Elephant

Check out this cool video. The whole movie is actually in our library...



Zizek is the philosopher I was assigned to look into. He has a lot of ideas about global capitalism and the little (and big) conundrums that come with it. I watched a talk he gave about consumer charity. I've noticed that funny notion, buy this and we'll fold in a charitable act. It just gets easier and easier to keep spending, and boy do we. You used to have to set aside money at the end of the day for charity, but why do that when you can make the act of charity much more obviously selfish by getting something solid out of it in the process. Get away from my door, you UNICEF kids. I drink Starbucks every day. Check it:

"It’s our commitment to do things that are good to each other and the planet. From the way we buy our coffee, to minimizing our environmental footprint, to being involved in local communities. It’s doing things the way we always have. And it’s using our size for good. And because you support us, Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ is what you are a part of too."

Selling ethics. That's ripe.

Moving on. Folks, I'm starting to get worried about or friend Nicolas and his "radicant" cultural atmosphere. He had me with the global cuture thing, but now it seems like he wants to eat the cake too. So we're in the veritable cesspool of culture. This is art. This isn't. But it is. Anything is. Blah blah and back and forth and constant change, etc. Things are disposable. Trends are disposable. I don't feel like he's helping us move out of this. Sure, sure "alter" is different than "post," I get it. You're supposed to combine elements of inspiration from across a very broad field. It's supposed move beyond the white western world's concept of rootedness. COOL. But it sounds to me like things are just going to get blander and blander.

And things are already pretty bland. It takes kind of a lot for me to be shocked anymore. And even when I am, I'm like "pff. is that all you're relying on? shock value?" And no one likes a preacher. It seems to me that no one actually likes anything, we're all just pretending so we'll look cool on the playground.

I say: make stuff. Then die. Let other people talk about it later if they want to.

More like Matthew BLARNEY

The more I look into Matthew Barney, the more I regret using him as my muse. He seem to take this stuff way too seriously. If there were at least a hint of a smirk on his face I would know he gets the joke, but it seems to me like he's just trying much too hard. There's just no need to come up with that many layers of meaning. No one actually cares. And those that do simultaneously make my stomach churn and the corners of my mouth lift because it's just funny to see people try so hard when it doesn't have to be that difficult. So there I went. I sold my muse out.

The videos themselves are very good-looking, don't get me wrong. But I think I have to disconnect the artist from the art because his bullshit is really starting to get to me.

This is what I should've used for my mentor:

Batter's Up

It's heartening to see someone so enthusiastic about anything as Prof. Sedlock. It doesn't really matter what for. She puts out a positive influence, which is what art is all about. I don't mean positive in the way of smiley faces and hearts, but more in the way of plus signs. Creativity is about adding things to the world. Even if what you're adding is terrible or is influenced by something terrible, it is still adding, not subtracting. War is subtraction. Humans love to subtract. Science is addition. Science is a slow accumulation. Art is addition. Music is addition. Philosophy is stasis. Religion is subtraction. Politics are subtraction. Prejudice is subraction.

Score

(GRAPH: x = TIME, y = BITES/MIN)
(TABLE: x = TIME, y = DRINKS/MIN)

I'm meeting with Chris and Elyse on Wednesday to do a first test.

Update and Away

I'm at the point now where I'm just chuggin away at the max patch. It's slow going and I haven't been able to devote enough time to it just yet to really make it work.

Andy Warhol:

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Don't pay any attention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches.

Up(date) Yours

This week I got the video done. I was gonna post it up here, but I'm going to show you all in class on Tuesday, and I don't want to ruin the surprise. (That is, I want y'all to save up your vomit.) I was initially worried about the quantity of footage I was going to be able to squeeze from the documentary (I spent the last 2 weeks downloading every episode on rapidshare). Miraculously, after I had already set a time limit of 3' on the piece (I'm not sure people could handle much more), I discovered that after stripping down all the unnecessary footage I was left with exactly 3:01. Perfect.

All I have left to do is finish the max patch (which is half done), get some costumes for chris and elyse (I'm thinking of asking them what clothes they already have in grey), and do a test run. I also want to add a prerecorded part to the piece, which would play while they drink. Maybe just some white noise mixed with the sound of the gulping.

You Don't Nomi

How far can someone take a stage persona? Klaus Nomi's entire career was based on pushing the limits of a single persona.

Does changing your persona mean you need to change your music? David Bowie is a classic example of this...every new musical idea has a new persona connected to it. The chameleon becomes his persona.

Tom Waits is a performer that's kept the same persona throughout his career, yet his music changes fairly significantly with each new album.

I'm just throwing things out there...

I'm interested in the fact that Klaus made up his character and lived in the limelight, died in the limelight and will forever (for as long as he is remembered) be known as Klaus Nomi. What was his goal in keeping such a rigid persona? His costume, his voice, his emblem, his music all stayed consistent during his career. The documentary made it seem like fame was his ultimate goal. I guess to reach this goal, you need to remain fairly consistent so more and more people grow accustomed to your particular form of strangeness. If you have only a few tics, people will recognize them the more you do them publicly.

Whether you like it or not, the more famous you get, the more you're pigeon-holed. People need categorization to keep them sane. Our entire way of thinking is based on different levels of categorization...

Some intriguing Pop Personas:

Madonna

John Lennon

Prince

50 Cent