Big Fish

Guppies Gone Wild

So, I’m gonna revisit this topic, which is rearing it’s ugly gills as I speak. You may remember my tirade about a certain someone (from India) who was Broadway bound (seriously?) with just a sketch of an idea for a production. On a daily basis we (at the cell) encounter our fair share of guppies in this Big Fish universe of  the great New York City  art world. These are usually talented people who have made it big in places like Podunk, which pretty much describes any big city that is not New York (except Las Vegas, but let’s not go there). Well, somehow they must’ve gotten the impression (certainly not from me) that I am the great and powerful Oz  simply because we operate out of New York City.

We grew our little cell from one germ of an idea into a home for struggling artists. We struggle, too. Can I help it if I live and work here? I wonder, do I have to move to Podunk just to create a new image?

The latest casualty comes from Oslo, Norway, where a childhood classmate (not even a friend!) - someone I have not seen since eighth grade and probably never spoke to, ever - chewed me out for NOT personally reading his several exhausting plays (I read as much as I could of the first one).

I got a charming e-mail: “Excuse me? Bloody excuse me? [herein lies some unprintable text...] Please don't pass your usual bullshit about being too busy. In our line of work no one's too busy if there's a real interest. Especially the higher up the artistic food chain one goes.”

How could I answer but to say, “Flattery will get you everywhere"?

It all comes back to the same old, same old. Everyone wants to be a Rock Star.  Well, even I, the great and powerful Oz, want something. I’m just a guppy trying my best to help the other guppies grow big enough to keep from getting swallowed up by the BIG FISH.  I have no special powers. I am no BIG FISH.  I just like to make things, and I try to help others make things, too. All I really want to do is to swim with the other little fishies that make art.

Rockers

Today was cool. I mean the temperature. I mean in Miami, where I went to a Dolphin's game with my fanatical family. Football, as you can imagine, is not exactly my favorite activity. But I try to be a good sport. I brought the Sunday Times Crossword Puzzle with me, just in case. I am sure I was the only person in the stadium (of 75,000 seats?!?!) doing the crossword puzzle. It took my mind off of the fact that I was freezing. And the Dolphins were not doing too well, which made for cranky company.

A while after the game, we went to dinner in Miami Beach - a favorite restaurant frequented by many sports figures and celebs (not that I'm star-struck - okay well maybe a little). I noticed a rock band dining at the table next to ours. How did I know they were rockers? I'm pretty perceptive when it comes to musicians. Or maybe it was the leather, long hair and piercings. I got the idea that they must've been the band at the pre game show. This is when the BlackBerry really pays off. I googled and found Jason Bonham, son of the remarkable Led Zeppelin drummer, and his band were the act before the game. And there they were (I could tell by the photos), just a bunch of guys sharing a meal. Pretty cool.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/entertainment/thingstodo/2010/12/bonham_brings_led_zeppelin_to_1.html

Lunar Eclipse

I watched the eclipse from 2:15 til just a nice slice of the white moon was visible to my binoculared eyes. Indeed, the shadow was an unearthly shade of red-orange, increasing in intensity to almost a glow...I could grasp the attraction to werewolves and Jack-the-rippers to take advantage of such a message from the heavens. Strike, said the stars, while the iron is hot. One must, after all, obey natures pleas. I didn't have the heart to wake you, knowing how very in tune with the moon you are.

Make Music Not War!

I heard the news today, oh boy – The sale of liquor is banned in Baghdad.

Okay, I could live with that, but music and theater will be banned as well.

No Music? No Theater?

No Life!

As my friend, Jordan, put it, “Take away my music and I’d probably kill someone!”

Exactly.

I have long held the idealistic (I love that word) belief that if we only provided instruments instead of guns we could create armies of marching bands!

I wonder, how would the world look, feel and sound if music were currency? “I’ll hand-knit you a sweater if you write me a song”…or, “Come for dinner and bring your sax.”

Couldn’t we turn up the heat on those cold winter nights with lively music and dance? I’m even wondering if we could generate electricity with music.

Call me a dreamer…but I’m not the only one!

Tower of Babel

Enuf! Stop! I've had it! I'm drowning in a sea of cyberspace, too connected, too networked, too frazzled and friended to care about my friends. Identity theft might come as a welcome relief...if someone would steal my contacts, too. I wonder, is it my age or is something else driving my overworked soul into protest? Do the young and eager-for-connection have the inner yearning for quality over sheer quantity of substance? Something stirs deep within me as I receive the myriad tweets and twitters that occupy more time than I wish to devote to a virtual world. Is it my hungry heart, or is it just indignant indigestion? Somebody help me out, please!

Surviving Art @ the cell

Surviving Art @ the cell

Surviving Art Press

"I can't be a visionary with dirty glasses.”

Lila Smalls

Our ghost is back! We thought she was gone, but Lila is poking around the cell again. We found her glasses lying around, encrusted with layers of time. She begs to return to the clear vision of a lost era, when art was pure and commerce had not yet corrupted the souls of its inspired agents.

