Detecting More Art

Continuing a casual habit of inspecting the art work used as set decoration in films and television, I've grabbed a couple of interesting screen shots from Downton Abbey's alleged Piero della Francesca painting (or study for a larger piece, as the plot develops).

Not only are the season one and season five images themselves different, but so are the frames. I'm not the first one to notice this, as a quick Internet search confirms. A historian also disputes the authenticity of the piece and the fiction of the Crawley family owning it in the first place.

Truthfully, I'm pretty forgiving of these inconsistencies, especially when I love the fiction bringing art to us masses. Maybe that's why I related to Cora more than any other character at the Abbey.

The explanation, I think, is that prop masters may not anticipate what their show will require in future seasons, and how many seasons those shows will run. In Downton Abbey, the first della Francesca might have been lost between seasons one and five, requiring a reconstruction, frame and all. The latter set piece makes appearances in two episodes (two and four), and was a major plot point in that season.

Following my mother into her addiction to the Brit series As Time Goes By, I also get a kick out of noticing things like the brass bed that switches between two different designs as the series goes on through 10 seasons. And the front door that changes door handles on the inside and colors on the outside. It pleases me that my observational powers have not completely abandoned me.

Love, hosaa
frittering life away in details

"Ama-Deus"

Edward Gero (Salieri), courtesy of Round House Theatre


Blogger's been down since I got to see the Round House Theatre production of Amadeus on Thursday, so my reflections are no longer fresh.

Long play, short recap: Excellent. (Which is ironic, since the story is about the torment of knowing one's own mediocrity and being the only one to recognize pure genius.)

I practically know the movie version by heart, and as tempted as I was to dig out my Milos Forman video before seeing this production, I refrained in order to let the stage version inform me anew, and it did.

The most mind opening moments, for me, were when Edward Gero as Salieri repeatedly pronounced Mozart's middle name to emphasize the "god" half (deus). I don't know Latin, but I know "amo, amas" etc. are conjugations of "to love." So I got that what Salieri was saying here was that Mozart was God's beloved. I never picked up on that in repeated viewings of the movie, and I never understood why the Peter Shaffer play was called "Amadeus" and not "Wolfgang" or "Wolfie" or even just "Mozart."

Duh.

Upon further reflection of the story line, I found the theme compared very well with two previous RHT productions, The Talented Mr. Ripley and A Picture of Dorian Gray: the tragedies of envy, vanity, and artistic hubris (though I guess Mr. Ripley had no artistic ambitions per se). Salieri's aspiration to become the voice of a god he loved turned toxic and menacing; as with Ripley, his envy turned homicidal.

This does not say much for those who wish to be artists or for the impulse to communicate one's soul to the masses. I think we can still do that without denying the genius of others when we recognize it.

Sometime ago, well before hitting ponderously reflective middle age, I recognized that my artistic talents were close to nonexistent: unpublished novelist, unproduced playwright. I sketch because I enjoy stopping to observe my environment and move my hand in feeble traces of the world's marvelous contours. I put pieces of video together to capture different angles of a moment in a singer's performance.

I sing, but softly, so no one has to hear. I dream, and occasionally turn daydreams into plot developments, amusing myself with the idea that one day they will compile themselves into stories and even books.

I take the same approach in my career, to recognize and support the talents of others on my team and make it my occupation to bring them due recognition (and glory to our organization).

If God or nature or the happenstance of cosmic forces granted others (but not me) the talents I admire, why should I make myself miserable with envy? It serves my own happiness better to be both Salieri, the recognizer of genius, and the Emperor, the ignorant patron.

love, hosaa
moving up from the second to last row of the balcony, cheering madly

Art and Artists

There's some rejoicing going on in the Kingdom of Clay:

Clay Aiken Leaves RCA, as reported exclusively by People magazine.

Spin it any way you want (fired? quit? negotiations breakdown? artistic differences?) the truth is, RCA has never known how to handle Clay Aiken. Never. Did not know who he was as an artist, baffled by his versatility, did not know how to market someone completely original. That would have required creativity.

Even the Time magazine profile of Clay back in 2003 ("Building a Better Pop Star") noted the label's ignorance and even contempt for Clay Aiken. How could anyone expect to succeed without their boss's support? And yet Clay succeeded very well within these constraints.

From Time:

Ask the employees at Clay Aiken's record label, RCA, if they would listen to Aiken's debut album, Measure of a Man, by choice, and the response is almost uniform: a lengthy pause followed by laughter. RCA was the home of Elvis Presley, and its current roster includes critical favorites like the Strokes and the Foo Fighters. It's a rock label. Aiken, who came in second on the most recent installment of American Idol, is not only not a rocker, but, as he says in his aggressively self-deprecating way, "I'm not an artist. I'm just a guy who was on a reality show—and I didn't even win!" Humility aside, Aiken, 24, doesn't mind being doubted because he believes in his bones that his detractors are wrong. "There are many people at the record label who are afraid of me," he says. "They don't understand the reasons that someone as uncool as me is here. In a way—and this is a horrible word to say, and once I say it you're going to print it—it's a revolution."

