Damn it. He is straying into politics again.

Joshua Tree National Park - 2009

I've been reading the news, blogs of friends, observing life and am getting a bit depressed by the culture wars, government intrusions, war, greed, environmental destruction, and other issue.  It feels like we are headed to a boiling point.

I've tried to keep politics out of this blog since I reinvented it unless the issues related to art and photography.  Today I make an exception... or not.  All this world drama will affect every aspect of life, including art.  I wonder where it is all leading to.

The fundamentalist Christians may think we are heading into the end times.  The liberals are worried that the Tea Party will set back the social institutions to an equivalent of Afghanistan under the Taliban, but with a corporate Christian domination.  The libertarians are up in arms about airport scans.  The  moderates are feeling left behind by all sides.

Last night I was talking about the last Star Trek movie with a friend and mentioned a few things about how San Francisco changes between now and the 23rd century.  My friend asked, "Will they be watching Star Trek at that time?"  My answer was, yes, but it will be called the news.  The earth in Star Trek is a pretty great place when Romulans or Klingons aren't causing problems.  All of the world is a happy globe.

I then thought about history.  I bet there is no time in history when drama was not happening and will probably be the same in the 23rd century as well.   It just feels more intense right now.

I also looked back at the history from 1930-1990.  I came to an interesting conclusion.  All of the stuff happening in the 1950s and early 1960s lead to the tumultuous late 1960s and through the era of malaise in the end of the 1970s.  The country had the New Deal Democrats in the 1930s and 1940s. We then had the McCarthy/Eisenhower era of the 1950s that lead to the Goldwater conservatives of the early 1960s.  We then had Camelot cut short and went to the moon and Vietnam.  The country went up in smoke as the baby boomers boomed.  They changed our world for better and for worse (more for the better, but not all was good).  The dark events of the McCarthy era, the Vietnam War, civil rights, gender equity, and many other issues were building to boiling points and that generation acted out.   The country needed a catalyst to get to that time where cultural rebellion sprung up from all areas.

I think we are in that time again, but it is going to be harder than the 1970s.  The traditional American culture was not ready for the youth rebellion during those years.  They were not able to defend the status quo and so the impact of those movements still live today.  The problem we face now is that the opposition learns from prior failures and evolves (or intelligently designs) into a different entity. 

Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Paul Rand, and many younger conservatives are succeeding at whipping up a fury of energy for their cause that the 1960s and 1970s status quo couldn't.  I think they are ahead of the progressives at this moment in creating a movement.  The conservatives are brilliant at building up their empire while the progressives are complacent.  Reagan and the GOP were brilliant at this and after coming into power in 1980, they were able to sweep aside so much of the liberal agenda.  Clinton tried to make a few changes, but the strong GOP made him a moderate president overall.  Bush 2 was headed toward a similar fate.  He was a mentally week president that could not muster up support for the GOP agenda... until September 11th.  On that date, the GOP gained enough political clout to ram their agenda though again.  They didn't use protests.  They used corporate power backed by government to do their bidding. 

Once President Obama* came into office, the GOP saw they needed to squelch the new "progressives".  The "progressives" that brought Obama into the Oval Office were only concerned with electing him, and not what he or the true progressives wanted to achieve**.  Once he got there, his star faded and celebrity washed away.  The "progressives" that elected him were content in getting him there and grew complacent and the Tea Party came into being.  They stirred up the fear and hate base with the simple message of "No Obama".  They have nothing on their agenda except that, but that is enough to keep their base fired up and to put Palin in contention for 2012.  They have all age groups and are slowly growing their ethnic bases.  I believe we may be seeing their equivalent of the liberal uprisings of the 1960s and 1970s.

I also believe the progressives are much better at stirring this type of energy faster and broader than the conservatives.   The next two to four years will be the tipping point for whether we will be free or corporate Christian America will be reigning over us.

We are building up for another culture war in our country.  It is going to be harder, dirtier, and worse than the 1930s, 1960s-1970s, and Reagans 1980s.  Both sides are media savvy, smart, idyllic, and unwilling to compromise.   We might think we are on the correct side of the war, but they think they are too. 

*I voted for Clinton in the 2008 primaries and I voted for Obama in the general election.  He is a brilliant man, cares for our country, and does not make rash decisions.  He was also hesitant to make the hard decisions and follow through on tough issues while he had control of the two houses and the White House, like Bush did.  I know the Tea Party would have risen up against Clinton if she had won, but I think she would be better at fighting back.  We need a smart, scrappy President, not a contemplative, thoughtful one.  That is a sad statement, but a true one in my opinion.

** It is obvious that many of Obama's supporters wanted him in office, but were not true progressives, at least in California.  How could we elect him and still pass Prop 8, banning gay marriage?  Many Americans supporting Obama didn't care about what he and the party wanted to accomplish.  The "supporters" wanted a handsome celebrity minority president and to finally pat itself on the back for being post-racial.  Sadly, this became evident in these midterm elections when his broad 2008 base ignored him by not voting and didn't support the important changes he, and the Democrats needed to make.  They may have doomed him to being a one term president by focusing on him rather than what he believes in and could do with true support.

"It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business."

