Affliction BlogShop the latest from Affliction! Free 2 day shipping & returns.

Proceeds from the book’s sales will go to Laliberté’s One Drop Foundation,which he established in 2007 to address shortages of potable water around the world through technology and microcredit, as well as educational programs and other outreach.

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté is certainly used to flights of fancy, but this one was more unusual than most: a “poetic social mission” in space, on board the International Space Station. He documented the experience in a series of extraordinary photographs, which are gathered in “GAIA,” just published by Assouline.

To see photographs from “GAIA,” click the slide show at left. The book is available from Assouline.

Not a professional photographer, Laliberté found that he was able to frame his shots gracefully, perhaps because of his work at Cirque du Soleil. He described an experience of seeing clouds circling the earth morph into familiar forms, tumbling through the thin air at great height: “suddenly you surprise yourself looking and identify an animal shape or a character in motion.”

The trip into space was a rare — and expensive — opportunity. Thewinding down of the American space program has made space tourism even more difficult than it was before, according to Laliberté, who paid $35 million for the privilege of hitching a ride on a Russian space shuttle. Of his 11 days in space, nine were spent on the International Space Station, which orbited around the earth 176 times during his stay. Did he harbor any trepidation before his adventure? No. “I have never nurtured fear,” he said. His boldness was rewarded with extraordinary vistas, as well as some unexpected perks. “The food was great,” said Laliberté, with the cuisine inspired by many nations’ culinary traditions. “I was surprised to see how good the food was and how varied it was.”

But it was those vistas, of course, that will linger. The book’s stunning photographs reveal bodies of water nestled between mountains, elegantly rippled coastlines, snaking rivers, alien patterns in cracked dry earth, and vast spherical spacescapes. They are accompanied by quotations from all over the world. “Part of the concept of the book tried to create not only images to show the beauty of the planet but texts by people greater than I am” to encourage reflection, Laliberté said.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) While silent movie “The Artist” gathers steam ahead of the Oscars, the only other non-talking picture to win an Academy Award is getting a makeover as Hollywood falls back in love with the early days of cinema.

“Wings,” a World War I aerial dogfight epic made in 1927, won the first ever Oscar for best picture. Paramount Pictures, which is celebrating its centenary, has restored the classic silent action film and will present it with live organ accompaniment at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, ahead of a Blu-ray release on January 24th.

William Wellman, a veteran World War I fighter pilot, directed “Wings,” giving 1927 audiences a view of the world most had never seen. With cameras affixed to the flimsy bi-planes, a crew of flyers created dogfights featuring death-defying aerial stunts that continue to amaze viewers today.

“The thing about ‘Wings’ that’s so exciting is that it was the ‘Avatar’ and the ‘Star Wars’ of its day. It was a state of the art action film,” said Academy archivist Randy Haberkamp.

Set in Hollywood during the advent of sound, “The Artist” is not the only new movie focusing on early cinema. Martin Scorsese’s 3D family film “Hugo” centers on French film pioneer Georges Melies, and in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” Owen Wilson plays a modern screenwriter time traveling back to the 1920s.

“I think the zeitgeist is the realization that silent films are not a dead art form because true cinema is a very visceral and visually-generated thing,” Haberkamp said.

In “Wings,” Richard Arlen played David Armstrong, a small-town kid with a taste for speed. Immune to the affection of Mary (Clara Bow), the girl next door, he is smitten by city girl Sylvia (Jobyna Ralston). His rival in romance is Jack Powell (Charles Rogers), heir to a fortune.

Volunteering for service, the two men become fast friends through their wartime experience. Early on, they meet Gary Cooper playing a doomed pilot in one of his first screen appearances, a role that catapulted him to stardom.

WAY OVER BUDGET

Budgeted at what was then a record-setting $2 million dollars, “Wings” wound up costing way over that amount while Wellman spent idle days waiting for clouds, which he claimed were needed to offset the planes against the background.

Due to his bickering with studio brass, Wellman was not invited to the 1929 Oscar ceremony even though the movie was a hit. Powered by public enthusiasm for Charles Lindbergh’s daring crossing of the Atlantic, “Wings” went on to become one of the top-grossing films of the decade.

Silent, black-and-white movie “The Artist”, directed by Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius, is unlikely to become a major box office blockbuster despite having won more than 40 awards, including three Golden Globes last Sunday.

