Darren Alff

Yesterday I posted about one of my favorite films of all time, “You And Me And Everyone We Know” and discussed in short the films creator - a woman by the name of Miranda July.

As mentioned previously, July is a multi-talented artist and one of her most public pieces of work is a website called Learning To Love You More (www.LearningToLoveYouMore.com)

It is difficult to describe exactly what the site is an how it works, so let me take the description straight from the source:

Learning to Love You More is both a web site and series of non-web presentations comprised of work made by the general public in response to assignments given by artists Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher. Yuri Ono designs and manages the web site.

Participants accept an assignment, complete it by following the simple but specific instructions, send in the required report (photograph, text, video, etc), and see their work posted on-line. Like a recipe, meditation practice, or familiar song, the prescriptive nature of these assignments is intended to guide people towards their own experience.

Since Learning To Love You More is also an ever-changing series of exhibitions, screenings and radio broadcasts presented all over the world, participant’s documentation is also their submission for possible inclusion in one of these presentations. Past presentations have taken place at venues that include The Whitney Museum in NYC, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, Aurora Picture Show in Houston, TX, The Seattle Art Museum in Seattle, WA, the Wattis Institute in San Francisco CA, among others.
Since LTLYM inception in 2002 over 5000 people have participated in the project.

The best way to get a feel for the site is to visit it and search around. At first you may think it a little strange, but as you delve deeper into it’s content, you’ll begin to realize just how special this website truely is.

The website is so popular that July has taken it around the world, exhibiting the site and its many artifacts in museums of all shapes and sizes.

Just recently the best of the material from the website was comprised in a book with the same name - Learning To Love You More.

Check out the website and let me know what you think! 

www.LearningToLoveYouMore.com

About two years ago I walked into the local video rental store and picked up a film titled, “Me And You And Everyone We Know.” I had never heard of it and was unaware of any of the actors in the film, but I decided to check it out anyway.

That night, before I went to sleep, I popped in the DVD and began to watch.

Before I knew it, the film was over and I couldn’t believe what had just happened. This film, of which I knew nothing about, was one of the greatest films I had ever seen!

It was about 3 AM by the time I finished the movie and I wanted to find the nearest person and tell them all about this film, but everyone was asleep. That night as I lay in bed, all I could think about was the genius behind this film. And over the next coupe weeks I began to do some research on the writer, director, and main actor in the film – a woman by the name of Miranda July.

It is difficult to put Miranda in any sort of category because she does so many things. In short, she is an artist – and an exceptional one at that. She does everything from make films, perform, write, and more! She is incredibly multi-talented… and I like people who can do all sorts of different things.

I’ll discuss Miranda July in more detail in future posts, but for now, go out and get yourself a copy of “Me And You And Everyone We Know.” You’ll either be totally blown away or left wondering to yourself, “What the hell was Darren talking about?”

Either way, I can promise you this: You’ve never seen another film quite like it!

Check out the video below for one of the classic scenes from the film:

Yesterday I watched a documentary titled, “My Kid Could Paint That” about a 4-year old girl named Marla Olmstead who creates incredible abstract paintings that have sold for as much as $25,000 (maybe more!?).

In the film, you see this very young girl become swept up in International art fame and then with one foul swoop, lose it all. After a 60 Minutes expose, the claim is made that Marla is not the sole creator of her work – but that her dad is either entirely creating or at least helping to complete Marla’s finished works. I don’t want to say what happens in the end, because I want you to go out and watch the film, but I found the whole thing to be terribly fascinating.

After finishing the movie, I thought I would pick up some paint myself and see if I could create a piece of work that was as impressive as Marla’s.

Here are two examples of Marla’s work:

And now here is the painting I made last night.

What do you think? Who is the better painter? Is there any difference between Marla Olmstead’s work and my own?

Personally, I think she’s got me beat! But what do you think?

If you’d like to watch “My Kid Could Paint That” right now, you can get a digital copy of the film by clicking here. Or get the DVD here.