Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category
Be sure to set aside some time to swing by the Obama offices on Wednesdays or Thursdays through May 29 to volunteer some time. Wednesdays and Thursdays Obamathons Our goal is to identify as many potential Obama supporters as we can and ask them to vote early. We had a good turnout last night. Hope some of you can join us there tonight. You are welcome to stay for as many (or as few) hours as you can spare. Feel free to bring a friend, and make it a fun, social event. First Obama Volunteers Meeting/Get Together Meet fellow volunteers who are working in the campus area and help us strategize how best to get out the Obama vote in your neighborhood. This get together will also provide an opportunity to explore different ways you can volunteer for the Obama campaign. Again, feel free to bring a friend. Tags: 59801, activism, community
The only CD I ever checked out of a library that I never returned was “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts”, the David Byrne/Brian Eno collaboration. (After many overdue notices arriving in the mail, I went down to the library, told them I’d lost the item, and paid for it. they now have another copy in their stacks). I loved MLITBOG for a lot of reasons, the layered sounds, the samples, the beats, the moods that it created. At the time, I was already familiar with David Byrne’s solo work as well as his work with The Talking Heads, but I had only heard about Eno. Since then, I’ve come to love Eno and his work with a variety of other musicians, including his production work with Devo, Talking Heads, Jane Sieberry (now Issa, who, like Reznor, gives her music away for free) and especially James and the “Laid” and “Wah-Wah” albums. Eno, the “non-musician”, is most known for his prolific catalogue of ambient music, including the fantastic “Music for Airports”, as well as being an amazing record producer and contributor to such movies as David Lynch’s “Dune”.
Eno has always been fascinated by technology and how to twist and bend it for his own purposes. He’s experimented with generative music, music that composes itself, and has branched out into visual art as well, creating a computer game that generates a possible 77 million paintings, chosen by Eno himself. He is currently working on the soundtrack for the multi-player game Spore, “that allows a player to control the evolution of a species from its beginnings as a multi cellular organism, through development as a sapient and social land-walking creature, to levels of interstellar exploration as a spacefaring culture.” [Wikipedia]. I’m here to make the case that Trent Reznor is the new Brian Eno.
Reznor got his start in Cleveland creating what would become Pretty Hate Machine by himself after-hours at the Right Track Studio where he worked as an assistant engineer and janitor. He became proficient at manipulating sounds and bending technology to his own purposes as well, just as Eno learned to do. He’s produced many record albums, including a handful for Marilyn Manson, as well as the phenomenal “Natural Born Killers” soundtrack and the “Lost Highway” soundtrack. His subtle contribution to Tori Amos’ “Past the Mission” on her “Under the Pink” album showed how quiet he could be when he needed to be. It was also the first time I can remember hearing him sing quietly while someone else took the spotlight. Reznor’s original music from id Software’s video game “Quake” was long one of my favorite ambient pieces of music to load into iTunes when I needed to get some work done and didn’t want to be disturbed. He expanded his fascination with technology and its possibilities with the release of “Year Zero” and its companion alternate reality websites/reality game and subsequent user-submitted art in 2007. Eno once predicted that music would one day become user-modifiable constructs, and imagined a day when future generations would look at past generations in wonder, asking in wonder, “you mean you listened to the same music over and over?”. Reznor took that idea and ran with it, releasing “The Hand that Feeds” from his dismal “With Teeth” 2005 release as a multi-track Garage Band download that fans could get for free and remix as they pleased. His newest release “Ghosts I-IV”, was released in a variety of formats, including a free torrent seeded by NIN itself. “Ghosts” was released as with a Creative Commons license (no copyright), and Reznor announced yesterday that the tracks can be used to participate in a NIN sponsored film festival on You Tube. Talk about user generated content. The album itself is supurb. I’d love to hear Eno’s thoughts on it. Those of you who haven’t hear it, go grab it at NIN’s official site and give it a listen for yourself. Grab the torrent if you’re familiar with the technology. “Ghosts” ranges from smooth and quiet piano to the heavy muddy guitar and keyboard laden layers we’ve come to expect from Reznor. I’m looking forward to what people come up with, and might even make a contribution myself if I can find some time along with everything else I have going on. NIN Ghosts Film Festival on YouTube .. Tags: alternative, art, artist, artists, arts, call to artists, community, creativecommons, creativity, experiment, festival, film, inspiration, internet, music
I’m still recovering from the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and promise I’ll be reviewing the films here soon. In the meantime, in the spirit of documentaries and creativity, I wanted to share a video I found recently. Regular readers know that I am interested in street art and graffiti. I’m also interested in the imperminance of art. And, ultimately, I’m interested in making art for art’s sake. But, we live in a capitalist society, right? And Shakespeare’s got to get paid, son, so I try to make affordable art.
