Culture & Arts

All Photographs (c) Michael Ernest Sweet

Whether analog or digital, I've been drawn to lo-fi photography for some time. I just love it. I like the process, the gear and the way the final images look and feel. There is a very low-stakes environment at play, low risk, you just aim and shoot and then look at the images and pick out the ones you feel you like. When you shoot with more complex equipment there seems to be more pressure to produce images which are technically perfect. This, of course, on top of the greater demands for more "ideal" subject matter and framing etc.

There is a distinct sense of freedom when shooting lo-fi gear. My Harinezumi (a toy digital from SuperHeadz, which emulates the old 110 film cameras) doesn't even have a viewfinder. I just point the camera and shoot. Well, that's not entirely correct. I've come to know the camera, it's 38mm lens, and the way it's going to respond to varying situations. Regardless, there is no question that I work more freely - carelessly even - when using the Harinezumi than I do when I'm working with my Leica M or even my Ricoh GR.

There is a certain inevitability when using a lo-fi camera that you're going to get what you get. In fact, I don't digitally manipulate any of my lo-fi digital images. I don't even crop. What you see is what the camera has given me. All I do is "keep" or "delete". That's it. Again, this lends itself to a great sense of freedom. I feel liberated to focus on the "art" of my photography because there is no "technical" aspect when it comes to lo-fi.

When I shoot analog lo-fi street photography I usually use a disposable camera. These little gems are fantastic. No shutter lag on a disposable camera baby! Just aim that little hunk of plastic and push the button. Again, because of the relatively wide angle lenses on these cameras, you can easily neglect the viewfinder. Get a feel for the camera and how it operates and just go from there. Your fist roll might only have a couple of good shots, but after shooting a hundred or so disposables you'll come to know exactly how they are going to operate and what they are likely to produce in terms of a final image. Experiment, enjoy the freedom to just shoot.

Although I've not published a book-length collection of my disposable camera work yet, I am at work on a long-term project here in New York City using disposables. The results have been truly great. Although I am still operating in my signature style, the disposable camera and analog film are also adding an extra layer of uniqueness to the final images. Are they perfect photographs? Not a chance. Are they unique photographs from the streets of a over-photographed city? You bet.

One of the things that disappoints me about so much of the street photography we see today is its literal representation of the streets. Photographers approach day-to-day activity with the objective of photographing it literally and perfectly, as one might a portrait in a studio, for example. This, unfortunately, produces wonderfully perfect photographs of boring subject matter. We don't need a portrait of grandma Betty leaving the grocery store - we need an angled up-close shot of grandma Betty's elbow and part of her thick-framed glasses in the most over-saturated colors we can muster. This is what will produce a unique photograph. It's a weird or unusual portrayal of grandma that we need, not another perfect image. But hey, this is just my opinion.

I think there is still a lot of room to document the streets in unique ways using various approaches. One such approach would be to change up the gear. Grab something simple and see if you can produce something complex - take a cheap camera and see if you can make a rich photograph. You might be surprised. In fact, you might even thank me.

Michael Ernest Sweet is a Canadian photographer and writer. His latest full-length collection of photography - Michael Sweet's Coney Island - was entirely shot with a toy camera. The book, released from Brooklyn Arts Press, is available from the publisher or online at Amazon.com. Michael Sweet divides his time between Montreal and New York City. Follow him on Twitter @28mmphotos or through his website at MichaelSweetPhotography.com.

It started when I was very young. This was my first.

Something New Album Cover

There was a little flutter in my heart. Ok -- So the flutter wasn't only in my heart. But this is a G-rated blog so I won't go there.

What was it about a guy with a guitar? I know this wasn't just a guy. This was Paul. And Paul was a Beatle. That was a huge advantage. But Ringo was a Beatle too. It wasn't the same. Although he is endearing for other reasons.

Then there was this:

Remember when boys used to say they learned how to play the guitar to get girls? Well, it worked. I am proof.

I dig a piano. And I love a guy who plays the piano. (Especially if he also plays guitar. Let's not even get into the aphrodisiac of the multi-instrumentalist.)

Is it the guy or the instrument? It's both. It's the combination. It's what the guy does with his instrument. The guitar is an extension of the man. He rules it. He controls it. He works it. And maybe that's what he does to me when he plays it.

Songwriting has always been a bit sexual for me, especially if there was a guitar involved. It's not that I slept with the guys I wrote with (well, maybe there was one. Or two.) It's that my best songs were the ones I wrote with guys who could seduce me with a Strat or a Martin -- get me to reveal some deep, dark secret that was inaccessible before he started strumming. I wasn't necessarily physically attracted to that co-writer per se. But creative chemistry was as strong as (or stronger than) any physical attraction. It was deeper. It was music. That's a powerful drug.

And there was fantasy -- which brings on songs of longing, desire, passion. Although I am happily married and I am not looking for a tryst of any kind (any more), there's nothing wrong with fantasy. In fact, where creativity is concerned, there's everything right about it.

Currently, there's not as much of a necessity for real live guitar playing in the mainstream songwriting session. So does the guy-who-learned-how-to-play-guitar-to-get-the-girl exist any more? Or has the showing off evolved into the tapping of computer keys -- the clicking and swiping that accompanies the art of Logic? Or Pro Tools?

Most of the writer/producers who get their songs on records are programming in some capacity. When we're working I am most likely looking at their backs. A lot of those backs belong to guys I happen to care for very much. The songs we write are competitive and hooky. But the digital process is just not as hot as the temperature between you and the guy who wins over your willing hormones with his nimble fingers on that fret.

All this has me wondering: What kind of musician turns a girl on (in or out of the studio) in the 21st century? (I'm not talking about the music. I'm talking about the guy.)

Is it the DJ? Deadmau5? The mixing? Knob turning? The contraption on his head? Cool.

Daft Punk? (Word has it they weren't in those suits when they received their Grammy. The real guys were sitting in the audience watching "themselves" get the award. I'm sorry. IMO that's not very sexy.)

Is it the soulful crooner? An Ed Sheeran -- who can woo his way into a daydream with romantic lyrics and tasteful riffs?

Or is it a Chris Martin or a Dave Grohl? (The breed of musician that still does it for me.)

To each her own.

Here's to all the guys who've rocked my songwriter heart: Gregg Sutton, Mike Krompass, Mark McEntee, Glen Burtnik, John Shanks, Phil Thornally, Jeff Trott, Keith Urban, Billy Harvey, Greg Wells, Wally Gagel.

Here's my last:

From Paul to Adam. And all the hotties in-between. Life goes full circle.

Please visit me on my Serial Songwriter Facebook Page and at ShellyPeiken.com

London -- Since William Congreve wrote that "music hath charm to soothe a savage breast," people have assumed he was right. The composer Claire van Kampen has decided to demonstrate its truth by imagining Farinelli and the King -- at the Sam Wanamaker, though not for long -- and having spouse Mark Rylance take the right hand side of the title roles.

Rylance is Philippe V, who's discovered in bed fishing over a goldfish bowl while his country, and more immediately his wife Isabella Farnese (Melody Grove) and chief minister De la Cuadra (Edward Peel) await hoped-for flashes of lucidity.

Mental health restoration only comes when Doctor Jose Cervi (Huss Garbiya), the court physician, brings famous castrato Farinelli (Sam Crane) to sing. The ruse works. Claiming that on listening to Farinelli, he now realizes there is a heaven, Philippe regains his senses and, a threat to depose him quelled, takes charge of his duties again.

The catch is that he insists Farinelli sing for him at the drop of a crown--24/7. Though Farinelli is at first reluctant to abandon his thriving career, he eventually does, cutting himself off from devoted associate Metastasio (Colin Hurley).

Part of the staying-on allure is Isabella's romantic interest in him and, though he fights it, his for her. Much of that anguish is played out after Philippe, slipping in and out of rational behavior, has decided they all must live in the forest to commune with the musical stars.

Although Crane speaks Farinelli's dialogue, one of two countertenors does the singing, always in duplicate costumes. They're either Iestyn Davies, whom I heard, or William Purefoy, and the celestial effect they have is in very large part responsible for the overall spell van Kampen and the always astonishing Rylance cast.

Rylance, almost needless to say of the frequent award winner, can be touching when he wants and just as often seemingly off-the-cuff funny. His great gift is his ability to switch at an instant between strength and vulnerability. While his entire performance is a high point, he's especially appealing during a sequence when he gleefully observes a crowd gathered in the forest by Doctor Cervi as they, too, cheer Farinelli and his bringing them that new-fangled thing: opera.

Taking place on the small, candle-lit Wanamaker stage as well as in its short center aisle, Farinelli and the King, as directed by John Dove, is a bibelot of a piece, as delightful and shiny as a charm on a royal bracelet. Offered in the intimate Jacobean setting (seating capacity: 340), the play is like a music box within a music box. It's really about an undoubted concern of van Kampen's as a composer: Can art heal? She makes a strong argument that it definitely can, at least some of the time.
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Islamophobia is showing up in worldwide headlines, and, in particular, is receiving a close and unsettling consideration at the always politically engaged Tricycle. The bad news is blared in John Hollingworth's Multitudes.

The playwright is concerned with the unlikelihood of the threatening development to diminish any time soon. Though seemingly bland at first view, his title suggests that a lessening of the global situation isn't about to happen when so many opinions and positions proliferate. He's saying that those promoting Islam either peacefully or violently and those opposed to it are so varied that agreement among the multiple factions is chimeric.

He focuses his two-act work on Natalie (Clare Calbraith), who's just converted to Islam as a result of a volatile affair with Kash (Navin Chowdhry), a moderate engaged in perpetuating his convictions. His daughter Qadira (Salma Hoque), however, takes a radical stance. At the same time, Natalie's mother, Lyn (Jacqueline King) is willing to go along with Natalie's conversion but retains strong feelings about Muslim presence in the England she's known and now sees irreversibly changing around her.

Tricycle artistic director Indhu Rubasingham directs the drama by orchestrating well the constantly explosive emotions. The heated events come to a boil in Bradford, England as a Conservative Party conference is on its way. Much of the strife among the four principals occurs in regard to a speech Kash is preparing to give calling for moderation. As he's seen in silhouette delivering it, Qadira in the foreground has a protest in mind the result of which further affects all their lives.

Rubasingham and her actors leave little opportunity for missing first-time dramatist Hollingworth's dire point. If he's right about it--and, sad to say, there's little substantiation for a counter argument--the future of clashing religious outlooks is grim.
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Somewhere near the end of Zinie Harris's How to Hold Your Breath, at the Royal Court, a character called the Librarian (Peter Forbes) looks at in extremis protagonist Dana (Maxine Peake) and says, "Let's face it, she saw the dark swamp at the bottom of the human soul."

