The Art Conversation: Connecting People + Art

Daniel Ikaika Ito

Journalist.  Surfer.  Boyfriend.  Brother.  Son.  Colleague.  Stoked on life.  

My name is Daniel Ikaika Ito.  I was born at Kapiʻolani Medical Center but my family moved to Hilo when I was three so I grew up there.  I always like to say that I moved out of my parents house when I was 11 to attend Kamehameha Schools Kapālama Campus.  I’ve been a surfer since eight after I rode my first wave at Bellows and was a body boarder up until eight grade.  When I graduated in 1999, it was a really controversial time to be at Kamehameha because it was during the Broken Trust Series when they were being really critical of the trustees.  Seeing the power of the media and how they can affect change is what really made me want to be a journalist.  I’m so excited to be 31 in Hawaii now because it is far better than I ever thought it was going to be.  I’m really thankful for young people who are showing an interest in it because really that’s what it’s about.  My dad told me that he didn’t want me to be like him and wanted me to be better than him.  I hope that the younger generation behind me will be better than myself because that just means Hawaii will grow to be a cosmopolitan that still has rural sections and will be that formula and how to live a sustainable life.  The island mentality is something that can be shared with the world because it recognizes that there is only a limited number of resources and that we’re all in this life together. 

Define art:

Art is creative expression and it really doesn’t matter what medium it’s in.  

An important type of art form: Graphic design

In the media, there is always the question of whether graphic design is art.  And I totally think it is; it is just a different medium.  To me, graphic design is up there painting and fine art.  My favorite artists are usually the ones that can blend both because it’s like writing.  There’s two types of writing; there’s standard news writing where you’re trying to document something and telling a story and there’s creative writing where you’re telling a story but you’re not worried about a word count.  I’d say the same thing between graphic design and fine art.  Graphic design is an art form but usually used in a commercial sense and used in a way to translate fine art or a concept into a commercial project.  Ten years ago, “selling out” was such a dirty word.  But its fine to sell out once in a while on a project because when you do, your allowing your message or story to told within your art to a broader audience.  I enjoy seeing one of the homies finally get their due and recognition from a brand like Hurley.  And also what people need to realize is, brah, there can’t be starving artists because then the scene itself doesn’t grow.  

On building a career:

I moved to San Diego in the the fall of 2001 because the surf media is still really centralized in Orange County.  While attending a junior college, I started doing an internship at Surfing Magazine where I got to meet some of my mentors like Evan Slater, Matt Walker, and Nathan Meyers.  After getting a DUI, I couldn’t afford to stay in San Diego so I moved home and got my first job as a journalist as the online editor of Nalu Magazine.  In May 2005, I started as an associated editor at Free Surf and then got offered a job to be the editor of Free Surf.  As an editor, I really cut my teeth as a journalist because there was a lot more responsibility than I was used to.  I really found out how to use tact in your voice because before that, my writing was really aggressive and critical of the brands and the companies that I thought were selling out Hawaiians or surfing.  A lot of it came from my anger towards how I thought “The Man” was shaping the image of surfing.  Being an editor of a magazine, you can’t be so gung-ho about stuff like that and you need a lot more balance that is more showing than telling.  

Between 2008 and 2010, I was working three different jobs at the time with the Triple Crown, ESPN, the Star Advertiser, finishing up my last semester with a Hawaiian language and math course at the University of Hawaii Mānoa, barely making ends meet, freaking out all the time because Contrast was still going on.  But it really taught me that I can handle anything.  I’m glad I went back to school and I think a lot of people for a lot of people the value of school isn’t necessarily what you learn but the time you commit to something and see it through.   

Now I’m the editor of Contrast Magazine and am still freelancing, contributing to Mana Magazine, Honolulu Magazine, and Surfer Journal.  I am a stringer for ESPN and I also maintain the Raynor surf blog.  I have another business that I partnered up with two of my classmates from Kamehameha called Paiʻea Projects where we make basketball jerseys and work with Fitted on projects.  I took a day job as a content coordinator in the communications department at HMSA because I really wanted health insurance.  I was really tired of not having health insurance.  I’m really happy because it allowed me to not have to chase a story or a new freelance gig all the time and allowed me to focus more on Contrast magazine.  I love the people that I work with and it helped extend my network beyond Chinatown’s art and music scene but to the business class of downtown.  Plus, I enjoy wearing an Aloha shirt to work everyday.  

On Contrast Magazine:

In late 2007, I had the idea for Contrast, which I originally thought was going to be a TV show.  The idea was to showcase what the youth of Hawaii was interested in an avant garde way because I always felt like a lot of publications softened up their content to appeal to an older generation.  I wanted to work with Jason Shibata, Lance Arinaga, and Zen Yoshifuku and they got Mark Kushimi involved.  Mark’s help was the biggest blessing because he is such a genius when it comes to design.  The guy is so thoughtful with everything he does and there’s always a grand intention behind it, as opposed to someone who is just doing something just to push someone’s buttons or for shock value.  The five of us formed the business in February 2008 and we were lucky because one of our partners, Scott Saito, who is a business development manager got involved.  He was real smart about not having us have a corporate credit card, filling out our loan information, and just kept us real honest on our finances.  The last person that came on was our publisher Ray Skelton.  He had an advertising background and I worked with him while I was freelancing.  Mark had the foresight to make sure that our website was up and running, made blogging a priority, and basically what you saw from February 2008 to February 2009 was us building the website, creating the content for the website, which became the content for the first issue of Contrast.  We had the intention of starting with 00 because we always wanted to be the bridge between the west coast of the United States and Japan and so in Asian cultures, they start counting from zero as opposed to counting from one in western cultures.  We’ve been doing it ever since.  Our business survived during the worst recession in the country’s history and we survived when people said print was dying and dead.

On Hawaii’s culture and its reflection in the local art scene:

I always looked at Hawaii and have always been amazed how many backgrounds, interests, and people can come and live together in paradise and create something totally unique.  Hawaii is the beach and the homeless people at the beach as much as it is the skaters at Aʻala park and the farmers on the Westside.  I think of Hawaii as being a formula for the rest of the world as a way for the rest of the world to get along.  To be honest, people here are straight up racist.  But the racism is fun and can be malicious but because it’s so pervasive, I don’t think people are as sensitive to as they would be on the mainland.  And it’s also one of those things like brah, I can laugh about a Hawaiian joke as much as I can laugh about a Podagee joke because if I’m going to be able to laugh at someone else, I should be able to laugh at myself too.  

What I see in the art scene in Hawaii is that we went from classical fine artists like Peggy Hopper and Herb Kane and now we’re seeing a transition to artists like Kamea Hadar, Kuhao Zane, and Solomon Enos.  The art that you’re looking at in Hawaii today that is contemporary and reflective of the culture and is not done by someone who grew up outside our culture that depicts romanticized sunsets, dolphins, or the “warrior” that is actually wearing a kahuna helmet and probably was not actually that ripped.  It’s real cool to see the artists coming up and translating what it means to be local and also sharing that with other street artists with contemporary artists around the world.  I think Pow Wow is a great example of that because international artists come in and we’re able to share what it means to be local here.  They get it, they love it, and they’re taking it back to wherever they’re from and are telling people how Hawaii is more than Waikiki and resorts. 