Movie still - The Godfather

It's not personal, Sonny. It's strictly business. - Michael Corleone to Sonny - The Godfather (see movie clip below)

When in doubt, take it personally - Ollie

Nobody really gives a fuck about you, it is up to you to make your art important.
Don't go against your intuition.
Two choices in life - doing it or becoming bullshit.
 - Duane Michals

I need to tip-toe around this topic since some of the parties involved may read this.  I recently heard of a photo project that some acquaintances completed. A few of the key people in it knew I had a strong history with very similar projects, especially with this subject, material and theme.  I know they've seen my work and it is as good as the stuff I've seen from the project.  For some reason though no one thought to tell me about it or ask me to join.

At first I was furious.  How dare they do something they know I have done in the past and have very strong work to contribute.  Are they running a good old boys/girls club on this?  Did I alienate myself from their group?  How could they forget me?

After stewing on this perceived slight, I went to the final meeting of my NYC travel group to choose the final photos for our book and exhibition/gallery showing.  We each put up our top two or three dozen images and had to narrow it down to six for the book and three for the exhibit (the book and exhibit could overlap).  I had four themes for my photos, Sex in the City, On the Sidewalks, In the Museums, and The Usual Suspects (The usual sights of the city.)  Our instructor, Ron, facilitated the redaction exercise.  We went as a group and chose the final six and three for each person.  The individual photographer had a major say concerning his/her own choices, but we had to look at it as a complete book of 16 photographers and how all the photos would work together.

We came to my images second and they were ruthless.  Ron and others were saying things like:
"This one doesn't interest me. "
"Cliche."
"No point to this photo"
"This doesn't say anything about NYC."

I got quiet and softly said, "Ouch."  Ron then said, "Look, we want the best book we can make.  The critique and selection process is hard, but that is how it is.  If you ever hear art and photo directors for magazines and books during their selection process, it is ruthless.  If you are looking at getting an MFA, you had better get used to this type of moment, because it will be 100 times tougher and happen all the time."

We got down to my final six images.  I was hurt that a few others were not selected, but see how these six work together and were actually some of my favorites from the beginning.  It hurt, but it worked.  From that moment on though, I chose to be ruthless in my opinions of the others' work if I felt it did not live up to what should be their six best.  It's strictly business getting the best book.  It isn't personal.

That is the rub though.  Art is personal.  When others critique and pull out my favorite photos, it feels like they are ripping a part of me out as well.  In my cold rational mind, I understand appreciate the role of redaction in selecting a body of work.  I wrote two long posts about it in July.

In that instant, I learned two things that lead to a tie-in to the original issue.

1. Redaction is crucial.  Only the best should be shown.
2. If I am going to go into this for a new career, I need to get a thicker skin and be able to defend my work better when presenting it.

Movie Videos & Movie Scenes at MOVIECLIPS.com 
After thinking about those two lessons, I looked at our group photo from the trip taken with the great photographer Duane Michals and I remembered his wise words.
 
Nobody really gives a fuck about you, it is up to you to make your art important.
This quote truly applies to the art world and business.  No one gives a fuck about me, my work, and how I feel about it.  We wanted the best book.  The images chosen from my group may not be all my best, but they work best for the book.

The same goes true for the acquaintance who did not bother to ask me to participate in her project.  In all likelihood, she forgot about me or if she had thought of me, I didn't have the cache, history, portfolio, and prior body of work to part of her project.   It probably was business on that decision, and personal friendships should not have any part of business.  She and her peers are not in business to do me a favor unless I can offer them something back of value as well.   In other words, they really don't give a fuck about me.

Now what I have to figure out is how I can be included in the next project and find out why I wasn't considered for this one.  From that I will learn and be ready for future opportunities.  It may not be with them, and it may be a better one.

Don't go against your intuition.
I had obviously chosen the final 6 photos as part of the larger group I presented.  Some part of me told me to include them and the rational part of me knew that any 6 could have been chosen.  The final 6 are good and I am proud of them.  My intuition was right.


My intuition about my work that is very similar, and probably in the same league or better than the stuff I've seen in the project I was not included in tells me they missed an opportunity for some great stuff of mine.  That is my fault for not putting myself out their more, not theirs.   In a way, it is their loss, but not really.   My work is probably meant to be somewhere else and they got what they wanted.

I know what is good of my work.  Nobody else gives a fuck about it or me, unless I get out there with it and force them to look at it.  Most will say no.  A few will say yes.  The important thing to remember is: It's not personal, [Karl]. It's strictly business.  That is how I will view your role with my work as well.  You are just business when it comes to my art.



Two choices in life - doing it or becoming bullshit.
That pretty much sums up the other two quotes.  I just have to do it.  Everything else is bullshit.

SPECIAL NOTE: Thanks to Ron and crew for the great trip, experiences and for the creative project.  We created some good stuff.  By the way, I do give a fuck about your stuff.

Be careful of your thoughts...

The Cage

Be careful of your thoughts; they may become words at any moment. --Ira Gassen

Maybe that is why I like photography.  I put out the image of my thoughts, you provide your own words for it.  


"Words are very unnecessary.  They can only do harm." 

This video is haunting to watch.  The song is great, but the setting and location and the shooting in bright, smoggy daylight gives me chills to watch.





