Postmodernism

Marissa Arterberry asks:

What are your thoughts on Postmodernism?

Do you consider your work in any way Postmodernist?

kelly: discussions about Postmodernism, in my experience, very quickly become too heady, and i am not attracted to this kind of interaction often. i am additionally not attracted to the exercise of labeling myself too much. i acknowledge the dichotomous nature of my proclamations however, which lends to the vibe of what Postmodernism is: a concept that in and of itself is hard to define, a concept that proves the difficulty of intellectualizing art. ... about dichotomy: so, we’ve got things (feelings, personality traits, elements of nature, etc.) that in their oppositeness rub up against each other like curious confused kittens. we cannot deny the existence of dichotomy everywhere in our world. there is a place of holy worship just feet from a war zone. perhaps you’ve been "in love" b4, but delusional about what ~healthy love~ really is. the ocean is calm and fascinating, but sometimes violent and hella polluted. the feelings created by opposite things merging are the very foundation of Postmodernism. as aforementioned, i prefer few labels on my work or on my sleeve, but i gather that my preference for ambiguity and bucking what’s come before are Postmodern ideas. let me tell you what i think we’re really up to tho, because it’s beyond Postmodernism. the community of artists that i gravitate toward is operating from spaces that are more energy-based, more mystical. sounds are words. color and iconography (in placement and mere presence) equate efforts to communicate a deeper meaning: something of the spirit, of a life past, of a shape shifted, of a message received, of a dream. while such concepts are not absent from art movements of before, i think a newfound fixation on this creative magic is much more intensified within my inner-circle of art-fam. i think my friends (we yung emerging artists) are quite conscious of our purpose to create a new movement, one that is even more difficult to touch with text and analogy. everything is becoming much more experiential, sometimes so wordless that it remains a shadow for a long stretch of time ... until we accordingly morph to greet it //depart // over n over.

The International Museum of Women's Blog

friends,

~ ~ ~ i am super stoked about this article, created by my dear friend, Marissa Arterberry.

check out my interview for The International Museum of Women's blog:
here

lady-roars, 5

^ beauty ~ ~ ~

!!! welcome to lady-roars, 5 ~ !!!
i initiated free*form conversation with fellow women creators about art, identity, and whatever else.

~ ~ ~

Marissa Arterberry is a visual artist working in the realms of painting, illustration, and installation. Born and raised in San Jose, California, Marissa graduated with a B.A. in Painting from San Francisco State University. She writes for her own arts blog, Black Butterfly, as well as for Her Blueprint, the International Museum of Women‘s blog. She has exhibited work throughout the Bay Area as well as in Chicago and Brooklyn. Marissa currently lives and works in Oakland, California.

~ ~ ~

I think that being an artist is one of the most wonderful professions a person can choose, as well as one of the toughest and most misunderstood. It is getting up every day and creating something special to share with the world, and it is having no guarantees that work you do (and it is work ~ there are some folks who don’t view it that way) will keep a roof over your head or put food on your table. Because of that, the people drawn to this profession are deeply passionate and committed to what they do. Sometimes that is all you have.

What I’ve learned is that part of working as an artist, especially an emerging artist, is having to be your own cheerleader a lot of the time. Everything will be picked apart and questioned by others: the nature of your work (shouldn’t you be doing something more commercially viable?), what it is that you’re trying to “get” at the end of the day, a run-down of how you haven’t made any money at this supposed career of yours. I’ve heard it all, and it never stings any less. But what hurts more is to give in to those pressures and to try to be someone else. I try to just face the music and learn to deal with it by finding something else that feeds my soul, to counteract all the criticism. I can't hide from it.

I know that I’m going to be creating all of my life, because it is like breathing for me. Art is the first thing on my mind when I wake up in the morning, and there is nothing more satisfying than making something by hand, purely out of my imagination. It’s so much fun!

