#my vision is that james is an artist who paints his dreams & gets featured in a gallery

[cactihut]

concept: modern au where elizabeth & james have dreams about knowing each other in 1700s port royal but have never met irl until some fateful day when they come across one another in a destinies entwined moment except this time they’re finally joined

[upontheshelfreviews]

Last year I talked about Fantasia, which is not just one of my favorite Disney movies, but one of my favorite movies in general. And if I may be self-indulgent for a moment, it’s also one of the reviews that I’m the proudest of. Fantasia is a visual, emotional masterpiece that marries music and art in a manner few cinematic ventures have come close to replicating. One question that remains is what my thoughts on the long-gestated sequel is –

…you might wanna get yourselves some snacks first.

As anyone who read my review on the previous film knows, Fantasia was a project ahead of its time. Critics and audiences turned their noses up at it for conflicting reasons, and the film didn’t even make it’s budget back until twenty-something years later when they began marketing it to a very different crowd.

“I don’t wanna alarm you dude, but I took in some Fantasia and these mushrooms started dancing, and then there were dinosaurs everywhere and then they all died, but then these demons were flying around my head and I was like WOOOOOAAAHHH!!”

“Yeah, Fantasia is one crazy movie, man.”

“Movie?”

Fantasia’s unfortunate box office failure put the kibosh on Walt Disney’s plans to make it a recurring series with new animated shorts made to play alongside handpicked favorites. The closest he came to following through on his vision was Make Mine Music and Melody Time, package features of shorts that drew from modern music more than classical pieces.

Fast-forward nearly fifty years later to the golden age known as the Disney Renaissance: Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney surveys the new crop of animators, storytellers, and artists who are creating hit after hit and have brought the studio back to his uncle’s glory days, and thinks to himself, “Maybe now we can make Uncle Walt’s dream come true.” He made a good case for it, but not everyone was on board. Jeffrey Katzenberg loathed the idea, partly because he felt the original Fantasia was a tough act to follow (not an entirely unreasonable doubt) but most likely due to the fact that the last time Disney made a sequel, The Rescuers Down Under, it drastically underperformed (even though the reasons for that are entirely Katzenberg’s fault. Seriously, watch Waking Sleeping Beauty and tell me you don’t want to punch him in the nose when Mike Gabriel recalls his opening weekend phone call).

Once Katzenberg was out of the picture, though, Fantasia 2000, then saddled with the less dated but duller moniker Fantasia Continued, got the go-ahead. Many of the sequences were made simultaneously as the animated features my generation most fondly remembers, others were created to be standalone shorts before they were brought into the fold. Since it was ready in time for the new millennium, it not only got a name change but a massive marketing campaign around the fact that it would be played on IMAX screens for a limited run, the very first Disney feature to do so. As a young Fantasia fan who had never been to one of those enormous theaters before, I begged and pleaded my parents to take me. Late that January, we traveled over to the IMAX theater at Lincoln Center, the only one nearest to us since they weren’t so widespread as they are now, and what an experience it was. I can still recall the feeling of awe at the climax of Pines of Rome, whispering eagerly with my mom at how the beginning of Rhapsody in Blue looked like a giant Etch-A-Sketch, and jumping twenty feet in the air when the Firebird’s massive eyes popped open. But did later viewings recapture that magic, or did that first time merely color my perception?

We open on snippets from the original Fantasia…IN SPAAAAAAAAACE!

It reminds me a little of the opening to Simply Mad About The Mouse, where bits of classic Disney nostalgia fly about to evoke the mood of this upcoming musical venture. In a clever conceit, snippets of Deems Taylor’s original opening narration explaining Fantasia’s intent and music types plays over the orchestra and animators materializing and gearing up for the first sequence, which jumps right into –

DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUN – I mean, Symphony #5 – Ludwig Van Beethoven

Here, a bunch of butterflies flee and then fight off swarms of bats with the power of light – I can’t be the only one who saw these things and thought it was butterflies vs. bats, right?

It does look cool with its waterfalls and splashes of light and color bursting through the clouds, but this brings me to a bit of contention I have with the movie.

When I planned this review I was going to do a new version of “Things Fantasia Fans Are Sick of Hearing”, except there were only four major complaints I could think of that. On further introspection, I admit they are legitimate grievances worth addressing. I’m going to get them out of the way all at once in order to keep things rolling.

#1 – This Seems Familiar…

Certain sequences are noticeably derivative from the first movie. It’s as if they were afraid of trying too many new things that would alienate audiences so they borrowed from their predecessor in an effort to say “Hey, we can do this too!” Symphony #5 is clearly trying to be Tocatta and Fugue with its abstract geometric shapes swooping all over to kick things off. Though I love how much character the animators managed to give two pairs of triangles, Tocatta’s soaring subconscious flights of fancy leaves me more enthralled. Carnival of the Animals literally began as a sequel to Dance of the Hours until the ostriches became flamingoes. And Roy E. Disney openly stated he wanted the last sequence, The Firebird Suite to have the same death and rebirth theme as Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria, which they got, right down to a terrifying symbol of destruction emerging from a mountain to wreak chaos.

‘Sup, witches?

#2 – Too Short

Speaking of repeating the past, the original idea for Fantasia 2000 was to follow Walt’s vision in that three favorite segments would make a return amongst the newer ones – the Nutcracker Suite, which was eventually cut for time, Dance of the Hours, which I’ve already stated morphed into Carnival of the Animals, and finally, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the obvious choice to keep since that’s the most popular piece out of any of them. Cutting things for time doesn’t make that much sense, however, when you realize that Fantasia 2000’s runtime is only 75 minutes. A very short animated film by today’s standards that lasts barely half as long as its previous installment. I don’t see why they couldn’t keep at least one other sequence from the first Fantasia to make things last a little longer and keep in the original idea’s spirit.

#3 – All Story, No Experimentation

Unlike the first Fantasia, all of the sequences have a linear narrative structure that’s easy to follow. Not a bad thing and kudos to you if you’re among that group who prefers Fantasia 2000 for because of that, but again, I admire how the original film didn’t stick to a coherent story the whole time; how it was unafraid to let the music, atmosphere, and visuals speak for itself without sticking to a three-act plot and designated protagonist for every piece.

#4 – The One You’ve Been Waiting For, The Host Segments

One of the things that turned Fantasia off for its detractors was Deems Taylor’s seemingly dry narration. But maybe Fantasia 2000 can fix that with some folks who are hip and with it, perhaps a wild and crazy guy or two…

Eh, he’ll do.

Now, the idea of varying segment hosts isn’t an altogether bad idea. Most of them work well: Angela Lansbury gives the lead-in to the Firebird Suite plenty of gravitas befitting the finale, as do Ithzak Perlman, Quincy Jones, and James Earl Jones, who build plenty of intrigue for Pines of Rome, Rhapsody in Blue and Carnival of the Animals respectively; this seriousness makes James’ reaction to what the Carnival segment is really about a successful comic subversion. Even Penn and Teller for all their obnoxiousness kind of works with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice due to the linking magic theme.

I suppose what turns people off is the self-congratulatory tone and seemingly forced attempts at comedy you get from Martin, Penn, Teller, and Bette Midler. But you know what? They still make me laugh after all these years (well, you have to laugh at Bette Midler’s antics or she’ll come after you when the Black Flame Candle is lit). In fact, I have to hand it to Midler’s intro in particular. Fantasia 2000 came out right around the time I began taking a keen interest in what animation really was and how it was made. For me, her preceding The Steadfast Tin Soldier piece with tidbits about Fantasia segments that didn’t make it past the drawing board was like the first free hit that turned me into an animation junkie (plus this was before you could look up anything on the topic in extraneous detail on the internet, so it had that going for it). If I have to nitpick, though, The Divine Miss M referring to Salvador Dalí as “the melting watches guy” is a bit reductive. That’d be like calling Babe Ruth “the baseball guy” or Walt Disney “the mouse and castle guy”. Plus, Dalí and Disney were close compadres with a layered history. They planned on many collaborations, though the fruit of their labors, Destino, would not be completed in either of their lifetimes. Couldn’t show just a modicum of respect there, Bette?

Ahhh! I take it back! Don’t steal my soul!

So, I wouldn’t say I hate or even completely dislike the host segments. Sorry to disappoint everyone who was hoping for me to rip into them. They’re not awful, just uneven. And if you think they ruin the movie for me, you’ve got another think coming.

Pines of Rome – Ottorino Respighi

The idea for Pines of Rome’s visuals came about due to an unusual detail in some concept art. Someone noticed that a particular cloud in a painting of the night sky heavily resembled a flying whale. So why make a short about flying whales? The better question would be why NOT make a short about flying whales? A supernova in the night sky miraculously gives some whales the ability to swim through the air over the icy seas. Again, seeing this in IMAX was incredible. There’s just one minor issue I have with. This and another segment were developed well before Pixar made its silver screen debut, and unfortunately, it shows twenty years later; the worst cases are the close-ups.

Okay, who put googly eyes on the moldy beanbag?

There are ways of blending CGI and hand-drawn animation well, and this isn’t one of them. I understand the necessity of having expressive eyes but simply dropping one on top of a CGI creature gives it a bit of an uncanny valley feel. They should have either stuck with traditional all the way or made the whales entirely CG. The CG animation of the whales themselves isn’t too shabby, so they could have pulled it off.

Because simply giving whales flight apparently isn’t enough to hold an audience’s interest, we have an adorable baby whale earning his wings, so to speak. Once he gets his bearings above the surface, he swoops ahead of his family and bothers a flock of seagulls. They chase him into a collapsing iceberg, leaving him trapped, alone and unable to fly. The quiet dip in the music combined with the image of this lost little calf adds some genuine emotional weight to this piece. The baby navigates the iceberg’s claustrophobic caverns until he finds a crevice that elevates him back to his worried parents. From there a whole pod of whales rises out of the ocean to join them as they fly upwards to the supernova’s source.

“So long, and thanks for all the krill!”

As the music reaches its brilliant crescendo, the whales plow through storm clouds until they reach the top of the world and breach through the stars like water. It’s an awe-inspiring climax of a short that, flaws and all, reminds you of what Fantasia is all about.

Majestic.

Rhapsody in Blue – George Gershwin

The music of jazz composer George Gershwin? Timeless. The art of renowned caricaturist Al Hirschfeld? Perfection. All this brought to life with the best animation Disney has to offer? It’s a match made in heaven. Eric Goldberg, who animated the Genie among other comedic characters, idolized Hirschfeld and drew plenty of inspiration from drawings, so getting to work alongside him while making this was nothing short of a dream come true. That attention to detail in rendering Hirschfeld’s trademark curvy two-dimensional style goes beyond mere homage. It is a love letter to a great artist that encapsulates everything about him and his craft, and to a great city that we both had the honor of calling home. The story goes that Goldberg screened the final product for Hirschfeld shortly before his 96th birthday and his wife told him after that it was the best gift he could have ever received.

All this to say I am quite fond of this particular short, thank you very much.

The piece follows four characters navigating 1930’s Manhattan and crossing paths over the course of a single day:

Duke, a construction worker torn between his steady, monotonous job and following his dream of drumming in a jazz band,

Joe, a victim of the Great Depression desperately looking for work,

Rachel, a little girl who wants to spend time with her parents but is forced to attend lesson after lesson by her strict governess,

and “Flying” John, a henpecked husband longing to be free from his overbearing wife –

And her little dog too!

By the way, John is modeled in name and in looks after Disney animation historian John Culhane, who also was the inspiration for The Rescuers’ Mr. Snoops, hence why the two look so similar. He’s not the only name who appears in this sequence: Gershwin himself makes a surprise cameo as he takes over Rachel’s piano solo halfway through the story.

Speaking of, my family used to compare me to Rachel because at that point in my young life I was doing or already did the same mandatory activities as she – swimming, ballet, music, sports, all with the same amount of speed and varying degrees of success.

No one can argue that art is where we both excelled, however.

The physical timing of Rhapsody in Blue’s animation is hilarious, though it doesn’t rely wholly on slapstick for its humor. The sight gags and clever character dynamics all weaved into the music milk plenty of laughs, and envelop you in this living, breathing island that is Manhattan.

I speak from experience, this is the most accurate depiction of commuting on the 1 train that there ever was.

Even with such a premise and two masters of combining comedy and art, there is still enough pathos to keep the story rooted. Take when all four characters are at their lowest point. They look down on some skaters in Rockefeller Center and picture themselves in their place fulfilling their deepest desires. Seeing their dreams so close in their minds and yet so far away while paired with the most stirring part of the score is heartwrenching.

In the end, things pick up as the characters unwittingly solve each other’s problems. Duke quits the construction site, leaving an opening for Joe to fill. Joe accidentally snags John’s wife on a hook and hauls her screaming into the air, allowing him one night of uninhibited fun at the club where Duke performs.

“Anyone hear something? Nah, it’s probably just me.”

Rachel loses her ball while fighting with her nanny, which Duke bounces off the window of her parents’ office, which in turn gets them to notice their daughter about to run into traffic and they save her. Everyone gets their happy ending and it ends on a spectacularly glamorous shot of Time Square lit up in all its frenetic neon glory.

And not a single knockoff costumed character hitting up tourists for photos. Those were the days, my friend.

If you haven’t guessed by now, I adore Rhapsody in Blue. It’s easily my favorite part of the movie; a blissful ménage-a-trois of art style, music and storytelling, and it’s so New York that the only New York things I could think of that are missing are Central Park and amazing bagels. This sequence is gut-busting, energized, emotional, and mesmerizing in its form. I don’t often say I love a piece of animation so much that I’d marry it, but when I do, it’s often directed at Rhapsody in Blue.

  Piano Concerto #2 – Dmitri Shostakovich (aka The One With The Steadfast Tin Soldier)

This piece has an interesting history attached to it. Disney wanted to do an animated film surrounding Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales – including The Little Mermaid and The Steadfast Tin Soldier – as far back as the 30’s, but the project fell by the wayside. During Fantasia 2000’s production, Roy E. Disney asked if they could do something with Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto #2 since he and his daughter were attached to that piece. He looked over sketches and storyboards made for the unrealized Tin Soldier sequence and discovered the music matched in perfect time with the story.

This is the second sequence that features CGI at the forefront. Unlike Pines of Rome, though, it works because the main characters are toys, and you can get away with your early CGI looking shiny and metallic and plastic-like when you’re animating toys.

Hell, it worked for Pixar.

The story centers on a tin soldier cast with only one leg who is shunned by his comrades for routinely throwing off their groove. He falls in love with a porcelain ballerina when he mistakes her standing en pointe as her also missing a limb. Despite his embarrassment when he learns the truth, the ballerina is enamored with him as well. This rouses the jealousy of an evil jack-in-the-box who I swear is a caricature of Jeffrey Katzenberg minus the glasses but with a goatee and Lord Farquaad wig.

“MUST. CHOP. EVERYTHING!!!”

The jack-in-the-box and the soldier duke it out for a bit before the former sends the latter flying out the window in a little wooden boat. The boat floats the soldier into the sewers and attracts a horde of angry rats who attack him, because animated rodents seem to have a natural hatred towards toy soldiers.

Case in point.

The soldier hurtles into the sea where he’s eaten by a fish – which is caught the following morning, packed up to be sold at market, bought by the cook who works at the very house he came from, and he falls out of the fish’s mouth on the floor where his owner finds him and places him back with the rest of the toys. Now the story this is based on hints that the jack-in-the-box is really a goblin who orchestrates the soldier’s misfortunes with his malicious magic. But based the extremely coincidental circumstances of his return home, I’d say the soldier’s the one who’s got some reality-warping tricks up his sleeve.

The soldier and jack-in-the-box duel again that evening, but this time the harlequin harasser falls into the fireplace and burns up. Our hero gets the girl and lives happily ever after. A nice conclusion, though a far cry from what happened in the original tale: the ballerina is knocked into the fire, the soldier jumps in after her, and all that remains of them by morning is some melted tin in the shape of a heart. I gotta say, for all my love of classic fairytales, Disney made the right call. Andersen’s life was far from magical and it reflected in his stories, making many of them depressing for no good reason. The triumphant note the music ends on also would have clashed horribly if they stuck with the original. Even the Queen of Denmark agreed with Disney’s decision to soften their adaptations of Andersen’s work. I don’t know if I’d call The Steadfast Tin Soldier one of my very favorite parts of Fantasia 2000, but in the end, s’all right.

  Carnival of the Animals: Finale – Camille Sant-Saëns

This shortest of shorts (clocking in at less than two minutes) kicks off with James Earl Jones asking with as much seriousness as he can muster from the situation, what would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?

The answer –

Good answer!

Fie on those who dismiss this part as a silly one-off that doesn’t belong here. Fie, I say! It’s a pure delight full of fun expressions and fluid fast-paced action. Once again we have my man Eric Goldberg to thank for this, though this time he animated it entirely by himself. I’d call it a one-man show except for the fact that his wife Susan handpainted the entire thing with watercolor, making it look like it sprung to life straight from a paintbrush. It’s a simple diversion about a flamingo who wants to play with his yo-yo while the other snooty members of his flock try to force him to conform. As you can see from the still, they fail quite epically. Nothing beats the power of nonconformity and yo-yos (also every yo-yo move featured here is authentic; I love when animators go that extra mile).

  The Sorcerer’s Apprentice plays next, but since I already touched on that in the first Fantasia review, I’m skipping over it. The segment ends with Mickey congratulating Leopold Stokowski (again), then crossing the barriers of time and space to inform the conductor, James Levine, that he needs to track down the star of the next segment, Donald Duck. Levine stalls by explaining a bit about what’s to come while Mickey frantically searches for his errant costar. The surround sound sells the notion of him moving around the back of the theater accidentally causing mischief all the while. Thankfully, Donald is found and the sequence commences.

Pomp and Circumstance – Edward Elgar

This famous piece of music was included at the insistence of Michael Eisner after he attended his son’s graduation ceremony. He wanted to feature a song that everyone was already familiar with. Of course, since this was after Frank Well’s untimely passing and no one was bold enough to temper Eisner’s worst instincts with common sense, his original pitch had every animated couple Disney created up to that point marching on to Noah’s Ark – and then marching out with their babies.

Okay, A: Unless you’re doing a groin hit joke or are Ralph Bakshi or R. Crum, cartoon characters don’t have junk as a rule. And B, one of the unwritten rules of Disney animation is that barring kids that already exist like the titular 101 Dalmatians or Duchess’ kittens, the established canon couples do not in any official capacity have children.

To which Eisner laughed maniacally and vowed that they would.

But in order to placate Eisner’s desire to turn every branch of the Disney corporation into a commercial for itself, the animators compromised and agreed to do Pomp and Circumstance with the Noah’s Ark theme, BUT with only one couple – Donald and Daisy Duck. In this retelling of the biblical tale, Donald acts as Noah’s beleaguered assistant (I guess Shem, Ham, and Japheth were too busy rounding up the endangered species). Daisy provides emotional support while preparing to move on to the ark as well. It’s refreshing to see these two not losing their temper at each other for a change. I wish we got to see this side of their relationship more often. Donald returns Daisy’s easily lost plot device locket to her and as the rain rain rain comes down down down, he starts directing the animals on board; the lions, the tigers, the bears, the…ducks?

Anyway, all the animals and Donald get on board – well, most of them do.

The world’s first climate change deniers.

Donald realizes Daisy hasn’t arrived yet and runs out to look for her, unaware that she’s already boarded. Daisy sees Donald leaving but is too late to stop him before the first floodwaters hit their home. Donald made it back to the ark in time, however, though both of them believe that the other is forever lost to them. I find it astounding that they never run into each other not even once during the forty days and forty nights they’re cooped up on that boat. It’s the American Tail cliche all over again, and well, at least it’s happening in a short and not the entire movie.

Soon the ark lands atop Mount Ararat and the animals depart in greater numbers than when they embarked on their singles cruise. Daisy realizes halfway down the mountain that she’s lost her locket again, which Donald finds at that very moment while sweeping up, and the two are joyously reunited.