Words like violence
Break the silence
Come crashing in
Into my little world
Painful to me
Pierce right through me
Can't you understand
Oh my little girl

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Vows are spoken
To be broken
Feelings are intense
Words are trivial
Pleasures remain
So does the pain
Words are meaningless
And forgettable

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

Enjoy the silence

Speaking in Another's Voice or Even My Own

LH - 040810 - C

Who gets to write or create other forms of art outside of their own demographic groups?  Can I write a story about a woman, or an Asian immigrant, or a any other person other than a white male?

A dozen years ago my wife and I read She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.  It is a first-person story of woman from childhood through mid-life.  My wife asked, "Why do male authors writing through a female character always focus so much on their period?"

I thought about it and offered up that men often process visual and physical information and the period is a physical female characteristic.  It is also something we have no first-hand knowledge about so it is a curiosity we want to explore through writing.  These authors often go into detail about the physical manifestations of female arousal as well by including descriptions of wetness and nipple hardness.  I am guessing it is again the physical things we see, but have not experienced.  Few male authors go into the feelings behind these physical items and events.

My wife responded that focusing on these events from a man's view lowers the credibility of the author's writing and character development.  I agreed.

Kathryn Stockett's book, The Help,  takes place in the South during the civil rights movement.  Many of the characters are black housemaids and domestic servants.  Most critics and readers praise the book, but some feel that a white woman can not and should not write in and for the voice of the black woman since she is not of that background and is at best waxing nostalgic and worst writing in a condescending or patronizing way about these issues.

LH - 040810 -DeSC

Dr. L wrote an interesting movie review of The Hurt Locker which is the Oscar winning story of a US ordinance disposal group in the Iraq.  In her review she wrote about how the female director's telling of the story made this movie unique:

"Bigelow handles this grim subject matter with a woman's sensitivity and attention to the smallest details. The story is told by the images - a fly on the eyelashes of a sniper, the defiant faces of people in the street, a peddler of pornographic DVDs set up in a marketplace next to a butcher displaying sides of meat, bright wires spread out like a spiderweb to a ring of deadly explosives. "

and

"I will argue that only a woman's eye could have given us this film"

I've read criticism of The Hurt Locker from ordinance disposal veterans and soldiers stating the themes were sensationalized, hokey, preachy, or off mark.  Some of these criticisms may stem from having to make an entertaining movie and some due to the political views and focus of the director and story.  Should a woman tell the story of men in war?  If yes, why is that acceptable?



So, with all of these opinions and criticisms, when is it acceptable to write or create art in a non-native voice?  Even if the quality of the product is lauded, some may feel it is not right since the creator can not correctly produce work since she/he is not part of that community. 

I find this challenge to acceptance very challenging in my art  due to being a white male.  When I tried to create something from a different voice, I received the criticism listed above.  When I created something from my own voice that has erotic or nude content, I've been challenged that my work exhibits the (white) male's gaze.  It is part of the dominant culture's work, so it is not new and  perpetuate white male dominance in culture or even repress the voices and objectify other groups.

LH - 040810 -BW

In a recent discussion/portfolio review, a female artist showed her work consisting of an erotic nature.  Some of her work was similar to mine and other male photographers work I've seen.    I showed some of my photos of Candace and received reviews and criticism.  I am open to how others view my work because art is a subjective personal experience.  I appreciated the interpretations.  I had to ask though, why is Victoria's photos of similar themes accepted differently than mine?  The answer was because I am a man and my motivation and message was different than hers due to my gender (which I do not argue against).  That is probably true, but why is my art criticized as being of less value?  No direct answer was given, but being part of the dominant cultural voice (white male), my work is not innovative for my background and hers is.

Can I create art that comes from my artistic voice even though that voice is of an unpopular majority member?  I was told if I continue with these streams of art during an MFA program, I would be challenged and have a difficult educational journey.  I could create art with environmental, economic, bends with little problem since they tend to be gender/race free.  I could try creating erotic art with a queer theme, but would be challenged since I am not gay.  My acceptable themes appear to be much narrower than other groups' since the history of white men have spoken enough about them.

So what?  Maybe it is time to create the "unacceptable."  Isn't that part of the purpose of art is to push what is acceptable or even break it?  If a woman wants to make a war movie, she should go for it and create the best she can.  If I want to create art that is either outside of who I am or deeply inside my identity, I can do it because that is the art I need to make.  It may not have an audience now, or never that appreciates it, but that is not my purpose for creating it.  Sometimes art is naive and needs to grow up to be relevant.  Sometimes it is the world that needs to grow up and stop limiting thoughts of old issues in order to appreciate the art.

Epiphany

Natures Graveyard

Sierra Foothills

Epiphany (feeling) - An epiphany (from the ancient Greek "ἐπιφάνεια", epiphaneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”) is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger) essence or meaning of something...   ...for example, Albert Einstein was struck as a young child by being given a compass, and realising that some unseen force in space was making it move.               Wikipedia

As I've written in previous posts, I attended the Society for Photographic Educators conference last year in Oakhurst, California.  My mentor, coach, friend, and former instructor, Beth,  drove me along the the three hour drive home.  We stopped a few times to photograph the beautiful California foothills of the Sierras.

During these stops we would get out and spend some time taking photos of something, each going our own way.   Each stop was a moment to be with the area and find something special to capture.  After a sensed appropriate amount of time, we would return to the car by some artistic homing beacon that told us it was time to move on.