The video is a documentary created by Ana Alvarez-Errecalde and FILMCHICK PRODUCTIONS about Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, a street artist that creates huge murals of familiar figures in the neighborhood. Then, after creating them, they slowly vanish over time. Beautiful.
The Agents had a constant presence. The seemed to be everywhere at once. They reminded us of an ambiguous “constant threat”, and spoke in urgent tones, always careful to be painfully polite, thanking us for our cooperation as they herded us from one space to the next. “Why do the questions never change? Why are you asking yourself the same questions? What is your purpose? Where do you want to end up? Why do you think you are different than them? Why is it always about you? “Am I different?” Two women and a man stand imposingly over another man, who is seated. The seated man holds his head in his hands and is having a monologue with himself, asking questions about himself, his purpose. The questions are influenced by the barking interrogation of the three standing above him, one holding a harsh light over him. The seated man is dressed as a young professional, while the three who relentlessly question him, interrupting each other, creating confusion, creating a heightened sense of anxiety in the man. The evening built up to this point quickly, as Agents dressed in black, wearing dark sunglasses and earbuds ominously in place walked hurriedly and confidently throughout the gallery space, snapping instructions at guests, informing us that we must “clear the area” and “move along” but without telling us why. And no one asked why. Some of us knew what was transpiring that night at the Missoula Art Museum, others did not, but the feeling of fear and intimidation was very real. The interrogation lasted only a few minutes before the crowd was dispersed and the Agents cleared the gallery space again. They reconvened in the lobby of the gallery. One began reciting the First Amendment very loudly, while others whistled Yankee Doodle Dandy over top of his commanding voice. It all felt very Brave New World or 1984. Immediately after all of the heaviness and orchestrated confusion, the sunglasses came off, the red clown noses appeared, and the gathered were invited into a performance of Peace, Joy and Celebration. A strip of cloth descended from the ceiling, and the crowd was invited to “grab on”, as we were led, by members of the OFA, into the performance space. The performance space was warm and welcoming, featuring a backdrop created by Jonathan Marquis and Adelaide Every, The Fabric of Our Lives, an abstract quilt of assembled fabric gathered from the Missoula community. Pennies on the Ground - song and improvised structure by Catlin Hill “no window open, no lamp lit, no light switch, no ladder up no rug down, no pans laughin, no kettles cryin, no pennies on the ground” Heidi Junkersfield opened the performance by teaching us how to sing these words together, binding us as an impromptu micro-community within the larger community of Missoula for the evening’s performance. We sang these lines together in almost a chant before Jill Beauchesne performed a poem accompanied by Hill on violin and Nathan Zavalney on guitar while Anya Cloud played off of Beauchense’ words in a beautiful interpretive dance. The piece, Red Hawk on the Power Line, used familiar geographic imagery from Missoula’s North Side neighborhood to convey a sense of place and loneliness in the individual mind. I think. Sometimes I don’t “get” poetry, but I like the feel of it anyway. Dakini Mind - conceived by Junkersfield and Penelope Baquero “You are not balanced enough!” One woman shouts at the other. They are two halves of the individual self, battling it out for us to see. One, recites a litany of intentions that hold no weight because they are not backed up with action. Intentions of change, of becoming a better person, of wanting to be good in the struggle of daily life. It’s a familiar internal struggle that many of us have, and can lead to depression or redemption. We are eternally at odds with ourselves, and the two women in the spotlight shine a harsh light on our internal struggles by acting it out for us. But there are glimpses of harmony within this dissonance, as they danced together, embracing each other tenderly, before violently pushing each other away. The piece was an “exploration of three feminine mystical beings — Kali, Pachamama and Dakini” that included enough humor to allow the viewer to acknowledge seeing himself within the piece and encourage him to keep up the fight, to not give up. Dakini Mind finishes with Junkersfield running in place, talking out loud, trying to convince herself that she has it together, that she is strong. And then Baquero delivers the punchline: “I’m strong and I’m not even running.”
