The Modern Muses

In ancient Greece the Muses were a collection of nine goddesses who stimulated the conception of literature and the arts.  What if the Muses were to reinvent themselves for the twenty first century?  Would their modern day guise be any different from the time of the ancients?  What objects might they adopt as their symbols?  Let’s have a little fun.  After all – if they were to return, they wouldn’t want to look as if they belong in a museum, even if the very word was inspired by them.

Calliope

Image Credit Flickr User Ed Yourdon

Perhaps the most famous of the muses, Calliope is the muse of heroic writing – it is said that she inspired Homer to write the Iliad and the Odyssey.  In art she has always been seen with a writing tablet in her hand.  That, of course, would have to go.  Were Calliope to descend from Olympus, she would soon discover that a laptop is the tool of choice for most writers in this day and age.

As the oldest of the muses she would no doubt need that processing power to keep her younger, more errant sisters organised.

Clio

Image Credit Flickr User Natu

Clio was the muse of history.  In ancient art she was often represented with a scroll of paper or a tablet.  Perhaps today she would record the passage of time using a camera.  She is seen variously as a researcher, one who ignites the need to record events but also to investigate and to ensure that events are accounted.  Clio’s aim was to record the past in order to inform the future – and what better modern platform for that than the art of photography?

The Damage Done by Rainfall Films

The Damage Done by Rainfall Films is a shortf film in the western genre.

Now, before you flick through this, give me a second to explain as I know it isn't necessarily something you would expect on Kuriosiatas (you know, it doesn't have space ships in it) but this ten minute movie is excellent. That sounds like damning it with faint praise, lack of my accustomed excalamation marks and so on, but this is a film notable for its sense of calm despite the violence (safe for work) that it contains.

It tells the story of a gun for hire who wants to settle down.  In order to do that successfully he must follow the orders of the local sheriff and track down a bank robber who has taken the bank manager's daughter hostage.  So far so straightforward but the young gun (marvellously and enigmatically played by Gregory Lee Kenyon, above, perhaps a Clint Eastwood for the twenty first century?) has a secret and one which he wants to protect.

Gregory Lee Kenyon already has quite a following in the fantasy film fan community, due to his leading role in the movie Ancanar.  He has also appeared in the Zombie short Texas Fortune and The Ore, a science fiction film.  So you see, there is a Kuriositas conenction after all.  No space ships on his resume yet, but nobody's perfect.

Character driven and beautifully shot, The Damage Done premiered at the 2010 DVX WESTFEST, where it won 1st Place. If you haven't heard of Rainfall Films, then where have you been?  Based in Los Angeles, the production company focuses on high concepts and low budgets.  Currently they are working on several feature films and produce TV, film and new media content to boot.