Newspaper poetry

// Speaking of choices // Likely to become a long scrimmage of Will / They barely know // The efforts needed to top that big rock // 

A while back I started making these collages in the morning after "reading" the newspaper. Sometimes there's not much reading involved, I just channel aggression at the sports page and tear it up.

Found word poetry is however, really kind of nice and zen. And if/when the poetry sucks you can always hide behind the fact that, well you were just working with what you had. How can you make poetry out of the sports headlines anyway.

But what I've found amazing is that, even though the words aren't mine, they have a way of expressing what's on my mind often far better than if had my choice. Some people pluck their ideas out of the ether, I guess I might be more of an assembler. Either way I highly recommend this experiment.

// As generations of man return to God // The foreign limits of a world // bound by the memory of all that is lost // charges on waiting for happiness //

This one (I guess obvious by the first sentence) is about the older generations departing this world and the lessons that they are taking with them; lessons about being happy and how those of us left behind are wounded by that loss and simultaneously complacent about our own journey; "waiting" for happiness because we dont really have the secrets that our forefathers have taken to the grave.

// Goodbyes are nice // To finish off a rainy day and march ahead // Away from the fire of blame // And an overblown showdown // Making off with nothing but // Lessons from the devil //

This one is melodramatic. About relationships that are so trying, and how it's pleasant when they just fade away rather than end in a gigantic unnecessary scene.

// Money for power // Still the fleeing spoils of a solitary life // See you quietly losing yourself // to earth's unseen spell //

Idealism coming face to face with the realities of participating in the rat race. It's the resistance to the idea that money does equal power, even power over your own destiny. While the answer could be to step away from it all and live like an ascetic in the spiritual world unphased by the theater of power and money, even for an idealist the temptations of the material world are too much to withstand. To enjoy what the earth has to offer you have to pay.

Photos from the show at Bergamot

Saturday at Berg was the place to be. It was one happening thing after another.

We started out small with a couple of little ones making Christmas ornaments.

The first little girl was so delighted with the result, I knew it was going to be a big fun. Soon there were kids pouring in and parents hunting for used materials. I picked through the warehouse of goods at reDiscover this morning to find the perfect mix of "trash" to resurrect into art. I was confident that there would be some magic happening.

The tiles made it on to the wall. After a rough start, that's saying a lot. Each tile is slightly irregular because they are hand poured, and the hooks, though lined up and embedded into the plaster, are slightly off. So the whole thing had to be measured piece by piece, which I did on Wednesday. It was a crowning achievement to see them all up.

Explaining the whole concept to everyone was a good challenge.

Each tile represents a significant event in El Salvadoran history, ranging from the birth of the nation to the devastating repression, which left over 75,000 Salvadorans dead, many indiscriminately killed by para-military operations looking to keep control over the small nation during the major power struggle of the Cold War.

El Salvador was one of the first places that I visited out of the US; I became fascinated by its history and later engulfed in the challenge of depicting a complicated, politically-charged story through images.

To help in the deciphering, I have a book that goes along with the exhibit that gives the year and details behind each image.

AND on the other side of the room - wood nymphs and fairies. haha. Seriously, when we were planning the show, I was doubtful that the walls would make sense with such.. let's say "diverse" work.

The string that was supposed to tie it all together was my sketchbooks.

The theme of the night was reusing materials..
Supporting the mission of reDiscover..
Doing an activity with kids that emphasized reused materials..
Exhibiting my headdresses which use quite a lot of second-hand materials..
And screening a sneak peak at the documentary Landfill Harmonic about a group that uses trash to make instruments.

The sketchbooks tie it all in by talking about the landfills of Cambodia and travels in El Salvador along with the tiles showing the history of El Salvador. See it kind of works... but we couldn't get any glass cases, so the sketchbooks had to wait. And therefore the show has a missing link and is a lovely mix of disparity.

Actually I was told that one woman was really pleased with the opposing walls, saying 'this is real, this is how it really is, we are not just one thing." I was happy to hear that because, well, it's true. We are not.

Human rights and geography aside, the headpieces are purely artistic and fantastical. I like to take an idea like a character from a novel and try to make something that represents that story. If you've been here a while, you know they have been worn extensively by Elizaveta.

I also displayed some sketches and notes about the creation of the pieces, and images from some of the photo shoots where they have been used.

