MoMA Mia!

“Welcome to the new museum. It’s still new,” said Agnus, as she lead a tour of the Modern Museum of Art (MoMA) in New York City. The museum was first built in the thirties. In the fifties it received gardens outside, which, according to Agnus, adds “culture” to museums.

The new museum was designed by the Japanese architecht Yoshio Taniguchi. One his influences were the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings. Several towers make the museum whole. And transparent catwalks connect the galleries between the towers. It almost feels like you’re outside because of the way the plate-glass windows draw in daylight. You can look outside and get a sense of “transparency and openness” rather than closure, especially with the giant skylights.

There are five floors in the museum that feature contempoary paintings, drawings, photography, sculptures, architecture, and films. On the fifth floor, a man in his underwear stepped on the canvas edge, looked at his feat, and grinned. “The Bather” was painted in 1885 by the French modernist Paul Cezanne. The rough and dirty-looking grey-blue color surface he worked on the painting in such a way as to mimic the way a laborer works in a field.

If you stroll onto the fifth floor, you’ll see five nude prostitutes with deformed faces and disproportionate bodies staring at you with huge misshapen eyes. Pablo Picasso painted “De Mozel.” At that time, painters were supposed to paint nude women so as to seduce the viewer. By making the ladies grotesque, Picasso subverted their function as objects of attraction.

Walk down a staircase to the fourth floor and look for Jackson Pollock’s abstract mural “Number 31.” It’s hard to miss – it takes up an entire wall and it looks as if he tried to magnify a tissue smeared with black-blood snot. But really, it’s filled with black and green and white drippings; the surface alternates between shiny and matte. Unlike many of the other paintings in MoMA, you can’t see a structured image in the painting.

On a dark-brown sand dune, the Gypsy lay on her left side. A white moon, along with several sparkling stars, hung above in the deep-sea-blue sky. She held a walking stick in her hand. She wore a multi-colored robe and a pink head towel. The pillow under her head was colored the same as the robe. Her mouth was barely open, revealing tiny teeth and her eyelids were closing over her black eyes – the moment when your mind is retreating from your body.

Several inches behind her back, a lion sniffed the sand. It stood so you could only see its right side. Its circular yellow eye had no lids. The wind blew its mane forward and its tail was in the air. The lions chin was concealed by the gypsy’s right shoulder, but not its mouth and nose.

“Henri Rousseau” was signed on the bottom right corner. His “The Sleeping Gypsy” was painted, oil on canvas, in 1897. It juxtaposes the expressionless, wide-awake lion and the sleepy human whose face expresses emotion, as though humans are the only species with feelings.

The Pulse of Trance

The main act appeared at 2:00 a.m. The sound of electronic drum beats pummeled an audience’s eardrums as they stood inside Crowbar in New York City on a Sunday morning, October 8th.

Armin van Buuren, trance music extraordinaire, stood on stage. His upper body kept beat as his hands adjusted mixing equipment on his CD tables. This Holland-born[1] DJ looked like any other thirty-year-old you might see on the street: he had short, blondish hair and he wore a t-shirt that read, “Road Kings” and a smile that made the crowd feel like he was one of the fans.

Born around 1990[2], trance music was the love child of dance and techno music. Armin nurtured his own trance style and currently holds Number #3 on the DJ Top 100[3]. On Saturday night, his music was a stream of electronic base drum beats layered with electronic violins, which he interlaced with ambient synths. Pulsive, rhythmic. The climax of some songs began with a high-pitched rattle, which piqued into an explosion of bass beats that surpassed anything a human could ever accomplish with a professional drum set.

The audience moved their arms and legs while a disco ball sprinkled them with white dots. The men wore Armani shirts with the sleeves rolled to their elbows and the women wore tank-tops, jean shorts, and skirts. The fans moved their arms and legs like they were trying to swim in an invisible pool. Nozzles on the ceiling randomly spewed them with fog, making it impossible to see. And if you thought the fog machines were cheesy, a razor-thin laser light beamed a ceiling over the entire room like something out of a George Lucas film.

Even though the special effects cried to be thrown in a box marked “1980,” the master of trance made his transitions from song to song seamless while constantly changing rhythms. But there were times when he turned the volume knob low so he could hear the crowd screaming, “Armin, Armin,” then cranked it up to keep the crowd’s chests pounding with even pulses Boom-kch Boom Boom-kch.

Armin continued smiling throughout the morning. Even when the music was still playing, he turned around, flipped the pages of his CD case, chose a disc, turned back, and loaded it onto his table. Fans reached over the corner of the stage and waved record jackets and sheets of paper. Every so often van Buuren walked to the stage edge and signed every one of them.

At one moment, the drums ceased, followed by an echo synth (which gave the feeling of relaxing on a beach) as a piano whispered in the background. Armin poked the green-laser-ceiling as though he were tapping the keys. The audience put their hands in the air and reached out for their morning-DJ.

Despite the effects that were better left in the eighties, Armin’s music was a new breed of trance that is likely to continue adapting in the world of dance and techno music.



[1] “Shivers.” Armin van Burren. Evibe. 24 Oct. 2006. par. 2 http://stage.arminvanbuuren.com/?id=7

[2] “Trance Music.” Synthtopia. SynthTopia. 2006. 24 Oct. 2006. par. 2 http://www.synthtopia.com/Articles/ElectronicMusicStylesTran.html

[3] Learmouth, Sally. “Armin van Buuren: Biography.” Armin van Buuren. Evibe. 24 Oct. 2006. par. 1 http://stage.arminvanbuuren.com/?id=9

"Frank Sinatra Has a Cold"

In which sections of the article can you tell Talese really did his homework?