Sig Zane

http://vimeo.com/5193767

http://www.sigzane.com/SZKHPR.html

Sig Zane is from Hilo, comes from a surfer-fisherman-hula dancer background, and is a practitoner of a culture and an artist at the same time.  The way he gets the detail on his designs is he by using an X-acto knife cutting out the designs into amberlith.  It’s a really classical way of doing design.  Sig’s art has been really influential on me because what it showed me is that you can take cultural concepts and translate it to a design that becomes a vehicle to share the culture.  A favorite piece of mine would be the Uluwehi Keaukaa print.  It’s been my favorite aloha shirt print since I saw it at Kick’s HI when Sig Zane did a collaboration with Converse and put the design on a pair of shoes and a Fitted hat.  My favorite things to buy are surf board shoes and hats and so when I saw it, it was the first time that I saw a classic aloha print design executed in a contemporary way.

Herb Kane

http://www.herbkanehawaii.com/

Herb wasn’t just a fine artist.  He was a practitioner of culture and also a sailor, a boat maker, a skilled fisherman, and a nautical engineer.  He is regarded as the forefather of Hawaiian voyaging because it was his vision in the 70s to reinvent the waʻa and bring back star navigation.  I learn more and more about Herb Kane the older I get and the more I’m pressed about how much of an instrumental figure he was in the Hawaiian Renaissance.  A lot of who I am and what I try to represent came from Herb Kane’s art.  I’m so grateful about everything he contributed to Hawaiian culture.  I don’t think I would’ve taken Hawaiian language if it wasnʻt for the Hawaiian Renaissance.  The first piece that I remember as a Herb Kane piece was “Battle at Nuuanu Pali” in front of the Midkiff Learning Center at the Kamehameha Library.  I would always walk by it and stare at it and notice new details.  When I think about how things happened in ancient Hawaii, the animation that plays out in my head has the figures from Herb Kane’s art in it.  

Paula Fuga

http://paulafugamusic.com/

I always thought that Paula was the perfect medium between traditional Hawaiian music and roots reggae without being Jahawaiian.  I think she’s a fine ambassador of young Hawaiian culture.  What I love about Paula’s music is that her song writing is very insightful almost like a country singer and songwriter and at the same time too there are undertones of roots reggae and her voice.  The only thing I can say her voice is close to his young Israel Kamakawiwoʻole’s. She is knowledgable with ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and the stories and when I see her perform, I get chicken skin.  Every time she’s singing about something, there is something going on in my own life that makes whatever lyric or note she’s singing resonate.  She’s so cool to hang out with because she’s such a personable person.  A lot of times, when you meet somebody that you look up to because of their work, you realize that that person you saw on TV or heard on a record is more human when you meet them but I think Paula does a good job of being exactly who she is on stage and off.  That authenticity is why she has such a a diverse following of people across America.

Mark Kushimi 

http://modusops.tumblr.com/

The last person who has played a role as an artist and as an instrumental part of my life is Mark Kushimi, the creative director and editor-in-chief of Contrast Magazine.  Mark is in charge of Contrastʻs overall look and feel and he is the horse pulling the cart.  He puts in the hardest, longest hours and is so thoughtful in the way that he approaches design and working with people.  What I really respect about his art is that he operates in a way that is always contemporary, edgy, but using fundamentals that you learned in school.  He loves to shoot film and is an amazing photographer and great graphic designer.  When I started out with Contrast, I was still coming from that classic newsroom mentality where the whatever the editor says goes and the editor can change whatever he feels like in a writer’s text to reflect how he thinks it should sound.  But with working with Mark, Mark made me more aware of the writer’s feelings and the importance of trying to preserve the writer’s voice in order to have that contrasting opinion inside the magazine.  Every project that I’ve worked with Mark on has been a home run and is always inspiring me because I look at his work and see it consistently get better, whether it be the cover for a magazine, the flyer for an event, an ad he shoots for APB, or just the way he lays out a story.  Because it gets better every time, it inspires me to be better every time.  Mark and I don’t always have a chance to go out together and report on a story but the stories that I have worked on with him are still on my clip file as the best stories that I have that I would show a potential employer.  I think that’s because working with him, seeing his process, makes you want to be better at what you do.   

Photo credits:

Portrait: Aaron Yoshino - www.honozooloo.com

Interviewing Ian Walsh: Lehia Apana

Officiating a Podagee Horseshoe game at the Pow Wow 2013 luau: Pow Wow Hawaii

Matty Raynor Surfboards in Chinatown: Aaron Yoshino - www.honozooloo.com

Setting up for 9 on the Wall: Aaron Yoshino - www.honozooloo.com

Julian Booker

I am a California-born, Hawaii-reared music producer, song writer, musician and performer currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. I am a servant of peace and equality and hope to one day use music to positively influence the world.

https://www.facebook.com/GoldShadesMusic

It’s interesting that people often use race to define what they are; in my case, my race does tell a lot about me. I am Blasian (Blackanese, to be specific), and in my experience, every Blasian I have met shares similar qualities. A certain set of traits are cultivated when Black and Asian cultures fuse together, and I believe it’s the defiance and conviction required by two polar ethnic groups that attracts only the select few. For instance, Asian mothers of a Blasian child are generally strong-minded and liberal. Blasian kids, like myself, are often times outgoing, creative, and bring like, the best of both cultures. I want people to think that when they hear, “Blasian.” That’s what they should think of me.  From a non-racial standpoint, I am a composer, producer, musician, singer and songwriter who happens to be interested and involved in just about every aspect of art!

Define art:

I would take the fundamental, dictionary route and say that art is simply expression of the human condition via any medium, whether it be visual, audio, or transcendental. It’s important in our lives because it can define and push the boundaries of reality. It lets us know what is possible, while also letting us know the truth we must accept. Art has the biggest impact on the human mind. Why else would so many people pay so much for it? Especially the companies that pay for music and visual art in advertisements. Artists are more valuable than people think because media of any kind goes beyond monetary value. If art can stick with anyone forever, then it is priceless.

An important form of art: Ethnic music

I can and can’t believe Marlon chose the same topic! Hindustani music is definitely undervalued, at least in America. More people should listen to it! The singing is some of the best in the world; they hit runs like nobody’s business. And the intonation is so pure. The fact that Hindustani musicians practice in ragas, which are patterns of notes that can make up a song, ensure that going up and down the scale is never a problem. Most of the musicians have also been practicing since like, forever; it’s not like in America how you can just decide one day you’re going to do music and miraculously create a one-hit wonder. The composers in India stick. Speaking of composing, the music is also very beautifully written. If you listen to Bollywood music, the composers are very good at fusing classical and pop elements. It’s definitely something both musicians and consumers can both appreciate.

Besides Hindustani music, I suggest everyone expand their listening boundaries because there is a lot of amazing music going on all around the world that people don’t know about. In Japan, for example, Crystal Kay, a black and Korean singer, just released her latest album in the summer of 2012. The production and singing on it is so well executed. She sings mostly in Japanese but has a couple songs in English as well, so Americans would love her if they gave it a chance. Another artist who has been gaining American attention is Lianne La Havas from the UK. Her songwriting is like poetry; it kills what the most popular American artists today call lyrics. She’s sexy cool, too. And she’s dope on guitar! I think she will have quite a following in the states, but she’s been around long enough to show how musically ignorant we are. Crystal and Lianne are only two of the hundreds of artists who deserve world-wide recognition, but it’s on everyone else to push their listening boundaries that far.

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ioGfiTxx9s

Billy Joel’s Scenes From an Italian Restaurant is definitely a piece I cherish. Billy Joel is my favorite song writer, and to me, Italian Restaurant is his best song that represents his artistry and talent. The piece itself is a combination of three different songs (much like Bohemian Rhapsody), with the transitions between each being seamless. The song is sung in Billy’s classic story-telling style, which gives the piece a cozy atmosphere. While listening, it’s almost like watching a movie. That type of songwriting has been missing in most music today. And although some artists try to replicate storytelling through music, they just can’t do it like Billy could.