Poor Lila! Her restless spirit is egging me on to continue the dream of a salon revival. Maybe I’m in some kind of time warp, wishing to be a part of something that has gone the way of books and records; those lovable yet imperfect relics, merely rich with dimension. Perhaps I myself am a relic, longing to feel the texture of ideas with my senses, much like the feeling I get when I hold my daughter’s newborn baby, Violet. Art, like life itself, is something mysterious and wonderful.

Why a salon?

‘Salon-goers… a group of people linked not by wealth or ancestry but by ideas.”

http://www.leisuregallery.ca/leisure_letters/lesiure-galleries-art-and-the-salon

Where do ideas start? I would venture to say an idea begins as a stirring in the heart, migrates to the brain and ultimately insinuates itself into physical existence, sometimes as art. Perhaps there was a time when an individual could simply put forth his or her creations in the name of self-expression. Perhaps the time has come for us to question how wealth and nepotism have corrupted our simple need to communicate from the heart. These days it seems as if an artist must have a creation, a social network, and even a famous relative in order to launch art into the public eye. It is no longer enough to be an artist. An artist must also be a celebrity. How sad!

The miracle of creation, whether human or something other, is what we believe in. We also believe in ghosts. Thank you, Lila, for keeping our dream alive.

Can you hear the drums Fernando?

“Can you hear the drums Fernando?”

A guy walks into a gallery. You’ve heard this one? He has a wonderful solo act. We want so desperately to support his project. We give him rehearsal time, we give him feedback, we incubate his one man show. We give him a night. The audience loves him.

Drum roll…

We pledge to produce his show in a run we’ve devised with another solo act (an incredible Beckett piece which I will extol at another time) in an effort to appease Equity and garner some interest from reviewers. As you may know, Equity* has very strict rules, which are not really designed for the not-for-profit world.

Can you see where this is going?

I can’t tell you how awful it feels to get a writer/performer like Fernando only to have to turn him away due to unreasonable economic requirements. If we take on the project and the requisite expenses imposed by Equity, we can’t afford to promote it. Advertising costs would eat our entire budget. Without advertising we can’t hope to get reviewed or to get enough audience to guarantee we would merely break even. Not only is this a devastating development for us and Fernando, but it also creates a bad situation for the Beckett piece. We want our artists to make money, but we feel trapped by this ugly circumstance.

“There was something in the air that night, the stars were bright Fernando

They were shining there for you and me for liberty, Fernando

Though we never thought that we could lose, there's no regret

If I had to do the same again, I would my friend, Fernando

If I had to do the same again, I would my friend, Fernando”

Abba

* Actors' Equity Association is the labor union representing American actors and stage managers in the theatre.

Bloglessness

Bloglessness I thought I’d try something new this week and skip the blog. Funny thing about blogs… just about the only feedback I get is from people who disagree with me! You never really know who is listening in cyberspace, do you? So, I am taking a break. Hope you enjoy Thanksgiving!

Haiti Blog

Dear Patrons of the cell,

Thanks to your generosity, we can proudly report that art does make a difference. You may not realize how wide the cell’s net is cast in the arts community. Because we habitually open our doors to a vast network of artists in all disciplines, we were recently blessed with the opportunity to sponsor a fund-raiser for Haiti, which actually helped saved some lives!

Water Without Borders, before the Cholera outbreak, created an event consisting of a day of music and art. Here’s the report from the front line which I’d like to pass on to you:

This trip was possible because of people like you that helped WWB raise the much needed funds for our efforts. Keep your spirit and head up knowing you made a difference in Haiti. We installed over thirty sand filters and we also went on a water drop…

PS the Cholera out brake could have been avoided buy just having one of these 55 dollar sand filters in each house... Where the out brake is, not far from where we installed the 34 filters about fifteen minutes away.

Energy

ENERGY: Supply and Demand

By now you must have figured out that I am deeply steeped in metaphysics. Some think this is bullshit. Perhaps.

I think you’d have to be living in an alternate reality to deny the kind of danger we have created for ourselves on this fair and fragile spaceship, Earth. It seems evident that our task is, has always been, survival. How ironic is it that by creating an abundance of creature comforts we are destroying the very life we are sustaining? While we are desperately trying to right the wrongs of our self-destructive path, we are not keeping pace with the speed of destruction. If you are like me, you might need some audio-visual facts to convince you that we better get on the stick. Start here: http://www.storyofstuff.org/

Many of you are already proactive in your efforts to be green. Cool and thank you.

What does this have to do with metaphysics? Nothing. And Everything.

For some it is easy to ignore the obvious and do absolutely nothing to change the course of history. For others, like me, it feels like a Herculean task to address the problems we have created for ourselves. I really like to feel I am not alone in my fears and am drawn towards the concept of connection. I worship the god of Energy. I believe with every fiber of my being we are all connected. Just like flesh and bones, our planet is composed of interdependent components: all parts are necessary in order to thrive. Energy is the tie that binds.

Whatever your beliefs, you might want to explore some radical alternative ideas that could actually change your mind. When the mind changes, everything is possible.

Let’s live in possibility:

http://www.2012timeforchange.com/screenings.html