratado de Integracion, the dancer and researcher Alina Folini y la diseñadora Constanza Dellea.

In the past there were artists such as Sergio Boris, Gerardo Nauman, Romina Paula, Carola Gliksberg, Gonzalo Tobal, Pablo Accinelli, Elisa O Farrell and Victoria Mussotto, entre otros.

When I went to the photography fair, fue interesante perderse un rato por los estudios e imaginar las diferentes formas de trabajo de cada uno de los miembros.

If you do not know it, I recommend a visit to any of the events they organize. Those who did know it can see how the space has been in recent months in these photos. It is in Peru 442, San Telmo.

Links:
The Factory cultural space

Photos: Paula Alvarado.

I love those summer days where the warm sun shines,
the bird flies drunk with light and gurgles,
the fragrant flowers embalm everything and the grass is so green (…)
Victoria Ocampo (Source)

One of those summer days I spent touring the gardens of Villa Ocampo, la última residencia de la escritora y mecenas de la cultura Victoria Ocampo.

The house, which her father designed for his aunt as a summer resort and Victoria inherited, fue paso obligado de decenas de personajes de la cultura nacional e internacional a partir de los años ’40s.

One cannot appreciate via some photographs of her house turned into a museum all that Victoria Ocampo was for literature and culture in Argentina. Nor can one know through words the psychological effort she must have done to lead the life she led at a time when women had far less freedom of movement, to call it some way.

But I hope the images encourage you to visit this place, y escuchar la historia de la casa y de la mujer algún día para sacar sus propias conclusiones.

I recommend, if you consider going, arriving early. The house closes at 18 on Thursdays and Fridays and at 19 on the weekends, and, as the visit lasts an hour, si se va después de un almuerzo haragán no queda suficiente tiempo para sentarse a leer algunos libros o volúmenes de la revista Sur en la librería/biblioteca.

From the Beccar train station it's about ten minutes by bike, y las calles arboladas de alrededor están perfectas para estos días calurosos.

Más información en el sitio web del lugar.

Links:
VillaOcampo.org

I've been following and loving videos at The Selby y de Nowness y me preguntaba cuándo llegaría material audiovisual de esa calidad con contenidos locales.

While there is something on the music side with En la terraza and at Entre-vista they post nice conversations with interesting characters, there are no initiatives more focused on the design and art worlds. Por eso me gustó conocer de la existencia de Küche.

“Strictly, Küche is cuisine in German. It could be a kitchen of projects anywhere in the world, but it is a design and kitchen studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina”, explains architect and photographer Carolina Colmenero.

She met designer and cook Ximena Saenz traveling ten years ago, and after completing their studies they created this project. They describe it as a collection of their various skills, tastes and abilities which are combined in videos, recipes, photos, interiorismo y proyectos editoriales.

Of those things I just saw the videos, which I found adorable. The first ones made for the edition 2011 of Souvenir, the clothing label Leandro Dominguez y Correspondencia were collaborations with friend projects, but now they intend to create a series related to the kitchen, whose first opens the post and the second is in preparation here is.

They're two to follow closely. Those who want more info can subscribe to the Vimeo channel y/o contactar a Colmenero por medio de la información publicada en ese mismo link.

Links:
KucheBA.com.ar

Photos: Paula Alvarado.

Guillermina Luz Sanchez is an architect, artist and part of the bicycle-worshipers clan that makes Critical Mass Buenos Aires. I met her recently through Felix, and a few days ago I tagged along on a getaway to visit her house at Ingeniero Maschwitz (which, as I learned later, OhLaLa magazine considers a ‘cool circuit ').

Her current space is a recycled garage where one can spend hours taking a close look at all the little things she has on tables, shelves, hanging. In another context, I would find a stuffed house a bit overwhelming, pero encontré a la de Guillermina llena de vida.

In a workshop on the back, along with her assistant Jose, she also makes experiments with LED lights and discarded electronic materials. Among them, a bird (toy) illuminated, candlesticks with small glass containers and bottles, games with colored lights.

Here I share some pictures of the house and of a beautiful day. Espero que mi hogar sea algún día tan inspirador.