But it is considered a front-runner for the best film Oscar in February, and it may represent a reexamination of cinema’s early roots in an era of dwindling movie goers.

“Through festivals and the availability of different kinds of materials on streaming and DVD release, I think people are experimenting with different types of films,” said Paramount archive vice-president Andrea Kalas.

“People listen to the Beatles and the latest thing, and maybe something similar is happening with film too, where we’re appreciating all sorts of different movies from different eras,” Kalas said.

Oddly, early film technique has become more relevant in the modern era where a proliferation of digital effects has resulted in spectacle-driven box office. Consequently, action scenes are becoming longer and dialogue scenes shorter.

“Most of the movies that we go to see now are based on action sequences,” said Haberkamp. “If you don’t know how to cut an action sequence, if you don’t know how to stage an action sequence, you don’t know too much. Frankly, that’s where the silent era really was phenomenal.”

With all the technical advancements through the years, not a lot has changed, according to Haberkamp. What continues to make cinema past and present a unique art form is the transposition of images and the ability to manipulate time and space.

“In the end, I don’t care whether it’s silent or sound I just care whether it’s compelling and well made,” he said. “I think that’s why there are so many people looking at silents going, ‘Wait a minute, there’s something going on here that is more than just a dated technology.’”

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bob Tourtellotte)

NEW YORK New Yorkers pride themselves on their blasé — nothing will phase a well-trained city pedestrian. But artist Zefrey Throwell’s urban intervention turned even the most stoic of heads: those of Wall Street traders. Throwell’s “Ocularpation: Wall Street” saw 50 performers strip down and mime different Wall Street-related professions (traders, yes, but also janitors, secretaries, and everything in between) in a critique of the financial industry, a piece inspired by the plight of the artist’s mother,wholesale Ed hardy jeans, a 60 year old woman who lost her retirement savings in the economic crash, and was forced to come out of retirement to look for a job.

Throwell’s piece caused some gawking on the street, and shocked viewers into reconsidering their relationship to what Throwell calls “the most mysterious street in America.” “Ocularpation” was developed while the artist was in a residency given by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council: for 6 months, Throwell worked in a basement studio at 14 Wall Street and investigated the area’s significance, social, political, and artistic. ARTINFO spoke to the artist just hours after the “Ocularpation” performance ended, and chatted about the inspiration for the performance, the immediate reaction, and why it wasn’t “just a flash mob where people run up and take their clothes off”: 

What was the inspiration for the “Ocularpation” performance?

My mother put away her money, like a good American, into retirement, and she retired in mid-60s. Then the stock market crashed, and she lost almost all of her savings. She had to come out of retirement and look for a job, but no one wanted to hire a woman in her mid-60s. It took her a long time to find a job. First she was depressed, but then she was furious. Over the course of the past 3 years, there has been no change in the system that caused the damage that violently altered her life. She feels she was straight up swindled by people who had nothing happen to them.

This project is a direct response to the opacity of the financial industry in the United States. It’s call “Ocularpation Wall Street”, a combination of ocular, as in sight, and occupation, meaning job, and the taking of a site, the military term. Aggressively performing your profession in public.

How did the actual performance get started?

The first half was a survey that I took of Wall Street, to find out who actually works on Wall Street. I went business to business, asking what jobs they did there. I came up with a chart listing who works on the most mysterious street in America. Then I got performers to perform those jobs, in the percentage that they were represented, on the street itself.

There were 10% personal assistants, 8% stock traders, and 2% prostitutes, for example. The actual project had 200 people in it, 50 performers, and then there were helpers, and there were people documenting it. We met up in a park beforehand, then walked down to Wall Street, and everyone was spread out evenly down the whole street. Right at 7 a.m. people began working their professions, I was a hot dog vendor. Lawyers, federal workers, museum workers, janitorial was huge. The performers started clothed, after about a minute, they start stripping down, they were naked for maybe a minute, then they started putting clothes back on. At 7:05 it was all over.

Who were your volunteers?

Mostly artists I know, a few people who contacted me about the performance as well. Drea Bernardi, she’s an artist that helped me a lot with the performance.

I heard a few people actually got arrested. What was the reaction like?    

There were three arrested out of 50, they were taken to 1st Precinct, charged with disorderly conduct, and something else I haven’t heard of before, exposure of a person. [Note: Throwell followed the three and later bailed them out.]

