Category: Lookit!

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Event

Attend: ‘Museum of Chance’, a photo-book release

Singh’s photographic sequence of her own work ‘Go Away Closer’ is titled ‘Chance’ and opens for public viewing in Mumbai.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Dayanita Singh’s Museum of Chance (2014) is a book about how life unfolds, and asks to be recorded and edited, along and off the axis of time. The inscrutably woven photographic sequence of Singh’s Go Away Closer has now grown into a labyrinth of connections and correspondences. The thread through this novel-like web of happenings is that elusive entity called Chance. It is Chance that seems to disperse as well as gather fragments or clusters of experience, creating a form of simultaneity that is realized in the idea and matter of the book, with its interlaced or parallel timelines and patterns of recurrence and return. “While I was in London I dreamed that I was on a boat on the Thames,” Singh writes in the book’s epigraph, “which took me to the Anandmayee Ma ashram in Varanasi. I climbed the stairs and found I had entered the hotel in Devigarh. At a certain time I tried to leave the fort but could not find a door. Finally I climbed out through a window and I was in the moss garden in Kyoto.”

The 88 quadratone images in the book also appear on the front and back covers in random pairs, transforming each copy of the book into a distinct piece of work by the author. ‘’Exhibitions come and go,” Singh says in an interview, “but what remains is the book’’. Each copy of Museum of Chance, therefore, is mass-produced as well as unique because of the random combination of images on its front and back covers and the different colored cloth covers. Moving away from showing editioned prints framed on the wall, Singh makes the book itself the art object, to be valued, looked at and read as such, rather than being regarded as a gathering of photographic reproductions. Infact the Book in its special structure is the work, as were  her silver gelatin prints, and the images inside could be seen as the catalogue of this exhibition of the 88 book covers.

One of the finest photographic artists in the world, Dayanita Singh has always seen herself as a bookmaker working with photography. She has published several mass produced artist books in the course of her career like Go Away Closer (2007), Sent a Letter (2008), Blue Book (2009), Dream Villa (2010), Dayanita Singh (2010), House of Love (2011) and File Room (2013), among others. She has also presented her work in several solo and group exhibitions like Go Away Closer, a solo exhibition at Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2014); Dayanita Singh, a solo exhibition at the Art Institute, Chicago (2014); A group exhibition in the German Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale; Indian Highway, a touring group exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London; Astrup Museum, Oslo (2009); Privacy, a solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2003).

During the opening today, November 6, 2014, Singh will make available the very first of her limited edition of the Book object. She will also individualise them during the opening. The limited edition of the book object, in an edition of 352, costs Rs 9,000 and is only available through her.

It is the same object as you will see on the wall (the book, Museum of Chance, in a specially-made wooden structure to install it on the wall). So in a sense, you can carry part of the exhibition home.

Head to Galerie Max Mueller, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai, Kalaghoda, Mumbai on Thursday, November 6, at 6.30 pm. The exhibition is on till December 10, 2014.

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Listen

The Arne Jensen Trio and the Jazz workshop

True School of Music is hosting a free jazz workshop today featuring the Arne Jensen Trio. Register to get seats.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Lovers of jazz music are thrilled with the news that the Arne Jensen Trio – comprising Arne Jensen on the guitar, Eric Schaefer on the drums and Andreas Edelmann on bass – are performing in Mumbai later this week. They will be even more thrilled to know about a workshop the trio will take today in Mumbai.

The True School of Music will play host to the trio as they take a workshop from 2 pm to 6 pm today. The workshop will deal with Jazz/Rock-Improvisation/Rhythm Section and the following:

– Scales/Arpeggios, Motivic Improvisation, Motivic Development (Repetition/ Diminuation -Augmentation)

– Phrasing/Dynamic/Accentuation/How to play a melody

– Communication/Interaction in the Rhythm Section

– Comping/Thematic Comping

– Recording/Listening/Analysis

– Basic orchestration in jazz drumming)

– Playing with time (On the beat/behind the beat/in front of the beat)

Register for the workshop by emailing contact@trueschool.in or call 022 66243200. The True School of Music is located at 107, opposite Hanuman Temple, Sun Mill Compound, near Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400013. 

(Picture courtesy www.arnejansen.com)

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Do

Send your child to this football camp

Experienced coaches will train children aged between 5 and 10 years in this four month long football camp in Borivali.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The importance of sports in daily life cannot be underlined enough. Unfortunately, several parents don’t actively encourage their children to take up a sport.

