Thursday, 22 October 2009

• hopelandic

  i find myself returning to art.
  
  it's been a long time since i created just for me.
  
  took pictures just for me.
  
  i like taking pictures, but doing it for the love of it has been long-lost.
  
  i've only realized this since coming to seattle.
  
  
  i think my inner artist, so shy for so long, is re-emerging after a very long hiatus. if i'm honest, the last time i made art for art's sake, just for the pleasure of creating, just for the joy of shaping something out of nothing and holding it my two hands, was in high school.
  
  
  tell me if i'm wrong, but there's a lot of fear associated with creating.
  
  
  you're putting yourself out there. art isn't fact, and no one tries to take it as such, so therefore its up for discussion, appreciation, ridicule, dismissal, praise. maybe there isn't that fear once you get into a flow. you find your stride and you're just so happy making pictures that to you are beautiful (and won't necessarily go into your portfolio) that what anyone else thinks is just noise.
  
  
  i've joined the goodfoot art collective, a group of artists and performers in seattle, a few of whom are my friends. the rest i haven't met yet, but we have a shoot on saturday and some shows coming up soon, which i'm really excited about.
  
  
  my freshman year at carolina, a friend told me about st. anthony's hall, the co-ed arts fraternity on campus. i loved the idea of a bunch of artists coming together and sharing their work as their dues. but there were still dolla bill dues, more than i could afford, and though i considered pledging, i opted out. so when milton told me about goodfoot, i was in. i think it will push me in some really great, healthy ways. i'll keep you posted.
  
  
  for now, here's some of what's been inspiring me lately:
  
  
  1. K E X P 90.3, my favorite seattle indie radio station.
  
  
  this morning i heard an amazing story about a 22-year-old artist from new jersey who is off-the-charts brilliant... and he can't communicate except through his art. he's autistic, in the extreme, and it took his parents YEARS to figure out what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. they finally found that he's a genius artist and has a relentless drive to create. what struck me is that maybe some people are made with focus and creativity so incredible that it limits other aspects of their humanity. i couldn't decide if this is beautiful or tragic. i almost cried, sitting in traffic on I-5. that would be like me.
  
  
  anyhow, this guy, alex masket, made the cover art for a new compilation album out of NYC where a bunch of artists were asked to interpret the quatrains of Nostradamus and make music based on their interpretations.
  
  
  you can listen and read about the project on ESOPUS magazine's site here. natureboy's "ode to merry maid" might be my favorite.
  
  
  2. bon iver's sunrise concert at a hollywood graveyard.
  
  
  also heard about this on K E X P yesterday morning. how did i miss this?! bon iver, along with a bunch of others, organized an event that started at 2 am and included a wes anderson film, planet earth + march of the penguins, sleeping bags, wine, coffee, pastries, buddhist monks, tombs full of hollywood stars, fog, and bon iver taking the stage at ten till 6. if his songs aren't perfect for dawn, i don't know who's are. sounds like the greatest concert i've never been to in my life.
  
  
  3. sigur ros
  
  
  i'm always inspired by sigur ros. i'm almost always in the mood to listen to them.
  
  
  related confession: i don't like radiohead. i've tried and i've tried. all my most knowledgeable, music-loving, artsy friends LOVE radiohead and i just can't.
  
  
  strangely, sigur ros is similar. but here's what i realized: when i listed to radiohead, i feel as if there is no hope left, as if the sun will never come out again. but when i listen to sigur ros, the same raw emotion is there, but i know the sun will break through the clouds eventually, even if the promise of light isn't for always. must be the hopelandic.
  
  
  here's my favorite music videos (which are just as lovely as the songs by themselves):
  glosoli
  untitled #1 (vaka)
  hoppipolla
  svefn-g-englar
  
  
  and now, to put myself out there (not like i haven't already on facebook, twitter, etc). here's some of my favorites from around seattle lately...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (can you tell i've been listening to a lot of sigur ros and bon iver lately?)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ps: if you're reading this wondering what else i'm doing besides just living in seattle and taking pretty pictures, i started an internship with World Vision USA this week, doing photo research, photography, and video editing. i'm juiced. its so good.
  
  
  

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