 Sierra Foothills

After the last stop we started to discuss where we wanted our art to go.  I was thinking of the big project I want to start in grad school exploring masculine roles and stereotypes.  A few minutes into the discussion I told her, "When I get some time, I want to do an art project for me.  I want to take a few weeks to photograph the area of Montana where the plains meet the Rocky Mountain front.  That area is very personal to me."

Beth was quiet for a second and then said, "Karl, all your art should be for you."

Most artists will think that is an elementary/cliche bit of artistic wisdom that is pretty obvious, but it was something I had never thought of before and needed to learn.  She gave me a gift of an artistic epiphany.  Thanks Beth.

 Sierra Foothills - Real Colors

Empty Again in Wise Poverty - Sabbatical

 "Time, time, time, see what's become of me"
Hazy Shade of Winter - Paul Simon

 The Lucky Poor 

A beech tree in winter, white
Intricacies unconcealed
Against sky blue and billowed
Clouds, carries in his emptiness
Ripeness: sap ready to rise
On signal, buds alert to burst
To leaf. And then after a season
Of summer a lean ring to remember
The lush fulfilled promises.
Empty again in wise poverty
That let's the reaching branches stretch
A millimetre more towards heaven,
The bole expand ever so slightly
And push roots into the firm
Foundation, lucky to be leafless:
Deciduous reminder to let it go

- Eugene Peterson

It is time to do the spring cleaning in all parts of my world.  The backyard is a mess.  The dust bunnies have multiplied out of control under our bed.  The back porch needs to be painted.  My garage studio needs to come down.  My spirit needs to be purged of the cobwebs that catch useless things floating about in my existence.  It is time to reboot myself, not in a formal religious cleansing of grace, but a deep scrub of who I am and until it is raw and allowed to heal in the open air.  It is time to be Empty again in Wise Poverty.

A few posts ago I mentioned this blog needs a restart, reboot, renovation, or just a simple removal.  I am going to be on break for a bit.  It is time to revamp this old blog by painting the walls, hanging new art, and sprucing up the window treatments.  It is also time to take all the photos down as clickable links to enlarged images.  I need to protect my photos.  Thanks to Dr. L, Alex, and Stephen for that tip.

While I am away on sabbatical, check out the great blogs listed on the right side of this page.  You can also mine my old posts for a few juicy nuggets.  I may post an update or image every once in a while during the break, but I need to renovate and protect this blog and myself.

If I spent an average of thirty minutes for each of the 330 posts, then I've dedicated about 165 hours of writing and many more to getting images ready.  With all that work I put into this baby, I really need to take better care of it so that both you and I get what we need out of it.  For me, a chance to voice my thoughts, ideas, feelings, emotions, experiences, and desires .  For you, hopefully you will find something interesting, humorous, arousing, inspiring, thought provoking, arousing (I really like that word), or just pretty to look at.

To all my blog readers out there, please share the title from one or some of your favorite posts from this blog via the comments section.  I will update this post with links to them.  For blog authors, please feel free to put a link to your site, blog, MM profile, or whatever you feel should be linked to via the comments section.  I will also update this post with those active links.

Greatest hits as requested by readers/bloggers
Proust Questionnaires
Rome
Men Take the Light
Galicia
Hasta luego mi amigos. 

Sing me out Simon and Garfunkel


Hazy Shade of Winter
Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hear the salvation army band
Down by the riverside, it's bound to be a better ride
Than what you've got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hope should pass away
It's simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, it's the springtime of my life

Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won't you stop and remember me
At any convenient time
Funny how my memory slips while looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime

I look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground...

Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground...

Look around, leaves are brown
There's a patch of snow on the ground... 



One more thing... I am not taking a break from reading my favorite blogs.  I need to read those now more than ever.  They help guide me in ways that are hard to describe.

Getting to know you... um... I mean me.

 41

To paraphrase the Beatles, "I heard it was my birthday."  41.  It is a quiet birthday filled with warm wishes from many friends.  Thanks to all in blog world and Facebook who sent birthday messages.  I also want to thank UL from What We Saw Today for her birthday wishes on that fine blog.

Candace - 030910

A birthday gift to me with this photo... I love it

In honor of me, (feels kind of selfish, but its my birthday so I don't feel too bad)  here are my answers to my questionnaire. 

