Thursday 30 September 2010

Blocked Keys



The etude by Gyorgy Ligeti I would like you to pay attention to is the second one. It starts at 2'15".
Here is what a competent source has to say about the work:
The third etude, "Touches bloquees" ("Blocked Keys"), uses the same technique that first appeared in "Selbstportrait," the second of the Three Pieces for Two Pianos. Certain keys are held down silently with one hand while the other hand plays a very fast chromatic line on and around the blocked keys, which of course do not sound. The result is a complicated rhythmic pattern that gives the music a somewhat mechanical quality. At first the silent gaps are all the duration of a single eighth, but eventually the gaps are two eighths, then three, and continue to increase in length until the texture becomes increasingly sparse. Again, this etude is about the creation of illusion; we see a continuous pattern of eighth notes on the page, but what results in performance are quirky rhythmic patterns that are not discernible to the eye and would be all but impossible to notate in a more traditional fashion to achieve the desired effect.
Actually, it wasn't so much about the listening for me. What put me in a state of awe was the seeing. It is the clear struggle between the hands, the tension between the immobile one and the one that runs crazily above it or under it. Also, the tension of the one that is supposed to stay immobile, simply blocking some keys, but cannot resist the opportunity and spurts out sounds now and again, as if to underline it has total power. And then they switch. And we hear it, we hear this body negiation, we hear it once we see it, once we understand the game, it becomes obvious.
The music becomes obvious. Because it's about music, right?
And the soldier-fingers, constantly attempting to design the space through movement. A movement whose purpose is not something else - like a sound - is a dance. If you ever needed proof, here is one.

Wednesday 29 September 2010

Publish new post to digg automatically use RSS Feed URL

If you already have a Digg account you can set your blog to Automatically Digg new post with in a matter of few seconds.You will need to verify yourself as the owner of your blog to automatically Digg your posts, below i will walk you through the steps.

Just lets follow the steps below:-

1. Login into your Digg account.
2. Click Settings at the right top of the page.
3. Click Import Feeds at the left task pane.
4. Enter your Website’s RSS Feed URL in the Text box.
5. Select your site’s niche from the dropdown box and click the Add Feed button.
6. After submitting the feed you need to verify your ownership of your Site, by following any one of the two methods provided by Digg.

See Image Below

Mail Day

Mail
Manolo takes all the orders from my shop to the Post Office each week in style
Mail bag
with a very cool Three Potato Four cotton canvas mail bag :)
postcards
And every order from my shop includes freebie "Topography of a Bird" postcard :)

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Pretzels!

Whole wheat pretzels
Pretzels2
Pantry door
Pretzels3
Pantry
Daniel and I baked pretzels today using this recipe.
I used whole wheat organic flour instead of all purpose.
We didn't have pretzel salt so I used a Hawaiian black lava salt
I had in the pantry and sprinkled a few with black sesame seeds. Yummy.
I asked Manolo to make me shallow shelves in the pantry
to be able to see everything in there and I really love it.
We used some left over pieces of pine beams from the roof in the living room
and other scraps of maple.

Monday 27 September 2010

Door No.9

Door No.9
The other side
Israel's side
The other side of the studio that I share with my two sons.
Daniel (age 12) owns the orange chair & Israel (age 14) owns the blue one.

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Saturday 25 September 2010

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DRAWING ATTENTION TO A WHISPER



Illustrator Robert Blechman's tiny, distinctive drawings became a phenomenon in the 1960s.

Blechman graduated from college with virtually no artistic training and no portfolio except the work he had done for a college literary magazine. He later recalled,

Nothing could have been more impractical than becoming a professional illustrator. My style--such as it was-- had no precedents and therefore no clear outlets.
Blechman showed one of his school assignments, a hand sewn booklet ("got a B-") to the editor at Henry Holt, who asked if Blechman could make a similar book on a holiday theme. Blechman chose the medieval theme of The Juggler of Our Lady.

I set to work immediately. Clearing the kitchen table of everything but the white paper and Will Durant's Age of Faith as reference, I started the book that evening and finished it the same night. In the morning I took it to Holt, and it was accepted for publication. An epic event in my life.
His feeble, neurotic line, combined with a brilliant concept, caught on immediately and Blechman was launched on a long and profitable career doing books, cards, advertisements and television commercials in his distinctive style.







