Urban Contemplation: 08 – Art Work Ahead
The city series….
Art work ahead on the city streets
Finding the way through the narrow streets
searching for the deeper sentiment
of thought
of ideas
drifting block by block
glancing right
turning left
hoping to find
colors that speak
forms that convey
it’s a beautiful day
a wonderful life
finding art everywhere
inside and out
where there is work ahead
on the city streets
“All I Ask Is That I Am Allowed To Participate In The World Of Ideas” – Bill T. Jones
Bill T. Jones
I am a strong admirer of dance and modern dance in particular. And most notably Bill T. Jones, who has always been at the forefront of the discipline. He is an immensely creative and provocative choreographer, artistic director and dancer. I had the pleasure this evening of watching American Masters on PBS, and the featuring of “A Good Man”– Bill T. Jones and his examination of the life of President Lincoln and his new piece “The Ghost Train”. Listening to Jones’ pondering on creativity; the social, political, and psychological constructs that form his art, I was deeply inspired. It led me to my previous post on the idea of artists giving voice to their vision. This is a night of celebrating ideas, voice and Bill T. Jones.
http://youtu.be/Dg4a5RiAed8 – Bill T. Jones – As I Was Saying
http://youtu.be/ag5cSZcKp1g – Toronto Dance: Bill T. Jones – Chapel/Chapter
Bill T. Jones (born February 15, 1952) is an American artistic director, choreographer and dancer.
Early life
Jones was born in Bunnell, Florida and his family moved North as part of the Great Migration in the first half of the twentieth century. They settled in Wayland, New York, where Jones attended Wayland High School. He began his dance training at Binghamton University, where he studied classical ballet and modern dance.
Jones choreographed and performed worldwide as a soloist and duet company with his late partner, Arnie Zane before forming the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in 1982.
Career
Creating more than 100 works for his own company, Jones has also choreographed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, AXIS Dance Company, Boston Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Berlin Opera Ballet and Diversions Dance Company, among others. In 1995, Jones directed and performed in a collaborative work with Toni Morrison and Max Roach, Degga, at Alice Tully Hall, commissioned by Lincoln Center’s “Serious Fun” Festival. His collaboration with Jessye Norman, How! Do! We! Do!, premiered at New York’s City Center in 1999.
In 1990, Jones choreographed Sir Michael Tippett’s New Year under the direction of Sir Peter Hall for the Houston Grand Opera and the Glyndebourne Opera Festival. He conceived, co-directed and choreographed Mother of Three Sons, which was performed at the Munich Biennale, New York City Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera. He also directed Lost in the Stars for the Boston Lyric Opera. Jones’ theater involvement includes co-directing Perfect Courage with Rhodessa Jones for Festival 2000, in 1990. In 1994, he directed Derek Walcott’s Dream on Monkey Mountain for The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, MN.
Jones also collaborated with artist Keith Haring in 1982 to create a series of both performance and visual arts together.
Television credits include PBS’s “Great Performances” Series (Fever Swamp and Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land) and “Alive from Off Center” (Untitled). Still/Here was co-directed for television by Bill T. Jones and Gretchen Bender. A PBS documentary on the making of Still/Here, by Bill Moyers and David Grubin, “Bill T. Jones: Still/Here with Bill Moyers”, premiered in 1997. The 1999 Blackside documentary I’ll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts, profiled Jones’ work. D-Man in the Waters is included in “Free to Dance”, a 2001 Emmy winning documentary that chronicles modern dance’s African-American roots. Narrated by Jones himself, the BBC/VIEW also produced a documentary film, entitled Bill T. Jones: Dancing to the Promised Land, that documents the creation of Jones’s Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land and guides us through the life, work, and creative process of Jones and the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Jones is the co-creator, director and choreographer of the musical Fela!, which ran Off-Broadway in 2008 and opened on Broadway in previews in October 2009. Jones won the Lucille Lortel Award as Outstanding Choreographer for his work as well as the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
Awards
In 1994, Jones received a MacArthur “Genius” Award. In 1979, Jones was granted the Creative Artists Public Service Award in Choreography, and in 1980, 1981 and 1982, he was the recipient of Choreographic Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. Bill T. Jones has been awarded several New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie Awards”); 1986 Joyce Theater Season (along with Arnie Zane), D-Man in the Waters (1989 and 2001), The Table Project (2001) and The Breathing Show (2001). Mr. Jones, along with his collaborators, sister Rhodessa Jones and Idris Ackamoor, received an “Izzie Award” in Choreography for Perfect Courage in 1992. In 2001, Jones received another “Izzie” for his work, Fantasy in C-Major, with AXIS Dance Company. Jones was honored with the Dorothy B. Chandler Performing Arts Award for his innovative contributions to performing arts in 1991. In 1993, Jones was presented with the Dance Magazine Award. In 2000, The Dance Heritage Coalition named Jones “An Irreplaceable Dance Treasure.” Jones has received honorary doctorates from the Art Institute of Chicago, Bard College, Columbia College, the Juilliard School, Swarthmore College, and Yale University. He is also a recipient of the SUNY Binghamton Distinguished Alumni Award.
