Ethiopian Music to My Soul

The choice of Ethiopian music as my subject was an easy one. I have always been a fan of reggae music since my Dad first played Bob Marley’s Legend album for me when I was 5 years old. The roots of Marley’s compositions lie mainly in Rastafarian beliefs. Rastafarian beliefs have roots in Ethiopia, where they claim that former emperor Haile Selassie I was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

The two songs that I have chosen are by a female artist named Mekonen. Although she is singing in a foreign language, and I had a tough time finding translations for her lyrics, I believe her sound is a great example of Ethiopian music and how it relates to reggae.

Netsanet Mekonen:

and

Betelihem Mekonen:

One very unique aspect of these two songs is Mekonen’s voice. It has a very syncopated sound that seems to emphasize notes randomly while jumping up and down. To me, reggae music has a few specifics that classify it as such: a very rhythmic base guitar that seems to provide the main melody for the song, a “tic-toc-y” guitar that is strummed through the entire song, and usually some type of woodwind or brass instrument that gives solo performances throughout the song. All of these aspects are very obvious for the two selections that I have chosen.

I would also like to add one more selection to my blog.

This is a video of a live performance I attended (I am the one in bottom right corner in the wide angle shots with both my hands in the air). The artist is Lucky Dube (performing The Way It Is). Dube was a strong civil rights advocate in South Africa. He was gunned down during a carjacking in South Africa and I would just like to recognize his contribution to the music world by sharing this video with everyone.

REST IN PEACE LUCKY DUBE (1964-2007)

Post Modern Art: A Female Perspective

I would like to take you on a tour of feminist art. The two artists I chose for my virtual tour are Judy Chicago and Lisa Fifield. I believe that, through their art, these women exemplified what true feminism was about: celebrating women.

Judy Chicago grew up in Chicago and conducted her professional art training at UCLA. The first piece I would like to show you is one that was created in 1971 (not in 1975).

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The reason I chose to put this picture in my tour (even though it is before 1975), is to give you an idea of her roots. She was originally into minimalism, a style that sought to strip forms down to their bare essentials. “Rainbow Picket” is a great example of these minimalist roots that Chicago eventually abandoned for her more famous feminist art.

The most famous of these feminist art works is “The Dinner Party” (circa 1979).

I have provided two links so you can get a picture of the piece as a whole and also a close up of some of the featured artists within the piece. This painting, I feel, represents the feminist ideal of celebrating women. The names include every famous women imaginable (the majority of which I have never heard of): from mythical females goddesses to Virginia Wolfe and some first ladies. This piece not only makes the public aware of these women that have been a huge part of our history, but celebrates each one individually as if to thank them for everything that they have done for the female sex. The different accomplishments in the plethora of fields that these women are a part of is testament to the fact that women can be anything, and that, no matter what the accomplishment, they should rejoice in what they have become.

Here are some images taken from Judy Chicago’s THE BIRTH PROJECT (circa 1985). She sought to bring more attention to the birth process and an increased appreciation for women :

“Hatching the Universal Egg E5 Birth Power”

“Creation Tapestry”

“Birth Tear”

“Birth Joy”

“The Crowning NP4”

Lisa Fifield was a native American women belonging to the Oneida tribe in Wisconsin. Although a lot of her art was about celebrating the native heritage, and their close relation to nature, I felt one of her works in particular represented a feminist ideal.

“A Murder of Crows” shows a naked tree with crows in it towering above native American mothers and their children. I think one thing that people confuse feminism with is sexism. Sexism is geared towards the idea of equality (or inequality) of the male and female sex. Although feminists do wish to erase sexism, it is not their central theme. Feminism, as I have said before, is about celebrating women. True feminists would not discount a women that decided to raise her children at home and forget about going to law school or business school. Feminists would celebrate her choice to embrace her children and recognize the sacrifice she made. I believe that Lisa Fifield’s “A Murder of Crows” is a great example of celebrating the comfort that only a mother could give.

