Museums See Different Virtues in Virtual Worlds by Anand Girldharadas

Creativity, innovations and dreams are an incredible combination, when people back up those dreams with effort. These are the three ideas that I thought of when I read Anand Girldharadas’s article “Museums see different virtue in virtual world” in the Palm Beach post this past Sunday which was picked up from the New York Times.

I recently visited my home town of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon Museum. It was a wonderful day and I found myself as giddy as a young boy looking for the first time at the marvels of history, science and art. My first experience there was as a young man, my girlfriend took me and they were presenting the "Ancient World" as their main exhibit. A wall from an ancient city was in the main hall. They had a sarcophagus, that later would be put in their special Egyptian section many years later; and for many years after that, I felt that I had to go back home to revel in this sense of wonderment.

However, thanks to two New York museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum they wanted to bring this vision to the world. As Anand states, in his article they serve different clientele. “The Met,” he said, “an isle and in the global archipelago of leading museums, and the Brooklyn Museum more rooted in local soil.” Yet for all their differences, they share a world conquering dream…The dream that anyone, anywhere, could participate and would be given the chance to engage the technology at these museums.”

Below is a link to Anand Girldharas’s article and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Museums See Different Virtues in Virtual Worlds

Contemporary Art: Wangechi Mutu” A Fantastic Journey at M.O.C.A. in North Miami

This past week I had the pleasure of driving down to Miami for a day trip. I decided I would go to the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami. My experience with Contemporary art is limited. When I would take my son’s to the Art Museum at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh the last place they wanted to go to was the Contemporary Art Section.  I would laugh when I tried to explain what the artist was presenting just after going through the Renaissance Art section of the museum. I did not know who or what I would encounter there, I just found it on Google as a day trip activity so I went with no expectations. I was flabbergasted by the most marvelous experience. The experience was the exhibit of “Wangechi Mutu” A Fantastic Journey.  

Before I left for Miami I asked myself, “What is Contemporary Art?” Contemporary Art according to About.com: Art History just means "art that has been and continues to be created during our lifetimes," In other words, contemporary to us. Now, of course, if you are my age and reading this, you can expect a certain amount of overlapping between "Contemporary" and "Modern" art in your lifetime. A good rule of thumb is:

• Modern Art: Art from the Impressionists (say, around 1880) up until the 1960s or '70s.
• Contemporary Art: Art from the 1960s or '70s up until this very minute.

Definition from "The J. Paul Getty Museum" Educator classroom curriculum.

Strictly speaking, the term "contemporary art" refers to art made and produced by artists living today. Today's artists work in and respond to a global environment that is culturally diverse, technologically advancing, and multifaceted. Working in a wide range of mediums, contemporary artists often reflect and comment on modern-day society. When engaging with contemporary art, viewers are challenged to set aside questions such as, "Is a work of art good?" or "Is the work aesthetically pleasing?" Instead, viewers consider whether art is "challenging" or "interesting." Contemporary artists may question traditional ideas of how art is defined, what constitutes art, and how art is made, while creating a dialogue with—and in some cases rejecting—the styles and movements that came before them

 I found that the joy of Contemporary Art for me, is that it does not need someone to explain it to me. The art is what it is and that is enough. The message is evident in the work itself, just look without prejudice or preconceived ideologies. The challenge is
coming to grips with the mind of the artist at the time they create their work and accepting it. I found this to be true with the work of Wangechi Mutu at M.O.C.A  of North Miami. It was a wonderful experience.

I just want to take a moment to thank the great staff at the M.O.C.A.of North Miami for their assistance. They were extremely knowledgeable about the exhibit. I also want to express genuine appreciation to the young gentleman (whose name I can not remember and therefore I am kicking myself at this time) who assisted and walked with me through the entire exhibit. We talked and discussed every piece of art. I shared my views and he shared those of people who came before me. He never tried to sway me to a right or wrong interpretation which allowed me to delve deeper into the work itself and the painstaking time it took to create each piece of art.

A Brief Bio of Wangechi Mutu (Paraphrased or in some parts quoted verbatim from the M.O.C.A. of North Miami Website)

She is Kenya-born, New York-based artist whose multi-faceted work captures 21st century global sensibility. Since earning her M.F.A. from Yale University in 2000, Wangechi Mutu has come to be regarded as one of the most inventive and critically-engaged artists of her generation.  Combining materials and imagery from sources as diverse as African traditions, international politics, the high fashion industry and science fiction, Mutu creates works that depict fantastical worlds as places for profound exploration of race, gender and power. Her work is a critical investigation of issues ranging from colonialism to displacement, ritual, perceptions of Africa and the female form.

 “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey” exhibition includes more than 50 works from the mid-1990s to the present, including a new site-specific mural and a black box theater projection of her newest video. “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey,” part of MOCA’s Knight Exhibition Series ends it run on July 6, 2014.