“I thought you were dead!” “I thought YOU were dead!”

I kid around, but I truly enjoy this short a lot. There’s so much warmth to Donald and Daisy’s relationship that makes their reunion at the end all the sweeter, and there’s plenty of great slapstick to offset the drama in the meantime. I will admit it’s nice to hear there’s more to Pomp And Circumstance than just the famous march, and the entire suite matches flawlessly with the visuals, though the main theme itself is so ingrained into the public consciousness that it’s difficult to extricate it from that what we’ve seen accompany it countless times.

Come on, you all know what I’m talking about.

“What? Don’t tell me YOU don’t think of heads exploding like fireworks when you hear Pomp and Circumstance! Name one other life-changing moment could you possibly associate it with…you weirdo.”

The Firebird Suite – Igor Stravinsky

Fantasia 2000 comes to a close with a piece that has some emotional resonance if you know your history. You might remember from my first Fantasia review that Igor Stravinsky was disappointed with how Rite of Spring turned out, especially since he was a big admirer of Walt Disney and really wanted to do more projects with him beforehand. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they picked his premiere ballet to end the movie on decades later. After all these years, Disney worked hard to do right by Stravinsky – with a few twists, though. Instead of a balletic retelling of Russian folktales involving kidnapped princesses and immortal sorcerers, we have a fantastical allegory for the circle of life.

No, not that circle of life.

A lone elk who I’m fairly convinced is the Great Prince of the Forest walks through the forest in the dead of winter. With his breath, he awakens the spirit of the woods and one of the most beautiful characters Disney has ever created, the Spring Sprite.

I. Love. This character. Her design is gorgeous, shifting from a shimmery opalescent blue as she steps out of the water into an eternally flowing fount of live greenery spreading from her hair in her wake. Wherever she moves, grass, flowers, and trees blossom, fulfilling the idea of a springtime goddess more than Disney’s own Goddess of Spring ever did. The Sprite was a massive influence in developing my art style, particularly in her face and expressive eyes, and I used to draw her a lot. Visit any relative of mine and chances are you’ll find a picture of her by me hanging up on a wall somewhere in their house. Yet there’s far more to her character than just a pretty representation of nature; there’s plenty of curiosity, spunk, determination, and a drive for creativity. I love her frustrated expression when she’s dissatisfied with the tiny flower she sculpts out of the ground and how her face lights up when she morphs it into a buttercup as tall as she is.

The Sprite paints the forest with all the colors of the wind (mostly green) until she reaches a mountain that isn’t affected by her magic. Perplexed, she climbs it until she finds a large hunched over rock figure – or is it an egg? – standing inside. She reaches out to touch it and…

The Sprite has awakened her counterpart, the wrathful and deadly Firebird. Think giant evil phoenix made of smoke, flame and lava. And it goes without saying that seeing this on the biggest screen left quite the terrifying impact. One of the biggest inspirations for this sequence was the eruption of Mount St. Helens (though the shot of the Sprite surveying the breadth of the Firebird’s destruction reminds me far too much of the Australian bushfires going on) and the sheer horror of nature’s irrepressible chaos is fully captured here. But the Firebird refuses to settle for merely destroying the Sprite’s handiwork, oh no. It won’t rest until creation itself is consumed, and the Sprite is reduced to a powerless mite as she scrabbles to escape the Firebird’s relentless pursuit of her. Try as she might, however, the towering monster corners and devours her in one fell swoop.

The forest is reduced to gray ashes in the wake of the Firebird’s rampage, but the Great Prince has survived. Once again he brings the Sprite to life with his breath, only this time she is tiny and weak (the animation of her slowly developing from the ash into her huddled ragged form is breathtaking). Now, I didn’t think I’d get emotional revisiting a small part of a single movie I’ve rewatched countless times before but viewing this through a mature eye combined with the beauty of the Firebird Suite’s climax and its timely message has caused me to see it in a new light:

The Sprite is utterly broken by what she’s been through and the destruction she carelessly caused. She’s lost all faith in herself and in the idea of returning the forest to what it once was. Even so, the Prince gently insists on carrying her on his antlers to the remains of their favorite cherry blossom tree. Where her tears fall, grass shoots begin to sprout. This fills the Sprite with hope, and she soars into the air becoming one with the sky and rains life down on the forest. New trees burst from the earth. The air is filled with leaves and pollen and new life flowing from her essence. The Sprite’s joy and power grow so strong that she even encircles the Firebird’s mountain in all her verdant glory. Life and creation overcome death and destruction. It’s not Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria, but it’s close.

And unfortunately, that’s the biggest problem Fantasia 2000 has.

While working on the original Fantasia, a storyman made the mistake of referring to the work they were doing in “the cartoon medium” in Walt’s presence. Walt turned on him and snapped “This is NOT ‘the cartoon medium’. It should not be limited to cartoons. We have worlds to conquer.”

And conquer they did…just not the way Walt intended.

The point I’m trying to make is Walt was breaking new ground and experimenting with things nobody ever tried when it came to Fantasia. While those risks were initially deemed a failure, it eventually gained the recognition it deserved from the animation and filmmaking community. Any attempt to recreate the magic of Fantasia is no small feat. But rather than taking new risks that not even the first film dared, the studio opted to adhere to Fantasia’s formula with pieces that recall if not flat out copy from the original segments. I hesitate to call it a pale imitation or cash grab however because this was done for the art much more than the money (though Eisner was probably hoping it would bring in some bank). There’s even a little bit of depth to it: while the first Fantasia had themes of differing natures in conflict – light vs. dark, fire vs. water, etc. – Fantasia 2000’s theme is accidental but brilliantly meta: CGI vs. traditional animation, a conflict Disney would become very familiar with in the decade following the film’s release. In some ways, it reminds me of Epcot’s genesis. The driving force behind it was long gone, but the attempt to bring it to life as close to the original vision as possible is still much appreciated.

For all my gripes, I really do enjoy Fantasia 2000. Perhaps not on the same level as its predecessor, but it has its moments, oh yes. And believe me, as far as Disney sequels go, you could do far, far, far worse than this one. Fantasia 2000 is Fantasia’s kid sister mimicking its beloved older sibling in an attempt to show it can be cool like the big kids too. But hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this review, please consider supporting this misfit on Patreon. Patreon supporters receive great perks such as extra votes for movie reviews, movie requests, early sneak-peeks and more! If I can hit my goal of $100 a month, I can go back to weekly tv series reviews. As of now, I’m only $20 away! Special thanks to Amelia Jones, Gordhan Rajani and Sam Minden for their contributions! I’ll see you in a few weeks when I and review the 1959 Disney animated classic, Sleeping Beauty!

Artwork by Charles Moss.

Screencaps from animationscreencaps.com

Yes, I know The Lion King and Lady and the Tramp ended with the titular characters having babies, but was there anyone out there apart from Eisner who demanded there be sequels to those films that focused on their offspring?

January Review: Fantasia 2000 Last year I talked about Fantasia, which is not just one of my favorite Disney movies, but one of my favorite movies in general.

[tjbcnntt]

guess who’s back, back again, lenny’s back, tell your friends. ok so tj is my newest baby so he’s not quite as developed as noah but i still love him dearly and i’m very excited for you to meet him. if you like what you see below the cut, just give this post a good ol’ like or hmu and we can plot !!!

( keith powers • twenty three • cismale ) look, it's tevin “tj” bennett from apartment 6A! apparently he moved into moreau apartments one month ago and rumour has it, they can be quite reticent— good thing they’re also passionate, hey? i hear they’re the phoenix of the building. 

↘︎ 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚜 !

given name: tevin james bennett

nickname: tj, tev

age: twenty3

birthdate: october 15, 1995

hometown: tba

occupation: art gallery ambassador & bartender

↘︎ 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 !

(tw: mention of death) a normal childhood could not have been further out of reach for tj. growing up, it was just him and his father — his mother unfortunately passed away after complications during his birth and despite reality promising it wasn’t his fault, tevin’s always had a deep-rooted guilt about it

his father never made it much easier on him either honestly. though calvin never outright blamed him for his beloved wife’s death, his attitude towards his son always seemed to hint towards it

tj doesn’t remember ever rlly seeing a smile on the man’s face — except in the few photos he found of his parents together, which only confirmed his beliefs that his father wasn’t the same man that he was before his wife’s passing (end tw)

on top of that, nothing tj ever did seemed to be enough for the stone cold man, including pushing away his own passion for his father’s. art has always been tj’s first love. painting, drawing, writing, music, everything considered “art” tevin is sure to love. but his father never agreed with his love for watercolours and paintbrushes — instead he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and go into the medical field, which was the last thing tj wanted to do. the schooling, the pressure, everything that went along with the industry gave tevin shivers but as a young boy who wanted nothing more than the approval of his father, he saw no other option but to go into it

(tw: mention of anxiety) so with no break or gap year after high school, tj went to university for his bachelor of science but his fears of the pressure were only proven right. the workload was already a lot but with the added pressure of his father’s constant looking over his shoulder, he developed anxiety and he just scraped by on most of his classes in his last year (end tw)

after graduating at 22 with his ba in science, tj felt a weight lift off of his shoulders – for about 2 minutes.. and then the pressure was back when his father wasted no time bringing up med school and his son’s future. calvin was just so pleased his son was actually doing something with his life (what a backhanded compliment hey?) and while tev felt a glimmer of hope that he might actually be pleasing his father, he knew nothing would ever be enough for the man. he’d never be able to reach his father’s high standards if they only kept going up

this all was a lot on his shoulders for a while and tj fought the tension building inside of him, trying to find his passion and motivation for med school, but it just kept just kept building up as he woke up everyday never feeling fulfilled with his choices of pushing away his own dreams for his father’s

his fingers continued to yearn for the paintbrushes he’d packed away and ideas for sketches kept flashing across his the backs of his eyelids. his passion for art became a burning itch he couldn’t scratch and in the middle of this summer, it became too much for him

an argument began between tj and his father after his father started pestering him about applying to med school and getting angry that he was “slacking.” tj, normally one to just bow down and hide away from confrontations with his father, exploded on his father and a fight ensued that ended with tj packing his bags and storming out of his father’s house, slamming the door on his past and diving head first into the future he wanted

↘︎ 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 !

after a few weeks of bouncing between his friends’ couches, tj and his best friend, priya, set their sights on vancouver (very fast car by tracy chapman of them) to start fresh together. they both needed a new city, a new home... a new outlook. so vancouver, here they came

to pay the bills, tevin picked up a bartending gig at a popular bar in the granville entertainment district but continued to search for a job that would put him in the right direction and just a week ago, he found that job at the vancouver art gallery as an ambassador, basically someone who welcomes guests and orients them on the current exhibits, and feels one step closer to finding his place in life

since breaking apart from his father, he’s also rediscovered his passion for the arts. it took him a while to feel comfortable with a paintbrush or a sketchbook (hell, it still gives him jitters sometimes) but after a few brushstrokes, he’s begun to fall into the flow of letting his muse consume him once again

↘︎ 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛 !

aesthetics: black coffee in a chipped mug. the sound of a pencil scratching against paper. sun rays poking through drawn curtains. patterned button down shirts. paintbrushes drying in the setting sun so they’re ready to use by sunrise. fresh watercolours. a stocked liquor cabinet. boots worn at the sole from too many walks along the coast. a sketchbook full of pencil markings. frank ocean playing through the night.

notable traits: honest, passionate, dexterous, reticent, altruistic, loyal, aggressive

best described as a cloud of creative visions that are fighting for a way out of the cement walls built around them after years of neglect.

though he never met his mother, distant relatives never let tevin forget how much of her he’d inherited, from her selflessness to the creative spark in her eye, and though he hates to admit it, tj is well aware the phrase “like father, like son” is all too real in regards to his short temper and reticence

growing up with such a sour relationship with his father, however, pushed tevin to distance himself from these traits as best he can, never wanting to look in the mirror and see the one man he loathes most. he often bites his tongue in confrontations unless pushed further and has been working effortlessly to let his emotions and feelings shine through to those he trusts

at first sight, his quiet, mysterious exterior can be intimidating to most, unless he’s caught drawing in public in which his features soften to let the pained young boy living inside of him to shine through. but around friends he’s grown comfortable with, tj’s charming and gregarious side comes out through his contagious laughter, jokes, and pure loyalty

along with his painting and drawing, tj fuels his passion for the arts through dance. when he isn’t working or creating, he’s often found in a dance studio near moreau

↘︎ 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢 !

i totally aimed to make sure this wasn’t as long as noah’s and i failed pretty miserably. sigh. jkahs

if you made it through yet another one of these, you are incredible and i love you so much.

tl;dr: a boy with no mother and a father who projected his own dreams onto his unwilling son. his intimidation forced him into the medical industry, despite the fact that his fingers itched to hold a paintbrush instead of a scalpel. but when the pressures of med school became too much, an explosion occurred between father and son that sent tj storming out of his childhood home and into the arms of his best friend to start their new life in vancouver. now a starving artist working at an art gallery by day and popular bar by night, he’s searching for his muse once again and determined to live the life he wants to live

first things that come to mind when thinking of tj: paintbrushes, drake’s discography, a caged eagle, early mornings in the dance studio, and thick chains.

again, i would love any and every connection for my dear tj so pls give me all of them! like this / hmu and we can chat xo

[kultguy]

Presented by Nicolas Winding Refn in a new 4K restoration, Curtis Harrington’s 1961 fantasy thriller Night Tide is an offbeat classic of American independent cinema, and it makes its UK Blu-ray debut with this must-have box-set from Powerhouse Films.

Night Tide sees Dennis Hopper (in his first starring role) playing a sailor on shore leave in San Diego, where he meets a young woman called Mora (Linda Lawson) who not only works in a sideshow as a mermaid, but actually believes she is one of the mythical Sirens, who lure young men to their deaths…

A dream-like fusion of arthouse, expressionism and the surreal, dominated by high-contrast lighting and deep shadows, Harrington’s first feature pays homage Val Lewton (one of Harrington’s heroes) and his classic 1942 chiller Cat People – and cements the young film-maker’s poetic cinematic vision that was born out of his earlier experimental shorts. This new restoration is simply luminous and one that I can happily watch over and over again.

Exclusive to this two-disc region free set is a bonus Blu-ray devoted to eight of Harrington’s short films. Previously released by Flicker Alley and Drag City in the US following painstaking restoration by the Academy Film Archive (that was carried out between 2003 and 2007 – the year of Harrington’s death, aged 80), these shorts (also making their UK Blu-ray debut) are a key insight into Harrington’s development as a film-maker…

The Fall of the House of Usher (1942, 10 mins): Inspired to become a film-maker after reading Paul Rotha’s The Film Till Now: A Survey of World Cinema, Harrington was just 16 when he crafted this hallucingenic and campy homemade short in which he plays both Roderick and Madeline Usher. It might be very low budget is bursting with style that would later inform his cinematic vision.

Fragment of Seeking (1946, 14 mins): This ‘examination of youthful narcissism’ was heavily influenced by Maya Deren’s influential Meshes of the Afternoon and is very much a companion piece to Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks in its exploration of homosexuality. In fact, when the two friends first screened their ‘erotic dream pieces’ to an LA art group, they were deemed ‘very sick boys’. Good on them!

Picnic (1948, 23 mins): Harrington persuaded his own parents to star in this ‘satire of middle-class life’, in which an angry young man chases false love and desires to escape authoritive control. Acclaimed French director and film critic Jacques Rivette praised the film’s poetic expression.

On the Edge (1949, 6 mins): Surrealism comes to the fore in this powerful short about youthful dissatisfaction and human frailty, which uses the wild and desolate landscape of Salton Sea (near Brawley, California) to great effect.

The Assignation (1953, 8 mins): In this love letter to Venice and in his first short in colour that was long deemed lost until it was rediscovered in the vaults of the Cinematheque Française, Harrington explores themes of ‘fleeting human connection’ while also showcasing the city’s brooding architecture.

The Wormwood Star (1956, 10 mins): This is my personal favourite and comes with a very interesting history. Entranced by the LA artist Majorie Cameron, a magnetic and alluring woman whom he had met while appearing in Kenneth Anger’s Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome and who makes a witchy cameo in Night Tide, Harrington crafted this arty occult short to ‘present Cameron/the artist as alchemist who, through her creative work, becomes herself transmuted into gold’.

Very much part of the occult milieu of Southern California at the time, Cameron was a unique and troubled soul whose lovers included rocket scientist and Aleister Crowley follower Jack Parsons (who developed a belief system that was later appropriated by Ron L Hubbard — guess what that was?) and psychedelic artist Burt Shonberg (who was commissioned to create the ancestor paintings in Roger Corman’s House of Usher). Cameron later burned most of the pieces that appear in the short (which was filmed in the home of surrealist collector Edward James), so this is only record of her unique artistry.

The Four Elements (1966, 13 mins): Commissioned by the United States Information Agency, Harrington was tasked to make this propaganda film to show off the might of American industry. He does so, but with his distinctive flair. Following this short, Harrington went on to craft a host of psychological thrillers like Games (1967) and Who Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) that have now attracted cult status, and TV movies like Cat Creature (1973) and Killer Bees (1974), then ended up helming episodes of the biggest and campest soaps of the 19870s, Dynasty and The Colbys.

Usher (2002, 37 mins): This final inclusion sees Harrington return to what made him become a film-maker in the first place: ‘the art of it’. Filmed at his home with a crew made up of friends (and Church of Satan members, Nikolas and Zeena Schreck), its an atmospheric and humourous take on the same Poe tale that began his cinematic journey.

This box-set is currently my No.1 home entertainment release of 2020, and could only be bettered by seeing all of Harrington’s features and TV movies in another box-set or two. In the meantime, here are the complete specs on Powerhouse/Indictator’s fabulous release.

SPECIAL FEATURES: DISC ONE: NIGHT TIDE • New 4K restoration • Original mono audio • Audio commentary (from 1998) with writer-director Curtis Harrington and actor Dennis Hopper (This is a must-listen and very informative on the making of the film – also a piece of cinema history as both of them are no longer with us) • New audio commentary with writer and film programmer Tony Rayns (excellent as always) • Harrington on Harrington (2018, 25 mins): wide-ranging archival interview with the filmmaker • The Sinister Image: Curtis Harrington (1987, 57 mins): two episodes from David Del Valle’s public access series devoted to cult cinematic figures (It was fantastic to finally see this) • Original theatrical trailer • Image gallery: publicity and promotional material • New and improved English subtitles

DISC TWO: DREAM LOGIC – THE SHORT FILMS OF CURTIS HARRINGTON • High Definition remasters • Original mono audio • Eight short films: The Fall of the House of Usher (1942, 10 mins); Fragment of Seeking (1946, 14 mins); Picnic (1948, 23 mins); On the Edge (1949, 6 mins); The Assignation (1953, 8 mins); The Wormwood Star (1956, 10 mins); The Four Elements (1966, 13 mins); Usher (2002, 37 mins) • Image gallery: production photography and a rare selection from Harrington’s personal collection • New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing • 80-page collector’s book featuring new writing on Night Tide by Paul Duane, Curtis Harrington on Night Tide and the short films, archival articles by Harrington on horror cinema, experimental films and the making of Picnic, an overview of critical responses, Peter Conheim on the restoration of Night Tide, and film credits • Limited edition exclusive set of five facsimile lobby cards

Night Tide | Curtis Harrington’s cult fantasy feature debut and eight rarely-seen experimental shorts get a luminous UK release on Blu-ray Presented by Nicolas Winding Refn in a new 4K restoration, Curtis Harrington's 1961 fantasy thriller Night Tide…

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/lifestyle/an-artist-who-makes-irreverent-and-pocket-size-sculptures/

An Artist Who Makes Irreverent, and Pocket-Size, Sculptures

Like the confectioners that craft Japanese wagashi, traditional tea-ceremony treats, the artist Ron Nagle, 80, creates miniature, meticulously rendered objects that are ripe with dual meaning. In his otherworldly ceramic sculptures, which are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, pastel stucco planes converge with glossy half-moon shapes, suggesting animal tails, chewed-up wads of gum, bare tree limbs, erect genitalia or excrement — sometimes all at once.