1. What is your favorite word? Sensual
2. What is your least favorite word? Hopeless
3. What turns you on? Getting to use all five senses.
4. What turns you off? Arrogance - nobody is that good.
5. What sound or noise do you love? A romantic moan or the wind rushing through trees. They are equal. Interesting how both involve the movement of air in a special way.
6. What sound or noise do you hate? Mosquito buzzing by my ear while trying to sleep in my tent.
7. What is your favorite curse word? Ah fuck me...
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Photography teacher
9. What profession would you not like to do? Crime scene clean up.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? "Surprised?"
11. What is your idea of perfect happiness? A simple trip (anywhere in the world) with a sensual beauty who loves being on both sides of a camera.
12. What is your greatest fear? Not doing what I need to do in this life.
13. Which historical figure do you most identify with? The composer Percy Granger. Everybody thought one thing about him based on his public life, but he lived a completely separate one in private.
14. Which living person do you most admire? Virgin empire founder, Richard Branson. He has grabbed life by the balls and is living a rich life that is pretty damn responsible as well.
15. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Starting too many things and not finishing enough of them.
16. What is the trait you most deplore in others? People who only see complex issues in black and white or right and wrong.
17. What is your greatest extravagance? Cameras, a Hasselblad and a Nikon D700 and all their peripheral equipment are my latest ones, but I do use them heavily.
18. On what occasion do you lie? When it would spare someone's feelings or when the lie will not hurt anyone and is more expedient than dealing with the truth.
19. What do you dislike most about your appearance? I am not fixated on it too much, maybe a little less weight, a little more hair... actually I would like a better wardrobe.
20. When and where were you happiest? Watching the aurora borealis outside of my Billings, MT home when I was a kid. They usually appeared early on the coldest mornings. My mom would wake everyone up to go see them. The silence of them dancing in the northern sky with their green shimmers still gives me peace.
21. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I'd be a bit more determined on the harder things.
22. If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? Instilling the desire to go for it and to appreciate that desire in others.
23. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Haven't created it yet and don't give a damn if I do. Once you have created that, what else is there to do with life.
24. If you died and came back as a person or thing what do you think it would be? As either a woman or a tree in a park. Both would give me enlightenment on what life means.
25. What is your most treasured possession? My senses.
26. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Hopelessness induced by other humans.
27. Who are your heroes in real life? Dr. L, Z, Mrs, Joe, Beth, Terrell, my wife, and Renee.
28. What is it that you most dislike? Having to entertain large groups that I don't really have an interest in for multiple days.
29. How would you like to die? Without knowing it happened.
30. What is your motto? Heh... how about that. (As a statement, not a questions). NOTE I typed this a few weeks ago. Since that time, my new motto is, "In 100 years there will be all new people." We need to live our lives with keeping that in mind.

The Big Sky State

Evening in Lavina, MT

Alpha

I was not born there, but I grew up there not far from where this photo was taken.

I've been in correspondence with Joe from What We Saw Today.  We both shared some memories of Montana and places we both visited.  It got me to thinking of the Big Sky State.

I have just about every emotion and feeling for that state.  I love it, hate it, fear it, miss it, adore it, envy it, lust for it, and have been hurt by it.  These feelings are for both the people and the land.

I am in love with Montana . . . Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans."    Norman Maclean - A River Runs Through It

Here are a few of my photos of it. 

Top of the World

My Life
Duck Lake Road - Rocky Mountain Front - Montana

Evening at Many Glacier - Glacier National Park

 

Sunset on the Cold Yellowstone

Dusk and Seeley Swan Range

Bear Grass - Glacier National Park

Logan Pass - Glacier National Park

A Little Too Comfortable with People - Marmot

 

Glacial Grandeur

  

Evening in Lavina Fading to Black

Omega

Escape Around Alcatraz

 WEST 030310

I am not in a writin' mood, but I want to share a few photo.  These photos are from my bus ride into work this morning.  We are living through an el niño year in California ,which means lots of rain.  In the first photo you can see the edge of the storm in the distance, past the Golden Gate Bridge.

Alcatraz is in the middle of both of these photos, just from 90 degree different views.  It kind of looks small.  I bet it felt small living on it.

North 030310

Bob Dylan and Paul Simon - The Sound of Silence, Live

Interesting to hear Paul try to harmonize with someone other than Art.  This version has a great country depressing sound thanks to Bob.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turn my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools," said I, "you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sound of silence

Percieving Art - a really long one... beware

 

Katie 022110 - Negative Neighbor 1

After reading a very elequont and well written articles by Dr. L. over at What We Saw Today about the future of art, I got to thinking about the relationship between perceiving art personally and how we learn as individuals.   We all perceive things differently and that affects how appreciate create and learn.  How will our ability to perceive art in the future define what art will become? 

One learning theory emphasizes the different types of learners and trying to meet their needs. According to Howard Gardner, people learn best through one or more methods of interaction with the subject.  Gardner came up with a list of eight multiple intelligences with a couple more to consider as additional avenues.  The big eight are:

1. Bodily- kinesthetic - learning better by involving muscular movement (e.g. getting up and moving around into the learning experience), and are generally good at physical activities such as sports or dance.
2. Interpersonal -  people who have a high interpersonal intelligence tend to be extroverts, characterized by their sensitivity to others' moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group.
3. Verbal - linguistic - People with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words along with dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking.
4. Logical - mathematical - While it is often assumed that those with this intelligence naturally excel in mathematics, chess, computer programming and other logical or numerical activities, a more accurate definition places emphasis on traditional mathematical ability and more reasoning capabilities, abstract patterns of recognition, scientific thinking and investigation, and the ability to perform complex calculations.
5. Interpersonal - People with intrapersonal intelligence are intuitive and typically introverted. They are skillful at deciphering their own feelings and motivations.
6. Visual - spatial - People with strong visual-spatial intelligence are typically very good at visualizing and mentally manipulating objects. They have a strong visual memory and are often artistically inclined.
7. Musical - Those who have a high level of musical-rhythmic intelligence display greater sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones, and music. They normally have good pitch and are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music. Since there is a strong auditory component to this intelligence, those who are strongest in it may learn best via lecture.
8. Naturalistic - This area has to do with nurturing and relating information to one's natural environment.  Those with it are said to have greater sensitivity to nature and their place within it, the ability to nurture and grow things, and greater ease in caring for, taming and interacting with animals. They may also be able to discern changes in weather or similar fluctuations in their natural surroundings. They are also good at recognizing and classifying different species. They must connect a new experience with prior knowledge to truly learn something new.

