Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Sunday, May 26, 2013

The Re-Mix Master

                            COMMONER                             

The living embodiment of collaboration: DJ Spooky.
Hip Hop sound artist DJ Spooky fuses music from all over

Paul Miller, a beret-wearing hip hop musician, is the living embodiment of collaboration. He performs and records as DJ Spooky (the name is taken from a character in William Burrough’s novel Nova Express). His CD remixes and deejay performances “steal” materials from every imaginable source—from Yoko Ono to Metallica to modern minimalist composer Steve Reich to Jamaican pop tunes of the ‘60s to D.W. Griffith’s movie “Birth of a Nation” to Pacific Island traditions.

But he has earned his eclecticism honestly. He travels constantly to music-making subcultures around the world, from indigenous people to electronic music undergrounds, from Antarctica to Angola to a New Year’s Eve party on the beaches of Rio—and then produces some thing “new.”

Miller deeply explores the philosophy and meaning of music sampling. This is reflected in the book Sound Unbound, an anthology of essays about music sampling by the likes of Sun Ra, Philip Glass, William Burroughs, and a few dozen others.

Miller points out the artificiality of “authorship” because in practice no one creates something entirely new. We are constantly borrowing from the past and from our peers, and then remixing it into something “new.” Why should the most recent individual “author” get all the credit for the work, as copyright law mandates?

Miller pointed out that societies that openly honor the re-use of works from the past are actually “keeping the past alive” through that re-use. New art becomes an ongoing conversation with our ancestors. By contrast, modern copyright-driven culture considers its past “dead,” which in a sense it is. We are impoverished by not being able to access the past freely and openly unless it is very old. Copyright terms are now the lifetime of an author plus seventy years.

(This fall DJ Spooky was a resident artist at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.)
—DAVID BOLLIER
Photo by Scott Beale under a Creative Commons license from flickr.com.

Editor: Another chapter in Celebrating the Commons: People Stories and Ideas for the New Year from Commons Magazine being presented each Sunday at EYNU.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Facing Our Own Mortality, Our Death


Obey, based on Chris Hedges' "Death of the Liberal Class." Facing my own mortality I select the artistic representation of Hedges' work as he says it better than I ever could.



Sadly, a quarrelsome crowd of so called community activists are trying to frame local politics as versions of the corrupt corporate power exposed in the clip. We have the good fortune of dedicated civil servants.  Their reward is character assassination via ideologues uninterested in real solutions or real dialog.  I have been too ill recently to take this on and it breaks my heart. We have very real and eminent corporate power to be fighting, to be monitoring, to be holding accountable. And, our most important goal of recruiting Encinitas citizens to engage in civic activities, to learn about our government and how to make our individual sills contribute to the public good?  How are we doing there?  The council is doing an incredible job.  The angry crowd is driving good people away. Community FAIL.

Friday, February 22, 2013

According to Mary: Anderson's Stationer's - Shop Local

Speaking of good people . . .

Artist Mary Fleener had this to say on her Facebook page,
"This week's cartoon for The Coast News: Every copy, every self published book of mine, and all the ink I've ever drawn with has come from this little shop since 1984."

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Haters Don't Lie, They Multiply (Return of the Little Hater)

On being creative, and the little voices that get inside your head and stop you from shining.

From Jay Smooth's Ill Doctrine where there is a huge collection of videos on the toughest of our culture's subjects most toxic lessons handled with great heart and insight. Little hater is Jay's term for self doubt.




Dedicated to all who are trying to creatively relate to the problems in the world we all share. Sometimes it is really hard. (Unlike the Pope or Palin, let's not quit.)


Thursday, February 14, 2013

Anouska Shankar to Encinitas and the World

Anouska Shankar tells of sexual abuse as a child in Encinitas on Democracy Now today. She also spells out why she is a part of one billion rising along with millions of others around the world.