In 2003 Jones was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to “a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” In 2005 he received the Wexner Prize at the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University.
In 2007, he won the Tony award for Best Choreography for Spring Awakening.
Jones was named a 2007 USA Eileen Harris Norton Fellow and awarded a $50,000 grant by United States Artists, a public charity that supports and promotes the work of American artists.
Jones was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 2007.
In 2010, Jones won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for his work in Fela!.
He was one of five recipients for the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors.
Bill T Jones was the recipient of the 2011 YoungArts Arison Award which is given annually to an individual who has had a significant influence on the development of young American artists.
Bill T. Jones
All I Ask Is That I Am Allowed To Have A Voice
The beauty of art in all its various disciplines is the formulation of ideas. At the core of those ideas is a social, historical, political, and creative construct that merges our identity with our life experience.
All I ask is that I am allowed to have a voice….
I have a voice ... I have hope ... I have you to listen
why do i have a voice
is it to liberate
illuminate
educate
or
bring together the gathering of
ideas
dreams
consciousness
do I dance to give voice
paint to give voice
act to give voice
react to give voice
how am i heard
listen
and tell me
for
your voice whispers to me….
Tell me what your voice means to you. How do you express and connect with the inner longing of your dreams; the ideas that keep you up at night; the need to share something, everything with everyone you meet?
This post is inspired by the voice of Bill T. Jones / Choreographer, Dancer and Artistic Director
Share your voice….
The Dreams We Seek Descend Like the Colors Purple Blue and White
A dream is like a palette of colors we sleep with every night….
Dreaming in purple and blue
Moments that follow you everywhere are like the dreams that wake you from sleep….
The Granite Wall of Thoughts Still Remain
I look out beyond my surroundings only to find the granite wall of thoughts … leaving me perplexed….
It is in my thoughts that I face myself
Standing at the edge of everything … my back against the wall….
Penn State and Sexual Abuse: What Does It Say About Who We Are?
Sports and personal integrity
I am a native of Pennsylvania (having been born and raised in Philadelphia), and have over the years felt connected to Penn State and its football program. It was not hard to love Penn State. It was something about their attitude towards winning and the “team concept”. It showed even down to their uniforms; plain with no names and giving no sense of individuality to the players. For years, Penn State has been a testimony to team sport and the higher moral ground when it came to football and academic ethical standards.
Now as I hear the reports of sexual abuse, misconduct, cover-up, and the institutional sanctioned deception and rape of a community, I am outraged. It appears that one individual stood by while an act of gross depravity was perpetrated on a young boy. To think of the fear, the hurt, the humiliation that child and the other children felt pains me and I search for answers. How does a society allow this to happen? The shame and anger of the family of that child, and the others who were violated over the years to come—without question—is agonizing to the core. And that was only the beginning; the denial by Penn State officials, inadequate investigations, and lack of prosecution for all those involved has led to a dark and troublesome scandal. And well it should; we need things to be out in the open. We need to face ourselves.