Blechman never raises his voice. His special talent lies in compelling huge audiences to stop and listen to his whisper. To achieve this result, he seems to follow a two step process: first, he gets people to pay attention by using empty backgrounds as boldly as his peers emphasized their main subjects. All that negative space surrounding Blechman's tiny little drawings drew more attention to them than a drum roll, a crash of cymbals and a spotlight.





Second, once he has the attention of the audience, he has to deliver a concept that makes it worth their while. Below, Blechman explains how he misunderstood, after his first, immediate success, that he would have to start all over again with something fresh and original:

When the Juggler of Our lady was published and met with great acclaim, I associated success with the book not with me, whom I considered undeserving. Convinced that success lay in producing other Jugglers, I set out to do more of them. Son of the Juggler, Grandson of the Juggler, Grand Nieces and Nephews of the Juggler....They were stillborn, all. In the meantime, the years went by, and, still desperately trying to produce offspring-- Cousin of the Juggler, Bastard of the Juggler-- I would not stop: I could not stop. I did not realize that I was changing from the 22 year old who had sat down at the kitchen table with a pad of paper, The Age of faith, and a vision. No longer the same person I could no longer produce the same work.
Once Blechman returned to wracking his brain to put fresh creativity and honest effort into each new concept, his success was assured. The following illustration from later in his career is only about four inches wide:



...yet Blechman still cared enough to make a microscopic adjustment to the length of a nose to make sure the drawing was as funny as possible:



That's how he became a success.

Cattelan's Finger


Yet again, Maurizio Cattelan achieved his admitted goal: he is on the covers of magazines.
The finger, called L.O.V.E.*, has been erected in front of the Milan stock exchange for the duration of the Fashion Week happening in the city.
Everyone is happy: Cattelan gets his attention, the public is proud of such a daring representative, the city gets its Fashion Week (kind of) publicized, and the brokers... well, the brokers have a good laugh and continue their business as usual.
That is not to say the work is not good. It is poignant. The finger that is sticking is the only one remaining on the hand. The others seem to have been severed. So is this hand telling the bankers to go fuck themselves, or is that the only thing it can say? Or maybe it's that when you have next to nothing, the middle finger is the one to resist longest.
Oh, but of course, it's made of marble and put on a pedestal.

But that, really, is not the work at work here. The work is to have been able to put it in front of the Stock Exchange. To have shown them the finger and have them accept it. This is what makes a real contemporary trickster - not the sculpture, but the context.
"We want to be confirmed as the capital of contemporary art", the city's administrators officially stated, "and we have to not only mediate but also accept what we do not like".
Which is a hilarious comment, and only confirms Cattelan's intelligence. One wonders how he did it. Maybe what he said was, let's cut the crap, it is a criticism, but it will attract more tourists than you can ever imagine, and will not hurt you in any way whatsoever, because no one is going to take their money out of the stocks after seeing my work. On the contrary, the tourists will leave their money in Milan.
But the controversy remains. “It is unacceptable that the City sticks its finger up to the Stock Exchange" – said the councillor for Town Planning Carlo Masseroli in a fervent discussion.
Masseroli says: "the administration cannot be culturally subordinate to a self-styled artist like Cattelan who wants to use Milan to earn money”.
Oh, that's right, Cattelan made money off this! I wonder who payed him.
So the question is, who is Cattelan showing the finger to?
I'm not sure, but the pictures suggest that the finger is in front of the stock exchange. And is not pointing towards it, but from it.

Which could end this text. But will not. Because even if Cattelan laughs in our face, even if he plays a trick on all of us, he still plays out the crucial role of catalyzer - he materializes the tensions that are already there. He makes us go "Hey! Wait a minute!" He sticks the finger where it hurts.

*The title was originally supposed to be "Omnia munda mundis" ("To the pure ones everything is pure").

Friday 24 September 2010

BEAUTIFUL SEASHELLS: The Hawaiian Sunrise Shell



They say the ancient kings of Hawaii would send servants out to graze the beaches at dawn looking for a special shell. They were given the name "Sunrise Shell" because the best time to find them was in the early morning, when the sun's light would reflect off the shell's beautiful vibrant hues, making them easier to spot.


Pecten Langfordi (Langford's Pecten) or better known by its common name "Sunrise Shell" is a hard to find deep water scallop, native only to the Hawaiian Islands. Sunrise Shells are highly prized for both collecting and jewelry.