 Alex Gartenfeld, MOCA Interim Director and Chief Curator, states that, “Placing centrality on the female form, Wangechi Mutu’s provocative body of work imagines hybrid creatures and surreal landscapes that comment on commercialism, globalization and cultural norms. “We are thrilled to be presenting the first solo museum exhibition dedicated to her work.”

“Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey” incorporates all aspects of Mutu’s prolific practice which includes collage, drawing, installation, sculpture, performance and video. A new site-specific mixed media mural created for the MOCA presentation will welcome visitors into exhibition galleries, which will be transformed into a forest-like environment populated by the installation of large-scale felt trees.

Within this setting, Mutu’s iconic collages will be prominently featured, including new

commissions and rare early works. These richly embellished pieces primarily depict female figures set in otherworldly landscapes. Pieced together with human, animal, machine and monstrous parts, Mutu’s heroines appear as seductive and beautiful as they are critical and disturbing. They rule over other worldly landscapes that appear both lushly tropical and post-apocalyptic. In Family Tree, 2012, Mutu’s installation of 13 related collages, the artist constructs a female-dominated creation mythology to explain the origin of the universe.  

Approximately 30 of the artist’s sketchbook drawings, dating from 1995 to the present, will also be on view, revealing fascinating insight into her creative process. This was one of my favorite sections of the exhibit because it showed how she came up with her ideas from ink and paste to her final product.



MOCA’s Pavilion Gallery was transformed into a black box theater for the projection of the artist’s first-ever animated video, The End of eating Everything, 2013, in which Mutu brings her elaborate collages to life in a magical narrative set in the sky. Mutu collaborated with musical artist Santigold to create the video’s central character, a flying cyborgian mothership whose voracious consumption leads to its implosion. Two other videos are featured in the exhibition: Eat Cake, 2012, which addresses ritual and overindulgence and Amazing Grace, 2005, a meditation on the slave trade and displaced populations.

“Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey” is curated and organized by Trevor Schoonmaker, the Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC.

“Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey” was made possible in part by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Duke University’s Council for the Arts, and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.  MOCA’s showing of the exhibition is made possible by an endowment to the museum established by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Something Different: For Castle Fans and romantics everywhere

I've had it! I see so many posts, articles and blogs that dribble with super serious comments, quotes and ideologies that I need to put my foot down on this and present something touching, romantic and different which is not normally part of the daily diatribe online. Definite not something that my friends would think of in regards to me. I came across this on You Tube and if you are a Caste Fan or just a fan of romance and the more wonderful part of loving someone more than yourself you will get this...if not to bad...life is a joy and a blessing do not squander it on hate talk. I am so over it. For my friends....P.S. I love this song.

Writing Lab: Kurt Vonnegut’s eight essentials for a good short story.

 I fell in love with the writing of Kurt Vonnegut in High School. I was introduced to him by my assistant football coach and science teacher's wife Mrs. Dalyrimple. She and Mr. Dalyrimple took me under their wings mentoring me through a rough patch in high school. (One day I hope to write about that experience because it change my life.) She saw my fascination with modern science fiction. I think I told her I wanted to be a writer like Rod Serling of  Twilight Zone fame. I loved anthology's and short stories. She gave me her copy of Cat's Cradle and I never looked back. That was in 1971. Thank you Mrs. Dalyrimple.

 Now as I get ready to write a short story for Camp NanoWriMo in July, I began as I always do, seeking out research that could help me with short story writing. Though I had read Kurt Vonnegut's ideas for writing short stories years ago, I could not honestly tell you I remember them very well. Then, thanks to friends, I came across his words again on Rabelle's Society Blog. I want to thank Rabelle's Society for posting  Andrea Balt's article on Kurt Vonnegut's Eight Essential's for a good short story. I hope you will enjoy it and use it because I believe that is why he shared it with us.
 
Writing Lab: Kurt Vonnegut’s eight essentials for a good short story.

Writing: Camp NaNoWrimo is here for July

 To see far is one thing:going there is another. - Brancusi
From the book Art & Fear

Camp NaNoWrimo is an extension of National Novel Writing Month, known as  NaNoWriMo (na-noh-RY-moh)  an annual internet-based creative writing project that takes place every November. NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a first draft for a story they would want to write or even publish. It's purpose is to encourage young and old who might be too scared to write or lacked the discipline an opportunity to join hundreds of thousands of individuals from around the world at the same time to write the story they always wanted to tell. 

The simple goal of NaNoWriMo is to get people writing, no matter how bad the writing is, through the end of a first draft. It should be noted that there is a time to celebrate length, or what so many call "the journey" or "experience of the journey" that gives one confidence to complete a task. Once the first draft is completed then the quality can be addressed in the editing phase which you have as long as you want to accomplish.