 -Wikipedia

I would say I perceive things best using my visual - spatial and musical intelligences with a touch of the naturalistic as well.  I also recognize times when the other ones work for me, but these are my key ways I perceive and create things. 

Katie 022110 - Negative Neighbor 2

 

How we perceive art is as deeply personal as how we experience food, sex, attraction, revulsion, and any other life experience, different strokes for different folks.  Can you tell me what blue looks like?  You can list examples of blue things, elaborate on how it makes you feel, and even tell me which wavelengths in the visual spectrum are assigned to the blue hues.  Thankfully art is easier to discuss how we perceive it, but I know your explanation of your perceptions of art contain only a small amount of what you experienced, felt, and interpreted into them.

The visual-still arts are the most concrete to describe and elaborate on.  You can spend time with the piece to interpret it for your own consumption.  Your eyes can gaze on each part as long as needed.  If you can touch it, then you can touch it as long as needed as well.  For some art, a second is only needed, for other art, a lifetime.  What I appreciate about this form is that I can come back to it and digest bits of the piece or the whole thing as I need to.   This type of art has a very slow temporal life, limited by the length of the show, life of the viewer, or the decomposition, fading, or erosion of the piece.  Last month I saw the Pantheon in Rome.  It will probably be there the next time I see it.  It will be around after me and has been around for thousands of years before me.

Performance/moving art with a visual component is the next most concrete.  You are absorbing sight, sound, movement, action and other sensations to form your own version of the narrative.  With all this though, it is temporal.  The dancer's move, the actor's line, and the dialogue are gone after they are performed.  Only our memory (or a rewind button) allows us to experience it again.  During that instant though, our visual and auditory worlds have to be open to receive all the information we are going to get.  We are living in the temporal existence of the piece.

Music is the most abstract, for me.  I play music, love it and try to have it around me all the time.  It has some similarities to visual moving/performance art.  The temporal existence is a challenge since it lasts only as long as the note is held.  When the music stops, the perceiving time is done.  We are left only with our memories and feelings created by the music to create an interpretation.  A challenge unique to music and other auditory arts is the lack of all senses involved other than hearing.  I can't use anything other than my ears to capture what happened.

I love both listening and playing this piece - the tuba line is the best at  5:17 to 6:48 - I  get chills hearing and playing that part.


Another challenge with instrumental music (and dance) is the lack of words.  Everything exists in a temporal moment and demands the audience to truly make their own interpretation of the moment.  Music with lyrics may be abstract, but by listening to the words and how they flow with the music, I can get a deeper sense of the creator's message.

Flamenco music and dance flow with a passion that always stirs my heart, loin and spirit.  It can be inspire and heartbreaking all at once.


With all the above said, I have to go back to Dr. L's post.

Art is real. Its essence cannot be conveyed by pixels. The story of its time and place and purpose and moment resides in its physical package, the medium.

and

This is serious business if we come to accept a virtual gallery as a primary venue to show any kind of art. Nad's words "quickly forgotten" tell us all we need to know. We are not talking about just the end of literature. We are talking about the end.

I can see her point, but don't feel it is as widespread or absolute as may be feared.  If all art becomes an online gallery, it will be the death of art.  That wont happen though.  Viewing live sports events on location is still a preferred experience over watching it live on TV.  The televised version is probably closer to the action than the person in the stands, but experiencing it live is truly a richer experience.  Overall, I think people will always prefer the real thing to the recorded/digital version.

I think the impact of the internet on art, and any other form of communication and information, is similar to the printing press and the first recorded sounds.  Before printed words, all books were hand-written and most stories were passed down through oral traditions.  Before recorded sound, all music was experienced by live performers.  The temporal moment made it a cherished treat.  Within one minute, I can listen to pretty much any audio thing I want because of the ease of the internet.  While I may enjoy hearing Bach or Bachman Turner Overdrive through my computer speakers, listening to the real thing live is much better.  Seeing Ansel Adams Moonrise Over Hernandez on my screen reminds me of when I saw a real print of it, but since I don't have $40,000 to buy one, the virtual experience is better than none.

In considering the future of art, we always need to look at the technologies available to the artist.  Early photography was not considered art.  To make it more artistic, the pictorial photographer tried to emulate painted art.

Pictorialism largely subscribed to the idea that art photography needed to emulate the painting and etching of the time. Most of these pictures were black & white or sepia-toned. Among the methods used were soft focus, special filters and lens coatings, heavy manipulation in the darkroom, and exotic printing processes

Wikipedia

Along came Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, and many other photographers stating, "bullshit" to the idea that photography had to emulate other arts of the time.  They defined a new genre of art that emphasized contrast, tonality, and clarity of image.  They created the concept or philosophy of the fine art print. In a previous post I wrote about a digital photography pioneer who challenging the concept that the traditional fine print is truly the only fine art photograph.  In the future, we may look back at the fine prints created by film photographers as garish, over-saturated, and with too much contrast.  Who sees true black in the real world?

