Or rather, shall I say, "Changes in frequencies, changes in vibrations."
I'm listening to this as I write.
It reminds me of the many times my high school math teacher played Enya whenever he gave a test.
I remember how the changes in frequency would shoot a burst of mental activity through my mind, like a spiral of energy that threw my thoughts into fast forward. The familiar high frequency moments in the songs helped me show my algebra work beautifully and rhythmically. I always loved math tests - especially the timed multiplication ones from elementary school - and was usually the first to turn mine in.
Speaking of elementary school, Mrs. Hjalmerson, my fifth grade teacher, not only played classical music during our tests, she also gave us weekly art lectures. If I remember correctly, she held a Bachelor's in Art History from UCLA, so art was a very high priority in her curriculum and so was making it. My class jammed out to Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart as we glued tiny squares of tissue paper onto pieces of construction paper. I'll always hold a place in my memory for Beethoven's "Fur Elise"..
You can feel the ups and downs in the melody and the rests that keep you hanging, begging for more, for that completeness found in the totality of the song. Ahhh...
So, my point here is this. From now on I will be playing music while I write as a sort of experiment to both inspire me to write and observe any signs of change in writing style. Nothing crazy, just a day-by-day, relaxed approach to inspiration and incorporating better tools for a better job done.
As I listen to the relaxing sounds in the video below, I am going to write haiku about the setting pictured.
The world is ours, friend
As I sit up here, I see
Hold my hand and look
Behind you, your past
With you, I am the present
Give me the future
Big bright skies ahead
The light invites our journey
Birds guide us along
Pass a flowing stream
The earth's veins, so fresh and cool
Kneeling down, I drink
Blessed to be human
Living, breathing, full of joy
Great spirit inside.
"Since the 1960s, the appeal of street art and graffiti has been the way it’s wrenched creativity away from academia and carved out a place for itself and its audience. A visual phenomenon that made its way from the subway cars of New York City to the freight yards of south Texas, this crafted conversation wasn’t judged by any existing criteria, and it appeared whether or not anyone else cared for the subject matter.
Many times, like their audience, these artists weren’t schooled in proper protocol. The work had a language of its own. It was appropriate to hang a painting over the freeway just because someone could get it there."
Appearing in an LA Weekly article, these words encompass the feel of a show I recently visited at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (LAMOCA) titled, "Art In The Streets."
It turned out to be the biggest show in the museum's history. According to LA Weekly, "a significant contribution to that number came from the Free Mondays program sponsored by Banksy, UK street artist extraordinaire," who is the mystery character in the widely acclaimed film, "Exit Through The Gift Shop." (see video)
And ALL of the art has a message. A deep, political one. Whether its a word, or phrase, spray painted so quickly and dripping, or an image that provokes meaningful thoughts, graffiti definitely has it's own distinct language.
It's the language of the streets. The language of the self-taught, the street scholars.
It's the language of the senses. The sounds of the night, the passing sirens, the silent moon watching from above. The smell of the fresh paint. The beating in the artists' hearts. The taste of sweat. The touch of thought. ALL on that rigid natural surface, wherever it shows its face.
Graffiti is the story of a generation wiser than it appears. Visually infiltrating our minds, planting words and images, similar to hieroglyphs stamped solidly somewhere in the back of our consciouses.
Aware.
Every piece of art you encounter will spark up a conversation with you. For me, I prefer a intelligence with an edge, an that's graffiti all the way.
See what you dialogue you can pull from the images I posted below. All are pieces on display during, "Art In The Streets."
When I came face-to-face with these pieces, I felt strangely and wildly moved. Yet, had I encountered them all separately in their natural places, like huge city walls, on doors of tenements, in quiet nooks and sneaky crannies, on the sides of train cars, and a river's barrier walls...
If they appeared to me in those places, then I am certain, their messages would change.
That is the beauty of graffiti. It's constantly changing and so are we. So before painting over it, give yourself a good, long moment to try and understand it. It's definitely saying something.
"Many men (women) go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after."
--Henry David Thoreau
"Your vision will become clear when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens."
--Carl Gustav Jung
"Love is but the discovery of ourselves and the delight in the recognition."
--Alexander Smith
"We are like sculptors, constantly carving out of others the image we long for, need, love or desire, often against reality, against their benefit, and always, in the end, a disappointment, because it does not fit them."
--Anais Nin
"She took her pattern of life from men but she was not a masculine woman. She demanded the freedom to change, to evolve, to grow. She was not a feminist at all but struggling against the feminine side of herself in order to maintain her integrity as an individual."
--Anais Nin
On Lillith:
"an independent woman can only represent a fundamental disruption of a divinely ordered state of affairs."
--John Phillips
"Love cannot exist in peace, it will always come accompanied by agonies, ecstacies, intense joys and profound sadnesses."
--Paulo Cohelo
"Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course."
Kahlil Gibran
"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet."
--Plato
"Of Course One can never under estimate the Power of Love, for Love is the Essence of all Creation."
--sua
"If "love" makes you crazy, it is not love. True love drives you absolutely sane."
--Alan Cohen
"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination."
--Voltaire
"If you have it (love), you don't need to have anything else, and if you do't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have."
--Sir James M. Barrie
"If you cannot inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself; all that runs over will be yours."