Michael Jackson’s “Bad” Tour

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0wbB5uJOg8

Although in no particular order, my second piece would be Michael Jackson’s “Bad” tour as a whole. Why? Simply because it was one of the greatest examples of how to perform. The “Bad” tour incorporated the best of musicianship, song, dance, acting, fx… the list goes on and on. Michael Jackson certainly set the standard with this tour for how all subsequent performances would be done.

Bronx Guard by Tim Okamura

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/09/12/09.12-tim-okamura-the-royal-guard-websize-d4a115755a4b8c1431248f02bbda36c9360d51de-s6-c10.jpg

Tim Okamura’s painting, Bronx Guard is my third piece. It speaks to me personally, as the painting depicts a fusion of Japanese and African American cultures. In the painting, you can see Japanese and blacks adorning urban, as well as Samurai garb, as they pose and stare regally at the viewer. Okamura’s painting style is very realistic (his paintings look like photographs), and I love that he chooses to tackle cultural diversity through his art.

Les Miserables 

http://www.lesmis.com/

The musical of Les Miserables definitely had to make my top four. It is by far my favorite musical (with Lion King at a close second) as, I must admit, I find myself in tears at the end every time. The musical is so excellently arranged that the musical numbers flow into each other continuously, so that there are almost three hours of continuous music. If I had to choose one most memorable song from the production, I couldn’t because practically every song is a keeper. Les Miserables has attracted the best talent in the world, with big names such as Lea Solonga, Norm Lewis, and Colm Wilkinson. And of course, with thanks to Victor Hugo, the storyline tugs your heart strings with ample amounts of laughter in addition to the romance and tragedy.

Kamea Hadar 

Japanese-Korean-Israeli.  Born in Israel, grew up in Hawaii.  An artist.

http://www.kameahadar.com/

My full name is Kamea Namba Hadar.  My mom was born and raised in Hawaii and she’s half Japanese, half Korean.  My dad’s haole and he was born and raised in Israel.  My parents got married in Jerusalem and after I was born we lived there for a few years until I was five and my brother was two and we moved here to Hawaii.  Hawaii is a great place but it’s small so traveling to Israel and to new places every year with my family helped broaden my horizons.  I’m very much a local boy at heart and I still love to hunt, fish, dive, and surf like when I was a kid.  One of my friends, Ito, wrote an article about me for Contrast Magazine and called me a Renaissance Moke; a moke that is very “local” but still cultured with broad horizons.  

Define art:

It’s a tough question and no matter which way you answer it, there is someone who is going to argue against it.  I guess that’s how philosophy is; it’s trying to define something that is undefinable.  Art can be something else for every person.  For an artist like me people can look at my art and it’s easy to say “Oh, he’s an artist,” because I paint portraits with traditional mediums like oil on canvas. I have friends who do conceptual art and it’s a harder sale in convincing the general public that it’s art.  There’s always trends in thinking what’s art and what’s not. I feel that anything can be art; cooking, dancing, anything.  When someone is passionate and creating something from nothing, its a form of art. With that being said, I definitely value craft or technique because I spent years training and painting realism so I appreciate when people not only put a lot of thought into their art form, but have the technique to do so effectively.  

On balancing past and future:

I think in life, there should always be a balance and in this case what we’re talking about is a balance between not forgetting our roots and at the same time moving forward.  How do you balance the two; tradition vs. pushing the envelope and/or carrying the tradition on? I appreciate different cultures and traditions. I’m mixed; my mom is short little Asian lady, my dad is a haole guy with a big long beard and they’re from completely different worlds and to me that’s beautiful.  I think as an artist, you should never forget how all the pieces of you interact and your histories and your families’ histories because those are important not to forget.  My grandfather’s generation from Israel that survived WWII and the Holocaust and created Israel are all dying off.  I lived in Israel recently for almost a year and I recorded his whole life story and I have a whole book and project that I’m working on that surrounds his life but it’s not the same as someone who actually experienced it.  I feel like it’s hard to keep certain things alive but its important to try. He actually experienced all those things and all I can do is tell people about his experiences through my eyes. That is a way that I keep his tradition and stories alive while still pushing forward with my own take on it.

Art School Confidential (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364955/

Whenever I think of movies, I tend to think of funny movies like Art School Confidential because it makes fun of art school and artists.  It’s about this kid who is a skilled painter who paints technically sound paintings of women and a girl he falls in love with.  There is another guy who just fucks around and throws shit on the canvas and everyone is enamored with his work, calling it expressive and amazing.  To me it’s just a funny movie because a lot of times, artists are too serious.  You should always be able to joke about yourself and be down earth, not getting too carried away with having to be depressed and feel a certain way or cut off my ear to be creative.  

El Greco

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grec/hd_grec.htm

Some of the El Greco pieces that I saw in Spain are just amazing to me.  I’ve spent my whole life trying to get better and better in trying to capture realism in my pieces by improving my technique.  A lot of El Greco’s forms are stretched, moved, and twisted and they aren’t exactly proportionate but they still capture the essence of the human form.  To me, that is kind of the next level.  I think copying something exactly is sometimes easier than taking something, changing it and still keeping its essence and recognizable form. It is one thing to create a piece of art that is disproportionate because you lack the skill to do so, and it is a completely different thing to have the ability to do so on-purpose. You have to learn all the rules first, before you can start to break them. 

Pow Wow Hawaii 2011

http://vimeo.com/22928315

The piece that we blacked out at the end of the night from the first Pow Wow was a beautiful piece for me personally because I was there and I was a part of the creating of the painting with all those different people from all over the world.  There was something about that raw energy that was in the air which was really beautiful.  It sounds really cliche but it was one of those things where you had to be there to feel it.  I really loved the idea of blacking it out because it wasn’t really about the finished piece but more about the process of creating and sharing the personal experience with others.  

Israeli West Bank Barrier

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2005/02/20/international/21Mide.ready.html

As a very visual thinker, I find myself noticing things that others sometimes overlook or see things in a different light.  I don’t know if it’s necessarily a piece of art but but one of the craziest things I see when I go to Israel is the great separation wall which just slices through the country.  Israel is a very incredible place and to me it is one of its most defining elements.  People don’t realize how tall this concrete wall is.  When you see it, it’s a very significant thing visually especially when you know the background of it.  My grandparents were Holocaust survivors and they lived through a lot of atrocities.  They came to Israel to build a country and there is constant fighting over the land.  I wish it wasn’t something that is thought of as so negative and it is an image that sticks out in my mind and it is really significant.  History, people, cultures, and how cultures interact are things that the wall encompasses.

Last comments:

A lot of people talk about doing different things instead of just doing them.  You should just think about it a little, talk about it, and then execute it.  People always overestimate things; if you have a crazy idea then just go for it - who cares!  A good example is my parents wanted to build an estate at Pupukea that could house and be a retreat for artists or creatives.  My dad taught himself carpentry and became a contractor and it was himself, my mom, my brother and I, and his crew of two or three guys who built the whole place, pouring concrete and figuring it out as we go.  People used to say we were crazy to build this huge estate but we were doing something not just talking about it and now it’s an amazing place.  They have art, writing, yoga, cooking and other creative retreats, and Pow Wow Hawaii is housed there as well.    

Additional links:

Pow Wow Hawaii - http://powwowhawaii.com/

A recap of Pow Wow Hawaii 2013 - http://hypebeast.com/2013/3/pow-wow-2013-recap

Photo credits:

Portrait: Cassy Song

Pow Wow 2013 mural: Brandon Shigeta

Kamea Hadar X Rone: Mikey Inouye

Stephen Yano

A man, a husband, a father of three daughters, a physician, a son, a grandfather, and a grandson.  