Right now I’m in a phase where my work wanders off the canvas more, which came from this time where I was too broke to afford paint and canvas. At first I was very frustrated, and felt like I couldn’t do anything. What I did have was a bunch of old sheets of watercolor paper, and watercolor paints (which last forever since a little bit can always be reused). I began to paint characters on the paper and cut them out. I found colorful yarn and ribbons cheap at craft stores, and made hangings out of my cutouts, with big trails of yarn and ribbon. I’ve been creating altar installations with the cutouts, and not a scrap of paper or ribbon goes to waste. I found out I can always make something somehow.

check out my full-length artist's interview with Marissa by clicking HERE.

lady-roars, 4

~ she's a sunshine daydream ~

!!! welcome to lady-roars, 4 ~ !!!
i initiated freeform conversation with fellow women creators about art, identity, and whatever else.

Maro Bizarro is a purple-monster-butterfly-fish somewhere out to sea. She fled from her home (Wisconsin) in early 2008. She resides now (with her puppy) between Athens, Greece and her teeny tiny village on the Corinthian Gulf. Bizarro enjoys making masks and stages, painting, writing, teaching, making movies, taking photos, and cooking.

* * *

I can only tell you that I aspire to use creativity throughout my life, because I don't really like the alternative. I aspire to do everything with love, tastefulness, fun, intuition, and the results so far have been rewarding.

* * *

I do not consider myself an emerging artist, necessarily. I think that I have always just wanted things to be attractive. I have affected some people in my travels who have asked me to work for them in movies, television (special FX), and theatres (makeup FX, set design, and teaching as well). I am emerging each time I impress myself with an awesome idea, or when I find someone else like-minded. I have never thought about a lifelong commitment in doing one thing; I like surprises and change, although I dream that I will always be friends with alginate and paint, film, and other creative people forever.

* * *

what is it like to identify as an artist/creator?

There once was a purple monster butterfly fish. She could do anything. First of all, she was the Earth, but she could flutter through the storms and escape through the roughest seas. Her friends wore stingers and wings, were dressed in scales and shells, and had really come to the most serene rainbows on their journeys. Sometimes however, she transformed her wings into bones, her fins into flesh, with an enormous amount of hair and heat. In this form, she experienced such complex creatures that she preferred to befriend only pleasures. With these components, she was able to relax and smile, make jokes and tell stories, but she was blind. One day, after a long flight, a mosquito ate her wings and she was forced to return to the sea. She gazed at the clouds, at the stars, and at the other fairies and butterflies and reminisced of her times in the heavens. She became so comfortable with only her fish-nature that she slowly forgot the wonders of the sky. She could no longer feel the cool air perpetuate momentum and inertia in her body. Slowly, she even forgot how to breath. She decided to return to the earth for awhile, perhaps for a short visit.

* * *

Well, I am here in Greece now, trying to freelance the f*** out of everything I do, while remaining interested in everything and taking any artistic opportunity I can. I have no idea where I am going? For the moment, I like where I am. This spring, I will take part in a 7-artist collaborative exhibition in Athens. I hope to do more independent exhibitions in the future, as well as participate in the Athens Film Festival.

* * *

I have had support, in some kind of way, from everybody I have probably ever met. I’ve had a lot of apathy as well, which usually left me unaffected, or, oddly inspired. I like support and I like not having support sometimes, too. Both can affect an artist's work quite positively.

lady-roars, 3

Candid Lee, forever diva

!!! welcome to lady-roars ~ #3 ~ !!!
i initiated free*form conversation with fellow women creators about art, identity, and whatever else.

"Candid Lee is an hyperbole. She is a brilliant blonde baritone and also sometimes known as an iconoclastic clusterfuck. What you see is only the beginning of what you get!

Candid Lee fancies herself an unofficially recognized genius. But she's cool with that shit because she doesn't have any room in her house for any more awards of recognition. And yes, she has been recognized for almost everything, from the 'loudest bitch' to the 'butchest femme.' It is a good thing Candid Lee is all about seeing other persons as equals, or else she'd be a pretty pretentious asshole!