Also a guest,
Eve Ensler, award-winning playwright and creator of “The Vagina Monologues” and of V-Day, a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. Today marks the movement’s 15th anniversary, and the culmination of the "One Billion Rising" campaign that was started months ago.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

True Spirit of the Commons - Flashmob


Video Notes: On the 130th anniversary of the founding of Banco Sabadell we wanted to pay homage to our city by means of the campaign "Som Sabadell" (We are Sabadell) . This is the flashmob that we arranged as a final culmination with the participation of 100 people from the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Lieder, Amics de l'Òpera and Coral Belles Arts choirs.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Ravi Shankar Died

Godfather of World Music, he is called in the headline. This world renowned artist chose lovely Encinitas as home. Just listening to the video below of Shankar and his also famous daughter, Anoushka, can transport a baby boomer back to the late 60's and early seventies.

 
Shankar and Harrison playing sitar in Rishikesh, India in 1968:



And The Guardian reports:

Shankar not only transcended culture, race and geography but also had no difficulty with the generation gap and the phenomenon of class. The children of the flower-power generation turned a deaf ear to their elders but listened most intently to the stranger on the shore.

Showered with citations and awards, the Indian republic made him a Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India) and Britain made him an honorary knight. In the US he received several doctorates and was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In later years he divided his time between Encinitas, California, and Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, where the Ravi Shankar Institute of Music and the Performing Arts, fully functional by 2003, was the culmination of his lifelong dream. Housed in an elegant pink granite building, it attracts students from all over the world.

He is survived by his second wife, Sukanya, and their daughter Anoushka who, diligently tutored by her father, is a well-known sitar player. He also leaves a daughter, Norah Jones, the Emmy award-winning singer, from an earlier relationship with the concert producer Sue Jones. Shubhendra, his son from his first marriage, predeceased him.


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Landfill Harmonic Orchestra

The film shows how trash and recycled materials can be transformed into beautiful sounding musical instruments, but more importantly, it brings witness to the transformation of precious human beings.

Landfill Harmonic is an upcoming feature-length documentary about a remarkable musical orchestra in Paraguay, where young musicians play instruments made from trash.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Perception Is Key

The science/art video below showing artist Juilian Hoeber's installation is a treat in its own right besides offering an apt metaphor for politics according to  Nicole Bell.
"Perception is key. And most humans walk around with skewed perceptions that actively reject evidence, just like walking through the tilted house. This, my friends, is a non-partisan issue. I'd like to be smug enough to believe that liberals are more open to revising our opinions in the face of new information, but sadly, I don't think it's so.

But I'm also keenly aware that many of our perceptions are colored by the way that the media frames issues for us. The country is in crisis...we're going to go off the fiscal cliff...entitlements are bankrupting us. None of those are the entire truth, just perceptions that color the truth." 


We are in the last two weeks and a couple days until this campaign season is over. How the media frames anything becomes critically important. How the city manager, the mayor and city staff frame issues become important. Perception is key.

Encinitas is home to so many talented individual in science and art. We'd like to explore this being used to shape our community in the years to come.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A Law We Don't Need



Where on earth did the city find this ancient purveyor of doom, gloom and dire risk? This codger came up with all the words the staff provided in the recommendation. The marathon city council meeting last night wrapped up before midnight with this useless agenda item: Recommendation from City Council Subcommittee on revisions to banners over Public Right-of-Way Program. 

The only thing worth waiting for was hearing truth from public speakers in this nine month delusional obsession of the mayor and majority to justify being - mean and uncaring towards Maggie Houlihan at her death and at every step along the way in rationalizing their behavior. It is sick-making but will have to come back one more time according to Glenn Sabine.  These are the clips to be proud of though. And congratulations to Teresa Barth and the speakers for getting much of the needless verbiage tossed out.

Note: You'll need to turn up volume on most of these.







 The nine months of wasting the taxpayers time, energy, money and good will is spelled out in this week's Myths Encinitas at Our Mayor.  Even if you disagree with the narrative, the actual council clips - accusations, outbursts, denials, truthiness and all - are within the actual footage.  We also link to the news articles and blog post comments. Judge for yourself.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Poetry Slam: Lisa Shaffer's Poem, Tony Kranz Thanks

Now I can share my original poem that I presented at the Blue Moon Poetry Slam tonight. So proud to be supporting the arts in spirit, with money, and by participating as a judge and a poet. There was some amazing talent tonight!