Though the line is meant to devastate with its acknowledgement of how dreadful life really is, most spectators could feel the urge to laugh. They may fight the urge, but few would deny it.

There are playwrights--Harris is one of them--who think they're plumbing the, uh, dark swamp at the bottom of the human soul but who are actually doing no such thing. They're merely attempting to be taken as serious artists by vociferously promoting a pessimistic view of the human condition. The problem is they're proclaiming nihilism without earning the right.

Poor Dana begins by having Jarron (Michael Shaeffer), the man with whom she just had sex (and possibly the Devil?), offer to pay her because he assumed that when he picked her up, she was a prostitute. It's humiliating, but what follows makes that figurative slap seem like a big smooch. Later, when Dana is at the pinnacle of a ramp down which a contingent of supernumeraries are slip-sliding, she's truly gotten herself in trouble.

No need to go on about Harris's script, which Royal Court artistic director Wendy Featherstone helmed, other than to say it's not worth anyone's time, least of all Harris's or Featherstone's.

Phhwww! February has gone away. The Seine is turning blue again. And despite the looming Ides of March, the love of beautiful bodies is returning to Paris--at least in this city's more interesting galleries. First and most interesting is La Toilette: The Birth of Intimacy at the jewel-like Musée Marmottan Monet a 500-year celebration of bathers, women bathers overwhelmingly, while a much smaller, nearly unknown gallery just behind the Louvre, dedicated to male nudity is also opening a show of American photographer Will McBride's images of playful boys and young men.

Bathing as understood through the images of today's global soap industry is all about cleanliness, but la toilette wasn't always just so. La toilette since the time of the Romans suggested the place and the procedures of presenting yourself: to your adored, to your family, to the grand public. The gods no less than the mortals attended to la toilette.

The well attended body was a reflection of the well-mannered soul. Come the Italian Renaissance, however, public bathes steadily were replaced by more intimate and more amorous zones--at least for the wealthy who could afford servants to tote buckets of heated water into their boudoirs.

Rather quickly, however, privacy and probity took reign such that by the 16th century as peoples from the Germanic north descended further and further into the sumptuary zones surrounding the Mediterranean. Too much display of wealth and fashion toned down the silks that elegant men had favored.

Ladies' cosmetic tables were set apart from gentlemen's studies.

Not until Renoir and Degas and their band of Impressionists brought a reunited sensuality and intimacy back to France, and the thrill of Napoleonic masculinity had fallen into eclipse, would the tenderness of the bath and its aftermath return to public celebration, preparing the way for Proust and Picasso to part the curtains onto the tastes and desires long damned by the Catholic hierarchy.

And then we come to today, where the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation rides on the back of moonwalkers and inter-galactic space odysseys leading us into the seductive trap of cold, mechanical irony.

At Nicole Canet's tiny Gallerie Au Bonheur de Jour, which concentrates exclusively on both the innocent and the debauched pleasures of the male form, a new show is just opening, displaying Will McBride's rarely seen Salem Suite. McBride was an exceptional chronicler of post-war Germany--from his portraits of Jack Kennedy, Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer to quick images of children playing in the ruins of war. He was equally known for his iconic photographs from the film world, especially a famous photo of Romy Schneider in a diaphanous night gown in Paris. Then there was the scandal raining down on hims over a photo of his pregnant wife nude. The Salem series were taken in the early 1960s portraying adolescent boys and young men in the collective bathing room of the Salem Castle boarding school in southern Germany. The Salem series, reveals, McBride wrote, the "characteristics that gradually vanish with age: impulsivity, honesty, emotionality."

image (c) Will McBride

Canet's gallery, while largely dedicated to photography, also has scores of etchings, sculptures and a few paintings--again all focused on various versions of male bodies engaged in various sorts of male activities. An earlier show last fall, entitled Plaisirs & Débauches au masculine, resulted in a fat, privately published and individually numbered category of the same name.

Photos except for Will McBride by Frank Browning

I hadn't thought about Wendy Wasserstein and The Heidi Chronicles in an awfully long time. Now, with the play back on Broadway (opening March 19), I find myself pondering: Why now? The answer I arrive at is: Because we could really use it, this deeply felt, deeply humane, deeply funny rumination on disappointment without despair. Yes, the Heidi Chronicles always has been held up as a play about women -- which it is. For me, though, it has always also been about looking back, in sadness and in laughter, in order to keep moving forward. Whatever your gender.

I certainly will see the current revival with Elisabeth Moss (who seems inspired casting). Before I do, however, I felt a powerful urge to look back myself. So I called a few people.

I began with André Bishop. Wendy Wasserstein was fresh out of Yale Drama School when she first met André, now the Artistic Director of Lincoln Center Theater, who was then the freshly-anointed Literary Manager at Playwrights Horizons. It was André who, in time, commissioned Wendy to write a new play for Playwrights Horizons. That play proved to be The Heidi Chronicles.

"I probably first read Heidi Chronicles in 1987," André recalled, "and I knew instantly that it was Wendy's best play to that point. But when we began performances, it seemed to take on a life of its own. It was Wendy's moment."

"Did you ever consider reviving it?" I asked André. "No," he replied, without hesitation. "For me, personally, to go back to a time when Wendy was so young and vibrant..." André sighed.

I just don't want to go back. I'm happy to see it again. But that was a very unique time for many of us; for Wendy, for me, for Dan Sullivan, who directed Heidi, for the stars -- Joan Allen, Peter Friedman, Boyd Gaines. Joan Allen and Peter Friedman actually got married. Even for the replacement cast -- Tony Shalhoub, who came in as Scoop Rosenbaum, Peter's role; Tony met his wife, Brooke Adams, when she was in the show, playing Heidi. It just was a play that had a lot of resonances for so many of us when we worked on it.

"Most of the producers of this new production are women," André went on,

And they feel very strongly about bringing in a new, younger audience, particularly women, who may not know about many of the things chronicled in the play. The new producers want a new generation to experience it. Now, I am of the generation of the play. I remember women's support groups and demonstrations. From my point of view, what makes the play even more poignant today is the passage of time. The passage of time has made the aspirations and the hopes of all those women even more alive because so much of what those women fought for and yearned for has come true and, yet, so much has not. And it's the 'has not' that lends the play an even deeper poignancy.

I wanted to speak with one of Heidi's women producers. Jeffrey Richards, a lead producer for the revival (yes, a guy), put me in touch with Susan Gallin, his producing colleague on the show.

"I took my daughter to the original production on Broadway," Susan Gallin informed me.

It was very moving for us. She was in college then, and it led to a lot of discussion. I can remember when I graduated from college in the sixties there were really only two options available to me, to become a teacher or to get married. The best of all possible worlds was to become a teacher and get married. For my daughter, coming out of college in 1990, marriage was not even part of the conversation. Everything was open to her. Now, here we are twenty-five years later, and everything seems to have changed for the better, and yet we're under assault. That's the conversation I hope to revive.

Julie Salamon wrote Wendy Wasserstein's biography, Wendy and the Lost Boys, which came out in 2011. "I think for a great many women of that generation, The Heidi Chronicles spoke to their frustrations, to their achievements, but most importantly to the difference between being involved in a political movement and what happens to you afterward personally," she remarked to me.

That was Wasserstein's genius, in a way, being able to differentiate between what is personal, what is political, what is historic and sociological, and then bringing it all together and making it dramatic. The question for The Heidi Chronicles today is: Is it still relevant? In fact, that is always the question asked about this play, almost since it was first done. Even when she was writing it, the time element was a big issue because the play covers such a wide swath of time, from the sixties to the late eighties. The question of relevance is imbedded in the The Heidi Chronicles. Is it a period piece?

I hoped that Heidi herself might answer that one, my pal, the marvelous Broadway set designer Heidi Ettinger, whose long-running friendship with Wendy Wasserstein was commemorated in the naming of Wendy's title character. I caught Heidi E. just as she was departing New York for a residency at the American Academy in Rome. A few days later, I telephoned her in Rome with my question.

"It is a period piece," Heidi laughed. "We all are now. But so what. It doesn't end there."

"What about you and Wendy?" I asked.

Wendy and I just hit it off. We were in the same class at Yale and began hanging out together from the first week as if we'd known each other for a thousand years. She gave me a copy of her first draft of The Heidi Chronicles with a very sweet inscription that said it was named after me. But it is really an autobiographical play. I was very moved by it the first time I read it. And very saddened. And as time went on, it became a kind of self-fulfilling tragic prophecy for Wendy.

"We'd spoken a lot over the years about what she saw as the betrayal of the feminist movement," Heidi explained.

That was no surprise. What surprised me was how bitter she was about it. And I think she became increasingly bitter as time went on. That said, there is a whole generation of young women today who are unaware of the struggles that Wendy and my generation went through, and they're not aware of the price they will ultimately be asked to pay, the choices they will be forced to make, and the long term implications of all those choices made when they're young. I don't think they necessarily see things as realistically as Wendy did. The Heidi Chronicles outlines it all in a very cold-eyed way that is, nevertheless, very sweet. So, maybe this revival will help them. I know I'm trying to get my two daughters-in-law to see it. If I had daughters I'd take them. But I don't.

Wendy Wasserstein died too young, of cancer, on January 30, 2006, at the age of fifty-five, having given birth to a daughter just six years before with the help of in-vitrio fertilization. I have one abiding memory of Wendy all my own. Through Heidi, I'd gotten to know her a little; we'd spent time together at various soirees that often seemed gleefully orchestrated by Wendy, even as she proclaimed shyness. On this occasion, an invitation arrived from Heidi's sister, Wendy Ettinger, to celebrate Wendy E.'s birthday with a night fishing boat expedition.

I didn't get it. Big time. I read "night" and "boat" and laid out my best linen dinner jacket and linen pants and, I do believe, two-tone oxfords -- beige and white! -- for a classic, cocktail-ish excursion around Manhattan island. Arriving at a pier, approaching sunset, I was loaded onto...well, a fishing boat, where everyone onboard -- a who's-who of the American theater, need I say -- seemed to be swaddled in sneakers and grunge. Except me.

And Wendy W. I have an image of her in taffeta and heels, but that might be memory enhanced. I do know that the boat pulled away from the pier and headed straight out to sea. The darker it got, the damper it got. With every passing swell, I began calculating, teeth chattering, how awfully long it was going to take us to sail back.

Then there were the fish. People actually caught some. The stench on that boat grew stinkier. I was cold. I was wet. And now I smelled. (I wound up throwing away every one of those reeking fancy duds.)

At last, I retreated below. Thank heaven there was a below, however unheated. Down a twist of stairs, I landed practically at the feet of Wendy Wasserstein, all a-huddle in a thin sweater in the dim light. One look and we both nearly burst into tears...of laughter.

"You find a cab and it's my treat," was all she said to me.