Candid Lee is a Libra, lactarded, and fond of alliteration. She is a proud Ethical Slut and recommends reading the book of the same title which she did not write, but would have loved to have written. She offers unsolicited advice on her blog and practices acting like hot shit because that is one award she actually gave to a friend who totally was hot shit this one time, right, but now she's got this empty frame and a heart full of TEARS!!! cuz a hot shit award is not easy to come by!

But that other bitch who totally was hot shit for real-real is totally doing the honor justice. Maybe Candid has an award for you, too!"

Art musing from Candid: "I'm an iconoclastic clusterfuck who would very much like to entertain the world into thinking about things they might otherwise view as taboo. And bitch, I AM art. Where am I now? In front of my computer typing this shit. Where am I going? Published author territory and one-person show territory, which are just pit stops."

lady-roars, 2

Erin Sullivan, rockstar

!!! welcome to lady-roars, 2 ~ !!!
i initiated free*form conversation with fellow women creators about art, identity, and whatever else.

Erin Sullivan is a bassoonist from Denver, Colorado. She is currently finishing her dissertation for a doctorate degree in music performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since college, Erin has had a passion for performing modern music written for the bassoon. Her dissertation, which expands on this interest, is on Luciano Berio's Sequenza XII, a monstrous piece for solo bassoon, which demands the performer to master all of the most difficult techniques developed for the instrument. She will perform the piece in August.

* * *

"Life is an opportunity, happiness is a choice." This is a phrase I read from an article in Rolling Stone used by Jimmy Fallon's wife in describing her husband's optimism; and it really describes why I feel being a musician is an opportunity that has lead to positive and happy choices. I learned in college that making my love of music into a career would not be an easy road, but every time I would have doubts about how far I could take this career, I would always ask myself, "what else could you do that would make you this happy?" Since I could never find an answer to this question I kept going. Now that I am almost done with my doctorate degree and the pressure of being a musician as a full-time job is ever present, the statement of "life is an opportunity, happiness is a choice" is even more poignant. I choose to be a bassoonist, a not so common occupation, but I do so because I am continually happy with this choice. Being a musician is about being an opportunist: no one is going to come along and say, "here is this high paying great position for you." Instead you have to be willing to take that day job while you network with everyone in the field and be willing to do jobs outside of your comfort zone like in my case, teaching middle school students. I think that the cliché of a suffering artist is crap. Of course this lifestyle has its difficulties, but in the end it is a choice. With happiness comes trust, which is the foundation every artist needs to succeed: trust in one's talent, in one's ability to overcome problems, and trust in one's choices.

lady-roars, 1

blue fawn, Jenn Kay

!!! welcome to lady-roars, 1 ~ !!!
i initiated freeform conversation with fellow women creators about art, identity, and whatever else.

My name is Jenn and art has always been significant to me. Growing up I was more into drawing things, usually graphite sketches. Lately, I've been embracing the digital camera revolution and enjoy modeling and taking silly pics of my own. ((Jenn lives in Brooklyn with her man, his pup, and her bunnies.))

Art to me, is like a breath of fresh air. It makes me feel alive and more aware of the world and people around me. Likewise, it can provide an escape from the world. While I have been unable to dedicate as much time as I'd like to my art, I try to incorporate it in my own aesthetic, no matter how subtle it may be. Of course I'll do a photo shoot any chance I get, or do a quick sketch if I have the urge to create.

Since this is how my relationship with art has been over the past couple years, I have a feeling that it will always be with me; I will always be creating, whether it's sporadic or constant. With how hectic things are for me as of late, sporadic creations just seem to be what's working for me right now. Photo shoots also just seem to flow more easily for me as opposed to drawing things. So yes, I believe modeling can be an art if that's the intention behind it. I've also been taking plenty of snap shots lately of the world around me, and while I know that's not really a serious art, I enjoy it because of that aspect.