But what also grieves me are the rioters and those who feel the need to voice their anger at the firing of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. I mean give me a break, Joe Paterno had a moral responsibility (if not legal) to go directly to law enforcement. I do not want to just point the finger at Paterno, because the failure runs deep. But the mob mentality that emerged the other night in defense of Paterno shows the lack of an understanding, and empathy for what the true victims of these acts have endured.
What do you think? How do you feel about the sport mentality, the “good old boys club” especially in the high-end, money-making machine of professional and college sports? And last, but not least, has our society forgot about the victim and what it means to be victimized? And what are the consequences for a society that does not protect its children?
Moments Descend On My Mind Like White Red and Yellow Colors
Often the thoughts in color are just shaded in white….
Moments in thought
Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows
Windows at Highwire Gallery – Island, Water, Bridge exhibit 1993….
What illumination, the light shinning through; creating the perfect ambience for the found art installation.
The windows at highwire gallery - the second street art building
Weekly Movie-Making Moments In Film: Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite
Nerds of the World Unite….
What a great film and one of the best original comedies to come along in quite some time. I’ve always loved films about high school angst, going back to those great John Hughes films of the 80’s. Not everyone can relate to a film like Napoleon Dynamite; many have found its charm to be wanting and distasteful. However, I can identify with its peculiar awkwardness, that I too shared with others in high school. And just like Napoleon, art was often my escape. It can be said that Napoleon’s nerdy demeanor is always just a moment away from giving you the side-splitting laugh you always dreamed of 🙂 – Walter Smith
http://youtu.be/H2Kh7umdOrk – Napoleon Dynamite Trailer
http://youtu.be/kr7djGY1fhA – Napoleon Dynamite Dance Scene
Synopsis: The directorial debut of filmmaker Jared Hess, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Napoleon Dynamite is a quirky, offbeat comedy set in the small Idaho town of Preston. Jon Heder stars in the titular role, a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school’s race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (Haylie Duff). Also starring The Drew Carey Show’s Diedrich Bader, Napoleon Dynamite premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. …
Dancing to the song Forever Young
The Promise – Lyrics to the song, The Promise by When In Rome. The ending theme to Napoleon Dynamite. Enjoy the musical flashback to the 80’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZL9pd4Q8M
Finding My Way Back Home
Finding My Way Back Home….
the road I know
has left me behind
so I go
through the rain
that pours like shadows
driving to find my way back home
Gotta find my way back home
The New Colonialism
Searching for the freedom beyond the new colonialism….
The New Colonialism
There is the old colonialism and the new. In years past Empires were made by invading “primitive” third world or developing countries. In a brutal process of conquest, nations achieved their goals of domination via enslavement, government control and wars.
Today colonialism still exist, however it can be argued that it takes on another form—insidious in nature but with the same result i.e. the raping and pillaging of a countries wealth and resources while eliminating its ability to be self-sufficient.
Today’s colonialism is financial in nature and is developed as a means to rule the wealth of others. In the past 30 years here in America we have seen the shift from a manufacturing based economy to a financial one. The deregulation, the explosion of the commodities markets, and the Wall Street mentality of greed have all played a part in a global construct to create a new society of those who have and those who have not. The 1% and 99ers are what we are left with.
In the old form of colonialism it was understood that control came by the means of dominating the wealth, trade, language and freedom of the people. This principal in general has not changed, but today the emphasis is on domination through the control of wealth—through a corrupt identity we have come to know as Capitalism. This type of capitalism is based on a false economy; a paper economy.
True capitalism is when the people of different nations, societies, communities understand the importance of fair trade; where respect, common interest and gain are the goals. We see it everywhere, for example in America and developing countries with our community gardens and farmer markets; where the language and freedom of trade is a positive end shared by all.
The protests we see here in America and around the globe is a testimony to the people’s vision of a true form of capitalism. It is a struggle against economic tyranny of the most devastating kind.
What do you think? Is the path to solidarity in recognizing our common need? Can we, who are the true majority, find our common goal and live on this planet with harmony and love; and for that matter unselfishly?