I am pretty much a product of Hawaii, even though I spent a few years of training on the mainland.  I was being born and raised in Kailua on the windward side of Oahu and had a private Catholic school education at St. Louis High School and went on to UH Manoa and UH Medical School.  My mother, who had some vestiges of artistic endeavors as a pianist and an educator, always raised me with an eye and appreciation for the culture.  It used to irritate me because I was dragged to the Chinese Opera and ballets.  But, I think it turned out to be an important subliminal part of my personality, so much so that when I took pre-med courses in college, Art 101 was one of my favorite courses.  I was so intrigued by it because it didn’t conform to my science core courses.  Itʻs always been a part of me that has been a little more sensitive and more open to less than didactic scientific side of life.  

Define art:

I appreciate art on the basis of the power that it holds to affect people.  I’m more astounded by what art is, by what its power can be, if used correctly.  My experience of art has been through the little sign posts in my life have been through the performing arts.  I remember being less than excited to see “Fiddler on the Roof” when I was a kid.  It wasn’t a world shaking performance but it intrigued me that people could arbitrarily influence how I felt about a lot of things.  A stage play’s effect on a person isn’t quite as evident until it comes in a flashback. Recently, when we had the privilege of traveling to New York, we were able to see “Wicked.”  These people get up on a stage and project a story to the audience and touch them in a way that the spirit of the people is different than when they came in.  That affect is huge.  

On child development and art:

I’ve always been intrigued learning about artists who were not discovered or esteemed prior to their deaths.  Society did not choose to honor them and diminished their unique gifts and somehow because of that diminishment, they became burdened.  Society relegated artists like Hemingway, Poe, Van Gogh to the corners of society where they were forced to survive because of their social lackings.  I think Van Gogh is the perfect example of this; his brother never accepted his talent or sold any of his pieces while he was alive and upon his death, the whole world went, “Wow.  Who is this guy?”  From a pediatrician’s standpoint in watching children develop, you begin to see the inherent gifts in certain kids.  It’s been my calling to raise the esteem of art related talents in the eyes of the parents who have children and young adults even though these gifts may not match with  the cultural or economic driving motors like money, jobs, or security that parents feel are good for their future.  Granted, as a parent myself, I understand that and I see money and career as valuable. They can give oneself and one’s future family some stability that is hard to find in any other way.  However, we have to as a society, a country, a culture, a state, and as a community be careful because theoretically what that does is distinguish all the other gifts in the preference of providership, stability, and money.  As a pediatrician, I need to create an atmosphere where those gifts are allowed to bloom and flourish by helping parents and their children to treasure them as a gift and not as a burden.  The issue is to hold up the arts as a critical part of culture. I think I see it as feeding parts of us that our present drivenness does not take time to feed.  

Rubber Soul by The Beatles 

http://www.thebeatles.com/#/albums/Rubber_Soul

I still have the vinyl record and it was a fulcrum in my adolescence.  I think it was 1968 it came out; mid-high school for me.  It was just before The Beatles got a little too weird for me, right before Revolver and Yellow Submarine.  Rubber Soul has epic tunes like “Michelle,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “In My Life.”  It was classic ballad, classic lyric driven songs, which is a dead art now.  

Water Lilies by Monet

http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=80220

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether art is affecting you because someone told you it was good or because it really is good.  The one piece that someone told me was really good and I assessed by myself that it was pretty awesome was the Water Lilies.  I don’t know if you realize the scale of the Water Lilies.  I sat there, went up to it, and looked at each little stroke and thought, “What the heck?”  How does anyone perceive what the whole thing is from the vantage point of each dab?  In all its grandness, I was like, ‘“Wow, that’s just stuff on a canvas.”  

I have always been impressed by Monet’s work.  We  got to travel to France and we went up the Seines River to the Normandy coast, on the way stopping to see Monet’s house and garden.  And again, the confusion issue for me is when art replicates history or are you actually seeing the real thing.  When we went to Monet’s garden, it looked just like the pictures, which is cool because that’s where he painted the pictures.  But you and I both know that that’s not the same Japanese bridge, the same colors, and flowers that were originally around there.  The weird thing about replication or preservation of art or even Monet’s house, is the question of whether we’re imitating history for art’s sake or is it truly historic sites of art?  I guess it ‘s purely semantic whether a person sees it one way or the other, but that was a thrill for me.  

The Louvre 

http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/july-28-liberty-leading-people

The Louvre is the grandest, hugest, most awesome, overwhelming experience of art.  It’s just room after room after room and hallway after hallway of these huge canvases.  At first, I’m just doing what everyone else is doing, pondering things.  It’s weird and really strange because I don’t go there often into that realm so I don’t know how people do this. When I got there, I found that art feeds a part of me that is really not fed sometimes; that’s a healthy feeling.  What was weird about it is how others tell you what art piece is good, or epic.  We went to see the Mona Lisa and there were a hundred people leaning into this relatively small canvas.  To be honest, I couldn’t appreciate the fine details of the painting that our guide was pointing out to us because I was too far away.  So I guess it was impressive as a piece of art but it was weird again, what people say is awesome whether one can really appreciate it as awesome.  But when we stopped to hear about other pieces like Liberty Leading the People, I was blown away after being told about the history of a piece; after looking at the color schemes, the styles, the forms, the stylistic changes between paintings.  I was also blown away by the fact that if someone didn’t tell me this, I would’ve totally missed it.  So I guess the take home is that there is great value in the preservation of that knowledge for knowledge’s sake and art for art’s sake.  

David Maile

A mixed ethnic, multicultural Native Hawaiian that comes from simple, humble, respectful roots.  Trying to make a difference in the world with baby steps and really pursuing every passion I have whether people like it or not.  

My name is David Andrew Dunkin Maile and I am 24 years old.  I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii my entire life until I went away for college.  I get my Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese from my dad’s side and I get my Irish, Scottish, French, Welsh, and German from my mom’s side.  I live on the mainland in the Southwest right now so there are a lot of layered cultures that I belong to being mixed ethnicities, multicultural, a student, and a teacher.  

Define art:

Since I am a communications scholar, I really think art is conscious of communication.  I think art in a way is discourse, the discursive form of communication.  Art is a good medium and venue to communicate any idea; to communicate yourself, things, and places to others.  The medium that you choose to do that can be anything your heart desires.  It’s historical and it always comes from somewhere.  

On lineage:

I found out recently that my great-great grandmother, Koʻolau Maile was a published poet.  She wrote two particular poems about the Wilcox Rebellion in 1889.  As an opponent of annexation and King Kalākaua’s signing of the Bayonet Constitution of 1998, she celebrated Wilcox’s efforts to overthrow the Bayonet Constitution in 1887.  Her husband, my great-great grandfather, was a part of a citizen’s committee that wrote to William McKinley in 1897 in protest of the Treaty of Annexation in 1898, which made Hawaii a republic from a territory.  I have this apparent lineage of resistance so when I think about who I am, I think of the lineages on both sides of my family.  

On poetry: 

I’m really into writing and performing slam poetry.  I think performance art is gaining a lot of ground but is also misunderstood.  There is a lot of competition around slamming that I don’t really like because it fosters this motivation to win and do well.  But what is well?  What is winning?  What is the best?  I feel like the competition aspect of slamming although interesting, amusing, and entertaining, dilutes the real purpose of it.  I think the subjectivity of slam poetry and performance poetry is really what I love, more than the competition and the objectivity of being first place with the best prize.  The ability to speak freely is not a right but an opportunity you have to take it and do it in a genuine way where you’re speaking from your mind.  I do slam competitions because I relish more opportunities to share my life, through poetry, to a larger audience.  It has nothing to do with the recognition.  