In the end, we spent most of that long voyage braying show tunes at one another; the fishiest we could think of. "Blow High, Blow Low" and "This Was A Real Nice Clambake" from Carousel worked especially well.

"Wendy had a lot of plays to go," maintained Andre Bishop,

Because Wendy's plays chronicled what was happening in her world. She used her own life as a constant source of inspiration. We were able to see Wendy write about the young Wendy and young women rebelling against their mothers. We were able to watch a slightly older Wendy being a mother. But we never got to see Wendy write about getting old, about being an older woman, an older mother. That's the sadness, among many other things, that I feel at her death. She would have really been insightful about all that. And funny. But it was not to be.

The Scandinavia House is one of the most delightful destinations in NYC. Just cross-town from the touristy Times Square, it sits quietly, yet alluringly at 58 Park Avenue, offering a restaurant, gift shop and the relaxing, clean lines of Scandinavian design. But that is not all this cultural oasis has going for it.

Art, music and theatrical activities sprinkle the organization's events, and just recently I had the pleasure of attending the play, Flagstad - Triumph and Tragedy, a one-woman show, written and directed by the opera and theatre director, Einar Bjorge.

The Norwegian actress, Nina Bendiksen, took on the role of Kirsten Flagstad, perhaps the world's greatest Wagnerian voice of the last century. Flagstad's beauty of tone, along with her heroic endurance, held the world's attention for decades. Starting out in her native Norway, the singer seemed blessed: born of musical parents, supplied with superior instructors, and introduced to the stage with an easy, natural progression -- she did seem to have it all.

And for quite a time that was the case, until Flagstad faced the Hobson's choice of either staying in the USA or returning to her businessman husband, and a Nazi-occupied Norway.

Though residing in her native country, she performed only in the unoccupied Switzerland and Sweden, but due to circumstances that were beyond her control, the diva's reputation suffered greatly. Flagstad did come out on the other side, though, due to her iconic voice, and strength of character, she was re-engaged by the Metropolitan, ultimately crowning her career by debuting, perhaps, the final great composition of tonal music (1948)--Richard Strauss' "Four Last Songs."

The play took place in a sumptuously furnished room (created by Norway's prolific "scenographer," Hans Petter Harboe), with Ms. Bendiksen recalling the singer's adventures, now in her last year, and in failing health. Flagstad is a part that seems difficult to cast perfectly. The towering fleshy diva was played by a nymph-like figure, reflecting a girlish, yet emotionally wise persona. But all of the dialog struck true, due to the script of Mr. Bjorge; the author unleashing the universal observations of the artist, freely flowing throughout the piece.

The enticingly small amount of recordings, as presented by Liew Ceng Teng, left one looking forward to returning home and groping through Flagstad's discography.

Situated in the comfortable "Victor Borge Hall," and produced by the American-Scandinavian-Foundation, the audience was joined by Liv Ullman, to the delight of all in attendance.

left to right - Chicago "Seven over Seven": Dan Rizzo-Orr, Mika Horibuchi, Ellis von Sternberg, Claire Molek, (curator), Valentina Zamfirescu, Kenrick Mcfarlane, Nick Nes Knowlton, Anders Lindseth. (Photo by Jake Lingan)

On February 23rd, Chicago's guerilla curator Claire Molek revealed her latest show "Seven Over Seven" in a 5000 square feet converted factory space on Chicago's far west side. It was an unlikely location for an art show -- a neighborhood where commercial space is primarily razor wire enclosed liquor stores and check cashing stores -- but well over 200 hundred people made the trek out west, creating a vibrant event that included 20-something cool kids and 60-something collectors and other veterans of the Chicago art scene.

(Photo by Jake Lingan)

The seven artists are young, relatively unknown and work in Chicago: Dan Rizzo-Orr, Mika Horibuchi, Ellis von Sternberg, Valentina Zamfirescu, Kenrick Mcfarlane, Nick Nes Knowlton and Anders Lindseth.

Ms Molek doesn't curate shows so much as she curates a movement, and this event had the hallmarks of that movement. The introductory essay for the show gave no analysis of the work, but extolled the hard work and love that went into the pieces. (It strikes me that Ms Molek would find too much explanation and theory as pompous and that is the opposite of what was on display here.) Ms Molek ended the invite with "you are invited here because I love you". The invitation read between the lines showed Ms Molek's vision of a nascent Chicago art scene unencumbered by art dogma, ideology and most importantly gatekeepers. Ms Molek see's herself as a caretaker which she says in the introductory essay is the original meaning of curator. As in the past the artists she featured are young, hard-working to the point of obsession, and had a gift for making the abstract into something sensual. The sensual element made the work accessible and thus subverts the art world model of art for the art knowledgable ; curators, critics, museums and the collectors advised guided and influenced by them.

Boy and Woman, by Dan Rizzo-Orr

Calvary, by Nick Knowlton

Many of the paintings and installations - in particular those by Nick Nes Knowlton, Kenrick McFarlane, Anders Lindseth and Dan Rizzo-Orr --appropriated themes from classical art. Still, you did not need to know the referenced work in order to be provoked or enjoy the experience. Other works, for example the tapestries and textile-like paintings by Mika Horibuchi and the beautiful paper installation by Valentina Zamfirescu and the totem sculptures by Ellis von Sternberg offered such sensually presented material that it was difficult not to touch.

Valentina Zamfirescu, XIII (sisters)

There was something unsettling yet comforting in the air in this warehouse - a repudiation of the established order, an anarchic whiff of things to come, an unintentional indictment of the often large scale art built for tech and hedge fund billionaire's oversized homes. It was a return of art for the people: accessible, sensual, and affordable. Art for people. How revolutionary. It was a new day.

The closing reception is to be held on March 7th at 7pm and is free of charge and open to everyone. Where: Silent Funny, 5,000 square foot space at 4106 W Chicago Avenue. Your best bet for transportation is Uber.

You might want to grab some friends and head west. The opening reception was an all night affair with all the artists in the house, plenty of dancing and conversation. Still you might have to put up with mingling with and art collectors from far flung places like Berlin, New York and even Hong Kong. Don't be fooled this art is for everyone.

Art Angel , Claire Molek, curator of Seven Over Seven. (Photo by Peter Ludlow)

The show will be up till midnight March 7th everyday by appointment
contact: Claire Molek, clairemolek@gmail.com / +17737097848
Instagram @ClaireMolek and FB For more information got to:
clairemolek.com/seven-over-seven

Do you remember those old commercials where off-beat salesmen ramble on about their item that does it all or simply "slices and dices?" No? Well, watch this and you're welcome. Moving on, NYC-bred band of brothers AJR dropped their debut full-length album Living Room today, and completely did it themselves (DIY indeed). They wrote it, mixed it, and produced it - all in the confines of their NYC apartment living room. (Hence the title, and on an unrelated note, suck it, Ginsu knife.)

Brothers Adam, Ryan, and Jack Met, who have been - big shock I know - making music together since they were kids, have been gradually gaining fame and acclaim and rightfully so. Their single "I'm Ready" went gold, and they performed it all over the place from The Today Show to The X-Factor in Australia. Their single "Infinity" is already kicking names and taking ass, and a tour is on the verge of being announced. This Thursday, March 5, the band will perform at The Studio at Webster Hall. But before they go out on the road and to Webster, they hit A-Sides up - fittingly chatting on a couch, and performing stripped down versions of two little ditties, which I promise you are not about Jack or Diane. Huh? It's a left-field John Cougar Mellencamp reference because he needs it. Anyway, watch the performances and interview, which was shot by Joe Ades at the A-Sides Studio/Listening Room within Primary Wave in NYC.

"Infinity"

"Growing Old On Bleecker Street"

A-Sides Interview

5 for Fighting with... Five for Fighting: March Madness Edition

We move from three New York brothers to a Los Angeles native who would never think of me as being as close to him as a brother. I mean we like each other, but it's not like he's ever invited me to Thanksgiving dinner. On the flipside, we've never met in person so I can't really hold it against him. That said, Easter might be nice. Anyway, it's time for that old A-Sides column-within-a-column -- 5 for Fighting... with Five for Fighting: March Edition. Read on, and thanks again John Ondransik for doing this column with me. The check is in the mail.

Is there any truth to the rumor that like the month of March, you also come in like a lion but come out like a lamb?
That is true. Though being a So Cal native we ride stuffed lions and carry L.A.M.B. handbags. Do you know it never rains in California? Do you know Rumours was recorded in California in March 1976? I bet you did not know that. In fact, I do not know that.

I did not know that you did not know that I did not know you did not know that. Anyway, you're a sports fanatic - does it extend to March Madness? If not, does it extend to the Ides of March in any way?

In 1995, I was in Seattle to watch my UCLA Bruins (alum) win the National Championship. I have John Wooden's Pyramid of Success on my studio wall. There is no greater event than March Madness. Sadly, College Ball is a shell of itself due to one and done, and evil coaches. Et Tu Calipari! Long Live Tyus Edney!

I don't understand what you're saying. Have you ever considered adding a fake fifth member of the band and calling yourselves Sex for Fighting?
Was the a Freudian slip? 50 Shades of Fighting? Is there something you're not telling me? We just came off a series of quartet shows where for the first time we had five musicians (including yours truly) on stage. I found being five quite unnerving and the audience was terribly confused. That said, "Sex for Fighting" might triple our tickets sales, especially in certain exclusive "Clubs."

You're not wrong. There was a Facebook movie years back - can we hold out any hopes for a J-Date film? If so, would you write the theme song?
I had to Google J-Date. Does that make me anti-Semitic? My wife's maiden name is Berkowitz so I not only have inspiration, I am a client! So a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian wanted to go to a FFF concert. The Jew said "Who's buying tickets? The Muslim said "Don't worry, John put us on the list." The Christian said "He better play 'If God Made You'." There is no joke here.

I followed it to a point. The Rolling Stones are still going strong yet Sly Stone looks like he got hit by a bus numerous times. Care to explain why?
It certainly is related to Keith's incredible health regime that the members of the Stones (sans Mick) have emulated the last 64 years. Keith's guitar wizardy is only eclipsed by his creation of the Skinny Bong, and Richards' Fountain of Youth Face Cream. I frankly haven't enjoyed a Sly Stone movie since Rocky II. Bye.

About A-Sides With Jon Chattman:
Jon Chattman's music series features celebrities and artists (established or not) from all genres of music performing a track and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometime humorous) way. No bells, no whistles, just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and overmanufactured, Jon strives for a refreshing change. Artists have included fun., Charli XCX, Imagine Dragons, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Gary Clark Jr., American Authors, Echosmith,and many, many more!