Next month, some 30 of Nagle’s provocative sculptures and drawings will go on view at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York in the exhibition “Getting to No,” a significant showcase of his recent work. While Nagle is an established artist — in 2013, his sculptures were featured in the 55th Venice Biennale, and he has works in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art — and though he played an important role in forming the California Clay Movement, which helped elevate the status of ceramic art, he is still something of a cult figure within a few relatively contained communities. Outside of the visual art world, though, he is also known as a prolific songwriter and composer; he’s credited for writing iconic songs on albums by Jefferson Airplane, Sammy Hagar and Barbra Streisand, as well as for creating many of the sound effects in “The Exorcist.”

[Coming later this spring: the T List newsletter, a weekly roundup of what T Magazine editors are noticing and coveting. Sign up here.]

Born and raised in San Francisco, Nagle apprenticed with the Berkeley-based ceramist Peter Voulkos in the ’60s and helped carve out a niche for ceramics to be understood as rigorous and conceptual sculptures, rather than simply decorative objects. He went on to teach ceramics at Mills College in Oakland for over three decades before retiring in 2010 and returning full-time to his practice. Throughout his life, Nagle has tried to make three-dimensional forms appear flat, while still evoking rich, microcosmic landscapes, taking cues from the Italian artists Giorgio Morandi and Lucio Fontana, who challenged the dimensional constraints of painting on canvas in the ’50s. Often installed in peep-hole-style wall recesses or gleaming glass vitrines, like specimens dropped down from another planet, his works mix elements of allure and repulsion to enigmatic effect. Named with tongue-in-cheek puns like “Pastafarian,” “Urinetrouble” and “Karma Gouda,” they are also extensions of his irreverent sense of humor.

On a recent visit to the artist’s sunlit Bernal Heights home in San Francisco, which gleamed white like a freshly painted spaceship, there was a speckling of lilacs and golden poppies that lead through the garden to his next-door studio, which Nagle affectionately calls his “cocoon.” Seated there, sporting an all-white outfit, with a book on Korean ceramics in hand, Nagle answered T’s Artist’s Questionnaire.

What is your day like? How much do you sleep, and what’s your work schedule like?

I get up, have breakfast, take the dog for a walk. In the old days, it was close to a 9-to-5 in the studio. Now, with increased success — I hate these words — I’m busier. My main part of the day, my peace of mind, my “this is what I do because I gotta do it” is being in the studio as much as I can.

I usually order dinner out because my wife and I don’t like cooking. And then around 6 o’clock we watch MSNBC — to see if Trump’s still in office. Scary times, man. I hope you’re not a Republican. She’ll want to watch Rachel Maddow for the second time and I’ll move into the bedroom and watch “The Voice” or “True Detective” or “Ray Donovan.” If nothing’s on, I’ve been known to watch “MacGyver” or “Hawaii Five-O.” They’re reviving all these old shows. I’m a big nostalgia and trivia freak.

How many hours of creative work do you think you do in a day?

Other things take up space in my head, but the work never leaves my mind. I’m always looking, thinking, taking pictures with my phone — of a splat on the street or a ship bow down at Mission Bay. I pretty much remember everything — or I’ll bark it into my recorder. But if we’re talking hands-on-the-material, drawing or whatever the case, I’d say six hours.

What’s the first piece of art you ever made?

I made a bust in high school. I put it in the kiln and it blew the side of its head off. I was going to throw it away and a friend of mine said, “Oh no man, that’s really cool.” I’ve been making stuff since I was a kid. My mother told me I had no talent, she was like, “What do you want to do that for?”

What’s the worst studio you ever had?

Probably the basement of the building next door, where my daughter lives now. Dirt floor. Funky.

What’s the first work you ever sold? For how much?

There’s a sculpture from 1958 that Scripps College owns, “Perfume Bottle.” It’s a big jar with a kind of tombstone stopper. Peter Voulkos brought over a collector who was a math teacher at Scripps and he bought it for $100.

When you start a new piece, where do you begin? What’s the first step?

I draw a lot, that’s really the beginning of it all. I draw in bed, usually watching a Charlie Chan movie. The drawings are very small. I’ll put them on a copier and blow them up to get a general picture of what they’ll look like at a certain scale. And then I start building the models at full scale, at six inches max. I can envision things, to a degree, three-dimensionally. I’m not saying I have visions, but some little idea will come popping into my head. It might be based on something I’ve seen, and subconsciously it finds its way onto paper.

How do you know when you’re done?

When it feels right. I’m a big advocate for letting the works sit. I look at them, leave them around for a while.

How many assistants do you have?

My assistant, Whitney, is the only person that gets in here. And she does all the stuff business-wise and is also great in the studio.

What music do you play when you’re making art?

R&B, Motown, music of Philadelphia from the ’70s, like Gamble and Huff. I try to keep current with pop music, most of which I hate. But I’m into electronic dance music and people like James Blake, Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar. I like sad music. I don’t like to feel sad — I hate it, in fact, it’s awful — but I’m drawn to melancholy music.

When did you first feel comfortable saying you’re a professional artist?

I’ve never used the word “professional,” although that’s what I am. To a large degree, it’s too much. I know there’s a certain amount of allure or pretense — depending on where you’re coming from — when you say that. When you say “professional artist,” people automatically assume it’s painting. Then I say, “I make small sculptures.” I’m very reluctant to use the word “ceramics” because ceramics for years had such a bad reputation. The best people working in clay do not declare themselves clay artists.

What’s the weirdest object in your studio?

A picture of Bill Cullen, who was a ’50s, ’60s and ’70s radio and TV host. There’s also a picture of a woman surrounded by cheese.

What do you do when you’re procrastinating?

I don’t think I know how to procrastinate. It’s not a matter of principle. I would love to, love to, but I can’t do it. I always feel like I gotta make something.

What’s the last thing that made you cry?

I just had major surgery, about four weeks ago. I won’t offer to show you my scar. The worst part of the experience was something I hadn’t heard of before: postoperative delirium. I was so scared. It was like a dream, everything going in and out of focus. I was in two different worlds. I was on the phone bawling my eyes out. My wife and I were declaring our love.

What do you usually wear when you work?

I’ve got overalls like Willem de Kooning used to wear in the ’50s. I saw a picture and thought, I gotta wear that, it’d make me a better artist.

Which artists have influenced your work?

Later Morandi. A simpler Philip Guston. Cy Twombly’s sculpture. Kenny Price. Peter Voulkos. Lucio Fontana.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished reading David Sedaris’s last book.

What embarrasses you?

I could do a whole thing on losing my hair — you got 15 minutes?

What do your studio windows look out on?

I have skylights all over the place, so I could say the sky. The new studio looks out over my garden. I have a piece of quasi-Japanese garden sculpture I made with topiary and a slab of rock.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

“Ron Nagle: Getting to No” is on view from May 2 through June 15, 2019, at Matthew Marks Gallery, 522 West 22nd Street, New York.

[nyfacurrent]

NYFA Inducts Sanford Biggers, Karl Kellner, and Min Jin Lee into its Hall of Fame

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows and Patron of the Arts celebrated at April 11 Hall of Fame Benefit in Manhattan.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) inducted three arts luminaries into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on April 11 at Capitale. The evening’s honorees were Sanford Biggers, a visual artist whose work speaks to current social, political, and economic happenings while examining the contexts that bore them; Karl Kellner, patron of the arts, Senior Partner, New York Office Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, Inc., and a former NYFA Board Member; and Min Jin Lee, novelist of the best-selling books Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko (Grand Central Publishing, 2007 and 2017). The gala was Co-Chaired by Marc Jason and J. Wesley McDade, both members of NYFA’s Board of Trustees. The silent auction was Co-Chaired by Marjorie W. Martay, a NYFA Board Member, and Marjorie Croes Silverman, a NYFA Leadership Council Member.

Guests included Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Anne del Castillo, Acting Commissioner, New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment; artists Derrick Adams, Samira Abbassy, Debi Cornwall, Phyllis Galembo, Ekwa Msangi, Rajesh Parameswaran, Dread Scott (also a NYFA Board Member), Michael Stamm, and Nina Yankowitz; Thomas Bouillonnec, President & CEO, Graff Diamonds; Liz Christensen, Curator, Deutsche Bank;  Cameron Esposito, Comedian; Stephanie Gabriel, Director, Marianne Boesky Gallery; Suzanne Gluck, Literary Agent, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment; Lorin Gu, Founding Partner, Recharge Capital and NYFA Board Member; Colm Kelleher, CEO, Morgan Stanley; Huriyyah Muhammad, Founder, Black TV & Film Collective; Sang Lee, CEO, Volta Talent Strategies; Howard Pyle, SVP, Customer Experience Design, MetLife and NYFA Board Member; Lucy Sexton, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Arts and Culture; Justin Tobin, Founder & President, DDG and NYFA Board Member; Tiana Webb Evans, Founder, ESP Group and NYFA Board Member; and Shelley V. Worrell, Founder, caribBEING. Artist and NYFA Board Member Carmelita Tropicana served as the event emcee.

Nearly 300 guests gathered to celebrate the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees over cocktails, dinner, and a silent auction of art, experiences, and more. All tickets came with a signed, limited-edition print by Biggers that was created exclusively for the event. Each year, the glamorous gala recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Biggers and Lee are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which is an individual unrestricted grant made to artists who are living and working in New York State.

NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky described NYFA’s support of working artists and why the arts are especially meaningful. “Artists pave the way for dialogue and understanding among diverse viewpoints and voices, something that we desperately need in today’s world,” said Brodsky.

Karl Kellner was the first honoree of the night to be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame. In his acceptance remarks he described his personal interest in the arts, how it led him to NYFA, and how he’s helped to support NYFA through his work at McKinsey & Company, Inc. Here, he describes the value that the arts bring to society, and why they’re worth fighting for: “Artists play a critical role in the world-at-large. For me, art is one of the most energizing, the most incredibly inspiring parts of the fabric of life. It needs supporters, it needs benefactors, it requires appreciators and even aficionados. So I think art is something that we all need to invest in and the return that you get is something that’s unique and personal, and very, very special.”  

Fellow honoree Sanford Biggers spoke about how he came to be an artist and described the varied influences and materials that he incorporates into his multidisciplinary work. He recounted when he received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, saying: “When I got the NYFA award in 2005, I was not showing with a gallery. I was extremely excited for multiple reasons: number one, I got a check, which was a good thing. But beyond that,” Biggers added, “I was acknowledged as the artist that I was becoming and I was in this interdisciplinary field. It was a validation that I didn’t have to put myself into ‘sculpture’ or ‘painting’ but I could sort of traverse between many different forms including performance and video. And I think that that acknowledgement at that point was extremely important to me, and it was an affirmation.”

Min Jin Lee discussed her process and interests, and reflected on the hardships of being a professional artist, especially as a woman of color. She also described the impact of receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship: “I needed to have this kind of support that somehow what I did mattered. And that was so important to have NYFA recognize that my little question was worth supporting, and I think that when the average person in this country thinks that art matters, that’s a huge step. Because it is so often seen as less important than food, and housing, and jobs, and healthcare, and all those things are really important for me, too. But I chose this path because I think that literature can create the level of empathy that many things cannot. I believe that, I believe that with everything that I do.”

Following the award ceremony, multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Angel Kaba spoke about her experience as a mentee in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Born in Belgium to parents from the Congo and Martinique, she moved to New York five years ago to chase her dream of being an artist. She recounted how she made $250 a month and lived with eight roommates during her first three years in the city. Kaba, who began to question her artistry, found positive change by participating in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: “It was about the support system. That they really cared about us, they really gave us the opportunity to be ourselves, to express, to connect, to learn to share stories and experiences with amazing talented artists of different nationalities. At the end of the program, I learned more about myself than anything else,” she said. Kaba now teaches across the United States and is a member of Alvin Ailey’s extension faculty.

The evening concluded with dessert and remarks from NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce. “I think everyone in this room knows that without artists many stories would not be known. Stories allow us to share who we are, what we’ve experienced, and what we imagine. They are a special communication from one individual to another, and as I was thinking about this event I realized that all of us together are making up the story of NYFA,” said Royce.

Past NYFA Awardees include Ida Applebroog, Paul Beatty, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Anna Deavere Smith, Phil Gilbert, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, Carolee Schneemann, and Andres Serrano.

There are still items available for purchase in NYFA’s online Benefit Auction, which features artworks, event tickets, and one-of-a-kind experiences. Click here to view and buy now to help support the arts.

Legends Limousine, a family-owned car service based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is NYFA’s transportation partner for the 2019 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit.

Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Images: Michael L. Royce, Tom Finkelpearl, Karl Kellner, Min Jin Lee, Judith K. Brodsky, and Sanford Biggers; Dread Scott, Sanford Biggers, and Derrick Adams; Angel Kaba and Lorraine Bell; All Images Credit: Jay Brady Photography

[theseventhhex]

Lost Under Heaven Interview

Ellery James Roberts & Ebony Hoorn

Photo by Chris Almeida

Lost Under Heaven are the gifted Manchester-based duo comprised of Ebony Hoorn and Ellery James Roberts. Returning with the release of their new album ‘Love Hates What You Become’, the duo has formed a startling and thought-provoking record that follows their 2016 debut, ‘Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing’. Shot full of incisive social commentary, ‘Love Hates What You Become’ captures the couple at their most musically raw and visceral. The band wrote the album in Ellery’s native Manchester before traveling to Los Angeles to record with producer John Congleton, known for his Grammy-winning work with St. Vincent, Swans, Explosions in the Sky and Sigur Rós. Accomplished songwriting is at the heart of the creative cauldron for this release as the duo is bubbling and overflowing with enthusiasm. With ‘Love Hates What You Become’, Lost Under Heaven continue to establish themselves as a courageous and innovative band, hungry to create and perform their art with the sole ambition to see how far they can reach across uncharted territory… We talk to the delightful duo about working with John Congleton, performing live and downtime…

TSH: How would you assess your creative partnership in the lead-up to ‘Love Hates What You Become’?

Ellery: The whole process in working together with Ebony has really been like an experimentation and exploration for us both. We’ve come to really know one another so well and we now work in a harmonious way. We understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses really well. Ebony hasn’t really sung before or done anything performance wise musically in any way other than sound apps, so to hear how her voice has grown for this album was really great. We had no expectations and I was continuously surprised and impressed by her growth.

Ebony: I feel like touring really allowed me to find myself and lead more with Lost Under Heaven. I was able to confront what I needed to in order to become a better musician.

TSH: Throughout this record Ebony’s vocals feature more so signalling a shift in your tone and dynamic...

Ebony: Yeah, this was a very pleasing aspect for me. Just to understand both of our places in our creative spaces was really important. We both got to figure out what works best for each other’s voices.

TSH: Ellery, you’ve touched on having a ‘sink or swim feeling’ as you approached this record, however, you now feel a greater sense of freedom and like you have more control...

Ellery: When we started working together the feeling we had in Amsterdam whilst Ebony was still in school was completely conceptually free and there was no form to our work. Over the last year we’ve tried to reclaim our initial ideas of making this a multimedia art project. I guess the easiest way for us to function as a band is to keep it simple but we feel much more boundless than that. We’re working hard on the live show and are thinking much more about the theatricality and visual side of things in general. I feel like this record allowed us to have an opportunity to reaffirm our intent with everything related to this band.

TSH: When forming new music, do you still opt to not overcomplicate things and strip away instead?

Ellery: Yeah, for sure. The whole sense of making this record and working with John Congleton was to make a rawer document which didn’t have this sense of who it’s recorded by or produced by; instead it’s just capturing how we sound.

TSH: What sort of perspectives were you drawn to with the narratives on this album?

Ellery: In deciding to give the album the title ‘Love Hates What You Become’ this record pulls together a lot of the thinking from myself conceptually. The album touches on different angles but generally it’s about how we ended up living the way we do and wondering if there is something better for us to aspire for. The common adulterated mind consists of ideas that aren’t our own and leads us to pretend that we are against our own best interests. I guess I’m looking into what serves each of us to behave in certain ways. There’s also the astrology idea of ‘know thyself’ which informs parts of this album too.

TSH: What sort of treatment did the song ‘The Breath of Light’ require as you fleshed it out?

Ebony: That one was written from Ellery’s own experiences. For me, this song emotively instantly spoke to me as a really interesting place to place myself within vocally.

Ellery: I think sonically and with the production it was really a case of taking things out with this song. My initial thoughts are always quite dense and I try to weave in loads of intricate melodies, but working with John allowed me do things differently. John would often just tell me ‘Yup! That’s it. It’s done’ and I would think the song would sound like it’s unfinished, empty and like the spaces needed filling up...

Ebony: To me it was interesting that John said this because I agreed that Ellery’s vocals could carry this song even with so much being subtracted and pulled out of it. When we play it live, just the presence of the vocals is so powerful. I like that there is room to let Ellery’s vocals become sort of like a lead instrument...

Ellery: Yeah, it’s something I explored over the last year and it’s a new tactic I employ with songs now. Also, this is why I like the early PJ Harvey records; they are so empty, yet so powerful.

TSH: What does ‘Serenity Says’ convey to you?

Ebony: That song consists of this freedom kind of feeling and not being bothered by the eyes of the public. It’s like you’re doing your own thing and not having much inhibition or self-awareness. I think in general people have too much self-awareness in their day-to-day lives. I also like listening to this one whilst driving on the highway...

Ellery: Yeah, which reminds me, when we finished making the record (before it was mixed), me and Ebony rented a car and drove into the Los Angeles desert and drove towards Joshua Tree and the national park. We listened back through the mixed and unmixed record and ‘Serenity Says’ brought to mind the wide open landscapes and a sense of freedom.

TSH: Does is remain a key feature for you both to get your message across without just one medium when you perform live?

Ellery: Absolutely. We’ve been trying to find the right collaborators to allow for the right visual things to happen. You know, there’s always the tendency to have an idea or ambition that is above our pay day, besides I don’t really like it when people have a projection of some abstract thing. I feel like people look at screens far too much as it is to then have to see another one when they go to see a band live. However, we’re certainly getting somewhere with trying something new and unique with our visuals. What’s pleasing lately is that we play as a trio with our drummer, Ben Kelly. He’s been a fantastic addition and has really made it all come together for the live show. Ben is a really powerful drummer and enables this rawness to come into play; and he allows me to orchestrate the whole show via Ableton. Having Ben launching Albleton in a live format gives us the opportunity to design the set in a distinct way.

TSH: How’s the move from Amsterdam to Manchester been like for you Ebony?

Ebony: It’s nice to move out of Amsterdam. I lived there for 6 years and I enjoyed my time in school there. Moving to Manchester feels like you’ve been placed back into a world outside of a city where a lot of interesting cultural things happen. We used to live in the Northern Quarter, which is always busy with a lot people that go out over the weekend. Oh, and the drinking culture here In England is completely different to Amsterdam... it’s a lot more wild.

TSH: What was it like to tour the US again a few months back?

Ellery: The States kind of feels like it has 21st century humans overloaded with capitalism. Nonetheless, America is geographically such a powerful, beautiful and magical place. I really liked driving through California up to Seattle - it was incredible. It’s so fast-paced out there and people are kind of crazy and fragile. It seems like everybody is one step away from a breakdown or a break through. Overall, it does feel like an edgy kind of place.

TSH: Does downtime consist of being detached from your own human essence?

Ellery: Yeah, which is why we love nature. It’s been a year now since we moved north of Manchester into the countryside around where I grew up. It’s about a 30 minute drive out of the city. The video for ‘For The Wild’ was actually filmed 5 minutes from our house. I try and get out as much as I can - at least every day. Also, I’ve recently got back into painting, I used to paint a lot when I was young and I’ve started to take it up again. Painting is very fulfilling - my mind goes blank and I can relax.

TSH: It’s also been noted on your Twitter that sake, astrology and tequila are some of your favourite things in life...