We screened the first peak of the documentary Landfill Harmonic and actually had the filmmakers in the room answering questions and showing us some of the real instruments from the documentary. It was one of the most inspirational things I've seen in a while. Check out the trailer below, to get the idea. They've been raising funds with Kickstarter to bring the orchestra to the US for a tour, which will no doubt be incredible.

A couple of instagrams from the night.

 

We were all freezing in the 45F weather. Mie almost didn't make it.

I enjoyed meeting tons of new people, but also loved having all of my friends come out for the night to show their support.

Elizaveta performed some live music later on, which sounded outstanding with the acoustics of the gallery. Robert pranced by saying, "there will be chocolate!" So that basically tipped the scale. It was peppermint, my favorite.

Topping off with some late night sushi, something LA does best : )

Thanks for checking out the stuff and sticking around until the end of this long post with way to many pictures of my mug.

Pictures by Tohru Oneki and John Grimshaw

Some sketchbook pages differentiating the harnesses, hooks, cams, atcs, belaying thingies, etc

under the lights at nokia

Thank you all for your comments! I've got some nice shots, but ahhh I can't show them because they are reserved for future promos. Anyhow hope this will suffice. How about some zebra print?

E had her own huge dressing room with snazzy print floors.

It brought out the rockstar in us; we had to throw a couple lamps. hehe

Getting the head piece on...

Her make-up artist for this show (Marian Filali) created some pretty incredible feather lashes.

and here are the designs! Those shoes are so fun to wear.

 ready for stage..

Officially the unofficial photographer: the managers said I could get on the other side of the stage and photograph from the curtain. The problem though.. a huge piano. My only shot would be black enamel.

I got in the front and dodged the camera crew. It was kind of funny moving with the rig guys, trying not to mess up their kazillion dollar shots. Every once in a while the crew turned the cameras and panned on the crowd. When that happened, I had to jump in a seat and look normal. At one point I thought they were done panning so I hopped up. Just then they turned and BAM I was caught in the shot. Elly's manager said, he was watching the stage then looked up at the big screens just in time to see my deer in headlights look.

Seth MacFarlane crooned away for the rest of the night. (Note the conductor is Joel - the wizard from the other studio shots). The band was fantastic. You don't often hear that quality of jazz and big band live.

Before MacFarlane came out on the stage, you should know the emcee got up and had the audience do a couple fake laughs for the cameras and then some wild clapping that would be later spliced into the final edited version. Got to love the fabricated laugh tracks. Especially when Seth came out on stage talking about how he and Elizaveta had a problem, because they both ended up wearing the same hat to the show that night. Funny Guy or not, there is something to be said for making a scene. Sara Bareilles performed all of the duets in the show with MacFarlane, but the reviews from KPCC the next day didn't even mention her. Instead they dedicated a lengthy passage to Elizaveta. I guess when you get your chance, you have to go for it.

*All or nothing

*(Listening to nothing but Steve Marriott this week) 

in the workshop..

..and I can't get any good new music (aside from you Milo). Pandora is letting me down and I've exhausted my current playlist. Pop/hop is too glossy and synthetic. But everything else new is sounding too hipster-y. It's the purposefully lo-fi production and off-key singing - the novelty has worn off.

I guess it's back to the annuals of history..



.not history but still love her..

Draught in my musicland.

see you on the other side

Costume design for a show later this month are underway. Before I put everything together, I thought I'd take a few pictures.

We scavenged some bags full of prettiness from the Fashion Disctrict downtown. Until now I had never spent much time down there. That was probably a good thing. Because, wow, if I had a million dollars I'd stock a warehouse full of all these supplies and be an elf. So many cool things to make.

Wolf

Wolf painting made for a friend.

And just happened to be listening to SeaWolf last night while painting.

Work in Progress

This is a portrait I'm working on. This little kid has cerebral palsy and was unable to walk without being held up by his father (the hands in the photo).  

I'm painting from a blurry picture that I took at Stung Meanchey, the city landfill in Phnom Penh. It was almost dark and kids were everywhere laughing and jumping on me. Nader was talking to this kid's parents. They lived directly on the dumpsite in the first lean-to bordering the landfill.

You can see it with the tires on the roof.

Sreyka is their neighbor’s daughter. She’s sitting on the slat bench outside their house. I wish I could adopt Sreyka; she's the most amazing kid - such a fiery rebellious spirit.  

The child that I am painting was actually really surly. Nader and I took him to the hospital two months after this picture was taken. We were hoping to get him fitted with leg braces. That was quite an adventure; I'll save that story for when I finish the portrait.