How Do You Negotiate Your Time Between the Things You Love
Searching for that time, seeing it just beyond the window….
Finding the time for things we love
Do you ever feel like time is slipping by, and the things you love are being left behind? And do you find you must choose between one thing and the other because of the lack of time?
Well over the past year I have found that I must negotiate my time wisely if I am to achieve some of my goals as an artist and pursue my love of outdoor adventure. During this fall period when the weather is so nice, I long for those exciting treks up and around the mountains of South and North Carolina. Yes, the mountains are calling, but then too is the late nights in my studio—in front of my computer, creating art, developing ideas, and writing.
What is one to do? My work schedule provides me with very little time for my personal activities. If I stay up late until 3 or 4 a.m., I do not have the energy for early rising and working out. The choices we make because of limited time, energy, and work schedules all play an important part in how we approach the things we love. A solution that I have found is to break up these different interests into separate yearly periods. With one activity being the most dominate. The past year my personal emphasis has been on my art, website and art blog with a minor contribution to outdoor activities. Instead of the daily schedule of work-outs (that I was consistent with 2 years ago), I opted for the big one day adventures such as all day biking, caving, zip-lining, and long hikes. As I approach 2012 and the New Year, I hope to perhaps find a strong 50/50 mix that includes gym workouts, outdoor adventures such as rock climbing, kayaking and perhaps even sky diving, while simultaneously furthering my artistic endeavors.
Do you find it difficult to juggle the things you love? How do you negotiate your time? Have your thought about 2012 and how to get the most out the New Year?
What do you think?
Seeing Inward
There is no one definitive creative path. There are many ways to be creative – not only intuitive ways but organized, logical ways, too. – Theresa Bayer
Seeing inward - the path to creativity
I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied. Then, in my head, I begin to elaborate the work in its breadth, its narrowness, its height, its depth… I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle, as if it had been cast, and only the labour of writing it down remains. – Ludwig van Beethoven
Observing Art for the Near Future
The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it’s a little like making love, the physical act of love. – Francis Bacon
Keeping the spirit of creativity alive, finding color everywhere
Creativity is a lifestyle, and ideas are the product and lifeblood of that lifestyle. – Miles G. Batt
Portrait of a Friend
memories of a friend
holds my life in place…
A friend for life and in the afterlife
My Cats: Little Baby and Thai-G – Inspiration for Art
God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things. – Pablo Picasso
Little Baby and Thai-G in the studio
“One must love a cat on its own terms.”- Paul Gray
From “The Encyclopedia Britannica”. All cats are members of the family Felidea. Interestingly enough, the cat family split from the other mammals at least 40,000,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest mammalian families. All cats share certain characteristics that are unique to the cat family. Cats are pure carnivores. They need a high level of protein in their diets – around 30% – and lack the digestive equipment to do well on a diet of grains, fruits or vegetables. In fact, if you were to design a creature to live from hunting mammals you would have trouble doing better than the design of the cat. If you know cats at all, you know that they have powerful jaws, long, sharp teeth, and claws that draw back into their paws when not in use. Cats hear extremely well. Their eyes are adapted for vision in dim light for hunting just before dawn and just after dusk, the prime hunting periods.
My Cats: Little Baby and Thai-G
“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is
infinitely superior.” – Hippolyte Taine
Little Baby and Thai-G chillin
“In a cat’s eye, all things belong to cats.” – English proverb
There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” – Albert Schweitzer
I’m only a cat,
and I stay in my place…
Up there on your chair,
on your bed or your face!
I’m only a cat,
and I don’t finick much…
I’m happy with cream
and anchovies and such!
I’m only a cat,
and we’ll get along fine…
As long as you know
I’m not yours… you’re all mine!
Author Unknown
Yet Another Change … A New Look 02
After some thought, and a critique from a fellow artist, who I respect highly, I came to the conclusion that I would move the look of my art blog, via the background design, to its most simplistic. Therefore, more attention is given to the writing and imagery without the possible background distraction. I seem to always like a lot of things happening in my art and its presentation, and have to at times remind myself to find the ambient space that allows for more contemplation.