Ebony: Haha! I like to incorporate and kickback with all three whenever I’m with friends. I mean you have to balance the light-hearted with the heavy-hearted at times.

TSH: What do you hope to achieve and explore as you look ahead with Lost Under Heaven?

Ebony: Our music has become like a lifestyle for us, it touches upon these ideas we are interested in and believe in. We want to experiment with our thoughts and put them into a platform of music or video. This is just the beginning as we have so many more ideas that we’d like to work out and present.

Ellery: For me, Lost Under Heaven has always been about being in pursuit of leading a sustainable and self-sufficient artist life. This involves utopian and bohemian dreams of just being able to create and be a good person. Ultimately we want to inspire people that there isn’t just one set way in which you need to do stuff. The world is how it is; it’s a vision that’s driven by media sensationalism, but you can do things your own way. There are lots of communities that exist away from the hype of the mainstream and they consist of much more humane ways of existing, so with Lost Under Heaven it’s all about learning for ourselves how to function in this way.

Lost Under Heaven - “COME (Official VR Experience)”

Lost Under Heaven - “For The Wild”

Love Hates What You Become

[queenpoetry251]

“Down By The Bay” Part 2. (Fictional Love Series)

(It’s a cool Friday evening in March. I’m basking in the brisk breeze on this beautiful, spring day at the the park on Main St. Daphne.

The weather in Alabama can be hot enough to wear for flip flops and a few hours later it’s snow boot weather. Im captivated by my new read written by Infinite Waters.

Listening to the laughter from a little girl’s birthday party held under the pavilion. Balloons popping and the tune from the happy birthday song being played on a violin. She managed to get cake icing all over her monogrammed birthday dress.

It bring back childhood memories for me. Watching children play always put me in a happy place, especially when I’m having a stressful day.

Coming to this park helps to relax my mind before a big show.

I guess I better head home to get dressed so I won’t be late.

I’m looking at the caller ID as the my cell phone ring.)

“Well hello Hyrim. Are you excited about performing your new spoken word piece tonight? ”

Hyrim answered, “Yes. I’m headed there now.”

“I’m on my way to, I’m packing up my new shipment of dashiki dresses and African art. I think it’s going to sell good at the show tonight.”

“I’m going to do a new poem tonight as well. It was inspired by a old friend I ran into a few weeks ago.”

“Ok then Queen sounds like love is in the air.” Hyrim said with laughter in his tone.“

(I just arrived at the Poetry Den in Fairhope. India Arie song “Brown Skin” is setting the tone. The lights are deemed with candle lights setting the vibe just right.)

“Thank you Shanarian for setting up everything for my art display.”

“You’re welcome welcome sis!”

“I have to hurry and arrange the open mic list because it’s almost time to start the show.”

(I’m looking through my emails and making notes in my composition book.)

(My heart is racing fast.)

“Shanarian, after all this time doing poetry I still get nervous before performing a new piece.”

“Queen you are my sister but I don’t understand why you be so nervous, you’re amazing.”

“Thank you for the encouragement Shanarian. I love you sis. I appreciate your support.

"By the way your new blush pink lipstick is banging! You’re always on point with the lipsticks. Shanarian smiles and replies back with a thank you, and yes I know I look cute tonight. Wow sis (I say with a giggle in my voice)

I see you’re feeling yourself tonight. It’s good to have a high view of yourself.

(We both laugh as I began to walk to the stage.)

(Music is turned down low as I walk on the stage.)

"Good evening beautiful people. Welcome to Rhythm & Rhymes Open Mic Show.”

“We have a lot of awesome poets and great comedians on the list for tonight.”

“I’m going to open up with a poem that was inspired by my high school crush that I ran into a few weeks ago.”

(Crowd clapping. I’m taking a deep breath. Now its silent.)

“I titled this poem "I’m longing for what we never had.”

“I get lost in thought thinking of you and what we never had. Maybe our paths will cross again in perfect timing.”

“As for now, I’m missing the romantic getaways we use to talk about but never took, to Jamaica and Hawaii, where we hold hands on the beach walking through the sand.”

“Enjoying the way the water feels between our toes. As the wind blows, we're captivated in every second of our stroll.”

“I’m missing the spiritual adventure to Egypt and Israel we never took. Surrounded by all of that knowledge I’m sure our souls would’ve been shook.”

“I’m missing the late night talks we never had.”

“I’m imagining a spring Saturday with picnics in the park on the green grass, as I enthusiastically laugh at all of your jokes.”

“No matter how bad our day may go, when our souls meet we create a glow.”

“I miss the first argument we never had. I know that the make up session would’ve been a blast. With me role playing, as I sing Etta James "At Last.”

“This may sound like a silly, high school girl’s fancy dream, but I know that in reality our spirits are meant to be.”

“I guess one day we will just have to see if the universe connects our journey.”

“If not, Erykah Badu said it best in her song "I guess I’ll see you next lifetime.”

“Our connection is so strong. Maybe when we fall into a deep sleep our spirits have meet in another dimension.”

“When our energy collides, earth is not strong enough to contain the power that God brings between us.”

“As for now I have my thoughts that I will use for the positive. Imagining you holding me as I fall asleep with my ear pressed against your heartbeat is my favorite tune you see.”

“I miss the massages I never had a chance to give you. The candlelight meals, sitting by the fireplace I never cooked for you.”

“The passionate love we never had a chance to make. The future marriage that hasn’t took place yet would’ve been great. Maybe it’s not to late.”

“As for now, I’m thankful to God for my imagination.”

“I’m missing what we never had. Thinking to myself, maybe just maybe, we will be like Darius and Nina in the movie Love Jones connected at last.”

“Until then I’m longing for what we never had.”

“Thank you.”

(Crowd clapping and snapping fingers).

“Are y'all ready for our first open mic artist!”

(Crowd scream yes!)

“Put your hands together and give a clap to Hyrim Ether!”

(Crowd clapping as Hyrim walk to the stage. He grabs the mic.)

(I’m noticing the look in Hyrim’s eyes as if he knows he’s going to rip this show tonight.)

“Walking off the stage I noticed a pair of perfect, white teeth glistening at me. ”

“He has a smile that will make the angels sing.”

“The candle light is reflecting and enhancing his coffee-brown skin. It looks like it’s been kissed by the sun.”

“The blinking stage lights is blinding me. I’m straining to see. I blink my eyes harder to gather my sight all the way back. My vision slowly comes back to me.”

“Oh my God!”

(I just noticed that it’s Darren.)

“My heart rate is elevating! My palms are sweating!”

“Thoughts rambling through my mind. I know he just heard every word from my poem.”

“I bared my soul on that stage. I wonder what he’s thinking? I hurry and gain my composure as he walks closer to me.”

“I’m trying not to blush hard. It’s not working. My smile is too powerful to submerge.”

“Hey Queen Ashley.” Darren speaks with his proper, educated tone. I loved that poem, he added as we embraced. “

"I wish I was that special guy you spoke of. I wonder who he can be? He inquired in a joking manner.”

(I’m laughing)

“Darren thank you. It’s good to see that you are still in town. How long will you be staying? Darren replied "I’m staying for good.”

“Wow are you sure you want to come back to this small town?” (He stands close as our bodies can be.)

(Looking deep into my eyes)

“He states that "New York was cool, but it was missing something. Hopefully I can get it back now that I’m here.”

“I’m working on a new development in downtown Mobile now. Maybe once you finish hosting we can grab a bite to eat at our old hangout spot, the Daphne Waffle House.”

“Sure, sounds like fun D I answered as I’m walking off, rushing back to the stage trying not to fall in my new heels.”

(Crowd clapping loud for Hyrim as he walks off the stage. The tenth open mic poet has performed. The crowd is eagerly waiting for me to introduce the featured poet.

“It’s a big crowd tonight because Steelwaters a local poet from Fairhope is in the building. He is the featured poet tonight. He started poetry here in Fairhope over ten years ago and the poetry movement has expanded.”

“Put your hands together for the one and only Steelwaters the poet! ”

(He’s taking his time walking to the stage confidently, with his head held high. Long dreads, skin the color of burnt brass, and looking like black Jesus in the flesh.

The crowd is screaming out the titles of their favorite poems by him and clapping as he take the mic. Thirty minutes has passed.

Steelwaters just finished performing. The crowd is standing and clapping.)

“I’m so glad the show is finally over. Darren I have to do a wardrobe change before I leave. I will hurry. I exclaimed as I ran to the dressing room. ”

“Darren answers saying "Ok I will be waiting outside.”

(He’s admiring the African art paintings as he make his way out the door. The walls are cover with culture and history about our African ancestors.

I finally make my way to the car, can’t seem to pack my African art in the car fast enough.

Darren chatting with his old high school classmates in the parking lot. He notice me struggling and comes and help me pack it all in.)

“New Edition old jam "candy girl” is playing on 93 blx radio station. I’m thinking about all the fun times we use to have as I follow him to the Waffle House.“)

(Sitting and eating at Waffle House. The waitress finally bring our food out. I don’t think I will ever get use to the sound of plates breaking in the cooking area. People are starting to flood in now after hanging out. It’s getting noisy.

Madonna "Like A Virgin” is playing on the jukebox. I’m digging for coins in my purse. I want to hear Whitney Houston “I believe the children are our future”, when this song goes off.

They still have the same songs they had when we use to hang out here after the high school games.

I might want to play Cyndi Lauper “Girl Just Want To Have Fun” and Janet Jackson “Rhythm Nation”.

I’ll have my own blast from the past music concert up in here tonight. I’m leaving from the jukebox. I’m headed back to the table with Darren.)

(Darren notice me walking back to the table and puts his cell back in his pocket.

He’s starring at me with his dreamy eyes as I make my way back to the table.)

“Darren begins to say, "Ashley I have really enjoyed catching up with you, but you owe me a date at the Mayday pier, since you stood me up in 1996.”

“Darren you are a mess. I don’t remember standing you up. I don’t think I would’ve did that.”

“The only way you can make it up to me is by letting me take you now.”

“Darren are you serious? It’s 2am!”

“Darren nodded his head up and down saying "Yes I’m serious.”

“Ok D for you the Mayday beach it is. I will leave my car here and ride with you.”

(He pays for food at the register. Then he head back to our table to leave a tip.

We exchanged have a goodnight with the Waffle House staff as we make our way out the door.)

To Be Continued!

Written by Ashley Waller/QueenBlack the Poetess ‪© 2017 ‬

[biometricbits]

Throughout the last two years I’ve made a bunch of paintings about the human body and how technology, mainly computers, have changed the way we see and experience the world. To me, the body is becoming dissected and exploded into a million bits.  In general, we exist in the “real” world where we interact with people through speech, eye contact, and body language, but all of us are also part of another world, where our movements, our desires, and our dreams all are mined by super computers that monetize our very existence. So my task as a painter, is one which involves an age old problem, which is how best to paint a person. Just as the human body is made up of a conglomeration of biological and technical processes, my paintings are both made by my hand as well as more mechanical processes. I have incorporated the use of a plotter, and outfitted it with a paintbrush to remove my hand from the work entirely. Digital processes have also become more important in the creation of my work. I have photographed paintings while they are still in progress and then selected a single color in Photoshop, and created a mask from this color, which is then screenprinted back onto the painting as a glitched image.  In my work, humans are represented as a mash up of these digital components. There’s flesh, and blobbiness which represents the earthly realm, and crisp edges and pixels which represents the digital.  All of these disparate components coalesce to become what we are today.  

In the series of works I’m proposing for my final thesis exhibition I would like to make a series of paintings that track human evolution into the digital realm. These will take place in the past present and future but won’t look at these different eras as if they existed at different times. They will exist more as a cycle, similar to how Giambatista Vico wrote about cyclical history in The New Science.  One point of artistic inspiration that deals with Vico and time is James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake which is a jumble of languages, styles and words. The last sentence of the book becomes the first sentence. There are abstract characters and situations however they’re nearly impossible to discern 

(Vico argues in the Scienza Nuova that civilization develops in a recurring cycle (ricorso) of three ages: the divine, the heroic, and the human. Each age exhibits distinct political and social features and can be characterized by master tropes or figures of language. The giganti of the divine age rely on metaphor to compare, and thus comprehend, human and natural phenomena. In the heroic age, metonymy and synecdoche support the development of feudal or monarchic institutions embodied by idealized figures. The final age is characterized by popular democracy and reflection via irony; in this epoch, the rise of rationality leads to barbarie della reflessione or barbarism of reflection, and civilization descends once more into the poetic era. )

In my paintings I often make reference to more vintage looking computers and artifacts that exist in a time which is difficult to place. In fact the people themselves are a cacaphony of avatars and real human flesh. For a period of time I was allowing these paintings to unfold organically. Often accidents and spiils determined compositional structure. The paintings needed to built up over time, and for this reason the preliminary stages were often approached in a very haphazard fashion. In the last few months I made a very simply change, and it has also changed my paintings. I started stealing from older compositions.  If I was going to do a portrait, I started looking at how people made portraits over the years. Where should the head be? Where do the hands go? I feel this has given the paintings some structure that allows the viewer an easy entry point into the work.  I also began to embrace the color palette which resonated with me the most. These earthly red and brown tones that are reminiscent of human organs became more at home in my work as they glide with more fluorescent colors we associate more with the technological or unnatural. 

I make a lot of work, and as you know I’ve got two shows coming up at the end of the year. I’ve already spoken to the gallery and Catherine about the final show, and the quantity of the work I will be making. Basically my approach is to make a ton of work, at my normal pace, and then work the museum through their own curatorial procedures to determine which works should be shown and in what manner. I am open to curatorial suggestions in this regard. Especially considering since there’s a potential for 5 people to be in the exhibition, space could be limited. Nonetheless, in my conversations with the gallery it was said that they will do their best to accommodate my artistic vision. If there’s enough space for this, is still to be decided. 

      So, lets get into what I actually want to make. For this exhibition I’d like to create one large “history” painting.  This will be done on a 12 foot by 6 foot canvas which will be shown in a landscape configuration. The painting will be a multifigural composition. All of the paintings in this series of works are all about the story of electricity. I feel like electricity is the perfect subject to explore since we often associate it with technology. But electricity is also what makes our bodies work and our hearts beat. It’s something already inside us, working all the time, but something we see as being external as well. In this regard it’s also closely linked to ideas concerning artifical life , or as it is more commonly called now, artificial intelligence. Of course through containing electricity we’ve also become able to create computers that can simulate life. Through these attempts we also discovered that the best way to render the digital world is through the use of mathematical equations that create fractals.  This is where it gets weird. The rise of PCs was actually something that developed alongside the use of psychedelic drugs. There was a bit of an East/West coast battle going on. On the East Coast you had IBM, which was representative of the corporate world, and then the more hippy aesthetic of the Bay Area which saw technology as something which could truly be liberating. My paintings see these cyborgs (that’s us) as something which can also be a liberating concept, but something which also has been used to control. 

     The term cyberdelic is something which I identify closely with. However, I’m not interested in seeing the virtual as a form of escapism. Science fiction has consistently been quite good at creating a fantasy world that also addresses contemporary issues.  In addition to making paintings I have also been writing short fiction about characters who exist in this world that I’m creating.  

In addition to the large multifigural compositions depicting events that happen simultaneously in the past present and the future, I also want to make these creatures from these shaped canvases.  I initially got this idea from a puzzle, and thinking about how I could make a work that could take up a whole wall, but be easily packed up.  While making prototypes for this, I discovered that it’s better to make more amorphous shapes which can be interpreted in a wide variety of ways to make different types of creatures. Each component can be used in a variety of ways. For instance, what looks like a head in one configuration, can be turned upside down and used as an elbow in another. By using a french latch on the back I can easily turn these canvases in a variety of ways. When it comes time to hang, I’ll photograph each one and make a configation in photoshop first, and then attempt to make a similar configuration on the wall. I’m really excited about these pieces since they seem to already fit with what I’ve been doing in terms of their shape. I also like using the shadows, and the fluroscent glow behind them that give them an otherworldly feeling. Upon completing this first attempt, I couldn’t help but be reminded of one of my influences, David Cronenberg who often had these types of body tech devices in his films. Also, my paintings often have blobs that are so far abstracted that it’s difficult to make out any type of recognizable form. By being able to shift these abstract shapes around I can create a variety of creatures from one “pack” of paintings. Yet what they represent is still the same. They’re entities that are constantly shifting and moving.  Individuals with autonomy that also can combine and become a network.  

[micaramel]

Artist: Monica Majoli

Venue: Galerie Buchholz, New York

Exhibition Title: blueboys

Date: November 8 – December 21, 2019

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release, and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of Galerie Buchholz, Berlin/Cologne/New York

Press Release:

People still die of AIDS—or of AIDS-related complications or illness, as the dispiriting boilerplate has it. Hooray for those who can afford the drugs that make the syndrome manageable, hooray for those who can afford to party without a care in the world, since there should be no worry when one is horny or “in love” or dancing, lustfully unthinking, but close to a million people died of AIDS, just last year.

In an exchange between Dodie Bellamy and Kevin Killian that would have been called Eyewitness, had Kevin’s death from cancer not interrupted it, at one point Dodie writes: “I’m thinking of how Dennis Cooper said AIDS ruined death.” Not immediately (they reconnoiter the fact of Kevin’s diagnosis), but soon enough, Kevin, after taking a few beats, glosses Dennis’ epigrammatic observation. “Dennis’ point is that once we were in love with death in the Punk Era. It seemed like the real thing, the point of living. Then came AIDS,” Kylie Minogue’s most dedicated fan explained, “and death was reduced to nothing. Just the end. It was stripped of meaning.”

Once we were in love with death… Do you hear Keats’ nightingale in Kevin’s explanation? “I have been half in love with easeful death, call’d him soft names…” Who hasn’t called certain darkling attractions by soft names? Sometimes you live to regret it, sometimes you don’t.

*

Monica Majoli took inspiration for her newest body of work from the sexy post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS hiatus still known as the ’70s, particularly centerfolds from Blueboy, which billed itself as “the national magazine about men.” In 1980, when I was 15—hold on. I find myself striking out for memory lane again, and I have to say that for the most part I just couldn’t care less about memory lane. (I guess people now call it autofiction.) Instead I’ll relay this little fact: In an interview for High Times, published in the early summer of 1977, Andy Warhol was asked what his favorite magazines were. He replied: “Blueboy, Pussy, Penthouse. Whatever I’m in.”

Or, whatever I’m into. Andy, like others, would have been into the range of Blueboy’s editorial content: interviews with author James Purdy or Perry King, the hunky lead of Andy Warhol’s Bad, co-written by Pat Hackett and directed by Andy’s longest live-in partner, Jed Johnson; into the first English translation of Verlaine’s erotic poetry; into “what really happened to” Montgomery Clift, a profile of Casablanca records, the “photoerotica” of Baron von Gloeden; into commentary on the political debacle initiated by Anita Bryant, via “Save Our Children,” to pass an ordinance to legalize discrimination based on sexual orientation or on the assassination of Harvey Milk; into keeping up with culture almost as much as they were keeping up with cock.

Blueboy’s founding publisher, Donald N. Embinder, a former ad exec at Benton & Bowles as well as an ad rep for After Dark, told the New York Times, in 1976, that “Playgirl and Viva made male nudity on newsstands viable”; it was the same year he took out a full-page ad in the trade magazine Advertising Age, headlined: “Now you can reach America’s most affluent minority…The Male Homosexual.” TMH was seen to be single and to have money to spare. The ads in Blueboy targeted an audience interested in self-care, bodily upkeep, and places in which clothes could be easily shed. The tagline for a K’WEST skin products ad made it clear: “Fashion Pointers for the Well Undressed Male—Clothes may make the man but only K’WEST makes the man touchable.” Contourex offered “a new exercise system designed to give you tighter, shaplier [sic] buns.” Cabana wear by International Male. Caftans by Ah Men.