One of the things that seems to hinder my creative process is a lack of structure. Back when I was in high school, I had a lot of support from teachers and fellow students, and they were a constant factor. That helped a lot in regards to finding the energy to make things happen. Not that I'm saying I don't get any support for any of the art I make now, but it's not a constant thing anymore. My support is now coming from friends who happen to *stumble upon* my creations. Another thing about that that I know holds me back is the networking I personally would need to do to just advertise me. I almost feel like I can't get serious enough to do that, which can be a good and bad thing. I don't mind though, since I view my creations as a visual expression of what I may be feeling, but also part of my escape from this world … and just something fun and silly, even carefree.

Yea, I like how that sounds. Carefree art.

artist's interview: CLAUDIA BAETHGEN!

a note from kelly: so, i'm totally chilling in my purple panties and blue sweater. my sweet bunny is behind me and she just sneezed like a llama. we've gotten about 16 solid hours of snow here in Maine, which cushions my apple cider party. anyway, i tell you ~ ~ ~ i've been thinking a lot about my friend, Msss. Claudia, who is one of the most unique fawns i've had the pleasure of swimming with. Claudia would no doubt fare well in this quiet snow. may you enjoy the insights posted below from this up-and-coming fashion-queen. xo.

kelly ~ where were you born and raised? at what point did you move to the U.S. and for what reasons? does NYC suit you at this present point in your life? do you think you'll stay awhile?

Claudia ~ I was born in Florence, Alabama, but raised in Uruguay. I moved to the U.S. when I was about 15 years old with my mother and sister and dogs. There was an economic crisis at the time ~ my mother lost her job and the home wasn't happy. We were in Virginia first, then New Jersey. Now I'm in Brooklyn living like a teenager, and in Manhattan working like an adult. I really like living here because I have fun even when I'm bored and because I'm super ambitious. I think I will stay here for a really long time ~ I decided that I won't leave until I truly have the desire to live somewhere else. I don't want to allow myself to run away.

kelly ~ so, it is my opinion that you are one of the most innately sweet, caring, beautiful, gentle, and child-like creatures of our time. would you please provide 11 words that lend insight into your identity?

Claudia ~ I am: ghost, dance, smoke, a stray, a person, loyal, resilient, silent, improving, excited, learning ~ ~ ~

kelly ~ do you have some favorite animals? do you have a favorite place to retreat to? do you enjoy the ocean? what is your favorite food?

Claudia ~ My favorite animals are the ones with hair ~ right now I'm especially preferring canines. My favorite place to retreat to is my bedroom, though it's rare for me to retreat. The ocean is beautiful, but I prefer meadows and mountains. My favorite food is cookies ~ especially ones with chocolate. 

kelly ~ i know that you've studied clothing design, but recently, you opted not to return to school. i think this is an incredible choice. talk to me about the reasons why.

Claudia ~ My first year of college was very intense. I was in Italy and all the professors were really great. I developed lots of new skills and I made beautiful friends. When I came back to New York it was different. I felt like I wasn't really learning any new skills, but just practicing ... and things were repeating over and over. I thought I'd rather practice through the real thing, and once I started interning, I realized that it worked much better for me. The first week of my sixth semester I was sitting in class listening to all the professors go through the syllabus ... and I just knew it was time, so I dropped most of my classes ... and then once the semester was over I didn't go back. That is the short story. 

kelly ~ you've got a rad gig right now in the fashion world. tell the peeps what you're doing, learning, and working towards.

Claudia ~ I'm working for a designer called Gary Graham. It's really fun and challenging at the same time, and my coworkers are so nice, creative, patient and smart. I'm learning so much! ... but one of my favorite things is trying to figure out the best way to work successfully with brains and personalities that are so different from mine ... My plans are secret, or at least I only share them with close ones.

kelly ~ why fashion?

Claudia ~ As a kid I had a very long period of unhappiness, maybe about six years. One day, I decided I couldn't be like that anymore, and I started working 

kelly ~ you are given the gift of $11,111. what do you do?

Claudia ~ I would pay my student loans ~ it's a boring answer, I know.

kelly ~ Claudia, i'd love to know what your ultimate happiness looks like. what are you doing or not doing? who is there? where you at?