The general reaction was fantastic, actually. The NYPD was very excited, very supportive. They wanted to talk about it, to know what I think about it. Public reaction was also fantastic. I’m a fan of the absurd; I think it’s something audiences really get. Still, a lot of people didn’t even stop and look, they just kept walking, Blackberries blazing. If an army of naked people can’t get you to stop, I don’t know what can.

Did you warn anyone before the performance started?

No. These are public streets. Part of my practice is reclaiming public property for us. As our culture is slowly devoured by corporations and all the public things begin to disintegrate, it’s our responsibility as citizens to aggressively reclaim space for ourselves.

Was the performance just about the Wall Street crash, or are there other political factors?

It’s no coincidence that we scheduled a performance for the day that America was going to default. My personal feelings are that, with these mechanics that affect our current financial state … it’s just not this abstract concept. My mother is this woman who was derailed from the reward of being a hard working American. It’s very concrete, very real. It’s easy in the news to get lost in the abstract pie graphs of unemployment, but that’s definitely not the case here.

So this is your way of putting Wall Street’s machinations in front of people’s faces?    

Yeah.

See the slideshow at left for photos of Zefrey Throwell’s “Ocularpation: Wall Street” performance. Warning: They definitely feature naked people. 

Normal0015Ralph Lauren11611.1280000

HOUSTON It didn’t take long mere seconds, in fact to create a new hole in the skyline of Houston’s medical district.

Demolition crews used high explosives to implode the 20-story former Prudential Building that had been a landmark of the district landscape southwest of downtown Houston since 1952.

The crews had planned initially to touch off the explosives shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday,wholesale Ed hardy scarves, but dense fog delayed the series of blasts until 11:15 a.m.

The Prudential Insurance Co. of America built the 500,000-square-foot skyscraper to serve as its southwest regional headquarters. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center bought the building in 1974 and made it the center’s main building in 1980 before vacating and closing the building in April 2010.

Beforetoday’s Internet-induced era of celebrity overexposure,wholesale Ed hardy sunglasses, paparazzi abundance, and tabloid proliferation, there was a time when film studioscontrolled the public’s perception of their actors and actresses through the use ofin-house portrait photographers. London’s National Portrait Gallery pays tributeto that period with “Glamour of the Gods: Hollywood Portraits,” an exhibition of 70 vintage photographsfrom 1920 to 1960, on view until October 23.

Most of the printscome from the archive of the John Kobal Foundation, founded by the eponymous collector who began tracking down the photographers behind the glossy images in the 1950s and ’60s, just as corporate takeovers of the big Hollywood studios began phasing out the promotional practice. He continued to collect the photos until his death in 1991.

“When he becameinterested in the men behind the images, almost all of them were still aliveand reachable,” said film and art critic John Russell Taylor about Kobal. “It was John who realized their importance, at a time when no one else gave adamn about them.”

Studios used tosend the commissioned portraits to fans and the media in efforts to spread wordabout the features. Eugene Roberts captured a 1929 black-and-white photographof Louise Brooks that elegantly resembles the era’s fashion illustrations. Other highlights of the exhibition include a 1950 portrait ofa hunky Marlon Brando used to promote “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and adisheveled Vivian Leigh in a 1939 shot from “Gone With the Wind.” Striking images of Elizabeth Taylor,Joan Collins, Grace Kelly, and Clark Gable are also on view.

Clickon the photo gallery at left to view images from “Glamour of the Gods:Hollywood Portraits.”

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) The next installment of the “Paranormal Activity” franchise will arrive in movie theaters this October — a month that traditionally has been successful for the horror franchise — Paramount Pictures said Wednesday.

The studio will release the fourth installment of its series on October 19.

The most recent “Paranormal” movie, this year’s “Paranormal Activity 3,Wholesale Ed hardy,” was released October 21. It opened to $54 million for the biggest October opening ever. The first “Paranormal,” made for a mere $15,000, grossed $193.3 million worldwide. It was released the last week in September, 2009. The second, made for $3 million, grossed $177.5 million worldwide. It was released October 22, 2010.

“Paranormal 4″ will open against “The Big Wedding,” a romantic comedy from Lionsgate, and “Gangster Squad,” a Warner Bros. crime drama.