Blueboy had a small part in the push to transvalue issues of class specificity into issues of taste—what’s classy, what’s not—rather than only into realpolitik. Some of the magazine’s models were trade, which was the vernacular before gay-for-pay, and before the entire mainstreaming of sexual preference—with its radical potential for undoing rote and rigid forms of relationality—became gay-for-pay or pay-for-gay—PayPal (read GayPal) in a sense, before the fact. In the quest to sell its dream, America has always privileged affluence, a dream of financial security, even clout, wooing a striving majority, whether they were part of a minority population or not, to vote with their wallets.

The fight to end the AIDS pandemic would rally grassroots coalitions and would stymie that push, if only for a moment; putting the action between the sheets into the streets. Fran Lebowitz has provided some of the most searching thinking on how we still live in the wake of that moment, the consequence of kinds of audience, many of whom would have read Blueboy alongside Interview:

When I was young, you know, later ’70s early ’80s, my first real audience was from Interview magazine, and at that time that audience was 99.9% homosexual, male homosexual. And that audience was very important to me. This is part of what formed my voice.

Everyone talks about the effect that AIDS had on the culture—I mean, people don’t talk about it anymore, but when people did talk about it—they talked about what artists were lost, but they never talked about this audience that was lost. When people talk about, like, Why was the New York City Ballet so great? Well, it was because of Balanchine and Jerry Robbins and people like that, but also that audience…was so… I can’t even think of the word. I mean, if Suzanne Farrell went like this [tiny gesture of fingers] instead of this [the reverse of that tiny gesture] that was it: she might as well just kill herself. There would be like a billion people who knew exactly every single thing. There was such a high level of connoisseurship…of everything that people like this were interested in. Of everything. That made the culture better. A very discerning audience, an audience with a high level of connoisseurship, is as important to the culture as artists. It is exactly as important. Now, we don’t have any kind of connoisseur audience. When that audience died, and that audience died in five minutes. Literally, people didn’t die faster in a war. And it allowed, of course, the second, third, fourth tier to rise to the front. Because, of course, the first people who died of AIDS were the people, oh, I don’t know how to put this, got laid a lot. Okay, now imagine who didn’t get AIDS? Okay? That’s who was then lauded as the great artists, okay? If the other people who hadn’t died, if they were alive, if they all came back to life, and I would say to them, Guess who’s a big star? Guess! Guess who has a show on Broadway? Guess who’s like a famous photographer? They would fall on the floor. Are you kidding me? Because everyone else died. Last man standing. […] Things in the culture that had nothing to do with the New York City Ballet, it just got dumbed down, dumbed down, dumbed down—all the way down. What we have had, in, like, the last 30 years, is too much democracy in the culture, not enough democracy in the society.

*

Inspired by mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock printing, Majoli’s large-scale Whiteline woodcut watercolor paintings are based on images from Blueboy, circa 1976-79, a period she considers “the halcyon years of gay liberation, when homosexuality was understood to be politically charged and under threat, presaging the trauma of the AIDS epidemic.” Halcyon provides a way to understand the aesthetic of the soft-core centerfolds of the magazine: the lighting is sun-kissed, the palette warm with rose-golds’ ember glow, the bodies toned and unmanscaped. Mother Nature smiles on these men making themselves available to other men, a possibility she always intended. (Long before homosexuality was legal, porn would show men in showers or out in nature, among flora and fauna, and it would be theoretically stingy not to see such scenarios as emphasizing the cleanliness and naturalness of such pleasures, when they were still seen to be “dirty” and “unnatural.”) The models were known by their first names (“Joe”, “Roger”); some appeared a single time, while others became featured players; they all had histories, lives, and they’re seen in repose that is also work. Their cocks, balls, and buns remain, as they were, magnificent and inviting. The hard-edged, roided body of the 1980s—a “built” body weaponized, Ramboized (apotropaically and/or phantasmatically) against viral invasion and wasting—is nowhere to be seen.

While considering all that is lost when the map of masculinity permits few ways to trace the radical potential of male vulnerability, tenderness, as a source of strength and communing, don’t fail to reckon with what Monica achieves with the gentle but grand shift in scale from the magazine centerfold: these works are history paintings. They chronicle not only soft power rather than toxic masculinity, but also sexual fantasy, intimacy in which the nameable earns no more importance than the nameless or unnameable. The pigments with which the paintings are made, water-soluble, suggest tears and/or sweat (synecdoches for other bodily fluids), no longer mistaken as dangerous, contaminant, but, whether joyfully or sadly, communicating without need of language. These radiant, touching pictures embody a vision of how once we were in love with life.

Bruce Hainley

Link: Monica Majoli at Galerie Buchholz

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Marilyn Manson -2-

NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!

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This is a pointillist work I made with yellow, red blue and black ink on paper. I just love Marilyn Manson’s personality and crazy style! Everybody should have an aura…

Please, see my other portrait of Marilyn Manson _______________________________________________

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Biography

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), better known by his stage name Marilyn Manson, is a professional musician. He is the lead singer of the industrial metal band that bears the same name. His stage name is formed from the names Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

Brian Hugh Warner was born on January 5th 1969 in Canton, Ohio. He attended Heritage Christian School. After transferring to and later graduating from Canton’s GlenOak High School, Warner moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his family. While living in Fort Lauderdale, he studied journalism and theater at Broward Community College, and became the assistant entertainment editor of BCC’s student newspaper, the Observer.

Romance

Warner’s first serious relationship was with Melissa "Missi" Romero. As explained in his autobiography, during the production of "Antichrist Superstar," Missi became pregnant with Warner’s child, but had an abortion during her second trimester. He has also been linked to Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson. Jameson wrote about her sexual encounter with Manson in her autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale in which she noted him as being "massively endowed". Manson was engaged to Rose McGowan, but their relationship ended around the time he became involved with burlesque dancer and fetish model model Dita Von Teese. Manson photographed Von Teese for the December 2002 issue of Playboy. Manson and Von Teese wed in December 2005 in the Irish home of friend Gottfried Helnwein. Von Teese filed for divorce as of December 2006. The divorce came through in January 2007. In April of 2007, Marilyn Manson’s girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, admitted that they were actually a couple.

Marriage

Manson and Dita Von Teese started dating on Manson’s 32nd birthday, and Manson proposed three years later on March 22, 2004. On December 3, 2005 (court documents say November 28), the couple was married in a non-denominational ceremony at Gurteen Castle in Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, Ireland, the home of Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky. Dita Von Teese wore a royal purple silk taffeta gown by Vivienne Westwood, complete with train and petticoats worn over a Mr. Pearl couture corset, topped off by a tricorne hat by Stephen Jones, while Manson wore a John Galliano black silk taffeta tuxedo with velvet trim and a hat also crafted by Stephen Jones. They reportedly exchanged vows in front of approximately 60 guests, including burlesque dancer Catherine Delish, Lisa Marie Presley, Eric Szmanda, David Lynch, Jessicka and Christian Hejnal, and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne. Vogue magazine ran a multiple-page feature on the wedding in its February 2006 issue. Just before his own wedding, Manson criticized Britney Spears’ wedding to Kevin Federline, in which they celebrated by wearing personalized tracksuits: "If you’re going to do something like getting married, it should have a sense of celebration to it. It should be grand and not in tracksuits!"

As of January 30, 2007 Manson and Dita Von Teese reportedly split after her filing for divorce due to "irreconcilable differences" according to Von Teese. ET.com along with People Magazine has claimed that Manson was having an extramarital affair with actress Evan Rachel Wood, which may or may not be the true cause of the split. Manson’s alcohol abuse and distant behaviour have also been cited as cause for the split. It has also been claimed that Manson was not aware of Von Teese’s filing for divorce and moving out of their home at the time that the story was published, conceivably due to his reported stay in Paris, France. Von Teese reportedly took their two cats and two dachshunds, Greta and Eva, with her when she left. Manson fought for custody of the two cats, but only received one of them.

Evan Rachel Wood attended the grand opening of Manson’s new Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art and among the most notable artworks were two portraits of Evan. She will also co-star in his upcoming horror film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.

In music

Jessicka of the band Jack Off Jill was an early friend of Manson’s, her band opened most of his South Florida shows. He not only produced most of the band’s early recordings but also played guitar on the song "My Cat" and helped name the band. Manson later wrote the liner notes for the band’s album Humid Teenage Mediocrity, a collection of early Jack Off Jill recordings.

In early 1993, after being instructed by his new label, Interscope Records, not to play any local shows, Manson formed Mrs. Scabtree. Mrs. Scabtree was a side project between he and newly hired Jeordie White. Manson played drums, while White (dressed as a black woman) shared vocal duties with then girlfriend Jessicka from Jack Off Jill who wore a blonde wig. Mrs. Scabtree only played two shows in South Florida.

Manson has helped or provided full scores for several major motion pictures, although several of his pieces have been cut, and his name dropped from the credits. Some of his more notable soundtrack score contributions include The Matrix, From Hell and Resident Evil.

Manson appeared as a guest on rapper DMX’s album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood for the track "The Omen", produced by Swizz Beats, and has performed (with the rest of the band) on stage with Eminem as background music in the song "The Way I Am".

Manson sang vocals on "Break You Down" off of the Washington, DC-based industrial rock band gODHEAD’s 2000 Years of Human Error album. This album is distinguished for being the only one released on Manson’s vanity label Posthuman Records.

In film and television

Manson made a cameo appearance as a doctor in the Murderdolls’ music video "Dead in Hollywood", and also appears in the Nine Inch Nails music video "Starfuckers, Inc.", as well as "Gave Up", and Eminem’s "The Way I Am" music video.

His first appearance in a film was in the role of a pornographic actor in David Lynch’s Lost Highway, in 1997. He also had a minor role in former love interest Rose McGowan’s 1998 film Jawbreaker and a supporting role in 2003’s Party Monster, which is based on the events leading up to and the murder of Angel Melendez by the infamous Michael Alig of club kid fame, where Manson portrayed a psychotic drag queen named Christina . Manson made a cameo appearance in The Hire: Beat the Devil, a short film in the BMW films series (starring Clive Owen as the Driver), which featured James Brown as himself, and Gary Oldman as Satan. His most talked-about film cameo was in the Michael Moore political documentary Bowling for Columbine discussing the motivations of the perpetrators and allegations that his music was somehow a factor. He played himself, in animated form, on an episode of the television series Clone High, in which he sang a song about nutrition and the food pyramid. He is featured prominently throughout Not Another Teen Movie, and covered the song "Tainted Love" for its soundtrack.

His music is frequently featured on the show C.S.I.. The character on the show, Greg Sanders, is a big fan of Manson and the actor who plays him, Eric Szmanda, is a personal friend of Manson’s.

Manson was featured in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, and was set to appear in Abelcain, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Living Neon Dreams in 2005, although both of these projects are still unreleased as of 2007. He will also be seen as a bartender in an upcoming vampire movie starring Lucy Liu called Rise and possibly has pending roles in Abelcain, RISE and other projects.

Manson has produced 23 music videos, most of which have gone beyond the scope of a normal performance video and been well received by critics for their imagery and direction. Manson’s three most recent released videos – Personal Jesus, (s)AINT and Heart-Shaped Glasses – were voluntarily funded with his own money (to a sum of $1,500,000) and largely not that of the record company. Manson stated in June 2006 that he saw himself "as more a student of film than of music".

In July 2005, Manson told Rolling Stone that he was shifting his focus from music to filmmaking – "I just don’t think the world is worth putting music into right now. I no longer want to make art that other people–particularly record companies–are turning into a product. I just want to make art."

By 2006 Manson was working on his directorial debut, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, but has since put the project off until November 2007 to focus on recording Marilyn Manson’s sixth studio album, Eat Me, Drink Me, followed by a world tour. The film is said to feature special effects using a magician rather than computer-generated imagery.

In graphic art

From the beginning Manson has been a recreational painter, the oldest of his surviving pieces dating back to 1995-1996, but it was after his 1998 Grey period that Manson began his career as a watercolour painter. In 1999 he made five-minute concept pieces and sold them to drug dealers with their knowledge that they would accumulate in value over time. Gradually Manson became more drawn to watercolors as an art form in itself, and instead of trading them, kept them and continued to paint at a proficient rate.

This manic creativity resulted in an exhibit for his art, The Golden Age of Grotesque, held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Centre on between September 13 and 14, 2002. The reaction to his paintings was largely positive with one critic comparing them to Egon Schele’s pieces and describing them as heartfelt and sincerely painted, and Art in America went as far as to liken them to the works of a " psychiatric patient given materials to use as therapy ". Others however saw less merit in the works stating that the value was in the celebrity.

Two years later almost to the day, during September 14 and 15, 2004, Manson held his second exhibit on the first night in Paris and the second in Berlin, Trismegistus, which was also the title of the center piece of the exhibit – a large three headed Christ painted onto an antique wood panel. Again the reception to the works could be described as mixed but was largely in favour of the artist.

Manson opened his own an art gallery, The Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art, on October 31, 2006 in Los Angeles for which his third exhibition (by invitation or appointment only after the opening night) was the inaugural show. From April 2 until April 17, 2007 Manson’s recent works were be on show at the Space 39 Modern & Contemporary in Florida.

A coffee table art book is in the works, initially titled The Death of Art. The last given title was Quintif. It will be published by the makers of Flaunt magazine.

40 pieces from this show were ported to the Gallery Brigitte Schenk in Cologne, Germany to be publicly exhibited from June 28 until July 28, 2007. After this they will return to the Space39 Modern & Contemporary Gallery thus leaving Manson’s own gallery in Los Angeles temporarily without his own work until 2008.

The price of Manson’s works has been a somewhat controversial point for fans and critics alike, with most fans realistically unable to afford the paintings save for fine art editions and lithographs. Manson’s prices though are realistic and reasonable considering the long-term value at a time when prices for contemporary art have never been higher.

During his European tour 2007 Manson has exhibited his paintings in Germany, Russia and Switzerland.

In other areas

Manson provided the voice of the alien Edgar in the 2005 first-person shooter video game Area 51, which also featured David Duchovny. Marilyn Manson also appears (as himself) as a playable character in the video game Celebrity Deathmatch. Allegedly, the artist posed nude for photos prior to his rise to fame. The pictures appeared in the March 1999 issue of Honcho.

Professional fallouts

Trent Reznor

One of Manson’s high-profile relationships, the defunct friendship with Trent Reznor, has been marked with mutual bitterness and perhaps vendetta. This started in the mid-90s, when Manson was due to make a track that would appear on the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Lost Highway, but instead Reznor was the one who wrote a song, "The Perfect Drug", for the film. In 1999, it seemed the two artists had patched their differences, as Manson made an appearance in the video for the Nine Inch Nails song "Starfuckers, Inc."

In 2004, Reznor was asked whether he had plans to do any covers; he sarcastically replied, "I was really hoping to do something unique and pertinent – like do an exact copy of "Personal Jesus" – but it was already taken."

In a 2005 interview, Manson said Reznor’s Nothing Records had lost the master recordings of Manson’s first three albums. He implied it was Reznor’s intention, "Now that Nothing Records doesn’t exist, I think there’s only one of two people responsible for that. Out of those two people, there’s only one that really has an opinion of me that is voiced very often."

Twiggy Ramirez

In May 2002 Twiggy Ramirez left the band, citing differences in perspective on the future of the band. He went on to play bass for A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails. During this time, Manson claimed in interviews that he and Ramirez were still close friends, while Ramirez maintained that he rarely spoke to Manson. In an interview in February of 2006 Twiggy stated he was willing to record an album with Marilyn Manson if the right conditions were met. In Autumn 2006, Manson and Ramirez were photographed together at numerous parties in Los Angeles, in amicable poses.

In January 2008 it was announced that Ramirez had reunited with the band as live bassist for the last leg of the Rape of the World tour as well as co-writer of the band’s seventh studio album. In an interview with The Heirophant on January 11, 2008, Manson revealed that the reconciliation with Ramirez was not as abrupt as it initially seemed, and that the two had been occasionally communicating with each other since speaking at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California prior to the Winter European leg of the Rape of the World tour.

John 5

John 5’s reasons for leaving Marilyn Manson were cited as being mutual, despite the mysterious nature of his sudden firing by Manson’s manager in 2004.

John was quoted at the time as saying about the incident, "I don’t know. . . I was nothing but nice to him," he continued. "I never screwed up onstage — well not really badly — and I did everything I could to get along with him. Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I don’t drink or do drugs, and he’s not like that at all. Maybe he held that against me. I don’t know. He never said." John 5 was notorious among fans as being drug and alcohol free.

Before the incident, Manson had assaulted John on stage, notably, Manson kicked John in the face during a televised performance, leading to a brief confrontation in front of a packed and roaring audience (available on YouTube). This was during the intro to "The Beautiful People", when played at the Rock AM Ring 2003.

Also, during the tour John maintains that Manson spoke about matters other than business only once, "It was on my birthday, and he turned to me and said, "Happy birthday, faggot" — then walked away."

Despite this, John maintains he respects Manson, citing his skilled production style and his love for the band’s music. John was already a fan of the band before joining in 1998. In response to a question regarding the reason for the split with Manson, John 5 was quoted by Vintage Guitar Magazine as saying, "(laughs) At the end of the last tour, I decided I really wanted to do this solo thing and that I had to devote all my time to it. The split with Manson was totally amicable. It wasn’t one of those big breakups. We’re friends. I wish there was some good dirt, but there’s not (laughs)!"

In an interview prior to the January 19, 2008 performance in Orlando, Florida, Marilyn Manson revealed that John 5 would make a guest appearance during the show, stating: "I’ll have [John] come on stage and play songs with us this first show. It would practically be the Holy Wood lineup." This guest appearance ultimately did not take place, however.

Madonna Wayne Gacy

Before leaving the band nothing was heard of Madonna Wayne Gacy for over a year. In an exclusive conference conducted by Marilyn Manson in April 2007, he revealed the upcoming album Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded in collaboration between himself and Tim Skold. Essentially this meant Gacy did not partake in the album, but not ruling out the possibility of him performing as live keyboardist on the upcoming tour. Later, Manson revealed that Chris Vrenna (who previously drummed for the band during Ginger Fish’s hiatus in 2004) would be performing as live keyboardist on the tour, in Gacy’s place.

On August 2, 2007, Gacy filed a lawsuit against Marilyn Manson seeking a back pay of $20 million dollars. Gacy claimed Manson has been using the band’s money for personal interests, among which are his collection of Nazi paraphernalia, his drug addictions, his wedding with Dita Von Teese and the production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.

On December 20, 2007, Manson countersued Gacy. As a reaction to the lawsuit Gacy filed against Manson in August, Manson claims, "keyboardist Stephen Bier did not carry out obligations to take part in master recordings [of Eat Me, Drink Me], concerts [of the Rape of the World tour] and the selling of band merchandise," according to this report which states that Manson is seeking unspecified general and special damages.

Insight

Even though he is known mostly for his music, which some refer to as crude and grotesque, Manson is a very intelligent and insightful man. In interviews he is always well spoken and is calm to the people who challenge him. Most people see his music as delivering the wrong message, but Manson states that his message was to be creative.

Causes

•In 2002, Manson worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to make the wish of a boy with a life-threatening disease come true. 16-year-old Andrew Baines from Tennessee had a wish to sing back-up vocals for a "big" band; Manson jumped on the task and took Baines under his wing to make his dream come true. Manson invited Baines to the studio on August 27, 2002, where he let Baines perform backing vocals for the then-upcoming album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. "Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Andrew, who reminded me the things I create are only made complete by those who enjoy them. I just want to simply say, ‘thank you’ to Andrew for sharing such an important wish with me," Manson said, according MarilynManson.com.

•In 2005, Manson donated a signed collector’s edition mask to Music for Relief to help victims of the 2004’s Boxing Day Tsunami; this auction raised $155.

•In January 2006, Manson contributed a hand-painted guitar from the Six-String Masterpieces – The Dimebag Darrell Art Tribute to the Little Kids Rock auction. For every $100 raised by the product, Little Kids Rock would provide one low-income child with an instrument and lessons – Manson’s guitar raised $6,250.