Claudia ~ When I imagine ultimate happiness, I see myself as an old woman sitting on my porch ... finally getting some rest, being really satisfied with the things I have accomplished and the person I have become ... I am surrounded by flowers, there's also an old man, an old dog, an old cat, and old friends. I think that achieving happiness will take a lot of time and wisdom.

kelly ~ you are given a golden key. it is small, fits into your palm snugly. you are then lead to a big wooden boat that will sail across an ocean made of lavender and turquoise waves. what happens? tell me more!

Claudia ~ I try the key in every key hole in the boat, but it doesn't open anything! So I move to the front of the boat and I wish really hard that it will go faster, but then I think ... that the boat is probably going at just the right speed, so I begin wandering around. There are lots of people dressed in every color. I think I'm invisible, so I stare at one of them for a really long time because he has the biggest hair in the world. He is very confused, so he tries to do some small talk, but I don't like that ... so I just turn around. He is angry and throws me off the boat. ... I begin to swim ... until my feet touch the ground ~ then I begin to walk. I can see a door! It has a keyhole! I run super-fast and I trip and fall right in front of the door. I jump up and stick the key in the key hole. To my surprise it fits! To my even bigger surprise, the door was already unlocked. On the other side is a giant mirror. I laugh and then I fall asleep. 

kelly ~ as someone who has come and gone and will come again to NYC, i admire your willingness to stay-on for years to find your way. what do you love, like, and dislike about NYC?

Claudia ~ I like the abundance of everything there is! I feel like a kid in Disney world. What I dislike is how hard it is to feel "peace" here ~ It's a mental challenge, but then I think about it, and those two things are probably the same thing ... and I like the challenge. So, I guess in a way I even like the things I dislike about this place. I love that I can feel this city leading me to great things ... I can feel that something I want is here.

kelly ~ what are some of your hopes + goals for this new year? what transformations are you embarking upon? 

Claudia ~ The answer to this question is only for you ~ I feel nervous about strangers seeing it, not that it would matter to them. 

lovely reminder ~

baby cougar learning protection, vocal-prowess

foto: Jana Zagari

Kelly Shaw January 15 at 8:48am ~ ~ ~

i heart you, because you're so awesome ~ happy new year ~ and happy year of the HARE! ♥ ~ woman, i feel compelled to hear reminders from you about why living in isolation is brave. i mean, i get it, but rub my back a bit? ♥ xooooooooo ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Staci Hinrichs January 15 at 11:29am ~ ~ ~

oh my pretty sister ... who has the courage to rub up against themselves everyday? not many ... i know i spend much time avoiding such encounters with my feelings. you will sit in your skin so wisely in the future having felt and faced yourself like you are now ... find the love, baby ... find the peace so you can access it whenever you need it ~ forever and ever

Kelly Shaw January 15 at 11:48am ~ ~ ~

♥ ~ ~ thank you ~ ~ ♥

artist's interview: ERIK SCHOSTER

^ ^ ^ introducing brilliant sound artist, Erik Schoster ~
i met Erik in the late fall of 2001 when we were both
freshman at Lawrence University in Wisco.
one my favorite first memories of spending time with
Schoster included an evening stroll with a dictaphone ~
we captured the sounds of giggles, matches lighting,
and chats about squirrels, trees, and Gawd.
i have always been fascinated with Erik's sounds and
am endlessly grateful for the new music he
introduced me to at a time when my mind was most fresh.

for more about Erik, check out his site:
http://www.hecanjog.com

for a collaboration we created together, check out:
^ this link ^

1. kelly: wisconsin to new york to san francisco to wisconsin … not to mention the tours you’ve launched. talk to me about places ~ these places you’ve inhabited, pit-stopped, and toured. is place important? are seahorses important?

erik: Madison, Wisconsin is important to me, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Those are the places that have paved the most roads in my mind with experiences. I think I construct my understanding of place by relating to the people I meet. I hate to pick on Ohio, but it gets a lot of hate from natives and outsiders alike it seems. Ohio has a warm spot in my mind because of the 30-odd hours I was able to spend with Jeremy Bible - an incredibly warm and inspiring person. The show was a minor disaster and I don't remember a whole lot about the city itself, but the experience of place for me was mediated positively by hanging a bit at Experimedia headquarters and dorking out about records with Jeremy. I'm not sure I ever really get homesick when I travel - it's exhilarating to travel and see more of the things that there are to see in the world - but I definitely miss the people, and that can be very a palpable sting.