Even John Green entered the NaNoWriMo competition in 2009. Great words of advice from the author of The Fault in our Stars. I love what he had to say. I played this for my students and encouraged my students to participate.

Encouraged by my student's, I was lucky enough to write 52,818 words which made me in the eyes of the NaNoWriMo world a winner. The truth of the matter is if I had only written 10,000 words I would have been proud of what I had accomplished. I wrote my story  during a school year in which I had 6 Advanced Placement classes, two after school clubs and athletic administrative duties after school. Most of my writing happened between 10pm and 1am every night until Thanksgiving vacation. I had little time to make friends and utilize all of the helpful tools available to all participants. I do not want to miss out on it this time.This was one of the hardest and best experiences of my life to date.

Camp NaNoWriMo  is a little different. They had two sessions planned this year. The first session was planned for April which I missed due to severe illness and the second is for July.

Chris Angotti, Director of Programs and his crew envisioned "this Camp originally as an off-season alternative to National Novel Writing Month, but it's evolved into much more than that: writers choose their own projects—from novel sequels to scripts to pop-up books—and find cabin communities (and often new friends) to support them. You can sign up and check all of this out at Camp NaNoWrimo "
 
"It is more like a retreat because you can write anything, and  you're capable of when you have the time and space to create". I am looking forward to this Camp.

You can also set flexible word-count goals (10,000 to 999,999) and the ability to add your own project genre. I chose Horror/Fantasy with a number count of 20,000 for a short story that I definitely want to have published. I even have my own preliminary cover art to go along with the story. Working Title: A Golem and his Boy.

If you love to write or just want to get started telling a story that has been with you for a long time make Camp NaNoWriMo your creative retreat this summer. Sign up today )  Get ready because the writing begins July 1!

* Some of this post is redited from my post dated November 1, 2013 or emails from  explaining the programs to previous writers of the program.

Fantasy Art Master: Dan Dos Santos Repost from ...The desk of Dragon One

Dan Dos Santos 

I had the privilege and pleasure of meeting our feature artist Dan Dos Santos at Dragon Con in Downtown Atlanta. He was the first artist I saw at the convention and I was awe struck by his talent, his body of work and the vividness of his art. I was like a little kid again as I poured over his paintings. The last artist who had such an impact on me was Frank Fazetta. I could not believe how detailed his art was when I found out he painted them in oil. We talked for a long time and I found him very personable and helpful, especially when I shared with him that I sponsor an Art Club at my school. I am a proud owner of some of his work and will continue to collect his work..

His webpage site "The Art of Dan Dos Santos" http://www.dandossantos.com/ is informative and educational with a special short video clip showing how he paints his work. http://www.dandossantos.com/extras.htm. His blog site "Muddy Colors, An Illustration Collection" is full of great art, insightful commentary on varying artists, their art and great information about the art community. http://muddycolors.blogspot.com. Aside from freelance illustration, Dan also co-hosts a series of instructional demonstrations called "Art Out Loud."

(edited from his Bio Page)

Dan's work spans a variety of genres, including novels, comics and film. He has worked for clients such as Disney, Universal Studios, Boeing Aircraft, Saatchi & Saatchi, Scholastic Books, The Greenwich Workshop, Penguin Books, Random House, Tor Books, Upper Deck, Wizards of the Coast, and DC Comics.

Dan began at an early age it was pretty apparent that drawing was a talent he possessed early on. Growing up, he spent nearly all of his spare time drawing his favorite cartoon characters. By his teenage years he moved onto comic books, a passion he still holds clear.

His local high school sponsored a program called "Careers in Art." The program placed students in a weekly internship with a design company or working professional. It was through this program that he met his long term mentor and learned the basics of illustration, and thus decided to choose that as his major in college.

Later he convinced his parents to help pay for art school. He attended the School of Visual Arts from 1996- 2000. College is where he honed his skills and love for the traditional art of oil painting. He graduated the top of his class with a degree in illustration, and received that years "Special Achievement" award in his major.

After Graduation, with some scholarship money in his pocket, he began his career painting portraits out of his parents' basement. Eventually he rented a studio, and found a gallery to represent his art and start pursuing his dream of becoming an illustrator.

Dan has been the recipient of many awards. Recently he has received a 2010 Silver Medal from Spectrum, the 2007 Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist, and was the Chesley Award winner for the Best Paperback Cover of 2007. His illustrations have graced the #1 spot on the New York Times' Best Seller list numerous times.

Movie: Retrospective on Flash the movie...Gordon's Alive!

We have been on hiatus for a time due to various reasons but health being the dominate one.  I hope to get back into writing this blog on a weekly basis.