Let the Revolution begin!

As Time also noted, Clay knew his audience instinctively and could communicate with them. That's art. And now, Clay's Fantasies can come true. He's on his way!



Flames of Paris


(credit: ABT, published in Washington Times)

Speaking of artists, I got to see this beautiful dancer perform with the American Ballet Theatre at the Kennedy Center on Thursday night (Feb. 19). Thanks to YouTube, I could find an earlier performance of the same program by this artist, Daniil Simkin. But this 2007 performance pales compared with what happened the other night. Two more years of maturity, athleticism, and - for lack of better word - chutzpah have turned this young colt into a magnificent thoroughbred.

Watch for Daniil's solo passes in this video of the Flames of Paris pas de deux. His variations now consist of leaping into the air and spinning, but then stretching those strong legs out into a full splits before landing the jumps. His performance on Thursday was "an honest-to-God, 'where did that guy come from,' star" moment.



Come on, Daniil! Now that I see you have your videographers following you all over the world, please please put up your latest variation of this pas!




ETA, update 2-23-09: Here is a review of the ABT's mixed rep program, including kudos for Daniil: "A Lithe and Lively ABT" (Washington Times)



This will be one of many unforgettable moments I've experienced in live theater - or in a gallery or a concert hall. That's why I wrote....


An Open Fan Letter to the Arts
(mailed after Valentine's Day to three dozen arts organizations in the U.S.)

If all the world's a stage, somebody's got to be the audience.

14 February 2009

Dear Artist,

This is a simple thank-you letter from a fan, to acknowledge all the support you have given me over the past few years.

In times of economic hardship, when belts are unwillingly tightened throughout our society, it is demoralizing to see so little public support for that which makes civilization worth saving: the arts.

Do not artists support society by inspiring us with their dreams, exciting us with their imaginations, transporting us to new worlds, and accelerating innovation through new perspectives and new ideas?

I cannot imagine a better model for economic and social success than an orchestra, a theatrical production, or a simple, magical pas de deux. The arts cultivate a spirit of pure cooperation that teaches responsibility for pursuing a shared goal. It should be part of the core curriculum for preparing students to build an enlightened future economy.

Art for art's sake is an underestimation of its value. Art is not for the artist, but for the audience it communicates to and inspires. I see a play whose author plays with words and characters, and I then dream and imagine in ways I had never before explored. I take a class in stone sculpture, and I feel the volume and form of geometry in my own hands; I see the many dimensions of the world from new perspectives.

I fall in love with a singer's voice and discover a community of others similarly inspired; from this community I learn about music, radio and recording, and even about photography, videography, and design. We travel, we explore, and we dream some more.

So this fan letter is for you, with love and gratitude. Thank you for my dreams, my visions, my soul.


Your audience,

[my name]

For identification purposes, I am managing editor of The Futurist magazine (World Future Society, Bethesda, MD). My opinions are my own.
Also: writer of one short play (performed in the Source Theater's 10-Minute Play Competition, 1993), one full-length play (publicly read but unproduced), one novel (unpublished), and two screenplays (unsold); a reader of Shakespeare; a Claymate; a perpetually beginning tap and ballroom dancer; and a lifelong dreamer, happy in the second-to-last row of the balcony.

Special thanks to the following artists and art facilitators, whether public, private, commercial, nonprofit, or informal:

Round House Theatre (Bethesda, MD)
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
American Ballet Theatre
Ford's Theatre (Washington, DC)
National Theatre (Washington, DC)
Warner Theatre (Washington, DC)
Bethesda Theatre
Shakespeare Theatre, Lansburgh Theater (Washington, DC)
Shakespeare Theatre, Sidney Harman Hall (Washington, DC)
Vienna Town Green (Vienna, VA)
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts (Vienna, VA)
The Birchmere (Alexandria, VA)
Koka Booth Amphitheatre (Cary, NC)
Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore)
Lyric Opera House (Baltimore)
Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
Shubert Theater, Cast, crew, staff, producers of Spamalot
St. James Theater, Cast, crew, staff, producers of Gypsy
Golden Theater, Cast, crew, staff, producers of Avenue Q
Brady Theater (Tulsa)
Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts (Houston)
Community Arts Center (Williamsport PA)
National Endowment for the Arts
Smithsonian Institution
National Gallery of Art
The Phillips Collection
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Writer's Center
Bethesda Urban Partnership
Shakespeare Readers
Classical WETA-FM
Theater Communications Group / American Theatre
Playbill magazine
BroadwayWorld.com
Clayversity
Clay Aiken Official Fan Club, c/o Clique Services/Sparkart Group

CC: The Washington Post, op-ed

Love, hosaa
from the back row