--Charles Caleb Colton
The Heist! at Rock Paper Scissors presents works of art from the Vault in a hip hop inspired event
By Jessie King
On the night of Friday, September 29th, Rock Paper Scissors opened their doors for a hip hop inspired event presented by Works from the Vault.
art by Spencer Little
The Heist! coordinated by creative genius Amanda Steinhaus brought together local artists with people passionate about music and fashion to party in the sea breeze of infamous Ocean Beach in San Diego, CA.
Godoyski
Sake
Upon entering the event, a vibe of open creativity reached out with open arms to welcome people of good vibrations.
Sarah and Noel
Art show attendees browsed through rows of hand crafted art stands that call RPS home. They then moseyed into the Vault where they were served free wine and delicious sushi provided by Miso HARNEY SUSHI while art lovers displayed their affection for creativity. Featured artists included Sake, Optic, Romali and Godoyski.
Warren, Rally Rall, artist Romali, buyer Dustin Summerville and Amanda
An ear for music led many people to the outside lounge where DJs were spinning hip hop beats, playing mostly old school and fresh original mixes.
Rally Ral and Mane 1
Featured DJs included Tenshun, Jo-ill, Mane 1 and Existence 76, and Rally Rall. There was also a featured guest performance by Destijl.
Epiphany
With the music playing, live art was created by the creatively inspired DJ Epiphany, Pres 1 and Rocferd 1.
Partygoers lounged on hammocks and contemporary seatings while breakdancers showed off their skills to the beat.
Taylor Romero
DJ Mane 1
Later on in the night breakdancers also filled the Vault and battled in the main hall of the art show, repping a true exemplification of the essence of hip hop, bringing all the creative forces of art and music together.
Amanda Steinhaus announces the start of the fashion show with DJ Jo-ill
Around this same time, an announcement was made by Steinhaus from the DJ booth that the fashion show was ready to begin! Everyone migrated to the front of Rock Paper Scissors where a large plastic canvas displayed at the end of the runway for models to create even more live art.
DJ Epiphany
Allie
As the show began, loud screams were heard as Epiphany strutted down the runway in a design by Steinhaus. When she reached the end of the runway she drew a big heart on the plastic canvas.
Valerie Summerville and Kingston
Epiphany was followed by models Allie, Verdel, Prince, Stephanie, Valerie who added their own contributions to the live art. Kingston the dog bravely strutted his stuff as well rocking the designers duds.
Finally the ladies of the evening, designers Steinhaus and Summerville strutted down the runway to the excitement of the crowd.
Designers Amanda Steinhaus and Danielle Summerville
The fashion show featured reinvented designs by Steinhaus and Summerville with material from sponsors Tribal Gear, Armory 'A SD Thing', and American Apparel. Other sponsors included Access Music, Homegrown Blends, and who could forget the wonderful people at Miso HARNEY SUSHI!
Everyone is very excited about next months show in the Vault at Rock Paper Scissors which will take place beflore election day on November 1st, featuring political installations, performance pieces, live music and an open mic.
Right to left: Amanda Steinhaus, Day1ne, Behnaz Gochin
*Photos by Jessica King* JessicaKingWriter@yahoo.com
Art Show Coordinator Amanda Steinhaus Mspanda318@yahoo.com
Rock Paper Scissors 4976 Newport Ave. Ocean Beach, CA 92107
(619) 222-ROCK
Miso Harney Sushi
3964 Harney Rd.
Old Town, San Diego (661) 295-3272
Left to right: Valerie, Karina, Verdel, Allie, Amanda, Danielle, Epiphany, Prince, Stephanie, Danielle
"...Poets sound old and dead," said Zach Houston, the writer who developed the concept for "Poemstore".
Lately his ""Poemstore" is set up in the Bloch Building at the Nelson Atkins Museum in Kansas City, MO. Houston can be found typing wildly on a typewriter in the middle of four tall white walls covered in sheets of paper of all sizes tagged with images, words, and random ramblings he creates. His brain is in overdrive, meeting strangers, one after another, lined up waiting for him to write whatever comes to his mind on a whim.
How does he decide what to write? Where do these lines reside? In a bank of words, with a special vault for when he feels like pulling out the really nice lines? Or in a cultural storehouse of mixed emotional baggage and ethical recalls. Could you imagine the pressure? First impressions mean absolutely everything in the type of poem you are going to create. That's money for Houston! Literally.
So, I visited Zach today at the Nelson and we talked quite a bit, regardless of the line behind me. I waited my turn. I had questions to ask this guy. He was legit. A money making poet artist. Super cool in my book. Anyway, my poem took quite some time, since we kept talking throughout its composition, but I totally respect what he does and tipped him $4 for my poem. I thought about this a lot and wonder, "How much is a poem worth?"
Hmm. Good question. What is an acceptable donation for a personal poem?
Here we are at the Poemstore.
Before he wrote anything, I told him I am a writer as well. I shared with him the three haiku poems I wrote while waiting in line to meet him.
I wrote:
The typewriter sound Echos through the stone hallway Tapping on the walls
Imagination Transforms real into fiction And fiction into real.
What is left of art? Odd shaped canvases on walls Or typewritten poems?
He replied:
amanda could you be author of more adorable than words wild run a way to get from one place to say and another to write what we think without knowing it whimsy and wondering what im talking about when the person who i am and why talking to when in due time i talk more than work its because im exhausted bored lonely and overwhelmed by time i get the phoenix to sleep she will ready to xx type again