Stay Connected:
http://asidesmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thisisasides
https://twitter.com/ThisIsAsides

About A-Sides With Jon Chattman:
Jon Chattman's music series features celebrities and artists (established or not) from all genres of music performing a track and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometime humorous) way. No bells, no whistles, just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and overmanufactured, Jon strives for a refreshing change. Artists have included fun., Charli XCX, Imagine Dragons, Alice Cooper, Joe Perry, Gary Clark Jr., American Authors, Echosmith,and many, many more!

Stay Connected:
http://asidesmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thisisasides
https://twitter.com/ThisIsAsides

-- drawing by Eliane Gerrits

Were you born here?" I ask Michael, the stonemason who repairs the flagstones along my driveway. They are in shambles because of the constant freezing, thawing and refreezing in recent weeks. He looks Italian, with his strong profile and dark black hair. And I've noticed that he has a faint Italian accent.

Of course! he tells me. He was born and raised here. But then, he says, his family is actually from a small mountain village in Italy, named Pettoranello del Molise. "Like ten percent of all people in Princeton," he adds.

What? Ten percent of people in this Ivy League town are descended from a little village in the middle of Italy?

Then I remember that I often see many Italian names in Princeton -- the names on the front of shops, in the phone book, in the schools.

"Yes, and many of them were bricklayers and stonemasons, like me," Michael says as he slices off a corner of a stone with a chisel. "My family single-handedly built the university. Brick by brick."

Beginning around 1860, a large part of an Italian medieval village was shipped to build the fake Gothic towers on Princeton's campus, including the spires and carved gargoyles. For that purpose, the local quarries had to be mined. Who could do this? Princeton was looking for people with experience -- and found them in Italy.

Many of the immigrants settled in what we call the "tree streets" -- Spruce, Chestnut, Linden Lane. Princeton's own Little Italy, not far from the Catholic church. They include Bert, the barber who has been cutting my neighbor's hair for over 40 years, and the owner of the Italian supermarket where I like to buy my ravioli, pesto, tiramisu and biscotti, all homemade. And those cute bottles of Limoncello. And most of the stone masons, of course.

Pettoranello is a sister city of Princeton. Even though only a few hundred people live there now, the two cities have regularly exchanged students and high-school sports teams. "Years ago, when my son was singing in the choir, I went along with him to Pettoranello," says my mason. "There is no hotel in the village, so we stayed in a motel in the valley. It had a beautiful marble floor, more polished and gleaming than the most expensive hotels in New York. All handcrafted, of course. The day of the concert we took a bus up to the church, where our choir would sing. Many of these kids in the high-school choir have the same last names as the children in Pettoranello. There stood my little boy, handsome in a white shirt with a tie. Because he is so small, he stood in the front row. Our choir director chose to sing a song he knew the Italian families would love: Va Pensiero, the chorus of the Hebrew slaves from Verdi's opera Nabucco."

"And you know what happened then?" Michael asks me. "When the song began, the Italian parents next to me began humming softly, then louder and louder, and they sang along with the choir from beginning to end."

He suddenly looks at me.

"Do you know the opera? " he asks.

Before I can answer he starts to sing to me. His chisel waving in his hand like a baton. Deeply moved, I listen to this song, sung so beautifully by the stone mason standing on my driveway.

It's a story of homesickness. Of the Jews expelled from their country by the Babylonian king. Of Italians who 150 years ago left their mountain village, crossed an ocean, and built a new life here between the medieval towers that made them think of home. The song says:

"Hasten thoughts on golden wings.
Hasten and rest on the densely wooded hills,
where warm and fragrant and soft
are the gentle breezes of our native land!"

And now, I realize, it is my song, too.

And you! And you and you and you. Kindly turn your attention to the only Vice-approved ceremony of awards season: The .GIFYs, a yearly event honoring the gems that sparkle in the dust of this terrible planet known as Internet.

Let us honor the humble Graphics Interchange Format, as we would a trillion Becks.

In its second year, the contest pits the best recent GIFs against each other, as chosen by a team of scholars. (Full disclosure: I was a panelist this year. Also, I was lying about being a scholar.) They're split into categories like Art and Cats and all are "safe for grandma." The winners are decided by public vote -- which ends today -- to be collected in an online capsule so your great great grandkids can laugh at how primitive we once were.

Vote here and gaze upon our favorite GIFs from 2014 below.

The classical music industry and conservatories have spent the last few years coming to terms with the exploding field of music entrepreneurship. The Juilliard School recently announced that it is launching the Alan D. Marks Center for Career Services and Entrepreneurship and Berklee College of Music has its Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship. These programs seek to formally teach students the business side of music in order to increase their earning potential.

Developing business skills as a musician is not a 21st century phenomenon. There are timeless fundamentals to the enterprise of music that were as relevant to Bach in the 18th century as they are to Klaus Heymann, the pioneering founder of the Naxos streaming audio service. While technology has evolved dramatically over the past few centuries, the inherent business acumen required to succeed in the music industry remains the same. Young musicians are fortunate to have many role models from previous generations. One potent example of an admirable music entrepreneur during the twentieth century is a man named Irving Gifford Fine (1914-1962).

Image: Irving Fine, 1947 (Ellis-Gale Studio, Irving Fine Collection, Library of Congress)

Fine was a composer, conductor, pianist, music educator, higher education administrator, and overall impresario who believed in creating opportunities for new art to flourish. Though he has never been a household name outside of a very niche music community, his life's work serves as a blueprint for all who wish to refine skills as music entrepreneurs.

Fundamental Elements in Fine's Career as a Music Entrepreneur
1. Cultivate a strong network
2. Dream big
3. Maximize stakeholders
4. Build a strong, diverse team
5. Understand the art through experience as a creator

A native of East Boston, Fine attended Harvard University. He went on to study with Aaron Copland's teacher Nadia Boulanger and with Serge Koussevitzky, then-music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and founder of Tanglewood, one of the most famous American summer music festivals. His compositions include many gems in the canon of standard American art music--the Alice in Wonderland choruses and Partita for Wind Quintet--among choral, chamber, and orchestral works. This output is sadly limited in volume due to his early, sudden death at the age of 47.

Fine taught at Harvard for a decade and was a conductor of the Harvard Glee Club.Per the recommendation of Koussevitzky, who was himself a legendary music entrepreneur that presented cutting-edge new art music to audiences in Europe and the U.S., Fine was invited to shape the department of music at a fledgling new school in the Boston suburbs, Brandeis University.

Founded in 1948 as an academic home for the American Jewish community, Brandeis University has been at the forefront of progressive movements and host to countless distinguished faculty members, including former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert Reich, who served as the secretary of labor under the Clinton administration. Fine joined the faculty in the early 1950s and was given the opportunity to shape the role of the arts on the campus. Within just a couple years Fine helped transform the Brandeis campus from an inconsequential school on the site of a defunct medical college to a hot incubator for contemporary music, theater, dance, poetry and ideas. He accomplished this by leveraging his extensive network in the music business and academia. He worked with the university administration, built a solid team, raised capital, and created long-term sustainability by preparing students for successful careers.

Image: Irving Fine and Eleazar de Carvalho, Boston, 1962 (Irving Fine Collection, Library of Congress)

Fine surrounded himself with the rising stars of his generation in American music, by bringing Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Harold Shapero and Arthur Berger to the faculty. He connected the school to flagship arts institutions like the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Library of Congress. Fine quickly expanded the arts programs at the university under the auspices of a new School of Creative Arts, which affords students the support and training required to create their own unique paths into the arts industries. Rather than developing a music technology product, Fine's work as a music entrepreneur was to create an engaging environment for students and faculty to pursue their own creativity.

In 1952 Fine launched a Festival of the Creative Arts at Brandeis, which boasted an astounding line-up of artists and works that have been immortalized in the standard canon of 20th century American culture. Leonard Bernstein was brought to the Brandeis music faculty and directed this first festival, conducting the world premiere of his musical operetta Trouble in Tahiti (1951). Jazz was represented with performances by emerging musicians Lennie Tristano, John Megehan, Miles Davis, Max Roach, Roy Haines, and jazz impresario George Wein, who founded the Newport Jazz Festival. Merce Cunningham's choreography for Stravinsky's ballet Les Noces (1917-1923) received its Boston premiere, in a performance that included performances by legendary soprano Phyllis Curtin, a chorus prepared by Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler, an orchestra conducted by Leonard Bernstein, and Cunningham dancing. The crowning achievement of the festival was the world premiere (in a concert performance) of Marc Blitzstein's English adaptation of The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill, with Weill's wife Lotte Lenya playing the role of Jenny.

Image: Claudio Spies, Lukas Foss, Harold Shapero, Esther Geller, Verna Fine, Irving Fine, and Leonard Bernstein, Tanglewood, 1946 (By Ruth Orkin, Irving Fine Collection, Library of Congress)

Fine's legacy goes way beyond that first festival, though it serves as a tangible product of Fine's work on behalf the artistic community in Boston and the United States. In the Brandeis music department Fine cultivated a strong curriculum in musicology and composition that has produced some of the leading figures in art music (composers Peter Lieberson, Steven Mackey and Scott Wheeler). His leadership of the School of Creative Arts created a training ground for many entertainment icons like playwright and TV writer Theresa Rebeck (Smash), actress Debra Messing (Will & Grace, Smash), Friends co-creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, Tony Goldwyn of Scandal, president emeritus of The Kennedy Center Michael Kaiser, and actress Loretta Devine of Dreamgirls and Grey's Anatomy.

The entrepreneurial spirit seems to be in Fine's blood, as his grandson Isaac Hurwitz is a leading figure in the musical theater industry. Hurwitz co-founded and served as executive director/producer of the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), a unique organization that has presented over 350 new musicals. NYMF's productions have gone on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and countless others. Hurwitz is now creative director for Fox Stage Productions at 20th Century Fox. Another of Fine's grandsons, Sam Stein, is a leader in his respective field of journalism as the Senior Politics Editor for The Huffington Post. At HuffPost, Stein has helped shape the way journalism and political commentary engages with readers through the digital realm.

The centennial of Fine's birth has been celebrated throughout the past year with concerts and events at Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Contemporary Music Center of Milan, and many other venues in the United Kingdom, Canada, Seattle, Boston, New Haven, and beyond. This global tribute to the very model of a modern music entrepreneur culminates with the release of a new recording of his complete orchestral works by the GRAMMY-nominated Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) , conducted by Gil Rose. This new recording, produced by BMOP/Sound in collaboration with The Irving Fine Society, is a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit that Fine imparted upon his family and generations of Brandeis students. It is fitting that BMOP, which is a global leader in recording contemporary orchestral music, is at the heart of this collaboration. In this modern era of music entrepreneurship, it is worthwhile to revisit Fine's life and celebrate his centennial from the perspective of learning from this multi-talented exemplar of the best traits in the music industry, both as a creator and entrepreneur.