•In 2006, Manson became a benefactor of Project Nightlight, an LA area foundation that uses short films, music, and apparel to grab teenagers attention and inspire them to speak out against sexual and physical abuse. Manson afforded Project Nightlight a stand at the opening of his art gallery, and in April 2007 gave the charity a print of his painting Eve of Destruction and a framed collector’s edition mask.

Legal history

Marilyn Manson was first arrested in Florida on December 27, 1994 after a concert at Jacksonville’s Club 5 for "violating the adult entertainment code." Manson was detained for 16 hours before been released without charge. Bizarrely police believed Manson had performed oral sex on stage with a man (when in fact it was Jack Off Jill vocalist Jessicka wearing a fake penis) and thrown either his or the man’s penis into the crowd. On February 5, 2001 in Marino, Italy Manson suffered what is to date his only other post-concert arrest when he was accused of blasphemy having worn the outfit of a cardinal on stage during the song "Valentine’s Day". Soon after the detention it was ascertained that Manson had not committed a crime and it appeared the legal troubles were over until the next day when Manson was arrested in Bologne on charges of public indecency relating to a 1999 show where it was alleged Manson had exposed his penis. Manson was released and the charges dropped, notably the arrests came a week after two teenagers brutally murdered an Italian nun which some less reputable sections of the Italian press blamed on Manson’s music.

Sexual misconduct

In a civil battery suit, David Diaz, a security officer from a concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 27, 2000, sued for $75,000 in a Minneapolis federal court. After two days deliberation the jury decided that Manson’s alleged molestation had been part of the show and that he had not overstepped his boundaries as an artist, ruling in favor of Manson and against Diaz.

Manson was charged with "sexual misconduct" on August 16, 2001 after Joshua Keasler filed a complaint that as he was providing security for a July 30 concert Manson had allegedly spat on his head, wrapped his legs around him and began to gyrate his penis along his neck.

Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said that "It was offensive, crude and rude. This was not something that was orchestrated or choreographed as part of the act. The security guard was an unknowing and unwilling participant and, ironically, while he was there for protection… was sexually assaulted." The charge, punishable with up to two years imprisonment, was accompanied with a charge of disorderly conduct. The complaint came with an arrest warrant but Manson thwarted this by posting a $25,000 personal bond. In a one-day December 28, 2001 trial the presiding Judge dismissed the charge of "sexual misconduct" as Manson had in his view "gained no sexual gratification from the act." Manson pleaded "no contest" to the outstanding lesser charge, which carried only up to three months imprisonment, and was ordered to pay $4,000 in fines. After the trial Keasler pursued a civil lawsuit against Manson that was dropped when the two settled out of court in February 2004.

Lawsuits

•In 1997, former Marilyn Manson guitarist Scott Mitchell Putesky filed a lawsuit against Manson seeking unpaid royalties for his contributions to the band’s output up to that period, including the band’s recently released second studio album Antichrist Superstar. The case was concluded in 1998, although the outcome was confidential.

•On January 4, 1999, SPIN editor Craig Marks filed an assault and battery lawsuit against Manson in the New York Supreme Court. Marks alleged that Manson, upset at not making the cover of SPIN, the lawsuit specifically alleged Manson had yelled "I can kill you, I can kill your family, I can kill everyone you know!" before two of Manson’s bodyguards were said to have charged him and held him against the wall and threw him to the floor after which it was alleged Manson had said, "That’s what you get when you disrespect me." The case was dropped when, weeks later, Marks was fired from SPIN over financial irregularities.

•On April 2, 2002, Maria St. John filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Manson of providing her adult daughter, Jennifer Syme, with cocaine and allowing her to drive while under the influence. The case was settled out of court.

•On August 2, 2007, former Marilyn Manson keyboardist Stephen Bier filed a breech of contract lawsuit against Marilyn Manson seeking $20,000,000 in damages. Bier claimed Manson has used the band’s money for personal interests, among which are his collection of Nazi paraphernalia, addictions to cocaine and Valium, his $300,000 wedding with and $150,000 engagement ring given to Dita Von Teese and the production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll as well as Lewis Carroll memorabilia, human skeletons and taxidermy. Manson’s lawyers responded in January 2008 with a 101-page rebuttal of the claims, the case will be tried by jury in November 2008 in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Major label discography

•Portrait of an American Family (1994) •Smells Like Children (1995) •Antichrist Superstar (1996) •Remix and Repent (1997) •Mechanical Animals (1998) •The Last Tour on Earth (Live) (1999) •Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000) •The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003) •Lest We Forget (The Best Of) (2004) •Eat Me, Drink Me (2007)

Filmography

•Lost Highway (cameo, 1997) •MTV Video Music Awards (commercial, 1998) •Jawbreaker (cameo, 1999) •Clone High (cameo, 2000) •From Hell (score, 2001) •Not Another Teen Movie (score, 2001) •Resident Evil (score, 2002) •Bowling for Columbine (interview, 2002) •The Hire: Beat the Devil (cameo, 2003) •Party Monster (2003) •Doppelherz (director, 2003) •The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (cameo, 2004) •House of Wax (2005) (acting, score) •Abelcain (2007) •Living Neon Dreams (2007) •Rise (cameo, 2007) •Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll (acting, directing, writing, score, 2008)

Bibliography

•The Long Hard Road out of Hell (1998) •Holy Wood (Unreleased)

Trivia

•All Manson’s tattoos were done at Tattoos By Lou in Miami, Florida over a four-year span starting in 1991, until a new tattoo emerged in early-2007.

•In the 1990s, an Internet rumor spread stating Josh Saviano (who played Paul Pfeiffer in 1980s drama The Wonder Years) grew up to become Marilyn Manson. As of 2007, Josh Saviano is a licensed attorney in New York. He has, however, commented on the rumor, and thinks it is neat people believe him to be in a "goth band".

•Contrary to what some may deem "common knowledge", Manson has not had any ribs removed for the purpose of autofellatio. "If I really got my ribs removed," he said in the The Long Hard Road out of Hell autobiography, "I would have been busy sucking my own dick on The Wonder Years instead of chasing Winnie Cooper."

•In an E! interview, Manson revealed that he owns a Nintendo DS. "My friend got me this little Japanese lawyer game; it’s fucking amazing," he said in reference to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He also mentioned that he was "pretty good at Mario Kart".

•In an interview with MTV in 2002 Manson revealed that for most of his paintings he uses a children’s Alice in Wonderland tin. He also uses a 1920’s mortician paint kit originally used for retouching cadavers.

•Manson has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an erratic, rapid heartbeat.

•Manson, who cites David Bowie as being his biggest influence, claims his favorite songs by him are "Quicksand", "Ashes to Ashes", and "We Are the Dead". He even proposed to his ex-wife, Dita Von Teese, during a David Bowie concert (at the time Bowie was performing "Be My Wife") .

•Pets Manson has had in his life include the childhood dog, an Alaskan malamute named Aleusha, an orange tabby named O.J. which he found on the steps of Christian school, four Devon Rex cats named Aleister, Edgar, Herman, and Lily, and two dachshunds named Greta and Eva. After the divorce of Manson and ex-wife Dita Von Teese, Von Teese won the custody of both dachshunds and Aleister. For Manson’s 39th birthday on January 5th, 2008, girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood gave him a new cat, Charlie (Manson), as a birthday gift.

•When asked in 2007 by Rolling Stone what his current favorite playlist was, Manson chose among Radiohead’s "Exit Music (For a Film)", Amy Winehouse’s "Rehab" and David Bowie’s classic "We Are the Dead".

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : marilynmanson.com MARILYN MANSON on MYSPACE : www.myspace.com/marilynmanson

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–> This biography appeared on www.mansonwiki.com/ (Manson Wiki)

Posted by Ben Heine on 2008-05-09 23:47:25

Tagged: , Marilyn Manson , Brian Hugh Warner , USA , American , crazyness , mickey mouse , hat , fun , outrageous , make up , image , graphic artist , watercolor , singer , child , logo , band , rock , punk , Charles Manson , Marilyn Monroe , ink , black , Metal music , Grammy Award , musique , Mobscene , Mansinthe , industrial metal band , shocking , post modernity , badge , smart , tie , bretelle , lipstick , man , provocative , traditional art , ben heine , pointillism , black ink , painting , Disney , Antichrist , Antechrist , full biography , scary , fearless , androgyn , info@theartistery.com , print , copyrights , art , poster , wallpaper , contemporary art , Resident , Evil , fine art , expo , mixed styles , aquarelle , flickr united , anti-conformism , anti-capitalism , dark , romance , provocation , plume , pen nib , paper , music , Beat the Devil , bowling for columbine

The post Marilyn Manson -2- appeared first on Good Info.

[luckygirl-blog1]

Marilyn Manson -1-

NEW: I NOW CREATE MUSIC, JOIN ME ON SOUNDCLOUD!

SHOP: www.icanvas.com/canvas-art-prints/artist/ben-heine

This is a pointillist work I made with blue, red and black ink on paper. I just love Marilyn Manson’s personality and crazy style! Everybody should have an aura…

Please, see my other portrait of Marilyn Manson _______________________________________________

For more information about my art: info@benheine.com _______________________________________________

Biography

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), better known by his stage name Marilyn Manson, is a professional musician. He is the lead singer of the industrial metal band that bears the same name. His stage name is formed from the names Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson.

Brian Hugh Warner was born on January 5th 1969 in Canton, Ohio. He attended Heritage Christian School. After transferring to and later graduating from Canton’s GlenOak High School, Warner moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his family. While living in Fort Lauderdale, he studied journalism and theater at Broward Community College, and became the assistant entertainment editor of BCC’s student newspaper, the Observer.

Romance

Warner’s first serious relationship was with Melissa "Missi" Romero. As explained in his autobiography, during the production of "Antichrist Superstar," Missi became pregnant with Warner’s child, but had an abortion during her second trimester. He has also been linked to Traci Lords and Jenna Jameson. Jameson wrote about her sexual encounter with Manson in her autobiography, How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale in which she noted him as being "massively endowed". Manson was engaged to Rose McGowan, but their relationship ended around the time he became involved with burlesque dancer and fetish model model Dita Von Teese. Manson photographed Von Teese for the December 2002 issue of Playboy. Manson and Von Teese wed in December 2005 in the Irish home of friend Gottfried Helnwein. Von Teese filed for divorce as of December 2006. The divorce came through in January 2007. In April of 2007, Marilyn Manson’s girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, admitted that they were actually a couple.

Marriage

Manson and Dita Von Teese started dating on Manson’s 32nd birthday, and Manson proposed three years later on March 22, 2004. On December 3, 2005 (court documents say November 28), the couple was married in a non-denominational ceremony at Gurteen Castle in Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, Ireland, the home of Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky. Dita Von Teese wore a royal purple silk taffeta gown by Vivienne Westwood, complete with train and petticoats worn over a Mr. Pearl couture corset, topped off by a tricorne hat by Stephen Jones, while Manson wore a John Galliano black silk taffeta tuxedo with velvet trim and a hat also crafted by Stephen Jones. They reportedly exchanged vows in front of approximately 60 guests, including burlesque dancer Catherine Delish, Lisa Marie Presley, Eric Szmanda, David Lynch, Jessicka and Christian Hejnal, and Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne. Vogue magazine ran a multiple-page feature on the wedding in its February 2006 issue. Just before his own wedding, Manson criticized Britney Spears’ wedding to Kevin Federline, in which they celebrated by wearing personalized tracksuits: "If you’re going to do something like getting married, it should have a sense of celebration to it. It should be grand and not in tracksuits!"

As of January 30, 2007 Manson and Dita Von Teese reportedly split after her filing for divorce due to "irreconcilable differences" according to Von Teese. ET.com along with People Magazine has claimed that Manson was having an extramarital affair with actress Evan Rachel Wood, which may or may not be the true cause of the split. Manson’s alcohol abuse and distant behaviour have also been cited as cause for the split. It has also been claimed that Manson was not aware of Von Teese’s filing for divorce and moving out of their home at the time that the story was published, conceivably due to his reported stay in Paris, France. Von Teese reportedly took their two cats and two dachshunds, Greta and Eva, with her when she left. Manson fought for custody of the two cats, but only received one of them.

Evan Rachel Wood attended the grand opening of Manson’s new Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art and among the most notable artworks were two portraits of Evan. She will also co-star in his upcoming horror film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.

In music

Jessicka of the band Jack Off Jill was an early friend of Manson’s, her band opened most of his South Florida shows. He not only produced most of the band’s early recordings but also played guitar on the song "My Cat" and helped name the band. Manson later wrote the liner notes for the band’s album Humid Teenage Mediocrity, a collection of early Jack Off Jill recordings.

In early 1993, after being instructed by his new label, Interscope Records, not to play any local shows, Manson formed Mrs. Scabtree. Mrs. Scabtree was a side project between he and newly hired Jeordie White. Manson played drums, while White (dressed as a black woman) shared vocal duties with then girlfriend Jessicka from Jack Off Jill who wore a blonde wig. Mrs. Scabtree only played two shows in South Florida.

Manson has helped or provided full scores for several major motion pictures, although several of his pieces have been cut, and his name dropped from the credits. Some of his more notable soundtrack score contributions include The Matrix, From Hell and Resident Evil.

Manson appeared as a guest on rapper DMX’s album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood for the track "The Omen", produced by Swizz Beats, and has performed (with the rest of the band) on stage with Eminem as background music in the song "The Way I Am".

Manson sang vocals on "Break You Down" off of the Washington, DC-based industrial rock band gODHEAD’s 2000 Years of Human Error album. This album is distinguished for being the only one released on Manson’s vanity label Posthuman Records.

In film and television

Manson made a cameo appearance as a doctor in the Murderdolls’ music video "Dead in Hollywood", and also appears in the Nine Inch Nails music video "Starfuckers, Inc.", as well as "Gave Up", and Eminem’s "The Way I Am" music video.

His first appearance in a film was in the role of a pornographic actor in David Lynch’s Lost Highway, in 1997. He also had a minor role in former love interest Rose McGowan’s 1998 film Jawbreaker and a supporting role in 2003’s Party Monster, which is based on the events leading up to and the murder of Angel Melendez by the infamous Michael Alig of club kid fame, where Manson portrayed a psychotic drag queen named Christina . Manson made a cameo appearance in The Hire: Beat the Devil, a short film in the BMW films series (starring Clive Owen as the Driver), which featured James Brown as himself, and Gary Oldman as Satan. His most talked-about film cameo was in the Michael Moore political documentary Bowling for Columbine discussing the motivations of the perpetrators and allegations that his music was somehow a factor. He played himself, in animated form, on an episode of the television series Clone High, in which he sang a song about nutrition and the food pyramid. He is featured prominently throughout Not Another Teen Movie, and covered the song "Tainted Love" for its soundtrack.

His music is frequently featured on the show C.S.I.. The character on the show, Greg Sanders, is a big fan of Manson and the actor who plays him, Eric Szmanda, is a personal friend of Manson’s.

Manson was featured in the 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, and was set to appear in Abelcain, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Living Neon Dreams in 2005, although both of these projects are still unreleased as of 2007. He will also be seen as a bartender in an upcoming vampire movie starring Lucy Liu called Rise and possibly has pending roles in Abelcain, RISE and other projects.

Manson has produced 23 music videos, most of which have gone beyond the scope of a normal performance video and been well received by critics for their imagery and direction. Manson’s three most recent released videos – Personal Jesus, (s)AINT and Heart-Shaped Glasses – were voluntarily funded with his own money (to a sum of $1,500,000) and largely not that of the record company. Manson stated in June 2006 that he saw himself "as more a student of film than of music".

In July 2005, Manson told Rolling Stone that he was shifting his focus from music to filmmaking – "I just don’t think the world is worth putting music into right now. I no longer want to make art that other people–particularly record companies–are turning into a product. I just want to make art."

By 2006 Manson was working on his directorial debut, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll, but has since put the project off until November 2007 to focus on recording Marilyn Manson’s sixth studio album, Eat Me, Drink Me, followed by a world tour. The film is said to feature special effects using a magician rather than computer-generated imagery.

In graphic art

From the beginning Manson has been a recreational painter, the oldest of his surviving pieces dating back to 1995-1996, but it was after his 1998 Grey period that Manson began his career as a watercolour painter. In 1999 he made five-minute concept pieces and sold them to drug dealers with their knowledge that they would accumulate in value over time. Gradually Manson became more drawn to watercolors as an art form in itself, and instead of trading them, kept them and continued to paint at a proficient rate.

This manic creativity resulted in an exhibit for his art, The Golden Age of Grotesque, held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Centre on between September 13 and 14, 2002. The reaction to his paintings was largely positive with one critic comparing them to Egon Schele’s pieces and describing them as heartfelt and sincerely painted, and Art in America went as far as to liken them to the works of a " psychiatric patient given materials to use as therapy ". Others however saw less merit in the works stating that the value was in the celebrity.

Two years later almost to the day, during September 14 and 15, 2004, Manson held his second exhibit on the first night in Paris and the second in Berlin, Trismegistus, which was also the title of the center piece of the exhibit – a large three headed Christ painted onto an antique wood panel. Again the reception to the works could be described as mixed but was largely in favour of the artist.

Manson opened his own an art gallery, The Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art, on October 31, 2006 in Los Angeles for which his third exhibition (by invitation or appointment only after the opening night) was the inaugural show. From April 2 until April 17, 2007 Manson’s recent works were be on show at the Space 39 Modern & Contemporary in Florida.

A coffee table art book is in the works, initially titled The Death of Art. The last given title was Quintif. It will be published by the makers of Flaunt magazine.

40 pieces from this show were ported to the Gallery Brigitte Schenk in Cologne, Germany to be publicly exhibited from June 28 until July 28, 2007. After this they will return to the Space39 Modern & Contemporary Gallery thus leaving Manson’s own gallery in Los Angeles temporarily without his own work until 2008.

The price of Manson’s works has been a somewhat controversial point for fans and critics alike, with most fans realistically unable to afford the paintings save for fine art editions and lithographs. Manson’s prices though are realistic and reasonable considering the long-term value at a time when prices for contemporary art have never been higher.

During his European tour 2007 Manson has exhibited his paintings in Germany, Russia and Switzerland.

In other areas

Manson provided the voice of the alien Edgar in the 2005 first-person shooter video game Area 51, which also featured David Duchovny. Marilyn Manson also appears (as himself) as a playable character in the video game Celebrity Deathmatch. Allegedly, the artist posed nude for photos prior to his rise to fame. The pictures appeared in the March 1999 issue of Honcho.

Professional fallouts

Trent Reznor

One of Manson’s high-profile relationships, the defunct friendship with Trent Reznor, has been marked with mutual bitterness and perhaps vendetta. This started in the mid-90s, when Manson was due to make a track that would appear on the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Lost Highway, but instead Reznor was the one who wrote a song, "The Perfect Drug", for the film. In 1999, it seemed the two artists had patched their differences, as Manson made an appearance in the video for the Nine Inch Nails song "Starfuckers, Inc."

In 2004, Reznor was asked whether he had plans to do any covers; he sarcastically replied, "I was really hoping to do something unique and pertinent – like do an exact copy of "Personal Jesus" – but it was already taken."

In a 2005 interview, Manson said Reznor’s Nothing Records had lost the master recordings of Manson’s first three albums. He implied it was Reznor’s intention, "Now that Nothing Records doesn’t exist, I think there’s only one of two people responsible for that. Out of those two people, there’s only one that really has an opinion of me that is voiced very often."

Twiggy Ramirez

In May 2002 Twiggy Ramirez left the band, citing differences in perspective on the future of the band. He went on to play bass for A Perfect Circle and Nine Inch Nails. During this time, Manson claimed in interviews that he and Ramirez were still close friends, while Ramirez maintained that he rarely spoke to Manson. In an interview in February of 2006 Twiggy stated he was willing to record an album with Marilyn Manson if the right conditions were met. In Autumn 2006, Manson and Ramirez were photographed together at numerous parties in Los Angeles, in amicable poses.