Below is the art I selected for this change. The piece is from my Silence Series, and is entitled Silence 04.
Silence 04
A Thought About Meditation from Domo Geshe Rinpoche
meditation for love
Time for a Change and a New Look for the Blog….
In celebration of my 150th post since I began blogging in December 2010, I have decided to change my background and header image. The previous set was more organic in its composition. This time around I wanted to create a more geometric feeling, lighten the look, and add simplicity to the theme. Sometimes it is hard to make a change, but I am sure I will learn to love the new look.
To all my friends and blogging buddies, I hope you like the changes. Tell me what you think.
Below is the new look…however you will find that I have changed this look as well…Oh what the future brings.
But please be kind 🙂
Flower background
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity 03
Over the years, I have been awarded several artist’s fellowships for interdisciplinary pursuits. In 2004, I was awarded my second artist residency. It was with the South Carolina State Parks’ artist residency program. It was an opportunity that I truly looked forward to participating in. I was commissioned to showcase the lovely character of Barnwell State Park, located in the midlands of SC, in exchange for a week’s stay in one of their cabins. Barnwell is a natural resource park, quiet and remote, while featuring a beautiful lake for fishing and canoeing. The solitude of the landscape was fantastic and it provided great inspiration for the project.
In the photo I am standing with one of two images I completed for the project. The finished work is included in the South Carolina State Park Artist Collection.
Barnwell State Park, South Carolina
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity 02
I took this photo during a 1993 lecture and art exhibit of my latest work at Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, NJ. The lecture was a demonstration of various digital processing elements for the creation of digital art and video art. It was a great opportunity to talk with the students and introduce them to digital art. In 1993 digital art was just beginning to grow as a valid artist medium to many, and I was happy to share my knowledge, take questions, and inspire these would-be artists.
In the photo a Commodore Amiga 1000 computer, Super Gen video mixer, and a Panasonic camera for scanning photographs. Yes, times have changed, and now artists have access to more sophisticated hardware and software.
Artist lecture at Atlantic Community College 1993
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity
This photo goes back to 1990 and the Highwire Gallery’s visit to Deventer, Holland. It was part of an exchange with the artist group of Deventer. We were exhibiting new work in their gallery and staying the summer. While cruising through the small, quaint, artist town, I happened to come across a small shop that had a poster of our exhibit in the window. The poster is just to the left of the woman standing in the doorway. Throughout the town, residents and shop owners, displayed posters announcing the upcoming exhibit. Going to the Netherlands via this exchange of artists and ideas, was a fantastic opportunity, and one I will never forget.
The poster in the window, Deventer Holland
30-Day Song Challenge: Day 20 – Asks the question, what artist best captures the essence of ambient meditation for the creation of art?
Taylor Deupree
Taylor Deupree – Rusted Oak – From the CD Shoals
Taylor Deupree – Landing – From the CD Landing
Human Mesh Dance (Taylor Deupree) – Sunken Garden
Taylor Deupree performs
Taylor Deupree (born April 30, 1971), is an American electronic musician, photographer and graphic designer. He is most known for the founding of the 12k record label, along with his work as a member of Prototype 909, his solo project as Human Mesh Dance, and his collaborations with Savvas Ysatis and Christopher Willits. In 2008, Taylor Deupree was the Président d’Honneur of the Qwartz Electronic Music Awards 5th in Paris (France).
Today while working on my latest post in “The City Series” (Urban Contemplation 07: On Either Side of that Open Door it’s the Same), I found myself listening to the deeper reflective elements of my music collection—“A Dancing Beggar, Ai Yamamoto, Lawrence English and the featured artist for this challenge Taylor Deupree. Taylor is one of my favorite ambient artist. For me his music slowly evolves and creates a suspended sense of kinetic dynamics that holds the mind still while producing a beautiful landscape for creativity.
What do you think? Although the music may be challenging for any who are unfamiliar with the genre, does it resonate with you as a possible source of creative inspiration for the production of prose and / or art?
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 