AMAZING MARGARET B.-W.

taken by Bourke-White in New York City, 1939

For me, the most obvious connection I make with Margaret Bourke-White and the Early Modern era, is her relation to technological and scientific advances during the time.  Because she was a college student during the Great Depression, it had little effect on her morale to succeed.  After attending many colleges, she finally completed her degree at Cornell and then moved to Cleveland, Ohio where she begin her photojournalist career.  Her childhood was also a precursor for her successes in photojournalism.  Her father was a naturalist, engineer, and inventor.  I believe it is her father’s imaginative spirit that inspired her imagination and technical prowess.

I chose this specific portrait of M. Bourke-White’s, because I felt it best represented the influences of technology.  At the time this photo was published in LIFE magazine (1939), it was quite an astonishing view.  Aviation was still a developing industry that was just beginning to offer access to the general public at this time.  Not only does this picture well represent technological advances, but it also extremely visually appealing.  It as if the DC-4 is resting on top of the buildings, waiting for the public below to climb up the towers and hop on in for a ride.  The time, effort and money that it must have taken to capture this photo are beyond me.  Aerial photography seems like it was just beginning to enter photojournalism (a completely blind guess, but this is a kind of picture that I have never seen before from this time period).

Impressionism, love it or hate it?

Subject is La Havre harbour in France

The idea of impressionist art is much more appealing to me than the actual art itself. When I first saw Claude Monet’s Impression, Sunrise (circa 1872, Le Havre harbor in Spain) I was not that impressed. I understood the painting: that it was supposed to be a portrait of sunrise on a body of water with activity going on in the water. I thought that the colors were well represented as far as the sun and sunrise was concerned.

The bone I have to pick with Monet is that I saw no detail in his paintings. Although some would argue with me that the heart of Impressionist art lies in the details and tiny color blotches that are laid on the canvas, I beg to differ. Impressionist art was all about tricking the eye, not necessarily pleasing the eye in all facets. Sure, Monet’s paintings look beautiful and complex when you are looking at them far away, but get up close and all you see is brush strokes and what seems to be a confused mess of colors. For me, appreciation of art lies in the details. I enjoy being able to get up close to a painting and notice the subtleties that the artist has added. I can not do this with Monet’s paintings.

For these reasons I am much more partial to Post-Impressionist art. I have seen the original A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte by George Seraut (circa 1985).

I viewed this painting in The Art Institute of Chicago and it is of grand proportion.  The original is a huge painting (6 by 9 feet).  This allowed me to see the details of the painting.  It was not blurred brush strokes like form impressionist art, but carefully placed dots.  It helped me see the details, such as the people waiting for the boats to dock in the distance and the man and women kissing in the background.

Surprise!! It’s Haydn’s Symphony

Surprise Symphony, by Franz Joseph Haydn, I feel, is a great representation of the classical composers move from the aristocratic to a more public, middle class demographic. Its simple melodic tones, and predictable direction makes it a simple, easy listen.

Synonymous with Hieronymus

          This triptych painting is called “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” and is by the Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.  The original painting was created during the early 16th century and is can currently be found in the National Museum of Prado, Madrid.  This paintings similarities to Salvador Dali is what first caught my eye.  However, this painting was created well before the Surrealism of the 20th century.

          After reading some background on Bosch, I feel that his style is best related to that of The Reformation.  Ironically enough, he belonged to a Catholic fraternity for the majority of his adult life and up to his death.  This is counter-intuitive to what we know of The Reformation.  A look into Bosch’s upbringing, however, will bring insight into his ever evolving critique of certain Catholic practices.  He grew up in an out-of-the-way, middle class town in Holland called Den Bosch.  Due to this towns seclusion from the mainstream, the towns political and social order was ever-wavering.  People in this town not only took visions as truth, but they also studied astrology at the universities and believed in witches.  I believe that it is these early childhood influences that gave him the outlet to multitude of imaginative creatures in his art.

          In this painting, Bosch depicts creation on the left panel and hell on the right panel.  In the middle are many naked people enjoying not only the ripe/rotten fruits, but also one another.  Bosch was trying to depict the follies and demoralizing affects that pleasures of the flesh can bring.

Stunt Hard

This is how I do it.  Respect the swagger.  These blogs are gonna be ridiculous!!