In January 2008 it was announced that Ramirez had reunited with the band as live bassist for the last leg of the Rape of the World tour as well as co-writer of the band’s seventh studio album. In an interview with The Heirophant on January 11, 2008, Manson revealed that the reconciliation with Ramirez was not as abrupt as it initially seemed, and that the two had been occasionally communicating with each other since speaking at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, California prior to the Winter European leg of the Rape of the World tour.

John 5

John 5’s reasons for leaving Marilyn Manson were cited as being mutual, despite the mysterious nature of his sudden firing by Manson’s manager in 2004.

John was quoted at the time as saying about the incident, "I don’t know. . . I was nothing but nice to him," he continued. "I never screwed up onstage — well not really badly — and I did everything I could to get along with him. Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that I don’t drink or do drugs, and he’s not like that at all. Maybe he held that against me. I don’t know. He never said." John 5 was notorious among fans as being drug and alcohol free.

Before the incident, Manson had assaulted John on stage, notably, Manson kicked John in the face during a televised performance, leading to a brief confrontation in front of a packed and roaring audience (available on YouTube). This was during the intro to "The Beautiful People", when played at the Rock AM Ring 2003.

Also, during the tour John maintains that Manson spoke about matters other than business only once, "It was on my birthday, and he turned to me and said, "Happy birthday, faggot" — then walked away."

Despite this, John maintains he respects Manson, citing his skilled production style and his love for the band’s music. John was already a fan of the band before joining in 1998. In response to a question regarding the reason for the split with Manson, John 5 was quoted by Vintage Guitar Magazine as saying, "(laughs) At the end of the last tour, I decided I really wanted to do this solo thing and that I had to devote all my time to it. The split with Manson was totally amicable. It wasn’t one of those big breakups. We’re friends. I wish there was some good dirt, but there’s not (laughs)!"

In an interview prior to the January 19, 2008 performance in Orlando, Florida, Marilyn Manson revealed that John 5 would make a guest appearance during the show, stating: "I’ll have [John] come on stage and play songs with us this first show. It would practically be the Holy Wood lineup." This guest appearance ultimately did not take place, however.

Madonna Wayne Gacy

Before leaving the band nothing was heard of Madonna Wayne Gacy for over a year. In an exclusive conference conducted by Marilyn Manson in April 2007, he revealed the upcoming album Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded in collaboration between himself and Tim Skold. Essentially this meant Gacy did not partake in the album, but not ruling out the possibility of him performing as live keyboardist on the upcoming tour. Later, Manson revealed that Chris Vrenna (who previously drummed for the band during Ginger Fish’s hiatus in 2004) would be performing as live keyboardist on the tour, in Gacy’s place.

On August 2, 2007, Gacy filed a lawsuit against Marilyn Manson seeking a back pay of $20 million dollars. Gacy claimed Manson has been using the band’s money for personal interests, among which are his collection of Nazi paraphernalia, his drug addictions, his wedding with Dita Von Teese and the production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.

On December 20, 2007, Manson countersued Gacy. As a reaction to the lawsuit Gacy filed against Manson in August, Manson claims, "keyboardist Stephen Bier did not carry out obligations to take part in master recordings [of Eat Me, Drink Me], concerts [of the Rape of the World tour] and the selling of band merchandise," according to this report which states that Manson is seeking unspecified general and special damages.

Insight

Even though he is known mostly for his music, which some refer to as crude and grotesque, Manson is a very intelligent and insightful man. In interviews he is always well spoken and is calm to the people who challenge him. Most people see his music as delivering the wrong message, but Manson states that his message was to be creative.

Causes

•In 2002, Manson worked with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to make the wish of a boy with a life-threatening disease come true. 16-year-old Andrew Baines from Tennessee had a wish to sing back-up vocals for a "big" band; Manson jumped on the task and took Baines under his wing to make his dream come true. Manson invited Baines to the studio on August 27, 2002, where he let Baines perform backing vocals for the then-upcoming album, The Golden Age of Grotesque. "Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Andrew, who reminded me the things I create are only made complete by those who enjoy them. I just want to simply say, ‘thank you’ to Andrew for sharing such an important wish with me," Manson said, according MarilynManson.com.

•In 2005, Manson donated a signed collector’s edition mask to Music for Relief to help victims of the 2004’s Boxing Day Tsunami; this auction raised $155.

•In January 2006, Manson contributed a hand-painted guitar from the Six-String Masterpieces – The Dimebag Darrell Art Tribute to the Little Kids Rock auction. For every $100 raised by the product, Little Kids Rock would provide one low-income child with an instrument and lessons – Manson’s guitar raised $6,250.

•In 2006, Manson became a benefactor of Project Nightlight, an LA area foundation that uses short films, music, and apparel to grab teenagers attention and inspire them to speak out against sexual and physical abuse. Manson afforded Project Nightlight a stand at the opening of his art gallery, and in April 2007 gave the charity a print of his painting Eve of Destruction and a framed collector’s edition mask.

Legal history

Marilyn Manson was first arrested in Florida on December 27, 1994 after a concert at Jacksonville’s Club 5 for "violating the adult entertainment code." Manson was detained for 16 hours before been released without charge. Bizarrely police believed Manson had performed oral sex on stage with a man (when in fact it was Jack Off Jill vocalist Jessicka wearing a fake penis) and thrown either his or the man’s penis into the crowd. On February 5, 2001 in Marino, Italy Manson suffered what is to date his only other post-concert arrest when he was accused of blasphemy having worn the outfit of a cardinal on stage during the song "Valentine’s Day". Soon after the detention it was ascertained that Manson had not committed a crime and it appeared the legal troubles were over until the next day when Manson was arrested in Bologne on charges of public indecency relating to a 1999 show where it was alleged Manson had exposed his penis. Manson was released and the charges dropped, notably the arrests came a week after two teenagers brutally murdered an Italian nun which some less reputable sections of the Italian press blamed on Manson’s music.

Sexual misconduct

In a civil battery suit, David Diaz, a security officer from a concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 27, 2000, sued for $75,000 in a Minneapolis federal court. After two days deliberation the jury decided that Manson’s alleged molestation had been part of the show and that he had not overstepped his boundaries as an artist, ruling in favor of Manson and against Diaz.

Manson was charged with "sexual misconduct" on August 16, 2001 after Joshua Keasler filed a complaint that as he was providing security for a July 30 concert Manson had allegedly spat on his head, wrapped his legs around him and began to gyrate his penis along his neck.

Oakland County prosecutor David Gorcyca said that "It was offensive, crude and rude. This was not something that was orchestrated or choreographed as part of the act. The security guard was an unknowing and unwilling participant and, ironically, while he was there for protection… was sexually assaulted." The charge, punishable with up to two years imprisonment, was accompanied with a charge of disorderly conduct. The complaint came with an arrest warrant but Manson thwarted this by posting a $25,000 personal bond. In a one-day December 28, 2001 trial the presiding Judge dismissed the charge of "sexual misconduct" as Manson had in his view "gained no sexual gratification from the act." Manson pleaded "no contest" to the outstanding lesser charge, which carried only up to three months imprisonment, and was ordered to pay $4,000 in fines. After the trial Keasler pursued a civil lawsuit against Manson that was dropped when the two settled out of court in February 2004.

Lawsuits

•In 1997, former Marilyn Manson guitarist Scott Mitchell Putesky filed a lawsuit against Manson seeking unpaid royalties for his contributions to the band’s output up to that period, including the band’s recently released second studio album Antichrist Superstar. The case was concluded in 1998, although the outcome was confidential.

•On January 4, 1999, SPIN editor Craig Marks filed an assault and battery lawsuit against Manson in the New York Supreme Court. Marks alleged that Manson, upset at not making the cover of SPIN, the lawsuit specifically alleged Manson had yelled "I can kill you, I can kill your family, I can kill everyone you know!" before two of Manson’s bodyguards were said to have charged him and held him against the wall and threw him to the floor after which it was alleged Manson had said, "That’s what you get when you disrespect me." The case was dropped when, weeks later, Marks was fired from SPIN over financial irregularities.

•On April 2, 2002, Maria St. John filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Manson of providing her adult daughter, Jennifer Syme, with cocaine and allowing her to drive while under the influence. The case was settled out of court.

•On August 2, 2007, former Marilyn Manson keyboardist Stephen Bier filed a breech of contract lawsuit against Marilyn Manson seeking $20,000,000 in damages. Bier claimed Manson has used the band’s money for personal interests, among which are his collection of Nazi paraphernalia, addictions to cocaine and Valium, his $300,000 wedding with and $150,000 engagement ring given to Dita Von Teese and the production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll as well as Lewis Carroll memorabilia, human skeletons and taxidermy. Manson’s lawyers responded in January 2008 with a 101-page rebuttal of the claims, the case will be tried by jury in November 2008 in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Major label discography

•Portrait of an American Family (1994) •Smells Like Children (1995) •Antichrist Superstar (1996) •Remix and Repent (1997) •Mechanical Animals (1998) •The Last Tour on Earth (Live) (1999) •Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000) •The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003) •Lest We Forget (The Best Of) (2004) •Eat Me, Drink Me (2007)

Filmography

•Lost Highway (cameo, 1997) •MTV Video Music Awards (commercial, 1998) •Jawbreaker (cameo, 1999) •Clone High (cameo, 2000) •From Hell (score, 2001) •Not Another Teen Movie (score, 2001) •Resident Evil (score, 2002) •Bowling for Columbine (interview, 2002) •The Hire: Beat the Devil (cameo, 2003) •Party Monster (2003) •Doppelherz (director, 2003) •The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (cameo, 2004) •House of Wax (2005) (acting, score) •Abelcain (2007) •Living Neon Dreams (2007) •Rise (cameo, 2007) •Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll (acting, directing, writing, score, 2008)

Bibliography

•The Long Hard Road out of Hell (1998) •Holy Wood (Unreleased)

Trivia

•All Manson’s tattoos were done at Tattoos By Lou in Miami, Florida over a four-year span starting in 1991, until a new tattoo emerged in early-2007.

•In the 1990s, an Internet rumor spread stating Josh Saviano (who played Paul Pfeiffer in 1980s drama The Wonder Years) grew up to become Marilyn Manson. As of 2007, Josh Saviano is a licensed attorney in New York. He has, however, commented on the rumor, and thinks it is neat people believe him to be in a "goth band".

•Contrary to what some may deem "common knowledge", Manson has not had any ribs removed for the purpose of autofellatio. "If I really got my ribs removed," he said in the The Long Hard Road out of Hell autobiography, "I would have been busy sucking my own dick on The Wonder Years instead of chasing Winnie Cooper."

•In an E! interview, Manson revealed that he owns a Nintendo DS. "My friend got me this little Japanese lawyer game; it’s fucking amazing," he said in reference to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. He also mentioned that he was "pretty good at Mario Kart".

•In an interview with MTV in 2002 Manson revealed that for most of his paintings he uses a children’s Alice in Wonderland tin. He also uses a 1920’s mortician paint kit originally used for retouching cadavers.

•Manson has Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an erratic, rapid heartbeat.

•Manson, who cites David Bowie as being his biggest influence, claims his favorite songs by him are "Quicksand", "Ashes to Ashes", and "We Are the Dead". He even proposed to his ex-wife, Dita Von Teese, during a David Bowie concert (at the time Bowie was performing "Be My Wife") .

•Pets Manson has had in his life include the childhood dog, an Alaskan malamute named Aleusha, an orange tabby named O.J. which he found on the steps of Christian school, four Devon Rex cats named Aleister, Edgar, Herman, and Lily, and two dachshunds named Greta and Eva. After the divorce of Manson and ex-wife Dita Von Teese, Von Teese won the custody of both dachshunds and Aleister. For Manson’s 39th birthday on January 5th, 2008, girlfriend Evan Rachel Wood gave him a new cat, Charlie (Manson), as a birthday gift.

•When asked in 2007 by Rolling Stone what his current favorite playlist was, Manson chose among Radiohead’s "Exit Music (For a Film)", Amy Winehouse’s "Rehab" and David Bowie’s classic "We Are the Dead".

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : marilynmanson.com MARILYN MANSON on MYSPACE : www.myspace.com/marilynmanson

———————

–> This biography appeared on www.mansonwiki.com/ (Manson Wiki)

Posted by Ben Heine on 2008-05-09 23:39:26

Tagged: , Marilyn Manson , Brian Hugh Warner , USA , American , crazyness , cry , shout , balls , outrageous , image , artist , watercolor , singer , child , logo , band , rock , punk , Charles Manson , Marilyn Monroe , ink , black , dots , Metal music , Grammy Award , musique , Mobscene , Mansinthe , chanteur , musicien , make-up , lipstick , facial expression , arrow , sick , shocking , oh , ben heine , madness , painting , watercolour , powerful , violent , teethn mouth , anti-capitalism , anti-conformism , unusual , pointillism , black ink , Disney , Antichrist , Antechrist , full biography , scary , fearless , androgyn , info@theartistery.com , print , copyrights , art , poster , wallpaper , contemporary art , Resident , Evil , fine art , expo , mixed styles , aquarelle , dark , romance , provocation , plume , pen nib , paper

The post Marilyn Manson -1- appeared first on Good Info.

[joneswilliam72]

"What would've happened if Hitchcock made a movie in an Uber?" - Meet filmmaker Jeremy Ungar of Ride.

I caught up with filmmaker Jeremy Ungar for a chat on film, the rapid advance of technologies like Uber, influences, Michael Mann, filmmaking ISO and painting with light, lenses, and a realist visual palette (á la Edward Hopper) as it relates to his newest picture, Ride – out now on VOD.

 A struggling actor by day, James (Jessie T. Usher, Independence Day: Resurgence) pays his bills by driving people around Los Angeles for a ride sharing service.  His night starts out like any other, but he can’t believe his luck when he picks up the beautiful Jessica (Bella Thorne, Assassination Nation), and they immediately hit it off. His next fare, the fast-talking Bruno (Will Brill, The OA), convinces James to go back and invite her to join them for a wild night out.  But things take a shocking turn when Bruno, armed with a gun and a twisted idea of fun, forces them on a terrifying, white-knuckle ride that quickly spirals out of control.

Ride really would be the result of Mann’s Collateral getting a technological makeover and mentoring advice from Alfred Hitchcock. I highly recommend checking it out on VOD today and I hope you will learn as much as I did from this conversation with a gifted young creative.

Hi Jeremy. Welcome to The 405! How are you?

I'm good how about you?     

Oh not too bad. Getting right into it what was it that initially inspired you to write Ride?

Well, I'm really fascinated by these new – kind of newer – interactions that technology has created for us. That, you know, before Uber existed, before Tinder existed, if you said to someone "alright, there's this app and you're going to get into a stranger's car and then they'll drive you somewhere and you don't know them and you've not met them". You'd be like "um, there's no way I'm doing that ever."

Yep.

And the way that these quickly become such a part of our lives that  it's so commonplace people do it every day. And that was, I was really just doing that and I also really wanted to write something for myself because my background is in theater… so dialogue wasn't really concerned. I had these kind of charged experiences, most of them have been positives, in most case. I just started this, it's become this native unique space that's kind of right for drama. Then I started writing, you know, some possibilities of what should happen in the new world and I came to this kind of very strong, very manipulative, character and I was really drawn to dialogue that came out, I kind of surprised myself writing it. Then that was really made me dive into this as a project.

Cool. Yeah Bruno [Will Brill] was manipulative to put it lightly. Kind of going off of that, one thing that seemed to me to be very important for the movie, was pace.

Jessie T. Usher as James in the thriller “RIDE,” an RLJE Films release. Photo courtesy of Rob C. Givens.

I have to say I wasn't really seeing that 180 degree turn that happened about the time they get to the bar. You know, I was watching it wondering, what's this guy going to do, what's his end game, it just keeps wandering for most of it; but I was just wondering what were some of the tricks to sort of balancing the tension throughout the movie?

The pace of the movie is something that is really kind of interesting thing to me because, like I said, my background's in theater and you get a lot of long takes with this. When we shot on the process trailer – which is how we did most of the car stuff – you're strapped to a flatbed truck and you know you have your cameras mounted and you're driving. It really truly did seem like it was theater and we would do, you know, a sure five, ten minute take with two cameras.

Fascinating connection.

So that kind of locked into the pace, you get, just in directing in the scene as you shoot it and any chance you have to adjust that pace is by cutting to a different take. Which you also are locked into a really specific set of constraints because the car is moving, so you have to kind of match the speed when you cut. So it's a really kind unique set of challenges, but I like restrictions like that so it kind of gave me a lot of style and made this sort of a puzzle to put together.

A process trailer. Source:MovingPics.net

Necessity is the mother of invention.

And also we wanted to show that there was something mysterious, immediate and serious right there in the car with them and there is a sense that they are really doing this, because in a sense they are.

Oh, absolutely, I think that was communicated really well. And another thing I really liked about the movie was the realism in terms of the cinematography and the visuals. Kind of in the vein of Nightcrawler in that sort of neon grit.

Oh thank you, that was a huge point of reference for me.

Oh good. Yeah. I was just wondering, what was the process like in coming up with the visuals that you ultimately did?

I have directed this drama as a short to prove that I can do it as a feature.

Oh cool. I respect that proof of concept type of thinking.

In the short, we shot on a barge which was a really good experience. When I started talking with the DP who did the feature – a guy named Rob Givens – who proposed using the pass on a fairy cam. The thing that makes the camera unique is it has a flip flop hub in terms of the ISO. So it kind of belabors 800 which is standard. We did our movie at 5,000. We really tried to shoot the entire movie at 5,000 ISO.

Yeah. That's gonna dramatically increase the light that's captured.

Yeah. It resulted in us getting a lot more light in, but from a process perspective, we didn't have to use as many lights and we were able to be a lot more nimble, also in terms of just loving the lights of Los Angeles. I really wanted the movie to kind of feel like a full character in itself, and with that 5,000 ISO I feel you were able to see so much of the outside res that it really became a key part of our aesthetic.

Absolutely.

So that was one element of that and it also made the choices of cinematography easier. Rather than getting a third package of primes, prime lenses…

Yeah.

…we had our fairy lenses and they are Panavision C Series lenses, you know, they are hard to track down and expensive and so we opted for fewer lenses. In that restriction, in the moment, having those lenses that would give us a lot of the kind of horizontal flares and oblong bokehs and things that made, at least I hope. You remember in one space how visually varied the scenes were? It's the lenses and flares that tend to get that.

Will Brill as Bruno in the thriller “RIDE,” an RLJE Films release. Photo courtesy of Rob C. Givens.

Oh, absolutely. Switching gears to a question I like to ask everybody, what directors and films have been most influential on your development as an artist.

My favorite question.

Cool. A big one too.

For Ride specifically, I really I think maybe a core question is what would have happened if Hitchcock made a movie in an Uber? You know, Strangers on a Train was really a key point of reference for me and balancing the fact that the character named Bruno is a reference to Strangers on a Train.

Interesting. Yeah, Robert Walker's character. Makes sense now that you say it.

It just cycles round. It comes from Hitchcock being the first director as a kid that I watched that I found the movie so accessible and just loved it so much that that is probably really only the most secondary thing that made me become a film maker.

Yeah, Hitch is great. Vertigo would be a favorite of mine from him.

Then the other really big point of reference for Ride is this early Spielberg movie called Duel. Which is also all set in a car. And it's a super tense film. It's different because Duel is almost nonverbal and Ride is like a real dialogue. But I just feel that there is so much to learn from it in terms of how he dealt with the car and then also just building tension in a confined space. Spielberg was really a master of in that era movie. And that I hoped to really learn something from them.

Absolutely. You know another one that came to my mind when I was watching it was Michael Mann's Collateral…

Yes. Tom Cruise.

I loved Collateral. It was kind of unbelievable because it's so similar to Ride but I really didn't think about Collateral at all when I was writing Ride.

Oh really?

I didn't think a ton about Michael Mann. Yeah but I was like I mean I must have subconsciously been, but really it's interesting, I made a whole visual reference back to kind of outline the vision of what the future would look like and there are a ton of images from Thief.