It took some time and now photography is widely accepted and appreciated as an art form.  Very few cutting-edge artists exploring new media will have their art considered seriously in their lifetime.  This is the challenge of the new artists who is inventing the new art.

In the future, there will be new types of art that solely live in the digital world.  They may have no tactile, permanent existence. They will only be exhibited, performed, and created in the digital world of electrons and pixels.  We will only be able to absorb it through the machine that it lives in and puts it out onto the device we use to interact with it.  That same device may be what we use for communication, making lists, and doing our taxes.  Like music, they may be temporal and live only within one sense.   It may become something like a holographic universe that we absorb virtually through a connection to a computer.  Imagine if you could create a piece of art that a person could truly enter and be surrounded by to experience it.

Candace Nirvana 022110

All of this does not mean the death of art as we know it.  As Dr. L stated:

In the beginning was NOT the word, despite what we've been told. In the beginning was the image - those we saw before our eyes, and those we filed inside our heads.

Humans have been transferring images to walls for thousands of years.  We have been banging things together to create music and dance to a rhythm.  The piano, while made with better materials and engineering, is basically the same as the first pianofortes from centuries ago.  Every time a new form of art or technology/technique in art is created, we must make one of five choices, ignore it, accept it, accept parts of it and use it with the old methods, alter it for something even newer, or try to destroy it for all others.  There is some music I can barely consider music, so I ignore it or avoid it.  I've accepted using a digital camera.  I want to try making silver prints from digital negatives.  I would love to try taking digital photographs of my thoughts someday and push the format further.  I will always speak out about art that promotes hatred and persecution like many speak out about the nude art we create as dangerous.

In conclusion, humans will always need to create art and to experience it in whatever way is best for the individual.  Some will be tactile, or aural, or visual, or a mix of all the senses and types of intelligence.  Some will be using methods we can not fathom yet and others will be using the oldest techniques of art, a simple smudge on a flat surface.  Art is not going to die from new methods of exhibitions.  If it dies, it will be from others suppressing the artist's ability to make it.

To be... Cognoscor Ergo Sum

How many pointless Twitter/Facebook updates do you get that say something like, "Had great dinner at Wendy's, now a beer."? I hate those. I am also guilty of writing a few as well.

Above is a little clip from the Colbert Report commenting on online social networking. Is the only reason we play on Facebook, My Space, write blogs, and Twitter is to be known?

"Cognoscor Ergo Sum - I am known, therefore I am."

At what point am I sharing stuff just so people know that I exist? Am I afraid that I am such an insignificant dot that I must wave my hands and publish all this stuff about myself so I have meaning?

The answers are complicated. I write, create art, and do most everything I do for myself. I appreciate comments, praise and criticism, but it is mostly for me. I hope my stuff entertains, pleases, angers, and makes others think. I guess that is the boundary point then. There is a part of me that plays on these social networking sites to draw attention to my existence, but I also do it to hopefully give my audience something of value. I hope my audience gets a nugget to think about, an image to ponder on, or something to chuckle about.

I guess my intent then is both self serving and hopefully of service. That is like most things we do in our existence. We do them because we all get something out of it.

Travel, Travails, Trevi and The Sweet Life

Original Movie Poster

If you did not read a post of mine from a few weeks ago, you missed the reason I am in Rome. On top of getting to enjoy the great sights, eating wonderful food and seeing beauty in both art and human form, I have to work. Today was the first day of a conference on global compliance laws for pharmaceuticals. It was about as dull as dust. To be honest, I don't know why they had to fly all of us to Rome for something we could have met in New Jersey for. That would have saved money and the environment a bit of wear and tear since most of us came from San Francisco or the greater New York area.

Toward the end of the seventh hour, I looked longingly outside and saw the rain had stopped. We got out an hour later. I ran up to my room, grabbed my camera, guide book scarf, coat, and map and headed out. I wanted to see the Trevi Fountain again. My visual taste of it yesterday was not enough.

Fontana di Trevi

According to my guide book, Rome Encounter by the Lonely Planet, they say of the Trevi Fountain:

Rococo extravaganza Trevi Foutain (Fontana di Trevi) was immortalized by Anita Ekberg's midnight dip in La Vita Dolce. Designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732, it depicts Neptune's chariot being led by Tritons with sea horses - one wild, one docile - representing the various moods of the sea.

Docile

I think the various moods of the sea horses symbolize the conflict in all humans. We are broken docile animals that society makes of us as we shuffle about our daily chores of pulling others' chariots, but many of us still have wild desires, needs, anger, and passions that tear at us to live again.

Wild

According to local lore, if a visitor tosses a one coin into the fountain, they will return to Rome. Tossing in two coins will bring a new romance. Tossing in three coins will bring a marriage or a divorce. I wonder what I have in my pocket.

As you can tell by the scale of the fountain, it isn't subtle. It is bold, in your face, maybe even gaudy and goddamn I love it. I love it when art can be big, balls out and unavoidable. Screw being subtle for all art. Sometimes you just have to make a spectacle that draws a blond beauty to go splashing about in its waters as it did in La Vita Dolce.

