Full moon

Full moon is the time of transformations - at least as far as werewolfs are concerned. Yesterday, the full moon of July rose nicely above the rooftops and I took few pics of it. Unfortunately, I only have a small digi pocket camera and the moon shots didn't turn out that well. But while listening to the Symphonies of the Planets by Voyager and the full moon rising behind the Elbphilharmonie, the atmosphere was perfect for some reflection photography.

I haven't been feeling very good lately, so I think this photo captures my feelings pretty much perfectly. Something from Munch's The Scream in it... Or the Borg.

MK et G

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. I had noticed that there was special exhibition about Graphic Design in the Art Nouveau and I absolutely wanted to go to see it. (I normally leave that kind of things too late and miss the whole thing.)

The exhibition wasn't extremely large, but it took me lots of time to go through it. The exhibits were lovely, especially the ones from the end of 19th century. Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Behrens... I was almost clapping my hands from joy while watching some of the pictures, they were so captivating and beautifully drawn. I wanted to buy the catalog, but it was binded in a huge brick of a book and costed 68 euros. :( If I wouldn't need to move now every half a year I would probably have bought it anyway...


Eugene Grasset's November
Pic from davidsongalleries.com

This Art Nouveau exhibition wasn't the only interesting piece in the place. The building is huge and at the end of the day my legs were killing me. Still, I was also blown away with the Japanese Katagami stencils that people have been using to dye kimonos in the 19th century. It was unbelievable to see so beautiful works that were designed so cleverly that they could be used for an unbroked pattern. I got an urge to practice my Japanese again, I've forgotten almost everything I ever learned. But maybe when I have time again..... ;)

Hamburg Planetarium

Wow, I managed to go the whole June without a blogpost. Well, it's been rather hectic in work, mind and body. I only have around a month and a half before my summer holiday, can't wait!

But anyway, back to business. The jewel of Hamburg for me is the Hamburg Planetarium. I was rather dubious at first, since I normally pretty much loath commercial planetariums. They never use them in their original purpose (showing the stars), but offer mostly scientific films about astronomy. I guess it's ok for the visitors, but I normally just end up counting as many mistakes as I can spot from the show. (I don't mean that I would know everything about astronomy. There's a lot I don't know, but I'm not that interested to know much more right now.)

Hamburg planetarium is different. They do have films about this and that (astronomy and related subjects), but their real beauty lies in the way they are using the thing for audiovisual feasts. Some time ago I went to watch Deep Space Night 3.1 and I was completely blown away. It's basically just animation about space flights and stars to music, but the animations were extremely exact and made with good humour. Also the music was carefully selected. (I didn't really care that much of Madonna, but Depeche Mode woke my hidden passion to their music again!) The crazy part is that they use lots of lasers, too, and with the smoke effects the whole place transforms into something otherworldly.

Yesterday I went to watch Mike Batt's Voices in the Dark. The music was completely by him and there were great 3D animations made to it. (You can check the video clip in www.voicesinthedark.de.)

Every time I go to the planetarium I get so much inspiration... I strongly recommend a visit if you ever happen to be in Hamburg. Unfortunately, many shows are running only rarely, so it's worth to check the calendar and plan your visit accordingly. ;)