Image: Irving Fine Complete Orchestral Works (BMOP)

Since the mid-60's, Bolivian singer Luzmila Caprio has represented the culture, community, and stories of the indigenous people that inhabit the mountains and valleys of the Andes. Her music touches on everything from their struggles and injustices, to celebrating the birds, the sky, and everything that is Mother Earth.

Buenos Aires based ZZK Records recently collaborated with her to create the Luzmila Carpio Meets ZZK EP, remixing her indigenous sounds with some with fresh beats.

She sings in the 2,000-year-old native language Quechua. Her messages express rebellion against the westernization of her people, making her one of the most important indigenous singers in all of South America.

"ZZK has always been about spreading Latin American culture to the world, and this was an opportunity for us to connect our fanbase with an amazing pillar of South American culture, in a modern and contemporary way," says ZZK Records founder Grant Dull.

The EP consists of innovative producers from Argentina such as King Coya and Chancha via Circuito, but also opens collaborations to a few international beat makers in the U.S., Ecuador, and the Netherlands.

You may not understand Caprio in the Quechua language, but her mesmerizing voice makes you feel something that transcends all language barriers. Each one of these producers excelled in honoring her legacy.

"All the producers involved were already big fans of Luzmila, so it was also an honor for them to be able to remix her work," explains Dull.

After listening you will be left with the curiosity to learn more about Luzmila Carpio. Luckily, a compilation of her music the Yuyay Jap'Ina Tapes, which are the original recordings behind this ZZK EP, is available to stream via Basecamp. Later his year, Almost Musique and Squirrel Thing Recordings will be releasing her music on CD and a double LP.

Stream the Luzmila Carpio Meets ZZK EP on Soundcloud below.

As a curator you have to be conscious of who you are showing and why you are showing that artist. It is not enough to say that you are showing women artists, because different groups of women struggle differently. Furthermore, the most important criterion for showing any artist's work, according to Evelyn Hankins, Curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, is that the work is interesting and engaging.

I first became aware of Hankins's work when she came to give a lecture at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She presented on the work of the artist Jennie C. Jones, and later in the summer I ventured down to the Hirshhorn Museum to see the impeccable work that she had done curating Jones's work. Jones's paintings were shown alongside sounds and it was the first time I thought about adding sound to my own practice. Indeed, in her presentation at MICA, Hankins talked about the challenges and rewards of working with sound as a visual medium within a museum space.

2015-03-03-EvelynHankinscuratorportraitwithMardenJPEG2.jpg

Evelyn Hankins was born outside of Boston -- where she lived for 12 years -- before she moved to Austin, Texas. She would go on to get her bachelor's degree in art history from UC Santa Barbara, and her master's and PhD degrees from Stanford University. "I did not know it then," Hankins said of her time getting her master's and doctorate, "but I was pretty lucky to have that time to dedicate solely to art history. For one thing, it is very helpful, the doctorate, in dealing with historical art. Writing my dissertation also taught me how to handle a large, unwieldy project, which is a very useful skill in being a curator." She would go on to be an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum before being curator at the University of Vermont. She has been at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden since 2007.

For Hankins, just by looking at the roster of exhibitions, women have made a lot of progress as visual artists, in having their works shown. But showing women's work is not enough. What we need, Hankins believes, are more female chief curators and more women as directors of big encyclopedic museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That will be the next big sign of progress. "We need more women as tastemakers," Hankins maintains. "And then there is the art market that is really skewed towards men. I guess for me, the question is, who is collecting art and who is advising the collectors of art? How do the top dealers price and sell women's work? These are some of the main areas in which women artists continue to struggle today."

To overcome some of the obstacles in the art market and larger art world, Hankins advises women artists to develop a network of friends and colleagues whom they can invite over to look at and discuss their work. As a curator she finds that other artists give the best advice as to whose work to see since artists are more keyed into what their peers are doing. But even more than that, Hankins maintains, in building a network and inviting other artists over to talk about their work, artists come to know how best to present and talk about their work, a necessary skill in the art world.

Hankins continues, "Another thing that I would say to women artists is that there is no shame, no shame at all, in having your home -- your tiny apartment, for example -- be your studio. Still show your work there, in your small apartment, and invite people over to come and talk about your work with you. I cannot say this enough, the importance of building your artistic community and learning how best to talk about your work."

Another bit of advice that she would give to artists in general is to take control of the trajectory of their work from very early on in their career. There can be, Hankins believes, an over-reliance on sensationalism. "That can get you going for a while, but artists need to realize that you can become over-identified with these sensationalist and taboo subjects, and the question then becomes where do you go from there? How do you move beyond that? What do you do next? I think in their careers artists, particularly women artists, really need to give some thought to the overall and long-term sustainability of their work."

For young women who want to be curators, her advice is similar to building a network and learning to talk about art, except that she believes the emphasis here is on studying art history and developing increased critical skills. "For all the discussion of how we as a society have relied too much on internship power, I still believe that being an intern in an art institution is the best way to enter the field of curating. As an intern you can get your feet wet and you can get necessary curatorial experience."

Through interning you can also learn first-hand some of the challenges of the job. "Today there is a lot of interest in what curators do, and in curating, which is linked to the explosion of the general art market and development of social media. But would-be curators need to bear in mind that oftentimes those venues only portray part of the job that curators do, and those are the most glamorous parts. There can be a lot of travelling associated with curating, and this can be quite a struggle if you are trying to balance a family life, for example. That is one thing that I would caution would-be curators to know about before entering the field -- that balancing a home and family life can be quite challenging."

With all that being said, Evelyn Hankins loves being a curator. "It is absolutely fantastic!" she enthuses. "The best part about being a curator is being plugged into a piece of work. I absolutely love working with objects. It is true that working with living artists can be complicated at times, but I find this, at the end of the day, quite satisfying. When you are working with a living artist you are trying to get this artist to do the best work that they can do, and this can be incredibly exciting. As a curator I like being challenged to deal with different issues, real time issues in a real space. I like considering and trying to talk to different audiences with various bodies of work."

What's more, Hankins loves being a curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. "Specifically, what I love about the Hirshhorn is the fact that we are small-staffed enough that no one is restricted to just one area or specialization. I can propose to curate shows for any time period. I love the flexibility of that. But there are other things that I like about working at the Hirshhorn Museum. For one thing, I absolutely love the building. Works of art just look amazing here. The galleries have just been renovated for our fortieth anniversary, and I have to tell you, things have never looked better."

Until next time.

The international contemporary art fair, ArcoMadrid, will open its doors on February 25th, in association with Colombia, as an invited nation.

The Fernando Botero (Medellín, Colombia - 1932) art collection is one of the 50 most important museum collections in the world. As a palette, paint, and brush artist, his hands have never stopped working. His figurative art draws out the form and essence of his subjects, provoking a higher sense of sensuality, flexibility and grandeur. Reality is transformed through his imagination: sometimes into kindness, other times into scathing violence. The sculptures, paintings and drawings have created a relevant artistic production, whose objective is "to create a formal opulence." These powerful figures, whether in marble or bronze, have been on exhibition in the most important venues in the world, such as: The Champs Elysees in Paris, Park Avenue in New York, The Grand Canal in Venice, and The Paseo de Recoletos in Madrid.

The still-lifes, the bull fighting, the circus, the religion and the eroticism make up an extensive theme rooted in Latin America -- specifically in his native country -- with a manifest skill in drawing and color. The beautiful and the violent combine together in the Boterian imagery that brings us closer to Colombia'ssoul through a nostalgic reminiscence.

Through his studies in Montecarlo, with views of the Mediterranean sea and his characteristic lighting, we can draw closer to the soul of this magnificent artist.

Elena Cué: His knowledge about art history is plentiful and has unquestionably influenced his art work. Do you believe that an artist can be complete without being influenced by culture?

Fernando Botero: A great artist is born from a profound knowledge of the tradition and problems of painting. However, there are many works in which freshness and audacity surprise, as can be seen in popular art and in certain examples of modern art.

E.C: You have said that "art is a permanent accusation." Do you believe an artist has a moral duty to use his work to point out and denounce injustices in this devastating world?

F.B: The only duty an artist has is in the quality of the art. There is no moral obligation to denounce. An artist confronted with a tremendous injustice sometimes feels inclined to say something. Denouncing the situation is the artist's choice.

E.C: Goya's influence in your paintings is evident. The series of engravings, "Casualties of War" ("Los desastres de la guerra") totally reveals a dramatic cruelty and barbaric humanity. Your work includes a series about the crimes that occurred in the Iraqi jail of Abu Ghraib after the United States attacks in 2001. In this world of cyber-technology, events are ephemeral, since the new always replaces the old, in contrast to art which is powerful and timeless, making it more applicable. Why did you choose this precise series of crimes?

F.B: I did not choose this series of crimes, it was impossible to ignore them: just like Iraqi prisoners being tortured by Americans, in the Abu Ghraib jail - the same place where Sadam Hussein was tortured. Or, the violence in Colombia which left thousands of victims, on both sides, and displaced people, and since this happened in my country, it was especially painful for me.

E.C: Goya already stated that illustration didn't make barbarism disappear. Do you believe there is hope in this respect?

F.B: It is not possible for art to resolve situations which are basically political. The artist shows the situation that exists like a "permanent denunciation." Nobody would recall the small village, Guernica, which was bombed, if it were not for Picasso.

E.C: Wisdom comes from a long life. What do you believe is the meaning of life?

F.B: The meaning of life is different for everyone. Some take on a hedonist attitude. For others, there is a necessity for spiritual or cultural fulfillment based on discipline.

E.C: You have already embraced the life of an artist in every possible way, in all of its complexities. What counsel would you give the younger generations of artists?

F.B: An artist is born like a priest is born. If they are born an artist, I would tell them art is not a game, it is something very serious which completely requires everything you have to give.

E.C: With an aesthetic technique as identifiable as yours, in which reality is expressed through a volumetric sensuality, what opinion do you have of the English artist, Beryl Cook, whose work reflects a seemingly jovial nature with an aesthetic sense very similar to yours?

F.B: This is the first time I have heard of Beryl Cook.

E.C: Your artistic production has beentypecast as "Magic Realism" determined by the importance of the myths in Latin-America, as well as the "New Figurative"artcharacterized by a return to the informal methods of figurative painting. Do you agree with this description?

F.B: Magic Realism, definitely not, because in my works nothing is magic. I paint about things which are unlikely but not impossible. In my pieces, nobody flies and nothing impossible happens.

Art is always an exaggeration in some sense; in color, in form, even in theme, etc... but it has always been this way. It is the same with the nature of some works by Giotto or Massacio, or the color of life as expressed by Van Gogh.

It could be a new figurative work. It is probable because we have inherited the liberty from abstract art, and we have a liberty in terms of shapes. Color and space involves thinking, not realism.

E.C: What literature works have influenced and helped in the type of works you paint?