Below is the famous scene from La Vita Dolce. It is a stunning piece. Both actors are beautiful and give a brief taste of a time that died away before I was born. Now that I just watched this scene again, it is interesting how she baptizes him just moments before they almost kiss. How transgressive is that? She is taking the role of a priest (baptism) to cleanse him before that sensual (and to some, sinful) moment.



Sadly, my Rome Roamin' is slowing down to tiny half hour excursions until this conference ends.

The Boxer, Then and Now

Mollee 011610

My mom wore out three Bridge Over Troubled Water albums by Simon and Garfunkel. She loves that album. I know every song by heart, even the ones I don't like (So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright). I spent many hot summer days listening to that album with my mom as I read. Each song has meaning to me.

As a kid, my favorite was Cecilia due to its eccentric instruments and rhythms. I liked it even more when I hit puberty and understood the lyrics, I had figured out why he was washing his face -

Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom (making love)
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed
Someone's taken my place

As I got older, I really liked Keep the Costumer Satisfied because of the massive brass section. In my mind, songs with "big brass ones" are the tops for instrumentation. You can listen to it here. The brass kicks in during the last half of the song.

In college, I listened to The Boxer's lyrics for the first time. One part really spoke to me.

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

If you listen to the original recoding, Simon and Garfunkel sing "cut" with staccato clipping it short so the listener feels the punch the boxer just suffered. That was the point when I learned that articulation of words can add so much meaning to the message. It made me listen to music differently. I wanted to hear how Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner, Pink Floyd, Al Green, Pavarati, and many other vocalists said the words so they had more meaning.

I also felt that verse of the song spoke to me since we all "carry all the reminders of ev'ry glove laid him down or cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame." What college student doesn't feel they are a failure in school, socially, physically, psychologically at some point?

In my thirties, this verse spoke to me.

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

All I will say, when haven't we taken some comfort in places we are not too proud of visiting. I do declare.

Yesterday, I wanted to listen The Boxer again. I found a 2003 version of it from a S & G performance on David Letterman. The video is at the bottom. Once you get past the interview, the music starts at 2:00. Part way through, I heard a new (to me) verse.

Now the years are rolling by me
And they rock uneasily
And I am older than I once was
And younger than I'll be. That's not unusual.
No, it isn't strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

That pretty much sums up a mid-life crisis. As pitiful and cliche as a mid-life crisis is, those lyrics are speaking to me and I am listening. I am not going to dwell on them too much longer, but they are important now.

I've listened to this "new" verse a dozen times now and found out a bit about it through wikipedia. It was not included on the original Bridge Over Troubled Water album.



The Boxer by Paul Simon and performed with Art Garfunkel

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Lie la lie ...

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Lie la lie ...
Now the years are rolling by me And they rock uneasily And I am older than I once was And younger than I'll be. That's not unusual. No, it isn't strange After changes upon changes We are more or less the same After changes we are more or less the same

Lie la lie ...

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Bleeding me, going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains

Lie la lie ...

On David Lettermen




The original

x
One final note, it is good to hear S&G still have golden harmonies. They still give goose bumps with their beauty.

The Power of 10

High Desert - Town of Yucca Valley Outside of Joshua Tree National Park, C A

In middle school I had to watch a short movie called Powers of Ten. It is a short science movie about how small things are and how far away things get when you move closer or away from a subject at multiples of 10. You can see the movie below via Youtube.



At the SPE West conference last fall, one of the artists, Nigel Poor talked about her need to use counting, categorizing and cataloging stuff as a basis for her art. One of her projects was The Relative Value of Things. In this project, she cataloged things she was discarding, donating, etc. in an effort to reduce her clutter. The items were not garbage, but actual things she had been holding on to for future needs. She photographed the items as part of the catalog. In the effort she learned a lot about her own personal tastes, needs and history that can be told through what she had. I suggest you listen to her narration of the project on her website.

I am a lazy pack rat. I am not the type who walks past an old electric appliance, magazine, or other discarded or discounted item and think about all the things I can do with it, then stores it away to be forgotten. I am the type who, through living life, accumulates the daily detritis of magazines, books, tools, clothes, body weight, photographic equipment, mementos, and other stuff and is too lazy to cull the stuff to a manageable level. Over the past 40 years, that has piled up to be lots of stuff.

As a 2010 resolution I am going to steal her idea and mutate it into an introspective artistic project and a practical adventure in reducing. Every week, I am going to find 10 things to get rid of. Like Poor's project, they have to be things other than garbage. Things that come in groups will count as one item, like a box of 10 golf balls. I will give my friends opportunities to take them, or I will donate them to the local Goodwill, sell them at a garage sale, or throw them in the garbage or recycling bin.

Over time I want to see if I learn something about myself from the objects I caste off. I will take photos of the items to record all of them. What will it say about my habits, needs, perversions, desires, perceived needs, and tastes?

In the beginning, it will be hard to hold back from getting rid of more than 10 things at a time. I have so much stuff. That is where the power of 10 comes in. (Yes, I know I am not multiplying the number of objects by 10 (10, 100, 1000, 10000...) so it is not a mathematically correct name. ) The Power of 10 is that by 6 months, or 26 weeks, I will have gotten rid of 260 things. That is a lot. By the end of 2010, 520 things. It will be interesting.

It will also be interesting to see what I feel I can part with and what can not be culled out of my life. As I look around, I see many things screaming to go. First stop, my office.