Good one as well.

And so I was thinking intentionally about Michael Mann and probably Collateral was marinating in there but not one that I was at least telling myself to directly thinking of it. It just so happened that it... that you could definitely pitch Ride as Collateral and an Uber.

Yeah. You really could.

The other Michael Mann thing is I loved the movie Thief so much and the soundtrack of Thief was done by Tangerine Dream. And the soundtrack to my movie was actually done by Paul Haslinger who was a key member of Tangerine Dream.

Cool. Didn't realize that.

So I had something that really evoked that movie that was so inspirational to me and I loved so much.

Awesome, definitely. Our last question, what's next for you Jeremy?

There's another script that I am writing right now. That's also about our relationship with technology. It kind of gives more ... the amount of trust we put in technology and with devices and I think I really think our cell phones are really killing us but they are just so fun that we can't tell.

The next script is kind of very loosely about that same thing.

from The 405 http://bit.ly/2NbZOfh

[flyrtreynolds]

Passion of The Weiss: “You Have to Make a Lot of Wack Shit to Make Good Shit”... An Interview with Channel Tres

His song “Controller” made me want to write about him immediately. Once again posting the full pre-edit version.

Before we speak, I spot Channel Tres in the groove.

Adorned in a vintage “Showtime”-era Lakers T-shirt and track pants, the 26 year old is skewing and swerving on the heels of his sneakers to “Got Me Coming Back Right Now,” the fizzling cut by house legend Moodymann. He appears to be alone in his bedroom, painted the archetypal Southern California egg shell, biting his lower lip in tunnel vision, an imaginary enclosure of clapping club goers forming around him.  

“Just warming up my legs,” he says when I tell him over the phone that I saw the performance broadcasted on his Instagram a few minutes prior. “Thank god for Moodymann -- that motherfucker changed my life.”

Tres, born Sheldon Young, points to the discovery of the Detroit DJ’s catalogue as a pivotal moment in his artistic trajectory, helping him evolve from pop songwriter to songleader, behind-the-scenes beatmaker to dance-floor commander. Moody’s influence is showcased proudly on “Controller,” a bass-throbbing, four-on-the-floor callback to classic Midwest dance music -- and Young’s first single on L.A. imprint Godmode Music. “Your body is a game, fuck the lames, fuck the fame, I am the controller,” he deadpans cooly before a sharp cymbal crash announces a palpitating low end, one that immediately inspires two-steps decorated with snaps and scrunched mugs.

Raised in Lynwood, Calif., right around the corner from the Compton Swap Meet, Young isn’t a native of the birth region of house music, but the genre runs deep in his genes. He discovered this only recently when his uncle, who he had little interaction with growing up, attended a DJ set at the University of Wisconsin and eagerly divulged to him that their “whole damn family is out here.” This floored Young, who always believed his now-deceased father’s side was from Kansas, a full day’s drive from the underground house shows that pulsated the Windy City in the late 1970s and early ’80s. “I didn’t know, and I had to prepare for [my next] DJ set so I was like, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to go through the history of the full thing.’”

Returning to L.A. galvanized by a deep dive into the genre, he locked himself in his room, a tiny upstairs space rented from an elderly artist in Silver Lake, and set out to create something wildly different than his past productions. Whereas his songwriting for ardent vocalists like Kehlani and Shamir was meditative and circuitous, here he went direct and authoritative, purring out catchy refrains into his laptop’s low-quality mic. And while his beats for frequent collaborator South Central rapper DUCKWRTH were mid-tempo bops, his new work upped the BPMs, aiming to inspire more movement of the lower body (i.e. the booty) than trap’s prototypical elbow flexing. “I was falling asleep, man. Everything was just emotional and slow....I wanted to pick shit up.”

The Silver Lake sessions materialized into an email blast containing a fully formed demo, packaged neatly with Photoshop’d artwork, which landed in the inbox of Godmode co-founder and former Capitol Records A&R Talya Elitzer. Upon hearing it, she quickly put Young in the studio with her partner Nick Sylvester, the executive producer of the label’s only release thus far, Yaeji’s ep2. Young calls Sylvester a “fucking genius” and happens to be on the way to meet him at the studio as we talk.

Today they’ll be working on a track called “Jet Black,” an ode to the superhero alter-ego Young invented on the crumbly plains of Oklahoma, where he went to college for music. In the lead up to class projects, he’d sport the same pitch-dark clothing — Jet Black’s inconspicuous uniform — nearly everyday as a means of preserving his brainpower solely for the grind, a form of zealotism that icons like Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein supposedly practiced. Young has a habit of looking to geniuses for guidance: As a teen he left behind the palm trees of SoCal for the scrub of the Sooner State after hearing a freshly signed Kendrick Lamar sermonize in an interview that one needs to escape their environment in order to grow.

The plan was always to come back, though. The Lynwood/Compton area is the star at the center of Young’s solar system, the place where he was raised by his great grandma, played drums in the church choir and once had a pistol pulled on him. Its mangy greenways, vibrant strip mall signage and skateparks make up the video for “Controller,” which also features Young’s childhood friends, each drumming little easter eggs of color on his chest. These are the people and places that shaped him, and he hopes his newly formed solo career will give him the chance to “actually do something” in return (namely, he wants to create a non-profit for local kids who have an interest in the arts).

This may sound like lofty rhetoric, dreams conjured by an artist following their first nibble of fame, but Young comes off earnest in his ambitions, namely for the fact that he seems to be in a perpetual metamorphosis, unafraid to reinvent himself through his music and selfhood. As he puts it: “I been through a lot of shit growing up so I just wanna be fucking happy. But I also want to be challenged in life.”

Leading up to this interview, I had a lot of trouble finding your previously released solo work. Why’d you wipe it clean?

Yeah, yeah [laughs]. It’s a restart; I had to reset. I wanted to present myself the right way. The last music was bedroom, high-ass music. It was good music, but I feel like right now I’m hitting my stride and really making records -- records that could really fucking change lives and do shit. I gave up a lot of my past and just let it all go. You have to make a lot of wack shit to make good shit.

Were you surprised when the email blast containing your demo got a response?

Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. Shit, I was about to be an EDM DJ. I was on my way there [laughs]. That’s just the people I was fucking with at the time. They was just around that, and they were interested, but I just couldn’t spend all my time on EDM drops and shit like that. Cause the way I make music is so free -- that’s why house music sticks out to me so much.

What about the tempo of house grabbed you?

I was falling asleep, man. I was smoking weed, falling asleep in the studio [laughs]. I was just half-assing shit, going to the studio and drinking, not working. I still love making pop music, but it was just the pace was so slow. I just wanted to pick that shit up. Everything was just emotional and slow. I’m a gemini, an air sign, so I love just feeling the wave and going. When I started listening to house, that shit just woke me the fuck up.

Do you feel like black artists have been forgotten as the originators of the genre?

Yeah, I feel like it’s amissed. I love trap music, but we’re half-timed out right now. The funk came from James Brown, four-on-the-floor. George Clinton. I feel like with the time, how everything changes, and with the kids, it’s just different. Everyone’s slowed down and half-timed out. I feel like we need to pick up the pace again and get it back.

I feel like it’s looked over, but that’s a whole conversation, bro. Cause you have the media not giving certain people shine. Like when disco was out, people were against disco like a motherfucker. I seen some shit where they burn records on the baseball field. I could ramble my ass off on this. But I guess we are overlooked in the genres.

I’ve heard you say you’re from both Compton and Lynwood.

Both, I stayed on Euclid and Long Beach Boulevard, that’s right around the corner from the Compton Swap Meet. If I walk to Long Beach Boulevard, I’m in Compton. But if I walk to the other corner of the street, I’m in Lynwood. All my high school stuff with the district...they said I was Lynwood. But my mom stayed in the projects not too far from my grandma. I was raised by my great grandma, then my other grandma she actually had a house in West Compton. So it was both. I like to say Lynwood because nobody really shouts out Lynwood or anything; it’s just a small city. Nobody really talks about it. They just say Compton. So I just wanted to give some love to the area because that’s where I went to school. I played drums in the choir.

What was life like growing up there?

Shit was like...I guess it’s a regular ghetto, like every other. I don’t want to sound typical, [but] I had the typical shit happen to me. Growing up I had a gun pulled out on me; I had drive-bys on my block. But me and my friends started dancing and skateboarding, you know what I’m saying? Then N.E.R.D. came out when I was like in 9th grade, so there was a group of us that just fucked with all that shit. We were all from the hood and shit, but we just made our own crew and clicked up. A lot of the time was spent going to church and then hanging out with the homies, dancing.

I saw that your childhood friends were the ones drumming on your chest in the video for “Controller.” If that was me, I’m pretty sure I would have fucked that up somehow.

One of the homies who was doing it, he’s fucking terrible at rhythm. I just told him it’s just, “One two, one two.”

Why’d you choose to go to school in Oklahoma of all places?

I wanted to stay, but I was around so many cool people that it was kind of hard to find my identity. Everybody was just like at a professional level already. I had the passion for it but didn’t have the skill level. I felt like I had to get away. Kendrick was talking about getting out the environment; he had to start going on tour and going around the world and blowing up. In his interviews he would talk about getting out of his environment and coming back a better person.

It feels good now because I came back now and can actually do something for my friends and the community. Not like I’m famous or nothing, but shit I’m doing something.

How do you see that “something” materializing in the next few years?

I made sure I didn’t travel to certain places because I wanted to experience them through music. I wanna be able to go somewhere and be in like Tokyo and have a show because if you experience everything through music it feels a lot better.

In three to four years, I’ll be better. I told myself three or four years ago that I’d be better, and I made those goals. So I just hope to have the resources to have my non-profit started. And also records, man...I hope that I’m making the magical records that I see myself making.

https://www.passionweiss.com/2018/05/13/channel-tres-interview/

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

11 Incredible Stephen Hawking Quotes

Visit Now - https://zeroviral.com/11-incredible-stephen-hawking-quotes/

11 Incredible Stephen Hawking Quotes

The great filmmaker Albert Maysles once explained the power of nonfiction moviemaking by saying, “When you see somebody on the screen in a documentary, you’re really engaged with a person going through real life experiences, so for that period of time, as you watch the film, you are, in effect, in the shoes of another individual. What a privilege to have that experience.”

A privilege, yes, and a privilege that’s outsized for us today. We now have access to thousands of documentaries online, allowing us all kinds of shapes and sizes of shoes to step into. To extend our personal knowledge of human experience. Thousands of little empathy machines. Small windows into lives that aren’t our own.

Here are 25 of the best documentaries that you can stream right now.

1. 13TH (2016)

Following the breakout prestige of Selma, Ava DuVernay constructed an exploration of the criminalization of black individuals in the United States, crafting a throughline from slavery to the modern private prison boom. Eschewing an overdramatized style, DuVernay calmly, patiently lays out facts and figures that will drop your jaw only until you start clenching it.

Where to watch it: Netflix

2. AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER (2003)

For those only familiar with Aileen Wuornos through Charlize Theron’s portrayal in Monster, Nick Broomfield’s documentary offers a considered portrait of the human being behind the murderer. In his first film about Wuornos, The Selling of a Serial Killer, Broomfield considered her as a victim of abuse and betrayal, with her image commodified. In this follow-up, he takes us all the way to the day of her execution, wondering how anyone would think she was of sound mind.

Where to watch it: Netflix and Amazon Prime

3. ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL (2017)

“Too big to fail” entered the lexicon following 2008’s bursting housing bubble, but while the world’s largest banks skated through, Abacus Federal Savings Bank was deemed small enough to prosecute. Steve James (of Hoop Dreams fame) has crafted an intimate, Oscar-nominated look at the Chinatown bank that became the only financial institution to face criminal charges in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, starting at the family level before zooming out to the community and country.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

4. BEING ELMO (2011)

Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg, puppeteer Kevin Clash shares his childhood growing up in Baltimore and the road to a career as a furry red monster on Sesame Street. It’s a delightful peek behind the curtain to see how magic is made, featuring interviews with legends like Frank Oz and Kermit Love. Pairs well with I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (which is available to rent on Amazon).

Where to watch it: Netflix

5. BEST OF ENEMIES (2015)

Both quaint and prescient, the televised debates between William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal during the 1968 Republican National Convention show us a midpoint between idealized civic discussion and the worst instincts of modern punditry. This sly documentary explains the force of this rivalry, its ironic popularity as televised circus, and the aftermath of all the clever insults.

Where to watch it: Netflix

6. CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER (2017)

A bright palate cleanser that shouldn’t be overlooked just because it isn’t emotionally devastating. The success of this film is its ability to transfer other people’s obsessions to the viewer. Tom Hanks, John Mayer, historians, collectors, and repairmen all share their abiding love for the click-clack of a device that defies obsolescence. You may crave a Smith Corona when it’s all over.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

7. CAMERAPERSON (2016)

Patience is rewarded in this thoughtful, dazzling cinematic quilt of footage collected from 25 years of Kirsten Johnson’s career as a cinematographer. Her lens takes us to Brooklyn for boxing, Bosnia for post-war life, Nigeria for midwifery, and more.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

8. CARTEL LAND (2015)

Raw and fearsome, Matthew Heineman’s documentary puts you in the boots on the ground of the Mexican Drug War. This gripping look at Arizona Border Recon and the Autodefensas of Michoacán shows what happens when governments fail citizens who are in the line of fire.

Where to watch it: Netflix and Amazon Prime

9. CASTING JONBENET (2017)

This isn’t the documentary you’d expect it to be. Kitty Green took an experimental approach that’s less about rehashing the true crime sensationalism of the headline-owning murder of a child beauty queen and more about how many stories can be contained in a single story. Green auditioned actors from JonBenét Ramsey’s hometown and, in the process of making several dramatizations, interviewed them about what it was like living in the area during the 1996 investigations (and what they think really happened).

Where to watch it: Netflix

10. CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2011)

There’s nothing like hanging out with Werner Herzog in an ancient cave. Herzog filmed in the Chauvet Cave in southern France to document the oldest known human-painted images, which is fortunate for us because the cave isn’t open to the public. It’s a wondrous nature documentary about us.

Where to watch it: Netflix

11. CITY OF GHOSTS (2017)

Another brutal hit from Matthew Heineman, this documentary carries the audience into the Syrian conflict through the eyes of citizen journalist collective Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently, which both reports on war news and acts as a counter to propaganda efforts from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Some documentaries are interesting, but this one is also necessary. 

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

12. DARK DAYS (2000)

Before Humans of New York there was Dark Days. This delicate, funny, mournful project is a true blend of reality and art. Marc Singer made it after befriending and living among the squatter community living in the Freedom Tunnel section of the New York City subway. Despite never making a movie before, he decided that shining a light on these homeless neighbors would be the best way to help them.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

13. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010)

Covered in spray paint and questionable facial hair decisions, this documentary displays the transformation of Thierry Guetta from clothing shop owner to celebrated street artist, but since Banksy directed it, it’ll never shake the question of its authenticity. Real doc? Elaborate prank? Entertaining either way.

Where to watch it: Netflix

14. GAGA: FIVE FOOT TWO (2017)

It’s incredibly honest. As much as an inside look into the life of a global pop superstar can be. Lady Gaga (real name Stefani Germanotta) spends a healthy amount of the movie standing around without makeup, waxing wise and humorously before jumping face-first into her work and fanbase. The film focuses on her time crafting her Joanne album and her Super Bowl halftime show, but they could make one of these every few years without it getting stale because Gaga is a tower of magnetism.

Where to watch it: Netflix

15. THE INTERRUPTERS (2012)

In the middle of gang violence in Chicago, CeaseFire attempts to use members’ direct experiences to ward off new brutalities. Dubbed “violence interrupters,” Ameena Matthews, Cobe Williams, and Eddie Bocanegra are at the heart of this vital film about ending community violence by employing disease-control strategies, and the Herculean task of reversing systemic criminal activity without losing sight of the humanity of the people affected.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

16. JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI (2012)

Let’s hope that this meditative, sumptuous documentary never leaves Netflix’s shores. The portrait of then-85-year-old Sukiyabashi Jiro’s quest for unattainable perfection is both food porn and a somber-sweet consideration of the satisfaction and disquiet of becoming the best in the world at something and, somehow, striving for better.

Where to watch it: Netflix

17. JOSHUA: TEENAGER VS SUPERPOWER (2017)

When someone tells you it can’t be done, show them this. The simple title both celebrates and belies the smallness of one person fighting a system. Joe Piscatella’s doc follows the explosive growth of the Hong Kong protest movement engaged by teen activist Joshua Wong when the Chinese government refused to act on its promise of granting autonomy to the region, and it is a dose of pure inspiration.

Where to watch it: Netflix

18. THE LOOK OF SILENCE (2014)

Joshua Oppenheimer and Anonymous’s sequel to the Oscar-nominated The Act of Killing features an Indonesian man whose brother was murdered during the 1965 purge of Communists talking to his brother’s killers while literally checking their vision. His bravery and composure are astonishing, as is the insight into the many rationalities unrepentant men use to shield their psyches from their own heinous acts. A peerless piece of investigative art.

Where to watch it: Netflix

19. MY SCIENTOLOGY MOVIE (2017)

An absurdist rabbit chase and a deliberate provocation, writer/star Louis Theroux’s punk documentary poked the bear of the infamous religion in order to get access to it. They auditioned young actors to recreate real-life events described by ex-members, got denounced by the church, and even got into a “Who’s On First”-style argument with a member (“You tell him to turn the camera off then I’ll tell him to turn the camera off!”). Serious subject matter by way of Borat.

Where to watch it: Netflix

20. THE NIGHTMARE (2015)

This documentary by Rodney Ascher should be seen by everyone and somehow be banned from being seen. Not content to profile people suffering from sleep paralysis—the condition where you can’t move or speak while falling asleep or awakening, yeah—Ascher riffs on the hallucinations that sometimes accompany the ailment. As if being frozen weren’t enough. The result is a true story that’s just as effective as a horror film.

Where to watch it: Netflix

21. PUMPING IRON (1977)

A landmark docudrama about the Mr. Olympia competition, this is the film that launched a wannabe actor from Austria into the public conscious. Arnold Schwarzenegger is brash and beautiful in this celebration of body perfection which finds a balance between joy and the teeth-gritting agony of endurance. Great back then, it’s now a fascinating artifact of the soon-to-be action star/politician.

Where to watch it: Netflix

22. STOLEN SEAS (2013)

Constructed using real audio and found footage of the 2008 hostage negotiation aboard a Danish shipping vessel, filmmaker Thymaya Payne’s film isn’t content to simply shine a light on the horrific reality of a Somali pirate attack; it strikes to build a contextual understanding of what these attacks mean for the rest of the world. For all of us.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

23. STORIES WE TELL (2013)

An absolute personal stunner, actress Sarah Polley directed this docudrama about the scariest thing you can reveal to the world: your family. It’s an emotional, gamut-spanning search for identity that requires reconciling conflicting views about your parents and digging through buried secrets. Polley bringing them into full view, for all of us to see, is a selfless act that resulted in an outstanding piece of art.

Where to watch it: Amazon Prime

24. THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988)

A modern classic of nonfiction storytelling. Through archival footage, interviews, and reenactments, documentary royalty Errol Morris used this film to argue the innocence of a man destined for lethal injection. It tells the story of Randall Dale Adams, who was sentenced to death for killing a police officer in 1976, despite evidence that the real killer—a minor at the time—had committed the crime. A must-see for fans of Making a Murderer.

Where to watch it: Netflix

25. TIG (2015)

When you get diagnosed with cancer, the natural thing is to perform a stand-up act about it the same day, right? Comedian Tig Notaro became famous overnight when her set confronting her same-day diagnosis went viral, and this documentary from Kristina Goolsby and Ashley York focuses on the year that followed. A rocky year that deals with death, a new career chapter, a new relationship, and possibly a new child. It’s okay to laugh through the tears.

Where to watch it: Netflix