This too, shall pass.

March 3, 2009
NYC

Helmut Newton said in his autobiography that no one wants to hear about how someone is successful, it is only the struggle to get there that is worth reading. I get his point. No one wants to hear about how wonderful it is to be adored by the world, its inelegant.

So, as I leave LA for a trip of indeterminate length to NYC, as I walk away from a 6 year relationship due to irreconcilable differences, I am broken. To add insult to injury, I have been rejected by 4 different galleries of late, did not win a particular grant that I thought I would be a great candid for and I feel stuck creatively.

I am supposed to be in NYC to pitch my commercial work, getting meetings with art buyers and etc etc, yet I have been here for two days now and I barely want to go outside. I feel broken.

As I try to catch up with news via blogsphere today, I learned that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has decided that they will do one last tour with Janes Addiction (in celebration of NIN's 20 year anniversary) and then Trent will put NIN to sleep, for a while, maybe for good. Ironically, the movie "Singles" is on TV as I type. Remeber alternative rock? Can't help but find the irony that some of my favorite bands will be celebrating their 20th anniversary this year or the next and that I am old enough to remember these things. I have always been a little damaged, but now, I feel old and broken.

All which really just reminds me that, "this too, shall pass." No matter how good times are, no matter how broken I feel, the good and the bad shall all pass in exchange for something new, something else. I just hope that I can summon the inner Asian overachiever here soon and get back to overachieving.

I shall end with this quote my fellow friend / brilliant artist Kesha Bruce posted on her blog today:
“Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.”– William C. Durant

A Generation of Thieves

Nov 14, 2008
Los Angeles, Ca

I had a discussion with a friend of mine via IM yesterday about Intellectual Property and its applicable laws protecting it. Then last night, as I was slugging my way through The New Yorker, I noted a book that is mentioned in the "Briefly Noted" section of the magazine.

The book is called "Remix" by Lawrence Lessig,
"As Lessig, a law professor at Stanford, sees it, if intellectual-property law is left as it is an entire generation will be criminalized. He argues that the ways in which young people break copyright laws help them to become the sort of people we want them to be—creative and collaborative. Kids today are simply not going to give up downloading music and using copyrighted material in YouTube videos: they belong to a culture for which “remix” is “the essential art.” Lessig’s proposals for revising copyright are compelling, because they rethink intellectual-property rights without abandoning them. He argues that hybrids that combine the “commercial and sharing” economies can create value for both sides (as Harry Potter fan sites and Lostpedia have done); indeed, one problem is media companies’ appropriating the work of fans without returning the favor. “When both benefit,” Lessig writes, “how do we say who is riding for free?”

I believe that as artists and creators we should be able to benefit from the "art" that which we create. After all, this choice of a life is a gamble, there is no guarantee that you will ever be successful, or even be able to pay your rent in the life time in which you spent creating the "art." But I think certain amount of content should be available for "free" for other users to amend, absorb and repatriate into something new, even if the new "art" is unlike the original at all. Which brings to mind the Creative Commons model and or how NIN offers tracks of their songs for download without charge online and you can remix and re post to be shared by other fans.

As I wonder about this model of "collective creating" and how I could incorporate it into my life as an artist - slightly difficult since my primary medium is rather "fixed" - I came up with an idea. What if a collaborative process was offered, I could either provide digital files of a selection of images, or actual prints, and a small group of artists (working in both photography and other mediums) utilized the "base" in which I have provided and do what they will to it. Then we will have collectively created something new.

But here is where the sticking point in Intellectual Property Law begins - who would own that piece of new art that is created? Or do all participating artists goes into this with the agreement that we are all owners of the new art?

Does the idea of "ownership" only truly matters when there is a perceived value for the "object"?

Art does have value. Radiohead proved that the fan will pay for the music by independently releasing their last album with the "pay what you will" system. NIN gave away its latest album for free online - Trent Reznor said "This one is on me!" I paid for the Radiohead album because I wanted to be heard that art has value. I happily accepted Trent's download and respected him all the more for acknowledging the fans who have supported him for nearly 20 years.

Is it the corporation in between who will rake in the largest profits from our angst and demented dreams that we have a problem with then?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions. But I am excited about the idea of "collectively creating," think I will buy Lessig's book and see his opinion on IP laws, and believe that the more we give the more we will be given in return.

Lights in the Sky

Sept 6, 2008
Los Angeles, CA

We saw NIN tonight perform at the Forum. I have been a long time Nails fan, as some would say, his angst is my angst...

Attending this show, my expectation was difficult. I really wanted to see them but the timing was inconvenient as I have friends in town tonight and we have the opening reception for my show tomorrow. There is a lot going on. But regardless, I made time and we went. I really had anticipated for this just to be another rock concert. Some light moving about ( I was trained as a lighting designer), some haze, some video projections, the band performs some new materials from the new albums, then we are done. What I was not ready for, was to be surprised! I was not ready for my passion to be fueled and desire to create change to be awakened.

Trent Reznor has integrated multi-media into his show so well, that it really has become a live art piece, much more than just a rock concert with some multi-media elements. For the first time in nearly 10 years, I looked at the lighting rig and all that was happening and wished that I had taken a part in the creation of this show. I am not doing justice in describing everything that went on here and if there is every a DVD of this tour, I highly recommand that you check it out.

NIN utilized the multi-media and lighting to challenge your sense of space and depth as well as to enhance the message they had in their music. They pull no punches (which I loved!). For "The Hand that Feeds" - there was an image of George W Bush in the background, about 2/3 way through the song, W morphed into an image of John McCaine. For those of you who are not familiar with the song and lyrics, here is part of the lyrics:

You're keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
Because you do
What you're told
But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold

Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you want to change it?

What if this whole crusade's
A charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood
On which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine

Yes!!! Art should be used as weapons against the unreasonable, the unjust, the tyranny. It should always provoke and awaken and not be passive and pleasant.

Art is Resistance!