Growing up, I was a big Flash Gordon fan ( over 30 years). I never forgot how much fun the movie was to watch and how I loved the musical score . It was my introduction to Queen, Sam Jones and Melody Anderson along with Max Von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, and Brian Blessed. Ryan Plummer    and the people at i09 put together a interesting article on this Cult Classic and a lot of things that went on behind the scenes.

The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About the Making Of Flash Gordon. This Article is interesting and explains a lot about the film and the way it looks today. You get the inside story of how screwy it was to work for Dino De Laurentiis and a international film crew.   Everyone has a different take on the film and I think if you have seen Ted with the Sam Jones scene you can not help but come to realize the " he saved everyone of us".

Local Writer: Hugh Howey, Writer, Roofer, Yacht Captain, Hero and Inspiration

  Hugh Howey, Writer, Roofer, Yacht Captain, Hero and Inspiration

I have to say, that I became aware of Hugh Howey when a friend ask me if I had read Wool.  I said “no, is it at Barnes and Nobles”? He said, “I read it on my Kindle through Amazon”.  I told him I did not have a Kindle and I would wait till it was on Audible. I explained I have limited time to read anything new with all the stuff I do for my classes but I could listen to it on my way to work since it takes me approximately a 50 minute drive. That was last year; now flash forward to Sunday 9/15/2013, sitting at my favorite breakfast restaurant Glady's in Okeechobee, Florida leafing through the Palm Beach Post when I turned to the Accent section of the paper. There in bold letters on the main page was, Jupiter E-Book Sensation with a photo of Hugh Howey playing catch with his dog on the beach

The article about Hugh Howey in the Palm Beach Post was awesome, especially when he discussed his experience as a yacht captain in New York City docking his ship next to the World Trade center on 9/11 just before the first plane crashed into the twin towers on that fateful day

Excerpt from the Palm Beach Post written by Scott Eyman 9/15/2013

Twelve years ago, writ­ing was still far into the fu­ture. On Sept. 11, 2001, Howey was in New York, captain­ing a 74-foot Sunseeker mo­tor yacht for a wealthy hedge fund manager. The boat was moored in North Cove Mari­na, at the base of the World Trade Center.         

"When the planes struck, they did so directly over­head," he remembers. "The first one was an accident, of course. That's what we all thought. I remember watching the second plane bank hard and came screaming down Lower Manhattan and I thought this was some sort of accident. Your brain just turns off. I was silently yelling for the pilot to pull up, was thinking of some sort of malfunction, the kinds of things I was too smart to be­lieve. But the truth was too evil for me to comprehend.

"I remember the heat from the fireball. I remem­ber thinking 'It's just like the movies.' And then the people started running and screaming, and I thought that was just like the movies as well - the panic in everyone's eyes."

Howey's boss said they had to get out of there - everybody believed more planes would be hitting momentarily. "I cranked the engines and start­ed throwing the dock lines. People asked if I was leaving;  ' I said that I was, and if they wanted to come, they should get on board. I remember ask­ing them to take their shoes off, and how that seemed wrong even in the moment. My wires were crossed."

Howey steered the ship across the Hudson to Liber­ty Landing Marina, but there was no room, so Howey tied up at a restaurant. A group of construction workers asked if Howey would take them back to the site of the Trade Cen­ter. They wanted to help. He agreed, dropped them off and then picked up others. He would see the same construc­tion workers later when they came back for the lunch pails they left on the docks, and told him about the looting they witnessed.

"It's easier to talk about now, but I didn't for the lon­gest time. We sat on the bow of the boat and watched WTC 5 (or was it 7?) fall, the radio bursting with the news be­fore the rubble even settled. We watched both buildings come down. The night before, we had sat in Windows on the World at the top of one of the towers and looked out over the city. That spot was now in empty space. "It seemed surreal. Still does."

The first thing I did after reading the article was go directly to Audible to check the release date for Wool and downloaded it. (Now available)

Below is a link to the Palm Peach Post video chat with Mr. Howey

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/videos/news/hugh-howey-best-selling-author/v9dPy/

Mr Howey began his SILO series in 2011, writing Wool as a stand-alone short story. He published the work through Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing system. He has said that he choose Amazon's system because of its freedom of self-publishing.

 (From Wikipedia) "The story of Wool takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Humanity clings to survival in the Silos, subterranean cities extending over one hundred stories beneath the surface. The series initially follows the character of Holston, the sheriff of Silo-18, with subsequent volumes focusing on the characters of Juliette, Jahns, and Marnes. An ongoing story line of the series is the focus on the mystery behind the Silo and the secrets that it holds. The Silo's mystery is eventually revealed by the end of book five, with First Shift being a prequel to the series. The series has grown in popularity, and recently Ridley Scott has optioned the book Wool for a movie".

It is inspiring to read about people who have truly lived life and fulfilled their dreams. Mr Howey has done that and continues to do so through his writing. We can only hope to follow examples like his in our own lives.