F.B: I do not believe that other arts can influence painting - sometimes a vulgar image or a piece of popular art have more affect in the sensitivity of the painter than a masterpiece of literature. Since the very beginning I intuitively had an interest in exaggerating sizes.

E.C: What importance does sketching have in your painting?

F.B: It is of utmost importance. Sketching is almost everything. It is the painter's identity, his style, his conviction, and then color is just a gift to the drawing.

E.C: The generous donation of more than 200 works from your own collection to the Botero Museum in Bogotá, and almost 20 others to the Antioquía Museum in Medellín is exemplary.

What have your motivation and satisfaction been in this respect?

F.B: The donation I made to Columbia from my collection, and from many of my works, is one of the best ideas I ever had in my life. The public's enjoyment is the best reward.

E.C: The millennial Hindu book, Kama Sutra, about the art of love in its spiritual and sexual fullness is reinvented by your imagination in Boterosutra. Which artists, from your point of view, have the best ability to represent love?

F.B: Eroticism has made great plastic manifestation all over the Orient, in Persia, Japan, India, etc. I did my Boterosutra series using more imagination than memory, trying as always to make the artistic expression more important than the theme - the rhythm of drawing, the subtle modeling, the application of color were the dominant elements in this series. The theme is extraordinary and unique because only in loving the human body can you make postures which could only be repeated in the circus.

E.C: Nietzsche, in The Birth of a Tragedy, writes "it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified." Is the art, as stated by Nietzsche, the metaphysical activity of life? For an artist like you, would this metaphysics be the only way we can make our avatars existence tolerable?

F.B: I have never read Nietzsche, but I do believe that the artist presents a world as the metaphysics of art. The artist presents, through his work in general, a more beautiful loving world that makes the "avatars of our existence," as you said, more tolerable.

E.C: The study of the relationship of an artist's biography and work has been a constant throughout the history of art. The Colombian history, social and political reality are expressed through your career. How do you see your country evolving right now? What vision do you have for spreading your national cultural identity?

F.B: The work of an artist, in its totality, is like a self portrait - in my country, in between great dramas, there has been an economic evolution and culturally positive advancements. I believe in the importance of the roots in an artist's work. That 'something' that comes from the motherland is what gives works their touch of honesty.

E.C: What have been the most important moments of your life?

F.B: The most important moments of my life have always been connected to my work. They were moments in which I felt I accomplished something unexpected.

E.C: What do you have left to do?

F.B: Learn to paint.

Photos: François Fernández

The quantum wae collapse is embodied into multimedia artist Holly Zausner's visually stunning and dynamically assertive Unsettled Matter premiering at LOOCK Gallerie in Berlin before arriving at Postmasters in New York on 25 April.

What is truly outstanding about the splendid, ten-minute film loop with selected photographs comprising Unsettled Matter has to do with essence -- the perfect marriage of cyclical form and content -- and timing. The exhibition opened February 6 on Potsdamer Strasse; this was the day after the opening of a historic 65. Berlinale. Therefore, in the same geographical proximity, the crystal clarity of the LOOCK exhibition revealed the collective burden of the artist/filmmaker: to innovate new narratives integrating the "contemporary body" passage of descent and rebirth into a Möbius strip relecting inner & outer.

Zausner's breakthrough brings the personal into a universal narrative of resurrection. The multi-layered archaic descent cutting through the horizontal/vertical axis -- into a third space.

The artist, in dark glasses and black trench, progressing the gender-equalizing narrative of her last film, , into the realm of the female shadow/secret agent.

...eclipsing the ancient feminine archetypes at the Egyptian gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

...and those of the late 20th century projected in Tribeca's FIlm Forum.

The topography of Manhattan is a clearly defined fixed grid running east/west and north/south. This distinct calculus has given rise to a social lexicon, as in the Upper East Side (ascent) versus..

...the Lower East Side (descent).

Holly Zausner trumps them all. Her new film tracks the corporal journey of a lone woman (call her the Übermensch) in an emptied out Manhattan architecture. This narrative extends from her 16 mm 2007 film, Unseen, which opened skywriting the title over Berlin. As metaphor, for the illusiveness surrounding her emergence, this was an inspired view of the collective perception of the artist. She appears in a white trench coat, passing by an exploding gallery while encumbered with her task: transporting a rubbery pair of masculine and feminine bodies on a voyage of integration through the once-divided metropolis.

The performance artist interacting with gender sculptures and the environment through the third medium of film staked an unmarked middle passage of seeking gender equality through the unexpected humor, sourced in a pleasurably proactive act defining the neo-modern woman. Unseen was not only making a statement about gender balance in art, but announced a phenomenological breakthrough: interactive art practice as a Möbius strip object(ification) of the artist's "unseen" inner process of desire for the sacred wedding.

In her new work, Zausner cuts into the horizontal axis through the vertical, but not in the obvious means of portraying the phallic waving "weenies" of the Manhattan skyline. Instead, she embarks on the (r)evolutionary passage of sourcing her present matter (Mutter/Mother) directly in her female body/body of art. Suspending herself physically over her personal "imaginary museum" she creates a sacred triangle by means of her "unsettled" form extended over the flat plane of a carefully assembled archive.

The perspective of the (r)evolutionary third, or the Skygoddess/Übermensch provides the holistic picture of the assemblage. And yet, this precarious balance collapses by means of the crashing body, thereby "breaking the vertebrae" of Giorgio Agamben's contemporary to create the third space of quantum entanglement "between time and generations".

This then, is the journey of a new modernist impulse...

...entering the underworld (via Grand Central Tunnel) to rise into the archetypal realm via the...

...dazzling zodiac (on the ceiling)...

...with its ancient archetypal forms of the life/death/rebirth cycle contained in the sarcophagus.

The production notes from the film, resplendently shot on an Alexa 4K camera by the well-known Hollywood/New York cinematographer Mott Hupfel, reveal the collaborative process as a burgeoning movement: the brigades of students holding back the Manhattan hoards so the iconic female can make her underground emergence known.

This is perfection.

This third space is where the androgynous archetype of the ever-present origin emerges from under the collapsed wave, i.e. the broken vertebrae of (her)story.

Unsettled Matter settles the matter of Unseen through the very timeliness of what is "seen"... the shadow of the authentic artist arising from under the eclipse of the 24/7 celebrity culture. The new archetype embodied by the artist arises as a fountain of spirit, closing the loop of Unsettled Matter, thereby converting the cycle of descent/rebirth into the fusion of gender polarities.

Zausner as bridge between New York and Berlin, where the Übermensch arises under the collapsing quantum wave.

Lisa Paul Streitfeld, a theorist and philosopher based in Berlin, is writing her Ph.D. thesis on the Ubermensch as a conversion process in film. She is author of Hermeneutics of New Modernism and editor of Peggy Bloomer's Surfgeist: Narratives of Epic Mythology in New Media, new titles from Atropos Press.

Stills of Unsettled Matter, 2015 c. Holly Zausner, published courtesy of the artist.

Principal Dancer Luke Ingham delivered a spectacular performance in San Francisco Ballet's opening night presentation of Liam Scarlett's Hummingbird. Part of Program 4, it shares a double-bill with Jerome Robbins' 1969 classic, Dances at a Gathering and runs through March 8. Luke is teamed with Principal Dancer Yuan Yuan Tan in a formidable pas de deux set on the second movement of The Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra by Philip Glass. As the title suggests, the composer's signature patterns and driving rhythms mean to illuminate deep roots and far-away points. Scarlett's choreography moves the couple between certainty and the ambiguous, from faith to misgiving and then dissolves into an icy split. Around seventeen minutes in length, the sequence offers the most arresting view of Australian-born Luke Ingham and his easy compatibility with contemporary abstractions.

Luke appeared as the Nutcracker Prince in this season's opening night performance of the Tchaikovsky favorite. Yuan Yuan Tan joined him in the brilliant Grand Pas de Deux of Act II. The duo proved dynamic. "I'm at the stage where I still really enjoy doing Nutcracker," he said.

LUKE INGHAM. Photo, Chris Hardy

It's my third Nutcracker here, but it's still very new. The first year, I did King of the Snow. Last year, I did both Snow and the Grand Pas. I had some things in mind that I really wanted to work on and that I was aiming to show. In my variation, for example -- just that little bit of dancing on my own. I mean, I wasn't going to be just standing behind YY. She's a great partner. But I wanted to show that I can do stuff on my own as well.

Mission accomplished. Case in point -- during his variation, the fiery energy of his circling leaps around the stage (the Jetés en manège) drew a huge response from the viewers. In the Company's ultimately glamorous Opening Night Gala on January 22 (its theme, "Infinite Romance"), Luke was shown to his complete advantage with Sofiane Sylve in a pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon's There Where She Loved, and later with Mathilde Froustey, Carlo Di Lanno and Sarah Van Patten in the U.S. premiere of Souvenir d'un lieu cher choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky. In Program 2: Giselle -- Luke was paired with Sarah Van Patten. We talked about the challenging dramatic aspects in his role as the appealing but unfaithful Prince Albrecht. "When did you get it that you have all the equipment of a romantic lead?", I asked. He laughed.

I don't know if I've gotten that yet! I think with ballet it can be very difficult. There are a lot of physical attributes that go along with dance -- and there are so many different parts for people with different qualities. That is what I find really appealing. I think these different qualities have always been in me.

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Yuan Yuan Tan and Luke Ingham in Liam Scarlett's Hummingbird. Photo, Erik Tomasson

Luke has been in dance class since he was five. It all started where he was born -- Mount Gambier, a town of about 28,000 people in South Australia. Luke pointed out that Sir Robert Helpmann was from there. Remembered for his performance as Ivan Boleslawsky in the 1948 film classic, The Red Shoes, Helpmann went on to become the favorite partner of Dame Margot Fonteyn and director of The Australian Ballet. Luke eventually joined the company and stayed for eight years.

My mom was a dancer when she was young. She went to a ballet school and also did tap. She never did it professionally, it was more of a hobby. Like me, going surfing on the weekends. It was sort of the same thing for her. She never pushed me into it. When I was about three, I found a pair of shoes and a leotard she had. I wanted to know what it was. She said that when I turned five I could go to class. I think she was hoping I would kind-of forget about it -- you know, being in a country town. When I turned five, she said I asked about it again and then took me along. She and the teacher grew up dancing together. I didn't see my first ballet until we moved to Adelaide, the capitol city. It's about four hours away from where we lived. I was eleven. I was a very hyperactive kid. I played cricket at lunch time and football-Australian football. But I never stopped going to class. Once we moved to Adelaide, I was introduced to this other teacher who really pushed me a lot. Around thirteen, I was swimming. Every night I had something going -- sports or swimming or ballet. On the weekend, I did this thing called Surf Lifesaving. I would come home and fall asleep on the couch. Eventually my mom said, 'You can't keep doing all this, it's too hard.'