Encinitas 
by Lisa Shaffer

Encinitas, what a home
Inspired me to write a poem
‘Bout beaches, boards, bikinis, bikes,
Horses, dog parks, surfers, hikes.

Encinitas has it all
A property that belonged to Hall
A Fellowship of Self Realization
Peace, love, and meditation

Stop signs and space in Olivenhain
The Ranch – a community by design
In Cardiff people take a stand
Leucadia - funky is our brand

Historic downtown 101
Lots of bars and lots of fun.
New Encinitas – are you awake?
How many Walmarts will it take?

Running for Council, am I crazy?
Not a job for one who’s lazy.
Council manages our money.
Are we sure there’s nothing funny

Going on inside our City?
Politics is rarely pretty.
I’ll bring an ethical perspective,
Avoiding rudeness and invective.

Got no agenda, just want to serve.
I’m rising on the learning curve.
Vote Shaffer on November 6 -
An election you don’t want to miss.
___________________________________________

Message from Tony Kranz


Congratulations to all the poets that put their names in the popcorn bucket and took to the stage to perform. The finals produced the first-ever tie for the grand prize. The Cory vs. Rudy Bonus Poetry was epic.

Thanks to all who attended, and a special thanks to the Full Moon Poets Society, led by Danny Salzhandler, Swami Bruce Stephens and Jim Babwe. Encinitas is lucky to have them.

via FaceBook


Friday, August 31, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Arts Alive Banners Beloved; Stocks? Not So Much

Yet again, Jerome Stocks and James Bond tell their fabricated versions of the "Maggie Houlihan Image on the Arts Alive Banners" again.  In doing so Bond called Ian Thompson, Maggie's husband a jerk.  Stocks found this hilarious.

Dodi Crawford of DEMA and Danny Salzhandler of the 101 Artist Colony should never have to make pleas for something that is so beloved of a community just because of the arrogance and hubris of Jerome Stocks. At the August 22 meeting they both make clear they have never gotten anything from the council, they only create good things and follow all the rules.


And Jerome Stocks response? Stocks stared malevolently at someone, Danny Salzhandler?, or  someone else in the audience of half a dozen people while he made up a lot of excuses for disallowing banners of any kind for four months and stalling a few months more with a subcommittee.

Mayor Stocks: You are not the victim.  You are the perpetrator.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Quote of the Day


(Atlas Shrugged) is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.

Dorothy Parker


She may not have even said this.  It still is a really good line.  It is gross to read so much bilge about this execrable crap of a novel as though it has value beyond teenage identity explorations.  And besides this, Ayn Rand's sociopathic philosophy and her personal journal writing is/was seriously creepy.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Dancing with the World


After all of the crash course posts focused on the artificial world of finance for the past five days, the financial math contortions for tonight's special council meeting . . . a stimulating endeavor for the left brain functions, its time to shift.

Here is a respite steeped in the right brain functions swirling with the arts, the heart, humanity and deep emotion.

Where the Hell is Matt? "See with eyes, we're going to trip the light" . . . A new approach just released. Enjoy.


Have you followed Matt over the years?  He's been dancing for years.
As Abby Zimet reports,
Having badly "danced" his way through 100 countries, self-described deadbeat Matt Harding of Seattle has released his fourth "Where the Hell is Matt?" video with a key difference: From doing a goofy dance alone in iconic places, he has evolved to the collective act of dancing, from Egypt to Mongolia to Gaza to North Korea, with the people who live there. En route, he raises money for groups from Generation Rwanda to Haitian Relief to Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children. Intoxicating.

Humanity. We won't make it without it.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Streets from Kids Eye View



This weekend of music, sunshine, beach clean up and just walking around on the Leucadia portion of Highway 101 should be some fun.  It might be fun to imagine what it would be like without any cars.  That is exactly what the kindergarten children were asked in the following video.  What would you like to do if there were no cars?