However, football is slowly gaining prominence in the minds of parents, especially with the launch of the recent football league. Now, very young boys and girls are showing an interest and aptitude for the sport.

The Vintage Football Club in IC Colony, Borivali, has been catering to a large population of young children and teenaged footballers in the area for several years now. Prominent among its activities is the free training imparted to the children living in the Ganpat Patil Nagar slums close by. Says Conrad Pinto, one of the coaches attached to the Club, “Football is a sport that inculcates discipline, team work, solidarity and utmost fitness. We hope many more children will take up the sport in the days to come.”

In keeping with their several programmes promoting the sport, the Club is hosting a four-month football camp for children aged between five to 10 years at the ground. Titled ‘Grassroots Football Programme’, the camp starts today and enrollment for the same was opened last week to a very good response. The camp will take place between November 3, 2014 to February 27, 2014.

“The camp will be taken in the evening hours, every day from Monday to Friday,” Conrad explains. “Children in this age group are free in the evenings, and their time can be productively utilised in learning to play football.” The camp costs Rs 4,500 for four months or Rs 1,200 per month, with Rs 500 charged extra for the child’s uniform. “We are not admitting very young children as of now, because they might fall and get hurt. Broadly, we are looking at enrolling Standard I to IV for the camp.” Underprivileged children will be trained free of cost. “All children have to arranged for their own shin pads and football boots,” Conrad says.

The Vintage Football Club is located near Bhakti Complex, IC Extension, Link Road, Kandarpada, Dahisar (W). Call Neel on +91-98208 20297 for details. 

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Tech

Review: Oppo N1 Mini

Android phones are getting smaller and smaller with each passing day. Oppo’s N1 Mini joins the bandwagon, but not very convincingly.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

Coming up with small-sized devices seems to be the trend in the Android space for quite a few months. We have seen HTC, Samsung and now Oppo launching small variants of their previous flagships, but so far only Sony has been able to nail the concept. Many companies are unable to match the experience in their small package, citing price as the factor. Oppo’s N1 mini is the company’s latest smartphone that is touted, as per the name, the N1’s variant for those who want a smaller device. Let’s see how good this phone is.

Oppo’s N1 mini (N5111) looks and feels a lot similar to the original N1. With dual silver linings running across the frame, thick bezels around the screen, rounded edges, and smooth plastic back, the phone feels decent to hold, even for large hands. With a swivelling camera module on the top and a curved bottom, there’s enough to say it’s the N1’s less-than-behemoth variant.

The swivelling module also houses the two sensors, but there’s no LED notification on the phone, something that became standard on Android phones long time back. The three navigation buttons – Menu (Options), Home and Back – get illuminated when pressed, but are not too bright.

Coming to the bottom, you have the loudspeakers, microUSB port and 3.5 mm headset connector all neatly placed. The right side panel has the volume rockers; while the Power/ Lock button is located on the other side. Even though this is a ‘mini’ phone, it is hard to see it being a relatively compact phone and that has lot to do with the phone’s thick bezels. Oh, and our unit is a unique mint colour, which looks nice.

The phone boasts a 5-inch (1280 x 720) LCD that is the USP of being smaller from the 5.9-inch one the N1 has. The screen is actually really bright with good colour contrast and viewing angles. You will mostly struggle to use it under sunlight, unless switched to the highest brightness, but on the other hand, it’s capable to be used for watching HD videos, playing games.

Talking about the phone’s battery life, the 2.140 mAh battery unit the phone comes with is, if used moderately, can last about 20 hours, but when used heavily, struggles to power the screen. You can stretch it to a day if not used for watching videos, playing music, or by using the in-built Power-saving mode, but battery life was short of being impressive.

Regarding the audio quality, the loudspeakers at the bottom are quite loud and punchy for videos and even games, provided you are okay with the placement while holding the phone in landscape orientation. Similarly, the N1 mini’s in-ear quality with the bundled headsets is also satisfactory. People used to bundled headsets should find the quality to be pretty good.

The phone’s 13 MP (f/2.0) camera is another of its USPs. Its swivelling mechanism is smooth to use and doesn’t feel like it will break anytime soon. Here are a few sample images

As you can see, the phone can take good photos. Though it struggles in low-light and close up photos, you can take decent shots in daylight. The native camera app is also similar as before and is simple to use and work around. You can try HDR, which works well, but the camera at times struggles to focus properly. For those taking lots of selfies, this camera should be more than capable.

Call quality and network reception on the phone are top-notch. There’s no trouble with these basics throughout my usage, with no network issues, strange call drops or call’s sound.