When I write, I think about struggle, power, disrupting the norms of Western society.  Whether or not a person identifies and understands what the poem is and where it comes from is a different story.  I recently wrote a poem about my grandpa who passed away in May, connecting it to my Hawaiian identity, how I am away from home, how people don’t understand my last name, and all these other issues.  So it’s not about me just slamming; its a story about the history of my grandfather, my name, my lineage, myself and other people who are part Native Hawaiian, part indigenous, mixed race, or come from cultural backgrounds.  

An uncommon genre of art: Academic research

Art can be an action, a word, a language and to me, academic work is art.  Sitting down to write a research paper is the same to me as writing a poem.  Maybe some people agree or disagree with me but the medium doesn’t necessarily have to be “normal.”  There is something being communicated through it that makes it art.  Research is creative, has kaona (hidden meaning) to it, and comes from a place that is important.  For me, it comes from my heart.  I like being able to say the same thing in a different way for a spectrum of audiences from writing research for a research oriented crowd or for teaching or a slam for 30 or 50 people that I don’t know.

Macklemore

http://macklemore.com/

I’ve gone to three of his shows and I really like the art he creates with his lyrics and songs.  He is trying to raise consciousness about social injustices and things that people don’t feel comfortable talking about while trying to go against the normalized grain of what good music is.  It’s not just describing something but telling a story and going one step further and critiquing an element that we see in our everyday lives.  Whether it’s marriage equality in Washington State in his song “Same Love,” or thinking about capitalism and commodification in “Thrift Shop,”  what really sells him is his narrative and story that is deconstructing something.  Whenever I go to his concerts, it’s always nice to see his passion about that live.  The art he makes isn’t just what is said that room but it’s what people take home from the concert and how it changes their way of thinking.  For some people it will and some people it won’t but at the end of the day, he’s bringing to light these issues in a very critical way to try and raise awareness and deconstruct how we systematically operate in our lives.

Anis Mojgani

http://thepianofarm.com/

Anis Mojgani grew up in New Orleans but he lived in Portland for a long time.  He is a part of the group, Write Bloody, that publishes out of California and now has a physical store in Texas.  He’s my favorite poet because he’s very creative in expressing his identity and his life in a way that is very abstract.  Even if you haven’t met him or heard him speak, by reading his poetry you feel like you can picture yourself in his life.  Itʻs an out of body experience.  I feel like it’s very important to be transformative in a poetic way so I really appreciate his work.

Keith and Daniel Maile

I find inspiration from my father and brother in their art because they make Native Hawaiian crafts and forms using native materials.  They make things like poi boards and pounders, lei niho palaoa and work with different materials like bone and milo and kou wood.  Whenever I come home I try to learn from and make with them.  But for right now, they have what they’re trying to do and I have what I’m trying to do and we meet at the same place.  They’re trying to perpetuate Hawaiian culture from a practioner’s standpoint and I’m trying to deconstruct Hawaiianess from an academic level.  If I could choose a different life, it’d be a life like theirs and it’s very inspirational for me to be doing what I’m doing with that kind of background in my family.  I don’t think they’ll fully understand how much I appreciate what they do.  It’s always important for me when talking about who I am to talk about them and what they do because I draw strength from them and their art.  I love my dad’s and brother’s dynamic; my dad is very open about his art and my brother is not as open but he loves telling the story of where it comes from. 

My dad is a Maoli Artisan and woodturner.  He likes to make a lot of bowls but the story of how it’s was made is more interesting than the shape.  Some certain woods smell a certain way and he can identify a wood just based on the smell of it.  My brother goes one step further where he knows the specific history of everything he makes like how it was made back in the day and what it represented.  For example, he made me a lei niho out of a sperm whale tooth.  In ancient times, when a sperm whale would land ashore and perish, the chiefs would kapu (taboo) the beach.  To keep the mana (power) of the animal and Kanaloa (god of the sea and ocean) alive, they would harvest the tooth and refine them for the aliʻi (chief) so it could be celebrated.  My brother gave this piece to me for Christmas and the story he told me made the receiving the lei niho piece 50 times more valuable.  I do slam competitions because I relish more opportunities to share my life, through poetry, to a larger audience.I do slam competitions because I relish more opportunities to share my life, through poetry, to a larger audience.

Additional links:

An ABQ organization that David slams with - http://www.abqslams.org/  

Some of David’s poetry is recorded and published here - http://www.missivelit.com/

Jordan Higa

Light Chaser, Image Maker, Nature Appreciator 

www.jordanhiga.com

I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii and went to an all-girls private school, which I think really helped foster my creativity, personal interests, and artistic growth at a very young age.  The opportunities and support that came from the small environment helped with my transition into college, where I decided to major in graphic design.  I figured it was a good way for me to still practice art but make it relevant in a world where technology is becoming a driving force behind expression.  I spent four years in San Francisco, a city that opened me up to different ways of creating and people.  I moved to New York when I graduated to work and challenge myself in a big city.  It was shocking at first feeling so small and insignificant, but I think we all need to feel that at some point in our life, especially when we’re young. It ignites this fire in you to put yourself out there, take chances and stand out.

Define art: 

Simply put, I think art is an expression of how we perceive the world.  It’s not limited to any medium and it can be anything. You see different approaches to art; some people are conceptual, some people are technical.  I think the artists who really speak to me are those who can marry both well.

On the artistic process:

I try to develop concepts that other people may not immediately think of and present them in a way that makes people see a subject differently.  My process varies depending on the medium.  With photography, I enjoy capturing the spontaneity of life within my subjects, so I let the imperfections be when I’m shooting and editing.  I also love to draw, and there’s something about not being able to “command + z” that makes me feel so present and human.  Designing is where I marry all the assets and consider presentation. It’s more controlled than my other processes because I have to consider placement, color, size, etc. using a limitless amount of tools. If the opportunity presents itself, I’ll pair my work with music to create a mood and push the feeling even further.  

On Fiji and “Aloha Namotu”

http://alohanamotu.com/

Right before I left on a trip to Fiji, I quit my job.  It was a really crucial moment in 2012 for me, and the trip was the perfect opportunity to unload my mind and disconnect on a small island with other artists and surfers.  Fiji was beautiful and I captured some really amazing images.  It was the best trip of my life!  When I got back to New York, I started thinking about how I could incorporate my enthusiasm and images into a fun personal project.  Some of the people that I went on the trip with established a free dental and medical clinic in Fiji so I thought it would be a great idea to make a photography book and sell it to contribute to their cause.  Through the project, I rekindled my passion for incorporating illustrations into my designs, discovered a creative process that brought me balance and learned how to market myself. But most importantly, I realized how I want to contribute to the world. I truly believe that we’ve all been blessed with skills so that we can pursue them. It’s our responsibility, as people of this planet, to share them in a way that brings us peace and makes the world a better place.

The Selby

http://theselby.com/

The Selby is a blog that I worship because the creative mind behind it, Todd Selby, found a way to successfully share his interests in art with people.  He started by asking his cool friends who had interesting homes if he could photograph them in their creative spaces.  He would hand-draw, illustrate and watercolor the interviews he had with them and present it on his website.  Today, we have so many technological tools to create with and so much competition that it’s important to incorporate a personal touch in our work.  It’s art that I really appreciate and what I hope to achieve: finding a way to wrap up all my interests and sharing it with the world in a way that is fun and progressive.