TheWrap reported in October that a fourth “Paranormal” was all but certain.

Have Prince William and Kate Middleton chosen a wedding dress designer for the royal nuptials? With April 29 fast approaching, work on the gown needs to get started. Even though mum’s the word, there are some interesting rumors that point to the late Alexander McQueen’s fashion house as having been given the commission.

* March 2011 — Alexander McQueen Fashion House. In what might be termed a case of “loose lips sink ships,” the fashion house’s CEO Jonathan Akeroyd is said to have told a professional contact that the British design house had received the commission. This would put the late fashion designer’s right-hand assistant and current Alexander McQueen label creative director, Sarah Burton,Cheap Ed hardy belts, in charge of Middleton’s wedding gown.

* March 2011 — Bruce Oldfield. If the name sounds familiar, royal watchers are sure to remember that Bruce Oldfield was credited with being the late Princess Diana’s favorite designer. Eagle-eyed reporters keeping an eye on the premises of notable British fashion houses reported that Middleton’s sister (the maid of honor), her mother and also the Countess of Wessex have been seen frequenting the establishment. The latter is the mother of 7-year-old Lady Louise Windsor, who is one of the bridesmaids at Prince William and Kate’s wedding.

* February 2011 — Erdem Moralioğlu. A powerhouse in the British fashion industry, his fashion house was rumored to be perfect for Middleton’s sense of style. Not outrageous or controversial, Erdem fashions are known to flatter slimmer models who can carry a traditional look. In the same breath, fashion gossips pooh-poohed the idea of the bride’s hiring Bruce Oldfield and putting herself in competition with Prince William’s late mother.

* December 2010 — David Emanuel. The designer of Lady Diana Spencer’s wedding gown was thought to be the natural choice for Prince William’s bride. While the dress made of antique lace, ivory silk and taffeta was a breathtaking creation for the Princess of Wales, it is difficult to imagine the much more independent and less demure Middleton in these types of traditional trappings. David Emanuel has not been mentioned recently when discussing the royal wedding gown.

* November 2010 — Phillipa Lepley. She was an early favorite among the betting public. The fact Middleton chose an Issa creation when facing the press after the engagement announcement was thought to speak volumes. Close in style to Lepley gown looks, the designer who is billed as “London’s leading couture bridal designer” would have been a logical choice for the royal bride’s fashion style.

Alexander McQueen’s fashion house categorically denies being involved with the April wedding or its gown. This, of course, is par for the course.

BEIJING China called on the European Union on Thursday to heed objections to its plans to charge airlines for carbon emissions and to hold talks with opponents.

The charges, which took effect Sunday, are aimed at curbing emissions of climate-changing gases but airlines oppose them as an improper tax. The ratings agency Fitch warned last month the conflict could spiral into a global trade dispute.

“China opposes the EU forcing through unilateral legislation,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Hong Lei. “We hope the EU side will be prudent and practical and deal with this issue through consultations with all relevant parties.”

The appeal came even after a European court last month rejected a lawsuit brought by U.S. airlines and supported by governments including China and India.

Beijing could have unusually strong leverage in a possible dispute because its state-owned airlines carry large numbers of Chinese and other Asian tourists to Europe. Any disruption would hurt Europe’s travel industry when the continent is struggling with a debt crisis and high unemployment.

Under the European system, airlines flying to or from Europe must obtain certificates for carbon dioxide emissions. They will get free credits to cover most flights this year but must buy or trade for credits to cover the rest.

Last month’s ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg dismissed arguments that the system infringes national sovereignty or violates aviation treaties.

Environmentalists welcomed the program, one of the most far-reaching measures adopted by any government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Although only 3 percent of total human-caused carbon emissions come from aircraft, aviation is the fastest-growing source of carbon pollution.

The European Union has said the added costs would amount to a few dollars per ticket and would open the way for efficient airlines to make money rather than lose it.

Already this week, Delta Air Lines Inc. added a $6 charge per round trip on tickets sold in the U.S. for travel to Europe and Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it will raise prices but not right away.

Fitch Ratings warned last month that possible retaliation “will pose growing threats to aviation market access” in both developed and emerging markets. It said that might affect authorizations for routes and landing slots.

Chinese airlines have not decided whether to add a ticket surcharge, said Chai Haibo, deputy secretary-general of China Air Transport Association, an industry group.