Because of their rarity, Sunrise Shells can be extremely expensive. Even an imperfect, tide worn specimen can sell for well over $100. And if that tide worn specimen happens to be an unusual color, it can sell for even more.


I found a great article on TheHonoluluAdvertiser.com from 2003 about the Sunrise Shell craze. It discusses pricing of these tiny treasures. Direct link to the article: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jan/19/ln/ln07a.html


Today, a large issue with the Sunrise Shell is conservation. The Sunrise Shell is NOT considered an endangered species. However, because it is native only to the Hawaiian Islands, this raises important questions about the collection practices of this already rare species of scallop.

The best specimens (the ones that fetch the highest price on the open market) are usually the ones divers collect. Some divers not only take dead specimens but the live ones as well.

How can you tell if the Sunrise Shell you would like to purchase was taken dead or alive? Well, it helps to know who you are buying the shell from but if you don't the next best way to tell is - if the person selling the shell is selling single shells (a half) or a whole natural pair. If someone is selling a whole pair there's a good chance it was taken live and you may want to rethink your buying decision.


Interested in conserving this great speices?

Photo by Micah



SHELL ARTISTS WHO CREATE ART WITH THE SUNRISE SHELL

The Sunrise Shell is generally used in jewelry or in some other form of personal adornment. Their are many wonderful artisans who create beautiful, one-of-a-kind jewelry with these shells. If you are in the market for such a piece, you may want to check out these -


Sunrise Shell Jewelry by Monica Parker:

Photo By Monica Parker

One word - Spectacular! Monica designs and creates amazing one-of-kind Sunrise Shell jewelry. No live specimens are ever used!

You can view more fine Sunrise Shell jewelry by Monica and learn more about Sunrise Shells at theses web addresses:

Monica's main web site - http://www.monicabytheshore.com/




Sunrise Shell Jewelry by Jana Schot:

Photo By Jana Schot

Simply beautiful! Jana combines fine bead work with Sunrise Shells.

You can view more of Jana's fine Sunrise Shell jewelry at these web addresses:


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Thursday 23 September 2010

At Dusk

At dusk...
I'll finish this one after my bike ride with Turbo.
We like to ride during sunset when everything glows :)

Something To Make You Smile ;}


Shell critters and video by Oded Davidov

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LAW OF ATTRACTION and the SHELL ARTIST


So, what does the Law of Attraction have to do with the shell artist or any other artist for that matter? A lot! This YouTube video is an excerpt from the Abraham-Hicks DVD "Who You Really Are." and it was recorded live at one of the many Abraham seminars Jerry and Ester Hicks hold around the country (and the world) each year. The artist in this audio clip is asking Abraham's advice on how to be compensated for doing what he loves - his art. I hope my fellow artists find this uplifting!

For those of you unfamiliar with Abraham or the universal law of attraction, let me give you a quick description - Abraham is a group of non-physical entities Ester Hicks channels (and has been channeling since the 80's). They call themselves "Abraham" because the name denotes "teacher." Abraham provides guidance in the practical application of the "law of attraction" in a persons everyday life. That is, how to get more of the things you want to happen in your life as opposed to the things you don't want. Law of attraction defined is "what is liken to itself is drawn" or in other words, how you feel (positive or negative) about any subject is the point of attraction of people, events and experiences in your life.

If you would like to know more, they offer a free CD on the subject at www.Abraham-Hicks.com. There is also plenty of free video clips from Abraham seminars, on a variety of topics posted on www.YouTube.com.


Wednesday 22 September 2010

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Hi Hello!

Hi Hello
Pretty wild flowers Daniel gave me this morning in a beautiful tiny Otchipotchi vase.
Photo and doodles by me :)

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Old-Time Avantgarde




Oh, and on a different note, here's a little bit of pre-mash-up mashing up, for your listening amusement, the one and only John Oswald:


It is a fascinating feeling, to realize that today's contemporary is tomorrow's retro, that no matter what, everything we wear, listen to, appreciate or create today will be looked at in just a few years with a paternizing, if not condescendent, smile. Timeless art? Pl-lease. The very feeling of them not being timeless, of being dated, is part of the pleasure of appreciating them. Age can work for the work, but it is still at work.

More Friends

Koi sketch
Koi in color
Another pair of pals in the making...

Monday 20 September 2010

Welcome Fall!