Ryan McGinley 

http://ryanmcginley.com/

At 25, he was one of the youngest artists to exhibit his photos at the Whitney Museum. His subjects are of nude people interacting with nature.  The concept behind his style is that he doesn’t want people to dictate a certain time or place when they see his work; he wants them to be completely timeless. The first time I saw his work was at a small gallery in San Francisco and it made me feel so free! He creates this breathability and minimalism in his images that strips life down to the essentials and makes you feel like you’re part of the adventure. He’s shot for Levi’s as well as other fashion brands and I admire the way he can shoot commercial while staying true to his personal style.  

Deanne Cheuk

http://www.deannecheuk.com/

She is an illustrator who makes these beautiful watercolor illustrations and typography.  The first time I saw her work was in a Japanese magazine.  At the time, I just started designing and I was so committed to creating only on the computer that I forgot about propelling myself forward as an artist. She encouraged me to maintain my interests off the screen and find a way to incorporate them into my design work.  It was an important realization for me at the beginning of my design education and I credit her as one of the people who pushed me to develop a personal style.

Neil Kellerhouse

http://kellerhouse.com/

It took me a while to realize that Kellerhouse was the mastermind behind my favorite movie posters for “The Social Network,” “I’m Still Here” and “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.”  He pairs inventive imagery with traditional typography to create a very tangible mood.  It’s a breath of fresh air compared to the dramatic, airbrushed and glamorized movie posters I’m used to seeing.  He has a gift for making his subjects raw and relatable yet polished.  He has a style that I’ve always admired and it’s inspiring to see someone doing something different in the movie industry. 

Last comments:

I recently rebranded myself and I was trying to think of something that represented my philosophy when it came to living. In almost everything I do, I try to achieve middle ground between life’s extremes (yin and yang): beach and city, pencil and pixel, dark and light and etc.  Often times, we’ll assign each end with a positive and negative value, training us to see one as better than the other.  We fail to realize that there is beauty in both and they exist because of each other.  My logo is “+∙+,” which represents the two positive values that I place on both ends of the spectrum.  The dot is where the magic happens, where I try to live and work.

Casey Liu

Creating is a constant 

http://www.caseyliu.com/

I was born and grew up in Hawaii where I was raised very much around family. I’m a middle child, stuck in between two younger brothers, a younger sister, and an older sister. My dad comes from a large Hawaiian family while my mom comes from a smaller one.  I always had a balance between the two and I think that has a lot to do with my personality. I think going to a public school also played a part in developing my personality. Growing up, I never felt like I couldn’t be whoever I wanted to be or that I had to chase after something. It wasn’t really competitive, but I always felt motivated and encouraged through my surroundings. 

Define art:
I believe that anyone can express themselves because art is simply self-expression. However, when I truly appreciate a piece of art, I feel a difference sense of that word. Art that I really appreciate will stir up an emotion, like joy or anger. An artist needs to have technical skill rather than just throwing something. Sometimes art can only mean something to one person but when it is able to invoke emotions from anyone who sees it—that is what I love about art.

An important genre of art: Recycling and upcycled art
I’m interested in the art of upcycling. I was raised to be wise with my money and it’s taught me to appreciate reusable goods. These artists create these pieces, not to be cheap, but to show people that this is something you can do with everyday tools. I went to this one market in Portland and there was this guy who made bowls out of spoons and robots out of other utensils. When I see a particular piece like this, I always look at it for a while. It’s not art that you would usually see for sale everywhere but he makes it simply because it causes others to stop and think. I sell jewelry, clothing, and art on etsy so I get to see a lot of art on the site as well. 

On Christianity and living:
Whether or not you believe in Christianity, I do believe that the Bible has words of wisdom that has shaped me into the person I am today. One of my favorite scriptures from the Bible is Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” It’s saying to not worry about tomorrow: the clothes you’re going to wear, the food you’re going to eat. Instead, look to the birds of the air; they don’t sow, they don’t reap, they don’t do anything but fly around but they always have a place to stay and food to eat. Look at the flowers, the wheat, the grass, the fields; they’re here one day and could be thrown in the fire the next but they’re still more beautiful than our own possessions. As humans, we place ourselves lower than birds and plants in our mindset, yet how much more are we provided for and are favored over these beautiful creatures? I’ve always seen this passage so heavily in my life because I’m provided for in every situation, from food to clothes. We should know that we’re worth more and and our dreams do not have to be put on hold because of fear of the future, fear for security. “Do not worry.” I love that.

Boka Marimba

http://bokamarimba.com/

When I went to Portland Saturday Market, they had live music there. There was an amazing, big family band called Boka Marimba. They played all these different instruments and were really cultural and really polished. I’ve never heard anything like them and we sat for an hour just watching them. I don’t often listen to cultural music but it just felt so good to listen to. You could tell that they loved what they did; their faces were so lit up and so happy. We would look around and see all these little kids dancing like crazy. It was awesome to have all of that being created just by that one group of musicians during a show.

Hair 
I love body art; piercings, tattoos, and especially hair. I love how people use their hair to express themselves, either in a insane way or a more subtle approach. I believe that hair really frees a person and helps to bring out a personality as well. I had a friend that had really long hair to her bum for the longest time and then when she cut it off, I felt like I finally recognized her. I told her, “That’s your hair! That was always supposed to be your hair.” I have another friend that changes her hair every month, whether it be an undercut, a new color, whatever. I asked her what made her cut it off and she said that she was just tired of maintaining it and just using it as a shield that gets in the way of being who you are. She didn’t like the idea that if her hair were to burn off, she’d be depressed so she wanted to be able to do whatever she wanted and still be comfortable in her own skin. It’s an interesting art form that I have yet to explore.

Jade Novarino

http://www.flickr.com/photos/goodsilence

I have a lot of friends that are artists. My friend Jade is one of my favorite people. She’s an artist in the sense that she has no specific form of art. She’ll make videos with her iPhone, taking photos with her toy camera, anything that makes her feel something, she’ll film it, sketch it, draw it, she even does poke and stick tattoos! When I was visiting her college in Portland, we were eating Thai food and her friend came in and collapsed on the ground because she was tired of finals. Jade jumps up with her camera and takes her picture with a disposable camera. She’s silly but she’s an artist in every form of the word. Everything she makes is raw emotion.

Lionel-Keone DeGuzman

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lionel-Keone-Deguzman/112114768803193?ref=ts&fref=ts

My boyfriend is a skater and a musician and he’s very good at both at them. We’ll be sitting around and listening to a certain genre of music for a while and he’ll start creating music in the same style. People think that you need to grow up influenced by a certain genre of music just to obtain the skill, but not for him. Its like he creates art out of thin air, but it’s really from his heart. What I love the most is he does it just because it’s fun. He does it because it makes him feel happy and it’s something fun to do with friends. I also really value him as an artist in my life because he always encouraged me before I ever decided to pursue photography as a full time career. Even when I was a crappy photographer, he would always tell me that I could do anything I wanted to because he thought my work was the best. I believe he had a big impact on my art because he brought out dreams and goals in my life that I was trying so hard to suppress.

Last comments:
I believe that there are talents and gifts that are placed in people that can be developed. Some talents were destined for us to pursue, even though some of us choose not to nurture those talents. Then there are talents that we all choose to pursue because everyone else is and we want to fit in. That’s why we drop things, that’s why we give up, and that’s why we get over things. We never pursue things for the right reasons, it should be in us. When it comes to art, there is something in you that drives you to be a photographer, a painter, a musician, a sculptor, whatever. If you feel it, just go for it. Nothing is holding you back but yourself. People don’t have the power to decide the course of your life; they can speak at you but you don’t have to let them speak in you. Words only have the power to bring you down if you let it; but if its in you, let it come out.  