Prior to coming to San Francisco Ballet, Luke's dramatic roles included Lescaut in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon which is set to music from the opera score by Jules Massenet; Franz in the Coppélia choreographed by Peggy van Praagh; and Jerome Robbins' 1953 hit, Afternoon of a Faun.

When I first joined the Company, I knew they were doing Onegin the following season and I really want to do the role. When I got the opportunity, I was so excited. Jane Bourne was here to put the ballet on, so I spent a lot of time with her. She has so much insight into the characters, plus everyone I worked with had done it the previous year. Onegin has made a choice. He has experienced so much of the world and has lost touch with the people that were around him. He thinks he is better than everyone else and laments being there. I think the ballet says a lot about Cranko as well. The third act pas de deux [Onegin and Tatyana] is amazing and so technically challenging. You can see how tortured he is about all the mistakes he made. The choreography is all laid-out for you. With Albrecht, it's kind-of the opposite. He wants to have an experience outside of the palace, something different. It's all new and exciting and he's not thinking of the consequences.

The second act of Giselle offers the wayward Albrecht a wide variety of dance opportunities and dramatic expression. The dictates of tradition have him approach Giselle's gravesite wearing an extra-long cape while carrying a bouquet of white lilies. He is filled with anguish and grief such as he has never known. His movements are slow, deliberate and highly stylized. The overall tone and look -- easily described as "histrionic" -- is the stuff of purist poetry to great Russian dancers such as Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and San Francisco's own Yuri Possokhov. This is Luke's second season of dancing Albrecht with SF Ballet. I asked him what he noticed in coming back to the role.

I feel more secure with everything -- with the mime, the partnering, the acting, the story. I'm able to relax a lot more. That's when I get the most out of it. I really want to try to create a mood, especially in that first scene. I used certain events I've had in my life to focus-in on how I felt in those moments. I try to bring that to the character -- for instance, when Giselle dies -- to put myself back in that moment I'm drawing from. Maybe that's not a conventional way, but it's what feels comfortable. I have to feel really comfortable before I'm able to express that. I still find it very difficult to do in the studio.

Luke actually performed in San Francisco in 2010. He was traveling as a guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and one of the stops was the Yerba Buena Centre. Helgi Tomasson saw the performance. Luke came back in 2012 for an audition.

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Sofiane Sylve and Luke Ingham in Wheeldon's There Where She Loved. Photo, Erik Tomasson

I had met one of the Ballet Masters here a couple of times and so I e-mailed him and said I was coming to San Francisco and wanted to audition. I did a couple of classes and Helgi offered me a Soloist contract. I was really happy about that. I started here in July 2013, my first show was in London. I can't remember all the pieces, but I performed in Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour. I went on with Sarah Van Patten. She had been dancing with Pierre Vilanoba, but he hurt his foot in the first ballet. It was lucky I was actually in the theatre because I wasn't supposed to be on. It was one of those situations where I had thought -- 'Oh, I can just go out and enjoy London, it will be fine. Or go to the theatre like I'm supposed to.' The guilt got the better of me and I went. I ended up going on without any rehearsal. Chris was there and was a bit worried. But the show went really well.

I was really happy to get the opportunity for that to be my first show. Within the Golden Hour is definitely very unique. Since then, it's been pretty much the same. I've been thrown into a lot and have just really embraced all the opportunities I've been given. You have to look at the positive side. And make the most of it!

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Brienne Walsh, March 3, 2015

This week is Armory Week in New York, which means that the piers over the frozen waters of New York's rivers will be inhabited by a variety of art fairs. Whether you're a film aficionado, a young collector, a fan of emerging art or merely interested in getting a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the art world at the present moment, there's plenty to do. We've put together a guide to the 8 fairs to help you navigate this exciting week of art.

1. The Armory Show
Piers 92 & 94
Twelfth Avenue at 55th Street
March 5-8

Although not the only game in town, The Armory Show is the headline event of the week. This year's iteration will feature booths from 199 galleries hailing from 28 countries. The themed section of the fair, curated by Omar Kholeif, the current Curator of Whitechapel Gallery in London, is entitled "Armory Focus: Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean" ("Focus: MENAM"), and will feature galleries and artists from a region that includes cities such as Beirut, Dubai, Athens and Istanbul. Along with checking out the booths, be sure not to miss "A Convention of Tiny Movements" (2015), a work by the 2015 Armory Commissioned artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan that consists of an audio essay, a series of amalgamated objects and 5,000 potato chip packets distributed as a free souvenir.

2. The ADAA Art Show
Park Avenue Armory
Park Avenue at 67th Street
March 4-8

Generally the most blue chip of all of the fairs during Armory Week, the ADAA Art Show will feature curated solo, two-person and thematic exhibitions by 72 of the nation's leading art dealers. Highlights include never-before-seen photographs from Lorna Simpson's series "Walking and Lying Objects" at Salon 94's booth, and "The Heart Has Its Reasons," a bronze sculpture by Tracey Emin presented by Lehmann Maupin. If you don't have money for an original but want a piece of the action, Pace Prints has printed a special edition by Ella Kruglyanskaya. Each of the 30 prints will be sold for $1,500, and the money raised will go to benefit the Henry Street Settlement.

3. Independent
548 West 22nd Street
March 5-8

Once the most avant garde of the fairs, the Independent has since become a mainstay for academics and art world cool kids. Held at the former DIA building, the fair will host over fifty emerging galleries and non-profits from 14 countries including Balice Hertling from Paris, CANADA from New York and Gaga from Mexico City. Expect less an art fair than a sprawling group exhibition that reads something like a biennial or triennial at a museum. A special edition publication has been produced on the occasion of the event with the Independent's media partner Mousse.

4. Volta
Pier 90
Twelfth Avenue at 48th Street
March 5 - 8

A sister fair to the Armory, Volta focuses on solo projects presented by 93 galleries from six continents. Located on a pier a few blocks south from the main event, galleries at Volta offer more in depth views of the artists they represent. Time your visit around The Volta Salon, presented in collaboration with artnet, which features panel discussions by art world professionals. Highlights include CUBA AFTER THE THAW, a conversation moderated by Claudia Calirman, Assistant Professor of Art History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (March 6, 6-7pm), and ART AND THE CLOUD: COLLECTING AND INVESTING IN DIGITAL ART, moderated by Paddy Johnson, the founder of Art F City (March 7, 4:30-5:30pm).

5. Scope
639 West 46th Street
March 6-8

Also located a few blocks away from the Armory Show, Scope, a satellite fair that also pops up at Art Basel Miami Beach, among other major fairs, prides itself on its open format layout. The 2015 iteration in New York houses presentations by 60 international galleries including SCAI, Seoul, Rebecca Hossack Gallery and Gallery on Wade. Focusing on less well known galleries in the international art scene, SCOPE also hosts a Breeder Program that introduces new galleries to the contemporary market -- alumni of the program include the now well-known galleries Peres Projects, Daniel Reich Gallery, Bischoff/Weiss and INVISIBLE-EXPORTS.

6. Pulse
125 West 18th Street
March 5 - 8

Like Scope, Pulse is a satellite fair that has annual editions in both New York and Miami Beach. What sets it apart from the other fairs is the PROJECTS program, which features audience-engaging large-scale sculptures and installations. At Pulse New York 2015, Projects include "Scudder Towers Down," (2008) a video with sound by Jonathan Calm, who explores his childhood growing up in the projects in East New York, and "The Cloud," (2013), an interactive lighting fixture by Richard Clarkson that senses a viewer's presence, and mimics their behavior in the form of a thundercloud.

7. Art on Paper
Pier 36
On the FDR Between Montgomery and Clinton
March 5 -8

Appearing for the first time, Art on Paper is an event that features artists who look to paper as a major influence on their sculpture, drawing, painting and photography. Located on a vista in downtown Manhattan with sweeping views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, Art on Paper is presented in collaboration with the Brooklyn Museum and the Wall Street Journal. Special projects include "Dave Eggers: Untitled," an installation of larger than life reproductions of drawings by the famous writer presented by Electric Works, and "Dogfight," a work by Michael Scoggins consisting of paper airplanes engaged in a war game.

8. Moving Image
Waterfront Tunnel
Eleventh Avenue between 27th and 28th Street
March 5 - 8

Free to the public, galleries and institutions participating in Moving Image present single-channel videos, single-channel projections, video sculptures and other larger video installations. Projects include presentations by Charlie Ahearn in collaboration with P·P·O·W gallery (New York, NY) and Pink Twins with Sinne Gallery (Helsinki, Finland). On March 5, the day the fair opens, organizers will announce the artist chosen for the Midnight Moment, a video screened just before 12am on the jumbo screens in Times Square for the month of April. The Midnight Moment program is held in collaboration with the Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC) and Times Square Arts.

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Brienne Walsh is a freelance writer who contributes to Art in America, Interview Magazine, The Huffington Post, Glo, NY Mag, The New York Times, and the NY Daily News, among other publications.

One of the actors, citing her skills in the production's playbill, says she's a "things meshed together" artist. She acts, she sings, and she makes music. Throw in the making of art and that's what Four Larks' spectacular production of "The Temptation of Saint Antony" is, a meshed together multimedia phantasmagoria, aka junkyard opera.

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Photo by Summer LeVeque

Created and directed by Four Larks (Mat Diafos Sweeney and Sebastian Peters-Lazaro), it's adapted from Gustav Flaubert's "La Tentation de St Antoine." The Hermit (Max Baumgarten) sequesters himself in a cave to commune with God. If we couldn't read his mind, we'd just see some scraggly guy rocking and roiling to whatever internal dramas play out in his mind. Since we can, though, we channel his same temptations, each of which tries to divert him from the Word made immanent.

We meet/he struggles with the Seven Deadly Sins, Biblical Miscreants, including the Queen of Sheba (Kalean Ung), King Nebuchadnezzar (Eli Weinberg), Gnostic Heretics, the gods and demons from other religions and, last but not least, the embodiments of Lust and Death. Other cast members include Caitlyn Conlin as Hilarion, a fellow anchorite, Zachary Carlisle Sanders as the Gymnosophist, an Indian ascetic, and Paula Rebelo as Ammonaria, an Alexandrian martyr.

Photo by Matt Kollar

The story itself is an inspired choice to stage. It recounts the blazing obstacles that saints face as they devote their lives to God. Whether you believe in saints, you have to at least acknowledge febrile visions. They're in abundance here. It's written that Flaubert conceived it as a stage script. Even so, there were no design instructions, no music - nothing that would lead you to think the text would evolve into an intimate Cirque du Soleil marvel.