2. kelly: i sense some genuine excitement about your current studio space in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. what’s the set-up like? are you feeling newly inspired? have you reconnected with collaborators out that way?

erik: Having a work space outside of my bedroom has been a totally fresh and eye-opening experience. It's hard to say what exactly is so wonderful. I'm a private person, so it's great to have a fortress of solitude where I can work without interruptions (let's forget about twitter for a moment) and lose myself in a project at will. There's a vibrant community of artists and musicians on my floor as well though, who I'm happy to have gotten a chance to get to know a little better. We all mostly stay tucked away working on our various projects, but we have occasional film screenings in the common space. I've worked a little bit with Jason Nanna (who runs the Shampoo Horn with two other people) on setting up a studio file server for network-based collaborative projects, and generally we all manage to run into other another enough to make the space feel very much like a community. So it's nice to have a lot of square feet to comfortably house my (small, but growing) personal orchestra of doohickeys and sound makers - and the big old window I can look through in the summer quieted my mind after a rough few months in a basement apartment in SF - but the nicest thing is walking down the hall and seeing that new painting someone hung recently, or the tile mosaic project being constructed in the bathroom, and all of the other nice symptoms of the little community here.

3. kelly: Schoster, i mean not to be the presumptuous molasses-panther here, but like, i do sorta think we both had a suuuuuuuuuuuppppppppeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr weird time with Lawrence University. true for you? why or why not? were you creatively impacted by this experience?

erik: It was true for me too. I have a hard time reflecting objectively on that, even now. I'll just say that while I managed some spectacular failures during those years, I'm grateful for what they taught me. And mostly grateful for the folks - like you, Kel! - I met there. You can sell that to Hallmark if you want.

4. kelly: talk to me about your recent return to Lawrence University. you and Bryan Teoh, creative buddy, were invited back to do some electronic music stuffs. what was that like? what did y’all do? i mean, you posted something online about being welcomed back as a Conservatory of Music drop-out ~ as a fellow Conversatory drop-out myself, i’m curious bout your experiences in the recent-now with that place.

erik: Bryan and I played in the theatre at the new student center, which was the weirdest part of the experience. In two ways: it was already strange being in a familiar place filled with strangers, but the new building made the whole thing even stranger. It's a nice space though, and the theatre sound system goes to 11.

5. kelly: you’ve got lots going on!! there are soooooooo many recording projects (then, now) + websites, albums and albums and albums and tapes … talk to me first about luvsound, and if you would, give some time also to your recent accomplishments ~ i’m thinking middlemarch and the wolf-y tapes. any other info is welcome, por supuesto.

erik: The news with luvsound right now is that my friend Brendan Landis is coming aboard to run the ongoing but sorely neglected singles series and to generally help me run the label. We're both web developers and improvisors, so the combination is pretty natural - working on a netlabel website that releases a lot of improvised music together has come pretty easy so far I think! We're in the middle of a big web overhaul right now. I'm just stoked to be able to bounce ideas off of someone and not have to feel so much like a dictator with luvsound. I'm looking for more ways to relinquish creative control with that project - and to some extent in my work as a computer musician as well - because that's always been a productive thing for me to do. It's why I love playing in a band, and with other people as well. I'd rather be challenged in what I do than skip along merrily in the same way indefinitely.