Connectivity options – WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS – all work without a glitch.

The phone is powered by a Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 SoC along with 2 GB RAM. It runs on Android 4.3 with Oppo’s own Color OS 1.4 on top. It is a bit disappointing that the phone is yet to get upgraded to Android 4.4 despite it being out for months, plus, there’s no official word of when the phone is expected to be updated.

The overall look and feel of the OS is very similar to what we had on the N1 and Find 7. With the O-Click accessory and a few gestures we have already seen on the company’s previous phones, the company tries to stand apart, but doesn’t really succeed in doing so. At times, your gestures come in the way of usual navigation and get annoying when not required. The phone is no slouch, however. It can handle games and high quality videos well, with almost no lags or stuttering while going in between apps or switching between them. The OS feels polished, smooth to use and is definitely a strong point for Oppo. The company has surely done a great job with its Color OS, and it continues to show with the N1 mini. With two Home screens by default and separate panes for images and for when you have your headsets plugged in, you can edit and customize them just like any other Android phone.

In conclusion, the N1 mini has two shortcomings – its high price (over Rs 26,000) relative to other phones today and its outdated software. On the other hand, its camera, screen and performance are on course. If only Oppo gives the phone its deserving software update and maybe a needed price cut, this could then only be a very competitive smartphone in the Indian market.

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Event

Dan Brown’s coming to lecture in Mumbai

‘The Da Vinci Code’s bestselling author will present a lecture for fans at the NCPA in November. Registrations open today.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

He captured the world’s imagination with his edge-of-the-seat thrillers The Da Vinci Code, Angels And Demons and Inferno, and now, Mumbai will get to meet the author of these bestselling books, Dan Brown.

Dan is set to visit Mumbai and meet his fans in November 2014, at a lecture event organised by Crossword Bookstores. This will be Dan’s maiden visit to India, and he will be present for the Penguin Annual Lecture series. One of the most prestigious cultural events of the year, the Penguin Annual Lecture series features some of the world’s most respected leaders, thinkers and writers. It is the first annual lecture to be organised by a publishing house in India and has become one of the most prestigious cultural events on the calendar.

The five previous Penguin Annual Lectures have been delivered by journalist and writer Thomas Friedman in 2007, diplomat and writer Chris Patten in 2008, Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen in 2009, eminent historian Ramachandra Guha in 2010 and renowned spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2011.

Announcing the event yesterday, Kinjal Shah, CEO, Crossword said, “We are delighted to be hosting the lecture by Dan Brown. He is one of the finest international authors and we are happy that Crossword is one of the few bookstores to organise an event of this scale for his Indian readers.”

The lecture will be held at NCPA on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 at 7 pm. However, registration for tickets begins today, October 29, 2014 at Crossword Stores across Mumbai. 

(Picture courtesystatic.guim.co.uk)

Categories
Tech

This just in: A smartphone for senior citizens

Mitashi launches Play Senior Friend, a smartphone for senior citizens priced Rs 4,999 and addressing the age group’s basic needs.
by Manik Kakra | @Manik_K on Twitter

Mitashi has launched a new phone named the ‘Play Senior Friend’, which is aimed at senior citizens. The phone is equipped with an SOS button in case of an emergency to contact the user’s trusted contact quickly and coloured icons for those who can’t read small text.

The Play Senior Friend sports a 4-inch LCD IPS and has dual cameras for taking pictures and making video calls. It runs on Android 4.4 with Mitashi’s own custom skin for convenient usage by senior users.

“A detailed market research done by us suggested that the senior generation, while being largely technophobic, is also looking at their grandkids engaging actively on Android platform and definitely want to get into the bandwagon – all they need is a little push!” said Adnan Chara, Vice President (Gaming, Toys and Telecom) Mitashi Edutainment Pvt. Ltd. “Research also indicated that current generation smartphone users were guilt-conscious while using a high priced smartphone for themselves because their parents and grandparents at home were still active on a low priced feature or bar phone. Thus we thought of addressing the need of a smartphone exclusively made keeping their needs in mind,” he added.

This phone is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor along with 512 MB of RAM. It has 4 GB of on-board storage, which can be expanded using a microSD card. There’s FM Radio, Bluetooth and microUSB for connectivity. The phone comes in a different kind of see-through packaging that allows you to look at the box’s contents before opening it. The phone has been priced at Rs 4,999.

What do you think of this device? Will it serve the purpose for senior citizens? Tell us in the comments section below.

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