Photo by Matt Kollar

The production feels like one big epiphany. Everything visual, aural, and tactile is keenly integrated. The visuals are nothing short of miraculous. You don't get the play's location until you get your tickets. On a dark and rainy night we entered a building that, from the outside, wasn't even remotely theatrical. It might as well have been a cave in Egypt.

Photo by Matt Kollar

As you approach the stage from the front door, you encounter a curtain of pages from a book; similar pages papier-mâchéd on the walls; and a bunch of typewriters (worth a fortune on eBay). On stage, Antony types with the sound and fury you can only get with a manual typewriter. He pounds the keys, rips the sheet of paper off the platen, balls it up, and throws it into the audience. This is meant to suggest he's having trouble articulating what he experiences. For us, though, it's a signal that the story is going to be as much about visuals as it is about the paucity of words to articulate a transcendent experience.

Photo by Matt Kollar

And what visuals. There's a reason that the Temptation of Saint Anthony is such a favorite subject for artists. The premise is simple - a hermit in a cave. The temptations, though, give free reign to the imagination. Surrealists and proto-surrealists like Bosch, Dali, and Ensor have all painted the scene. The visuals, courtesy of Peters-Lazaro and Regan Baumgarten, present everything and everyone in white (white as in a blank slate; white as in a pure soul). White also makes it easy for the audience to inscribe themselves into each utterance, each movement. Along with the music, the physical expressions, the facial contortions, and the co-joined dances feel both Baroque and postmodern, like a collaboration between Caravaggio, David Byrne, Twyla Tharp, and Kabuki masters. It's a nimble and adroit cacophony: everything's restless yet subdued, vivid yet simple, tortured yet eloquent. In short, it perfectly describes the life of a saint.

The music's by Ellen and Warkentine and Mat Sweeney. Jesse Rasmussen wrote the lyrics. Though you don't later hum the tunes, you do notice the way they fill the cave with music of the spheres. You do literally notice the music: an orchestra sits off to the side, framed by a harp (Katherine Redlus) and a trombone (Matthew Proffitt), a pairing that suggests something out of one of Kurt Schwitters' Dada poems. There's also a piano and clarinet (Warkentine), a violin (Danny Echevarria), a cello (Prudence Rees-Lee), and percussion (Kevin Schlossman).

You walk away with the sense that you've seen something extraordinary. This is a sensuous and intellectual experience. It's literate, gorgeous, and thought-provoking. You're held in ecstatic thrall from way before the start to long after the finish. Words on paper (literally from the moment you walk in the door) brought to life with great imagination and vivid vision. Is there a better definition of memorable live theatre?

Performances are 8:30pm, Tuesday - Saturday. NOTE: The play runs until March 6. The location will be revealed upon booking. For more information visit fourlarks.com or write info@fourlarks.com

Striking and massive murals by international street artists have been populating the walls of Mexico City for the last five years thanks to the emergence of a global Street Art scene, a rise in mural festivals, and the country's tradition of institutional support for murals that further a socio-political mission. There hasn't been much of the latter lately, however, and it is doubtful that a new politically charged mural campaign underway in certain central neighborhoods is likely to receive tax dollars for the paint and ladders.

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Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Without sighting a specific ill to address, the new mural initiative named "Manifesto" is challenging a select group of local and international street artists to express their opinions on weighty and topical matters through murals, "using art as a social tool to propose, reflect and inform." Among possible topics that might be addressed, the manifesto for "Manifesto" says, are increasing poverty, glorified materialism, the exhausting of natural resources, a fraying social web, and a dysfunctional justice system.

At the heart of the matter of course is the still turbulent national discussion surrounding the series of violent events last September that resulted in the disappearance of 43 students in the state of Guerrero, igniting a public spectacle of accusations, arrests, outrage and fear with each new gut-wrenching revelation searing the senses of Mexicans at all levels of society six months later.

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Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

"This situation exposed a deep crisis in the power structures that has shaken opinions worldwide and has created a movement within our society where people are speaking out," says Emilio Ocampo from FIFTY24MX, a gallery that shows the work of the artists and is securing walls in neighborhoods of Roma, Juárez, San Miguel Chapultepec, Centro Histórico, and Peralvillo.

Based on the response to the mural by Italian street artist EricaIlcane, however, "Manifesto" may be running into resistance against certain modes of artistic speech, and censorship has suddenly appeared. The ribbon around the neck of a cymbal-banging monkey originally contained the colors of the Mexican flag but has now been painted black. The monkey was overlooking a street in a part of town central to political marches, and Ocampo says it "is always a very 'sensitive' part of the city."

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Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

So, he says, "the owners were a little bit scared about the ribbon around the monkey." For those living outside of Mexico, no particular association may be made from the green, white, and red bands hanging around the monkey's neck, but here it has meaning.

"It seemed to him (the wall owner) as a direct reference to the presidential ribbon," says Liliana Carpinteyro, Co-Director of the gallery with Arturo Mizrahi about the significance of the "banda presidencial". Many discussions took place between all parties and "in the end the artist agreed to change it," she says.

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Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

"You have to consider that this piece is located in the main downtown avenue where all the protesters pass through in their way to the Zócalo, where the 'Palacio Nacional,' the national government headquarters, is located," explains Carpinteyro.

Because many people were watching the creation of the wall and sharing images of it across their devices, the blackout sparked a lively reaction that included condemnation for cowardice. "This situation created a social media reaction, people were irritated and a freedom of speech dialogue happened," says Carpinteyro, commenting on the outcry.

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Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Unable to sway the building owner, the organizers were glad they could keep the monkey nonetheless. Ocampo sees the conversations and "the haters" as a positive development because the art and its censorship sparked just the kind of reaction people should be having right now.

"They wanted us to change the colors to black. But you know what? We like that censorship, and the reactions it produced. That also means that the message bothered someone. We love both images: with the tricolored ribbon and now with black."

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Erica Il Cane painting it black. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

No stranger to controversy, the largely anonymous Italian BLU has similarly featured the banded colors of the Mexican flag in his mural but with bluntly acidic criticism -- with the green appearing as dollars, the white as lines of cocaine, and the red a dripping liquid similar to blood. Framing the flag are military figures standing guard.

You may recall the coffins draped with dollars in the BLU mural that was censored at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2011 during the "Art in the Streets" exhibition -- but so far this new one has not merited the same response.

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Blu. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Just finishing her wall for "Manifesto" is the Colombian street artist Bastardilla, who uses a more subdued palette to depict cherubic writers with pencils for arrows afloat on an open text signed "Vivos Los Queremos", circled by alligators in choppy waters.

Meanwhile Erica Il Cane has just completed his second mural yesterday; much less invective, but terrorizing in its metaphorical circumstance. A snaggle-toothed and spotted member of the leopard family lowers his snapping smile upon five rabbits standing on hind legs as if to great him. One bunny even appears to offer a carrot. Another of los conejos is wearing an arm-band with the number "43".

Ocampo says it is a little difficult to get new walls right now, but the organizers are not giving up. "Obviously the project will not be cancelled but we are still trying to get those permissions."

"We think this incident is a reflection of the self-censorship that we decide to live in," says Carpinteyro, "perhaps a result of living in a political system that for years has oppressed the weakest. But its also evidence that art has the capability to move people."

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Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

"Manifesto" will include new works from BLU (Italy), Saner (Mexico), Swoon (US), Ericailcane (Italy), Franco JAZ Fasoli (Argentina), Curiot (Mexico), Bastardilla (Colombia), Ciler (Mexico), and Vena2 (Mexico).

Our very special thanks to Emilio Ocampo of FIFTY24MX Gallery @fifty24mx for his assistance with this article and to Nasser Malek Hernández @nssr21 for sharing his photos exclusively with BSA readers.

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In June 2013, the New Yorker paid tribute to Vasily Grossman, unheralded Russian war correspondent and novelist. Unheralded to me, at least. Apparently not to the rest of the literate public.

The full title of the New Yorker essay is "Vasily Grossman: Loser, Saint." The saint part didn't interest me. The loser part did. I stayed up all night thinking about how great writing depends not just upon loss, but upon truly being a loser.

Loser implies weakness, emptiness, deprivation, and immiseration. However, Tolstoy (Grossman's muse), Proust, Fitzgerald, Pynchon were to the manor born. Tolstoy and Proust literally. Fitzgerald could claim Francis Scott Key ancestry. Pynchon descended from Puritan William Pynchon, the founder of Springfield, Massachusetts in 1636. No losers there.

Likewise for Melville, Hawthorne, Kafka, Joyce, Faulkner, Hemingway. Virginia Woolf, Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, David Foster Wallace. All emerged from middle-class backgrounds. Even Vasily Grossman occupied the upper-middle levels of the Russian social ladder and received his formal education as an engineer. And Dostoevsky -- who experienced desperate poverty as a result of his political/literary imprisonment in Siberia (and mock execution), chronically desperate health, and rampant gambling addiction -- also trained as an engineer.

The middle class and upper class origins of our greatest novelists should surprise no one. Literacy itself has typically required some threshold level of wealth. The experiences of Edgar Allan Poe and James Baldwin, two freakishly gifted writers who somehow rose from abject poverty like scriven demigods, are exceptions that prove the rule. Poe famously failed out of the University of Virginia and West Point. Baldwin prepped at DeWitt Clinton High School and studied at The New School.

The loser epithet therefore bears deeper scrutiny.

The creation of art requires assimilation of the starkest realities and contradictions of our uncertain nature and existence. Betrayal, violence, and death dangerously draw the artist to the flame. The artist travels where others will not tread. She rends the veil. Great art is religion without God. The artist is Tolstoy's Hermit in Three Questions, Cormac McCarthy's Mennonite in Blood Meridian, a Prophet Fool.

Art is genesis. Hatching a fully fleshed world, dense with character and narrative, from a single deed. A passing glance.

However, creation requires transgression, the obliteration of boundaries, and vision beyond vision. The artist does not choose her creation. The creation chooses the artist, impregnates the artist, violates the artist, and inflames the artist. This requirement, to inhabit the worlds one births, both elevates and isolates the artist. The art is a subtraction of the self, an absence, a loss one can experience but never share. Hence the loneliness. And it should not surprise us, therefore, that few of the authors mentioned in this essay escaped the afflictions of postpartum poverty, depression, illness, and addiction. Creation hurts. The artist falls anew each day.

Loss too easily slips into failure. Creation can require destruction. Of spouses. Of progeny. Of friends. Creation also requires an audience, but cannot guarantee it. Without an audience, without external validation, emptiness and nihilism can impinge upon the artist. The scorn of one's peers will buffet a writer, but silence will utterly unhinge her.

And yet no writer can create without claiming and embracing a marginal status, without the immense artistic horizons self-reduction offers. The artist as loser, as outcast, as exile, as a point diminishing to near oblivion, acquires the freedom to create capaciously out of nothingness, which is the same as infinity. The artist vanishes. We inherit everything left behind.

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