And since Leucadia claim the distintion of Art and Soul. What if we joined with kids and painted the highway? Or at least all around the Roadside Park and Leucadia Blvd where it is so dangerous?

Friday, May 25, 2012

According to Mary: Never Give Up


Encinitas resident Mary Fleener, nationally recognized cartoonist and more, shares her view of city activists. Thank you, Mary. Check out Our Mayor blog for another cartoon according to Mary.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Street Art

Because of the traffic safety issue on the agenda this last week with a no action vote despite that staggering $146,000 spent to study a solution looking for a problem, the following guerilla street art came to mind. Thanks to Street Art Utopia for a soul satisfying glimpse of  imaginative solutions to real problems - communicated through art and acts of civil disobedience - volunteer activism.

 City Sanctioned Art
"The First Annual Encinitas Arts Festival will become reality on May 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Encinitas Community and Senior Center. Having coordinated Imagination Celebration of Orange County, a three-week-long arts festival held in 50 locations, Jim Gilliam feels Encinitas is ready for a similar, although smaller-scaled, event.

The Festival will include a huge outdoor drum circle, student art exhibit, music, theatre, dance workshops, as well as an impressive lineup of dance performances on two stages coordinated by professional dancer Georgia Schmid." Coast News
Go and get further inspiration to embrace braver visions, taking risks and stepping into an unknown future. 




 Just Imagine a true arts community, with unleashed creativity . . . where throwing money at things isn't the only method of confronting challenges.






Conversation in the Future
My son, do you want to hear something strange?
  • Yes! What?
You know the new tree painting we did on the garage last week.. Up until around the year 2050 people generally did not have paintings on houses!
  • What? Were they grey? 
Well, yes, many were. Often they would paint villas in One colour, like blue or yellow, but very rarely in more than one or two colours and almost never any pictures. Most apartment houses and government buildings and so on were grey. Artists sometimes went and painted on tunnels, grey municipal buildings and so on, but the pictures were washed away! By the government!
  • …Was art forbidden? 
Well no, but it had to be in special buildings only. Some people felt that houses was not to be painted on, except in one pale colour all over.
  • Wow.. How dull.
Yes, my son. Now lets get our jackets and go pick some fruit.

Thanks to Facebook Street Art Utopia for images and story.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Don't Make It Hard, Don't Make it Mean

Something different is called for in this blog at this time.  An election is coming along with the nastiness that we all dread.  This is on top of the loss to cancer of Maggie Houlihan and a string of mean that followed.  Community members who are activists and advocates require care and support.  Something palliative is called for to balance what hurts. 
adj. 1. Tending or serving to palliate. 2. Relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure.
Here's a teaser.


Anna Deavere Smith gives a gallery of portraits of real people across the US coping with health care and death. As an artist she tells our stories, a broad array of stories. All of us have to deal with the care system at some time or with someone we know in some way. She says that her characters all seem to say, "Don't make it hard, don't make it mean." "Let Me Down Easy" is an experience of caring. It addresses what kind of a country we want. EYNU has pointed out the most vulnerable being closer to harm and hurt.  

This production was broadcast in January of this year.  Watch the whole performance on PBS Masterpiece Theater here online for the first time or as a repeat.

We've had seven months of painful experiences with the death of Maggie Houlihan, the majority tantrums and hijacking of the GPU, the rejection of Lisa Shaffer or Tony Kranz to her council seat, the third time our Mayor in Exile Teresa Barth was passed over and insulted, the heartlessness of refusing permits for Maggie's memorial gathering, Art Banner honors or flag at half mass, Kristin Gaspar's verbal assaults on Teresa Barth at three different meetings, continued attempts to re-write mayoral selection ordinance, plus the constant negative treatment of the public by the majority council members Stocks, Gaspar, Muir and Bond.  Hurt, fear, rage and a host of other strong feelings wash over us and soothing with honesty is a good thing.

And, yes, it hasn't escaped observation, Jerome Stocks is a health insurance salesman.