6. kelly: what is your favorite dinner? what is your favorite candy? what does your hair look like today? … and do you believe in miracles?

erik: Oh dinner ~ so easy for me to answer this right now. I've totally fallen in love with my weird health-food efficiency meal-of-choice recently. In an effort to avoid dying of a heart attack at 30, for the last two years I've been working very hard on some areas of my health I'd been neglecting. So, during 2009 I spent several months recording meticulously every thing I ate, recording the nutritional information, and slowly adjusting it all to get me ingesting something decent while facilitating my incredible laziness for food preparation. Speaking of miracles - in November of 2009 my sister introduced me to the miracle that is quinoa. NASA is considering it for use in space colonies because of its health benefits. For vegetarians, it's a crazy source of protein and other good stuff, and for lazy assholes like myself: you can microwave it. Really! I know, gross right? Not even a little bit. So here's my quinoa salad favorite dinner could-eat-for-any-meal recipe.

Two or three cups of cooked quinoa.

~2 tbps tahini.

Dollop of hummus to taste.

Handful of raw shredded kale.

Optional can of tuna for extra bonus protein.

Mix it all up, eat it all up, and throw an apple or two on the side and there you go!

My candy is popcorn these days. My hair is in need of a cut, and I believe in quinoa.

7. kelly: i’ve known you to explore interests over the years in Buddhism, Icelandic sounds, tea, poetry, and dinosaurs. okay, dinos is a stretch, but perhaps you’ll humor us with words bout the others.

erik: Those have been interests! Iceland is still a dream - I'd love to visit some day - and while I think the way I practice listening now has taken the place Buddhism had for me growing up and in college a bit, it's a tradition I'd like to spend more time with.

8. kelly: influence. i recently checked out a powerpoint-style show you’d prepared about those who have influenced or inspired your creative jam. i realize you could go on for days about this, but uh, maybe you could give us a narrowed down overview.

erik: This is hard! Since the presentation mentioned some people that have inspired me as in improvisor, maybe I'll point to a few towering figures in my development as a composer: John Cage and Bernhard Guenter. If I don't stop there, I never will ...

9. kelly: do you like grass? trees? the ocean? what do you think of "settling down?" i mean, do you suppose you will anchor yourself in one location ever?

erik: I've thought I knew what the future had in store for me before - before I left NYC for example, I never expected to live anywhere but NYC for the rest of my life - but we'll see what happens. I doubt I'll stop traveling unless I'm no longer physically able, but I may stop moving my home around so much one of these years ...

10. kelly: it would be delightful for you to provide eleven words that describe you, Erik Schoster, a most peculiar being who is no doubt a polar bear + turtle + pond + enigmatic seed ~ ~ ~ + what else? ooooh, and i’d like to know what advice you’ve got for the kiddies. lay it on.

erik: For composers? I'll just echo something Clarence Barlow said, because I think he got it right: read books on aesthetics and acoustics, and learn to program. For anyone? Fail. Fail often. As much as possible. How about eleven numbers I find beautiful for no particular reason, but tend to gravitate toward in my work?

... 11, 5, 3, 7, 6, 2, 110. Oops, that's it I guess. Maybe 8. Maybe.

11. kelly: if i gave you $111,111, what would you do? wooooooo, peach pie!

erik: Pay my Dad's medical bills and send the rest to the Julian Assange Defense Fund if there was anything left ...

kelly: word up, my friend. love u so.

on anger ~

"There are so many other non-self elements that you can touch and recognize within yourself ~ your ancestors, the earth, the sun, water, air, all the food you eat, and much more. It may seem like these things are separate from you, but without them, you could not live."

"To grow the tree of enlightenment, we must make good use of our afflictions, our suffering. It is like growing lotus flowers; we cannot grow a lotus on marble. We cannot grow a lotus without mud."

"Practitioners of meditation do not discriminate against or reject their internal formations. We do not transform ourselves into a battlefield, good fighting evil. We treat our afflictions, our anger, our jealousy with a lot of tenderness."

"From time to time we have to make a decision, and sometimes the decision is very difficult. We are forced to make a painful choice. But if we know what is most important to us, what we most deeply want for our life, the decision-making will become easier, and we won't have to suffer a lot."

"Writing a book on yourself is a way of looking deeply to recognize the roots of your suffering and find ways to transform them. It will help you become a free and happy person, able to make others around you happy also."

~ all excerpts from ~ ANGER ~ by: Thich Nhat Hahn