Burj Khalifa Window Cleaning

Burj Khalifa opened on this day three years ago. I have not yet stepped inside or been to the observation deck. I've never felt the need to go inside, I'm happy to it from a distance. 

But here's a clip that gives you a closer look at the building. BBC's Supersized Earth recently featured a segment about Burj Khalifa and how the world's highest windows get cleaned. It takes three months to clean all 24,000 windows. 

I had a knot in my stomach watching this video. Hats off to the brave men who do this job everyday.

 

 



www.burjkhalifa.ae

Diving off the Burj

Not sure how I missed this, but I just watched the Visa Go World commercial featuring US Olympics Diver David Boudia "diving" off the Burj Khalifa, you know, the tallest building in the world.

Not sure if I was so engrossed watching the Olympics on TV that made me miss this during its over 3 million views online. Anyway, if you missed it too, here it is: 

Visa Olympics London 2012: David Boudia Team Visa Athlete Commercial - Very High Dive

 

David Boudia makes over 25,000 practice dives a year; which is like diving off the tallest building in the world over 180 times. All of the practice is in anticipation of the one perfect dive when the lights are shining brightest at the London 2012 Olympic Games. See if practice makes perfect and follow David's journey. 

 
But this isn't the first commercial depicting a dive scene off an iconic building in Dubai. Burj Al Arab's Leave the Ordinary Behind was released last year. Here it is: 

Burj Al Arab - Leave the Ordinary Behind

 

In this spot our hero is seen walking out onto the Al Muntaha restaurant atop the Burj Al Arab and then performing a high dive, twisting as he goes we step in and out of the hotel highlighting it's beautiful architecture both inside and out.

So there you have it, we have not one, but two commercials with dive scenes off two iconic buildings in Dubai (btw, in case you don't know, "burj" is the Arabic word for "tower").  

Dubai: An Elephant In The Room by Shortfuse Film

Shortfuse Film is a Beirut based trio of filmmaker friends that include Ghayyan Al Amine, Karim Koleilat and Tony H Khoury. 

Our films attempt to capture the intricacies and nuanced beauties of this great city and the lives that dwell in it or away from it, while exploring and experimenting with diverse forms of media that mirror our fluctuating lives and identities.

 

I was intrigued by the title of this video. As for the video itself, it feels like a hurried snapshot of Dubai and with the appearance of Burj Khalifa, it it some sort of a punchline, a statement of what Dubai is all about? Let me know your thoughts.

 

  

www.shortfusefilm.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/ShortfuseFilm

Film Screening - Empire II

In 1964, Andy Warhol and Jonas Mekas made Empire, a silent black and white film that lacks a traditional narrative or characters. The passage from daylight to darkness is the film's only plot in this 8 hours and 5 minutes long film - with the protagonist played by the iconic building that was the tallest in New York City and the world, The Empire State Building. 

Fast forward to 2010, a sequel an homage, Empire II was made by David Payton, Lohra Ydna and Andre Orione. Filmed on July 27th, 2010 from 6.35pm till 12.02am, this version is in colour and with sound, but just like the 1964 film, its only narrative is the tracking of time from daylight to night fall and starring today's world tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. 

Empire II will be screened on Monday 4th July at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai’s cinema and will continue to be screened everyday (except on evenings when other films are scheduled to be screened) throughout the month July between 6.35pm and 12.02am (the same hours it was filmed). 

The screening is organised by Brusselssprout*, a curatorial magazine on emergent art published from Dubai that aims to become an open, independent and alternative platform offering free content related to the artistic and cultural world. Brusselssprout's Editor-in-Chief Ignacio Gomez and filmmaker Camille Mallat will introduce the film and Empire II. 

So much has changed since 1964 and I am curious to know why Empire II was made, its relevance to today's audience and what could this film mean in the future. I am also curious to see if there will be anyone interested to sit through the entire film. I doubt I will sit through the whole thing.  

The original Empire was recently screened at the Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures exhibiton in MoMA that ran from 19th December 2010 till 21st March 2011. Listen to this interview with Jonas Mekas who recalls the making of Empire with Andy Warhol and talks about the planning of the shoot, the set up, the premiere screening and the response they got. He ends by saying,  

Don't expect anthing from it. Just relax and permit it to come into your eyes and just look at it with no expectations. Then you will enjoy it. 

* About Brusselssprout
Brusselssprout is a curatorial magazine on emergent art published from Dubai and aims to become an open, independent and alternative platform offering free content related to the artistic and cultural world. It strives, with the help of the curatorial endeavors of artists and projects that can contribute a different layer to the ever more monopolized and homogenized artistic scene. The first three issues set up a Dubai Manifesto by chapters: Dubai Manifesto 1/3 “The Game is not over”, Manifesto 2/3 “Renovating Dreamlands” and Dubai Manifesto 3/3 “Graphic Encyclopedia”. You can download all three issues here. 

Event details
Date and timings:
Launch event on 4th July, 7.30pm (the film will be screened daily from 6.35pm till 12.03am, except on nights when other films are scheduled).

Venue:
The Pavilion Downtown Dubai, Emaar Boulevard, Downtown Dubai (location map)

Phone: +971 4 447 7025
Free entry

www.brusselssprout.org 
www.pavilion.ae
www.jonasmekasfilms.com
www.warholstars.org

A party for a very tall building

On 4th Jan, almost all of Dubai and most of the world watched the opening ceremony of Burj Dubai (renamed that same evening to Burj Khalifa).

Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time and ended up on the new park at the base of the Burj. It was where the VIPs and invited guests were seated, but they also let other people in, mostly residents from the neighbourhood, one of whom I was accompanying. So after we got in we found beanbags to sit on, made ourselves comfortable and waited for the party to start. I felt like we had the best seats in the house.

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