Asked whether Chinese carriers might refuse to pay the charges, Chai said, “It has not come to that stage yet.”

A trade group for U.S. carriers, Airlines for America,wholesale Ed hardy jeans, has said its members would comply “under protest,” while reviewing legal options.

___

AP researcher Zhao Liang and AP writer Christopher Bodeen contributed.

Ever since the world found out that Prince William was in love, people’s fascination with Kate Middleton went beyond her common status. With her printed pencil skirts, elaborate hats and tailored coats, the 29-year-old bride-to-be has been crowned as a bona fide fashionista.

Middleton did,Replica Ed hardy hoodies, of course, work as an accessory buyer for high-end U.K. clothing boutique Jigsaw. And with what seems like every major fashion geniuses from Karl Lagerfeld and Jason Wu to the design houses of Valentino and Alexander McQueen wanting the chance to design her wedding dress, it is pretty safe to say she’s a fashion force to be reckoned with. People has noticed her fashion sense way before she started sporting the iconic sparkly sapphire and diamond engagement ring. The magazine named her one of its British fashion favorites in 2007. Style.com has also named Middleton a “beauty icon.”

And even though Middleton has been known for her simplistic style, clean lines and just enough of a deep neckline that never shows too much, she recently trumped avant garde popstar Lady Gaga and took the number one spot on this year’s “Top Fashion Buzzwords” list. Noted stylist and fashion expert Sharon Haver said it best when expressed that people are tired of Gaga’s edible or see-through outfits on the red carpet. So Middleton’s prep-girl style is a nice change of pace.

“Kate is British, but she looks like a classic, all-American girl,” Haver told AOL News. “She looks like she could be a Ralph Lauren model. She’s classy but not dowdy — modern, approachable and effortless. I think she’s a good fashion icon for young girls to look up to globally.”

Middleton has already made an impact on women’s shopping habits since she got engaged to a prince. The blue dress that she wore to the couple’s official announcement to the press about their engagement flew off the racks literally in minutes despite the fact that the Issa-designed frock retailed for $500. Fashionistas and fans of the couple were disappointed to find out that the cream ruffled blouse Middleton wore in one of her engagement photos was from the fall 2008 collection of U.K. brand Whistles — meaning it was no longer on sale. And lastly, a white, knee-length dress from Reiss’ fall 2009 line also became a hot item even though it’ll set you back $300. But like the top, this too was sold out. However the British brands have announced that they will be reissuing the two pieces in the following year due to high demands.

While Middleton seems to be fitting nicely into her role as a trendsetter, she does have some big shoes to fill. Princess Diana was probably one of the most fashionable royals of her time and to take her place is quite a feat. However designer Diane Von Furstenberg thinks that Middleton will do well in that department. “She reminds me more and more of Diana,” she told the Telegraph. “Everything about her. I think she’s there to avenge Diana’s memory — that’s clearly what William wants. Giving Kate his mother’s ring was a great gesture, and I think that theirs will be a happy version of his parents’ marriage. But he absolutely chose a woman who was like his mother — that was deliberate.”

However Vivienne Westwood begs to differ. “I would have loved to have dressed Kate Middleton but I have to wait until she kind of catches up a bit somewhere with style,” the fashion designer said during London Fashion Week.

Clearly the jury is still out on this one, and only time will tell how she’ll impact fashion. But no matter how much you like her style, there’s no doubt that all eyes will be on her when she steps out in her wedding dress on April 29.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) Country singer Taylor Swift will lead a host of musicians collaborating with Oscar-winning artist T. Bone Burnett for a companion album to the upcoming film, “The Hunger Games.”

Movie studio Lionsgate said on Friday that Burnett has joined forces with Swift, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire and The Civil Wars to create original songs for the film, set for release in March 2012.

“We are thrilled to have such a hauntingly beautiful companion album taking shape,” said Joe Drake, co-COO of Lionsgate.

Swift and The Civil Wars’ collaborated together on the single “Safe and Sound,” which was released on iTunes on Friday and topped the iTunes songs chart.

“The Hunger Games,” starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson,Cheap Moncler, is based on the young adult series of novels, and tells the story of teenage boys and girls fighting to the death on a nationally televised event in a country called Panem, built on the remains of North America.

The film is set for release in U.S. theaters on March 23, 2012.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)