Additional links:

http://www.etsy.com/people/callmecrasey

Marlon Booker

Creative, Freethinker, Always thinking about world issues

https://www.facebook.com/GoldShadesMusic

I was born to be a musician and and am more privileged than I’d like to think.  I am neither black nor Japanese; I am just simply Blasian or Blackanese.  A lot of people have tried to just place me with one race and that has always confused me because these different categories are based on their own perspective of things.  When does a person have the right to place someone in a specific nationality just because of their preferences?  I really connect with other Blasian people that I’ve meet at Morehouse College because they could really get the same dilemma that I went through and we could share the same experiences and connections with roots from two different cultures.  

Define art:

Art is the ultimate expression of one’s self and is an extension and reflection of a person, time, and place.  At a time when words cannot be said, whatever emotion or feelings a person has can be expressed through any art medium.  I feel that art is very powerful in that sense.  

An important form of art: Ethnic music

I really love raw art forms that are close to traditional cultures.  I really want to learn how to play traditional ethnic instruments and have the same learning experience as one would have in that culture.  When I was in Japan, I got to learn a little bit of shamisen and I saw the notation for music and it is drastically different from Western notation.  It was difficult for me to understand even though I’ve been playing music for years.  When I researched Hindustani music, I found that it was completely something else because there is no written notation.  Music is learned audibly and is taught using ragas or vocal patterns that can be translated to different instruments and altered with a person’s own flavor.   

On using art and music to connect the world: 

I’ve been thinking about a project called the International Music Project since about the 10th grade.  There have been been organizations that have touched on the same concept before.  There is one program called Playing for Change where one man goes around recording musicians from around the world interpret the same song by an artist like Bob Marley or the Beatles.  OneBeat is another similar organization and is a state department effort to bring musicians from around the world to collaborate on a song.  Our goal is to not only take ourselves on a journey around the world to learn about cultures through music but also show a large audience cultures and their music to broaden peoples’ spectrums.  Because music is something that transcends ethnic, racial, and lingual barriers, it is something that can definitely hit the mark for people all across the world.  We’re planning on writing a song here in the US and as we travel around the world, we want to pick up inspiration, flow it into our composition, and see how it unfolds.  It will be a culmination of the travel experience as well as learning different instruments and different styles and techniques of music.  Ultimately, we want to write a composition that can be recorded by musicians from different countries that can be showcased around the world and maybe tour together as well.

On the artistic process:

I was watching a documentary from 1987 on the music of U2.  Bono was saying back then, long before the success that they have now, that he can’t listen to a record that they previously recorded because they’ll absolutely hate it.  He’s similar to Johnny Depp in that they both nit-pick the details and say that there is something that they always could’ve done better.  I think as an artist, it is essential to critique your work because artists that are satisfied don’t leave room for progress.  However, at the same time, as an artist you also need to appreciate what you do and have enough respect to appreciate what you do.  An art piece was meant to be created in a certain time and place and it isn’t something that you should try to redo.  There is stuff that I listened to that I made in the 8th grade and think that it’s garbage but I won’t bring it back and try to redo because it is something that will fit somewhere eventually.  

Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

I just finished watching a documentary that Spike Lee produced on Michael Jackson titled “Bad 25”.  The last song that they talk about was “Man in the Mirror” and I think that is one of the best compositions from a Michael Jackson record.  The writers of the song described the process of writing Man in the Mirror as very spontaneous and for me, the best songs that I have written were spontaneous epiphanies that were just waiting to get out.  In that sense, I go back to a quote from Handel, one of the biggest commissioned composers of his time.  He always said that he didn’t write music just because someone told him to write something; he said that he always wrote something that he felt or when he had inspiration. He is basically saying that don’t try to force or find a song because it will come to you.  Quincy Jones has said the same thing and Sara Bareilles said the same thing too in “Love Song.”

Fantasy by Earth Wind and Fire

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twICykaRRvY

It’s such a whimsical song that I really love.  This piece is just so well written and the way it flows from part to part is so amazing to me.  I think it is one of the best written songs I have ever heard and it’s a song that didn’t even reach the top ten on the Billboard charts.  The epic intro, the way they use their voices on certain parts, how the horns come in with subito and the sforzando is just crazy.  

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbzxhZT6akk

It’s a deep heavy song that is slow, melodic, and not driving at all.  Just listening to it you get a pit in your stomach and you can feel the struggle.  If you watch “Master and Commander,” this song plays when this guy gets taken off the ship during a storm.  The crew scrambles to save him and they throw him a rope that’s tied to the mast.  The mast falls down and as the ship starts to go overboard and they are forced to cut the rope as he’s swimming to it.

Take Five by Al Jarreau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqDHcI6v6ec

Al Jarreau is an artist from the seventies and he has a rendition of Take 5 that is really cool.  It is basically all acapella and he records every part on top of each other.  It’s almost like Bob McPherson before there was Bob McPherson.  I was talking to my Dean of Admission about music and art and I was showing him this video of our group, Gold Shades.  He said that we were really good but he showed us this video and said that we should never feel like we have to fit our voice into our box.  He encouraged us to explore the creative realm and showed us that there is so much more that we can do with our voices.  

Additional links:

Playing for Change: http://playingforchange.com/

OneBeat: http://www.1beat.org/ 

Joseph Weitz

I’m 20 and I am neon meat dream of an octafish.

I went to a very elite private school from the second grade to the ninth grade and I grew up being scared of a lot of things. I went to a different high school and I wasn’t so scared of those same things. After graduation, I started at Northeastern where they were pushing the same ideologies as my first high school and then moved to Occidental where I’m learning to do things my own way.

Define art:

I think too much emphasis is placed on the creator of art as opposed to whoever is receipting the art. Intentionality is a big discussion in art but I think art is whatever people want to observe as art.
I’m caught between whether I’m a pessimist or an optimist a lot of times because I’ll wake up and walk around and see stupid stuff going on. But I think art, in its greatest form, can really transcend a lot of that. When art lacks intention, self-awareness, or an ulterior motive, it’s not inherently good or bad but it just has this cool energy to it. It’s not anything; it just is.

An important characteristic of art: Ambition

I was taught a very important lesson once. Someone said to me that the worst movie and best movie in the world share something in common and that’s ambition. The only two things that are ever worth watching or experiencing are things that are so incredibly great or so incredibly bad. Why would you waste your time with anything in the middle? I feel like people don’t value bad things enough in art and there is a lot to gain from people who pour their heart and soul into films that still come out terribly. For example, “The Room” by Tommy Wiseau is considered to be maybe the worst movie ever made and yet people have memorized every line of it. There is something engrossing about it because you can tell he devoted his entire life and invested so much time into this movie.

An important genre of art: Art from Youth Culture 

People really love hindsight and it frustrates me that people are seem so contempt with the idea that music on the radio is bad or not as good as before. But it’s because they’re used to hearing the same kind of music. If you look critically through the music on the radio from 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, all  the music comes from the same level of mediocrity. I implore people that are caught up in the idea of a conventionality of music to stop trying to rework the past. I think the art from truly organic, youth-based, DIY movements is overlooked. Today there is so much evidence of a thriving youth culture that will never die and these youth cultures are producing really forward thinking music, physical art, ‘zine culture, movies, and art from other mediums.