Welcome Fall!
I'm doing a little happy dance today. My favorite season is here! :)
Pencil sketch on the left and Photoshop colored digital version on the right.
And to all of you in the southern hemisphere a hip hip hurray for Spring!

Sunday 19 September 2010

New and improved related post widget blogger

Displaying related posts is a smart way for keeping your site visitors around and with thumbnails it is even smarter! Mike on More-tech-tips has created easy setup wizard for demos and code generation. Also, to have code copied to your Blogger blog!

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Wet 'n' Wild

Grottaglie, Italy

I got back from Fame Festival in Southern Italy last week, after spending a few days making installations around the city. I made six in all, including a few that used miniature speakers and mp3 players to add sound. The one above had a speaker hidden in the drain that played sounds of screaming kids and splashing - check out the video below. I will be posting more soon, including a video showing the reactions of Grottaglie's residents to one of the sound installations. I will also be releasing a mini print from the festival in a week or so. In the mean time, check out more work from the festival here - as usual a bunch of great artists including Swoon, Blu and Boris Hoppek. The Fame Festival show opens it's doors on the 25th September.




The Local Authority

Grottaglie, Italy


ARTISTIC TASTE CONVERTED TO BINARY CODE

When people talk about computer art, they usually focus on the "supply" side: artists using computers to create and distribute art.

But computers have major consequences for the "demand" side of the equation: what viewers want.

We have already witnessed the first primitive applications of computers to understanding what kind of art viewers like and why:

1. In 1994, artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid conducted a statistical analysis to calculate the ideal painting for U.S. audiences. They discovered that 60% of the population preferred paintings that are "realistic looking" while 88% preferred outdoor scenes featuring lakes or rivers. 53% preferred paintings to have visible brush strokes. Komar and Melamid "translated the numbers into paint on canvas." Their analysis produced the following picture:



2. Information technology is being used to rank the greatest artworks of the 20th century: Economist David Galenson has proposed quantitative methods to rank art, such as the number of times pictures appear in art history textbooks. Other economists, such as Michael Rushton and Charles Gray feel this approach shows great promise. Says Gray: "We all want to believe that there is something special about the arts but I don't buy that there is any difference between artistic and economic value."

3. Other computer scientists take a different approach, claiming that "with the use of mathematics, computers and massive data bases of attractive faces, we have been able to quantify facial attractiveness in a consistent mathematical computer model...."



Building on historical archetypes of beauty, companies now claim to have calculated the formula for beauty and attractiveness: "it is a mathematical ratio that seems to appear recurrently in nature as well as other things that are seen as Beautiful. The Golden ratio is a mathematical ratio of 1.6180339887:1, and the number 1.6180339887 is called phi." Using computer programs and a trademarked "golden grid," an artist might tailor an image to what viewers would find most attractive.

But these early, sometimes laughable efforts have given way to more sophisticated applications of information technology. Rather than gathering raw data through telephone surveys the way Komar and Melamid did in 1994, science has gained the ability to monitor brain, blood, skin and other biological reactions to art. Until now, these nascent technologies (especially electroencephalography and infrared optical tomography) have found uses in the gaming and neuromarketing industries:
[neuromarketing is] a new field of marketing which studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli. Researchers use technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain, electroencephalography (EEG) to measure activity in specific regional spectra of the brain response, and/or sensors to measure changes in one's physiological state (heart rate, respiratory rate, galvanic skin response) to learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it.
Would a CGI picture evoke a better reaction if the hero's shirt was blue rather than red, or the heroine had longer hair? Would a CGI animated kiss come across as more passionate if it were five seconds longer or shorter?

Computers can identify the electrical activity in the brain that accompanies the thrill of seeing a good work of art. They monitor localized changes of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations in the brain in response to various images. With increasing precision, computers are likely to explain the pharmacological activity that accompanies a diverse range of artistic thrills.

From there, it will become much easier (and more efficient) to stimulate those same reactions by skipping over that obsolete middle man between the work of art and the audience: the artist, who struggled for centuries relying on nothing but highly fallible intuition.


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Saturday 18 September 2010

Blue & Orange

Blue & Orange
Orange window
His Hands
A 'little bit' of color to brighten your weekend ;)
Casa de la Marquesa hotel in Downtown Queretaro
& my Manolo's precious hands in a sea of blue from La Casa Azul.