The Manual - collaborative piece created by the male members of OFA The Magician is introduced to us, and is a cocky, confident young man. He is shown, by our colorful host, Mark Morante, the true path to manhood is Rock and Roll, and is deluded by the images projected onto the screen that this is his True Destiny. As the lights come up, and the images fade, he discovers a guitar in his hands. He begins to play it, writes a quick song, and the loud music kicks in. He Rawks Out. He keeps Rawking Out, until he is revealed to be a sham by a playful clown who shows him that the microphone into which he is “singing” is unplugged. The Lover, then, is brainwashed into believing that in order to be a Man he must regal the women with his tenderness, virility and charm. He chooses a woman at random from the crowd and begins to dance with her to Prince’s “Purple Rain”, but is ultimately distracted by the appearance of a mirror, which he takes, dropping the woman, dancing with his own reflection. The Warrior then comes to the stage and watches propaganda on the screen which convinces him that to be a Real Man, he must Make The Ultimate Sacrifice and become a Soldier. The clowns return, this time somberly, carrying his dead body from the stage. Finally, The Politician arrives, eager, hopeful and self-assured. After he is shown images on the screen of “great leaders”, he stands up and begins schmoozing and pumping the hands of his devoted, but, then, sadly, begins accepting graft from the Clown Lobbyists and he too is led from the stage. So what is the answer? How can one be a True Man? Peace. The screen flickers images of peaceful protests, anti-war messages as a beautiful cover of John Lennon’s Imagine plays. (Anyone who was there know who sang this?) All of the OFA are now on the stage dancing together, with recognizable elements from Tai Chi and yoga infused into the dance. The OpenField Artists is an Interdisciplinary art collective which uses dance, theater, spoken word, music, video and visual art to explore themes such as Myth, Cultural Identity, and Consumption. Through experimentation, improvisation and the presentation of original works, they create experiences that involve the public in a variety of ways. OFA:
I’ve written about The Open Field Artists before. You’ll have another opportunity to see them this week at Artini, at the Missoula Art Musuem starting at 5.30PM. From their email invite: “There will be 13 of us presenting at Artini this coming Thursday the 15th. We have been preparing for this since summer. There will be improv throughout the space as well as set pieces up in the Native American Art Gallery. Adelade and Jonathan have created hanging structures which will also be in the space. Our first show is from 5:30-7pm. Then a talk from the visiting artist until 7:30. Then again we have another show from 7:30-8:30. We will have a brief talk-balk opportunity from 8:30-8:50. Peace…and always…Muchas Gracias Words Used for the Creation of Works for MAM’s November Artini: revolution. community. oppression. freedom. revolution. Secret Agents will watching the space, the people. The public should be prepared for questioning. Revolutionary clowns appear with a Technicolor Dragon which will lead humanity toward a further acceptance of self inside-of-other! Perhaps we are connected (Earth). Perhaps we should being doing more. Perhaps…Listening, Questioning, Celebrating. The OpenField Artists is an Interdisciplinary art collective which uses dance, theatre, spoken word, music, video and visual art to explore themes such as Myth, Cultural Identity, and Consumption. Through experimentation, improvisation and the presentation of original works, they create experiences that involve the public in a variety of ways. OFA:
We Are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be. “You were Superman last time,” my cousin said to me as the sunlight streamed through the open screen window, letting in the summer warmth. “But I don’t WANT to be Batman this time,” I said, knowing that choosing the right character was half the fun. Who wanted to be a guy who ran most places and had to drive in a car to get anywhere? I wanted to fly. And so it went, when we were kids, pretending. We always chose carefully and pretended with everything we had. That’s one of the ways I came to be an artist. I pretended I was one. I never had any training. I’ve always wanted to be an artist, since I was a kid. I tried to pursue it in college, but for one reason or another, it didn’t work out. Then, one day, I decided, Hell yes, I’m an artist. And one thing that artists do, besides make art, is have shows. So I started having shows. The first year I showed was back in Ohio, and I showed only once, at a local coffee shop. From there, after arriving in Missoula, I showed only once the first year I was here, and I wasn’t even present for the opening — I was on the road. Upon my return, I showed officially only once that year. Then, I had access to framing tools and a place to frame, a studio of my own, and I went crazy. I had four shows in 2006, with different original work for each show. I sold enough work last year to pay my rent four months in a row, which was good because my dayjob couldn’t figure out a way to make payroll in a timely fashion, but that’s another story best told over beers. For a while, now, I’ve had dayjobs that either are unfulfilling, or pay little. The one I currently have is so mentally draining and morale is so low among the troops as to be unhealthy. Something’s got to give. Someday everything will be beautiful, nothing will hurt. Not sure how to make that happen yet, but am starting to think of myself as a Professional Artist. I guess I have been thinking of myself that way for a while. Does that mean that the art that I make pays the bills? No. And for now, that’s OK. I’d like to build towards that. In the meantime, the dayjob, at least the one I have now, is a means to an end. I’ll continue to pretend I am a professional artist, sans the training, sans the consistant paycheck, and I will become him. So it goes. What do you pretend to be? What do you want to pretend to be? Tags: art, howto, revitalize, workingman
I don’t remember his name, and I can’t find the comic online. Can anyone help me figure out the artist’s name and point me in the direction of the comic if it’s available online? Let me know in the comments. Thanks. Tags: art, comic
Feeling uninspired? Think your work is shit? Want someone to tell you how great you are? Fear not, young artist. Let a Hot Intern (or any number of other folks) stroke your ego for a few minutes between brilliant projects.
Beautiful animated documentary of a creative spirit. |