Satan is Real by the Loven Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJ_AXje5iI 

The Loven Brothers pioneered close-harmony country music in the 1960s. Everything they say on their record, Satan is Real, is with absolutely no self-awareness as to how maybe it would be interpreted in later years. The song is like a pretty traditional country song except there is a monologue that one of the brother’s delivers.  The monologue describes a story of an old man who stands up during a sermon proclaiming that if you believe in God, you have to fear Satan too. It’s just really awesome and is important to me because it exemplifies honesty, as out of the ordinary as that may sound. It’s easily one of the most honest pieces of music I’ve ever heard.

Ascension by John Coltrain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgrQhBTDfhk

John Coltrain went through an awesome transitionary period during his conversion to Islam and you can really hear it in his music. A lot of people know his album Love Supreme but Ascension is definitely worth listening too. He released two versions of the same piece that are both about 40 minutes long. They are huge, massive, epically spiritual, transcendent pieces of work with a lot of dissidence and beauty. I always imagine a huge whale or sea monster coming out of the water during the first two minutes of the piece.

Damaged by Black Flag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg09X5uhoOE

When I was younger, I would go to a record store called CD Trader that is a couple of blocks from my house. Riding my bike there on weekends really helped shaped parts of my life and introduced me to different music. I remember I picked up the first Black Flag full length and that really changed my perception of music because there was a different dimension of energy to it. There was a raw aggression that made me feel something else. There are so many types of music that I listen to that don’t make me feel good. The majority of people don’t know that listening to different genres of music like experimental music, industrial music, and noise can produce an array of feelings that they probably have never felt before from music.

Lumpy Gravy by Frank Zappa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apTPXPBMBXk

It’s an hour long sound collage that alternates between extreme changes, absurdist dialogue, really bizarre music, and phone calls. Music doesn’t have to require drums, base, vocals, 4/4 time signature, verse, chorus and kids need to stop thinking that! Lumpy Gravy is easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard and it follows no structure and that makes it cool.
I go back and forth between the importance and the destructive qualities of self-awareness in music. A lot of times I really despise it because I think bad music is produced when people try too hard when they have a certain image in mind before they have the music. But then again Frank Zappa’s music was entirely self-aware and it’s fun. People don’t pay attention to humor in music as much anymore and dismiss it as low-brow culture but I think it can actually be the highest type of music. You can say a lot of things through comedic music and other forms of art that you couldn’t say through anything else. The best kind of humor is the humor where you laugh but at the same time you look back on it and you know that it’s true because it’s wringing, biting, and sneering.

Nicole

INFP, 4 

From Ewa Beach, Hawaii but went to school at a private all-girls school in downtown Honolulu. Now I’m a sophomore at American University majoring in International Service with a specialization in Asia, possibly a focus in international development and a minor in Literature. I used to be involved in a lot of things and had a lot of hobbies, but now all I do is watch Korean TV shows and “Arrested Development.”

Define art:

Art to me has to be not only aesthetically pleasing to my taste but also has to make me think beyond my daily processes, or it must have a connection to an important memory of mine. It has to portray something more that what is on the surface, which is a pretty vague (definition) but I guess I find a lot of things artful.

An important art form: Body Art 

Body art in general and doing things to your body that could include any surgery, dye job, tattoo, piercings. For me, it’s an important kind of art form because it’s different from painting a picture, putting graffiti on a wall, and writing a book because these last for a long time, especially when people are making efforts to preserve them. But with body art, it will only last for 50-100 years, since you only live so long. When you modify yourself, you are expressing what you have on the inside, on the outside. It is easier for people to perceive your inside when they see it on the outside physically. I don’t believe in restricting what anyone wants to do to their body because that is their inner expression.

What kind of role does art play in your life?

I think art saves lives, saves my life. That’s really dramatic but what would life be without these things that inspire you? To think that someone else’s creation, the vision that they saw in something makes a connection to you and you make a connection the person who made it, and that thing and it inspires something inside of you and makes you want to live or think. It may be the main purpose of life to connect over these sorts of things.

One by Metallica

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw

Metallica has been a part of my life since I was in the womb and their music has always been really important to me. Even though I listen to all their music and I enjoy all their songs, this song speaks the most to me, especially since my mom showed me the music video. The lyrics are based off this movie called, “Johnny Got His Gun,” which is about a soldier injured in WWI and he loses his sight, hearing, ability to speak, and arms and legs. The doctors and nurses know he’s alive but they think he’s a vegetative state, but they don’t know that inside, he’s awake and screaming, “Just let me die.” The song is long (seven minutes) and many people don’t have the patience (for it) but I think this song is a piece of art because the way that Metallica is able to portray that helplessness, and that feeling that makes you think about what really comes after death, if there is an in between phase between life and death that you could get stuck in, and what it feels like to get stuck in that phase. The melancholy feel of the music and the artfulness of where the guitar solos are placed really help communicate the message of the song that makes you think about something that no one wants to think about.

Paper Moon (1973) - Starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal

http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=yUzfdCr4cvM&feature=mv_sr

It’s a movie that I always find myself watching when I have nothing to do or am feeling down. I have no experience with the Great Depression other than what we’ve read in history textbooks and I think the movie really portrays that period of time well but it has a really uplifting message. The chemistry between the two main characters because they are father and daughter, how it’s done in all black and white, the scenes of the Midwest, the contrast of the hopelessness of people who are down trodden and poor, and how people are dealing with that. The main character is a con-artist and is doing everything he can to survive and the little girl is clinging to the only kin she thinks she’s got. I love the ambiguity and the running question of if they’re really related (since “momma met you in a bar room”) or not. Though I think the point of calling the movie “Paper Moon” is that this doesn’t matter, for as the song goes, “Well it’s only a paper moon/Sailing over a cardboard sea/Well it wouldn’t be make-believe/If you believed in me.” Whether or not they are really father and daughter, their relationship can be real as long as they believe in it. It’s heartwarming but it also sends a message, which is often what I look for in books, movies, and things that I look for in things that I like.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot

http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html

This is a poem that I read last year in my Survey of American Lit. class. When I read it in class, I thought it was one of the best things we had read all year and I really connected to it because at first you think it’s going to be a love song, about a guy talking about a girl he loves. At first it is, but the whole poem has repetitive motifs. …The poem is about how the character is just going through life, going to a lot of parties because he thinks he should. He wants to be able to share his life with a nice girl, but he can’t get himself to open up or connect to anyone because he sees his whole life as pointless, and everyone around him as shallow. I connected with it a lot because that is something I think about a lot- why are we doing this, why do we live our lives like this…having the same conversations over and over again, living life from coffee spoon to coffee spoon. And not having the courage to “disturb the universe” by opening ourselves up to others, and by trying to make connections. The language is just so rich and beautiful, too. 

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_N6IFoS5MzpI/TQKWS5YrXoI/AAAAAAAAATs/-PLxXBagZWk/s1600/maya-lin-vietnam-veterans-memorial-8.jpg

I go to college in DC and have gone to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial multiple times. Going there is different from seeing it in a picture because it is sad, but it’s a lot different from most memorials. It was designed by a very young college student from Yale named Maya Lin, who won a contest.  A lot of people were really upset that her design won the contest because she’s Asian and also because looking at the Vietnam War Memorial, (how) it’s black and V-shaped, looks like a scar upon the earth. To some, it looks negative and doesn’t glorify the people honored in the memorial as much as other memorials do. The thought that she put into this memorial- the names of the soldiers were not alphabetical, but in the order that they died so that you really have to go into it and look for who you are looking for, and must absorb how many people died at each period of time. And at the same time as you are absorbing the enormity of these soldiers’ sacrifice, the black stone is also reflecting your own image back at you, which ties together that you have a place in this tragedy.