Talese’s power of observation shows that Sinatra is arrogant. For instance, in a pool room he sees Sinatra criticize a screenwriter because of the way he’s dressed. Later, the screenwriter is told to leave the room. But then Talese exposes another side of Sinatra by interviewing his daughter, Nancy. According to her, Frank’s only way of getting privacy was sleeping on the couch, where he learned to press his tuxedo by sleeping a particular way. But, in contrast to his arrogance, he is sensitive: Frank cried at Nancy’s wedding.

Another section where Talese obviously researched thoroughly is when he observed Sinatra speaking with his father on the phone about how horrible he was feeling about the taping of the NBC show. Then Talese breaks into exposition about Frank’s parents. And he weaves this with an interview with Frank’s mother, Dolly. Through her dialogue, we learn about Frank’s parents and how his mother’s power over people and arrogance was instilled into Frank. The reader also learns about Frank’s upbringing and how he became a singer.

Talese takes this one step further by describing the environment in which he interviewed Frank’s mother – a house that Frank bought for his parents; the interior walls are adorned with photographs of religious figures; and a letter written by Frank hangs on the wall in which he expresses his love for his parents and also shows that he believes in God.

Write about how Gay Talese is able to get inside Sinatra’s head as if he knows Sinatra’s thoughts, feelings, and intentions

Talese shows Sinatra’s thoughts, feelings, and intentions, by interviewing his friends and family and by observing well. For example, in the first scene Talese describes Sinatra: he was silent for most of the evening; “he seemed even more distant, staring out through the smoke” (Talese 1). Here, Talese makes assumptions according to Sinatra’s appearance.
Then Talese combines personal observations with information derived (most likely) from interviews to dig deeper into Sinatra’s psyche: Sinatra was “tired” of publicity; he “disliked” his new movie; he was “angry” about a T.V. documentary that delved into his private life; he “worried” about an upcoming NBC taping and he “was weak and sore and uncertain” (1).

In another instance Talese observes how detached Sinatra can be: at The Sands, Talese observes him strutting through the casino, even though he was drunk. Sinatra plays blackjack and loses $600. But he doesn’t seem to care – he walks away from the blackjack table, calm and cool.

Talese observed Sinatra in many different settings to better understand the vocalist. By doing so, the reader gets a sense of how Sinatra is still just a regular guy. For example, he observed Sinatra in New York City’s Jilly’s restaurant: throngs of people were always around him. From talking with his acquaintances, Talese discovered that Frank always had a caravan no matter if he was in New York or New Jersey. And, as Talese observed in The Sands casino in Las Vegas, Sinatra his friends from all over the country and from different times in his life were with him as he ate at a private table. Talese makes the assumption that Sinatra, despite his fame, is still friendly with people who knew before he was famous.

In connection with this, Sinatra always needs people around him. As his valet, George Jacobs said to Talese, that Sinatra calls as many people as he can to “hang out,” but if no one is available, he calls Jacobs. Most of the time Sinatra cannot stand being alone. And an interview with his manager about Sinatra’s relationship with Ava Gardner showed that Frank needs tons of love: “He needs love. He wants it twenty-four hours a day, he must have people around” (17).

I definitely come away from reading this article with a complete understanding of Sinatra: he can be arrogant. He’s confident. A man who finds security not in money, but in family and friends. He wields power over people but loves helping those he cares for that are in need. He’s passionate and loving. And desperately needs to be loved.

Describe the overall structure of the article

“Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” reads like a story. It’s comprised of eight sections. Each section begins with a short description of the setting – essentially, a scene. He provides observations of what Frank is doing, being it smoking a cigarette at the bar, or singing ecstatically in a recording studio. And Talese uses exposition and flashbacks that preclude dialogue from an interview.


Talese, Gay. “Frank Sinatra Has Cold.’” Dale Keiger.

2006. 20 Oct. 2006. content/FrankSinatraHasaCold.pdf>.

Lane, the Film Review; Sanneh, the Concert Reviewer

Anthony Lane, The New Yorker film reviewer, employs numerous techniques in his reviews. I noticed that he likes to describe a scene while introducing characters and their real names. For example, in his review of “The Queen,” he begins: “The opening encounter of the heavyweights takes place at Buckingham Palace, where Blair (Michael Sheen) kneels before the Queen (Helen Mirren) and is granted her permission to form a government”[i].

Lane chooses to describe settings when they reflect the tone of the film. For instance, in his review of “Renaissance,” he paints a picture of the setting: “It’s plainly Paris,” the Seine River has been drained, the Eiffel tower is on a glass piazza… “a treacherous landscape in which to follow a lead, but such is the task facing Karas”[ii]. I love how Lane uses the setting as a metaphor for Karas’ task.

Lane’s honesty makes me laugh and is why I enjoy reading his reviews. In his review of “The Science of Sleep,” he critiques director Michel Gondry: “Given that he is unable, or…fiercely unwilling, to tell a story straight, one wonders how the director copes with the rest of life. How on earth does he make a cup of coffee?”2. Lane’s only being honest: Gondry’s narratives are non-linear. And the the adverb “fiercely” creates a sense of character. In addition, everyone can identity with making coffee. That it’s such a simple task, which Gondry – a director of three films – may not be able to perform, is hilarious.

Lane also uses extended metaphors to mock films. For example, in his review of “Superman Returns,” he calls Lex Luthor an “anti-Robin Hood…With his band of merry thugs, he grabs magic crystals from Superman’s arctic hideout, which is wondrously framed as a kind of frozen cathedral.” “Merry thugs,” “hideout,” and “wondrously framed,” humorously criticize the character and also the mise-en-scene (without ever mentioning the word “studio”)[iii].

Concert reviewer Kelefa Sanneh (New York Times), on the other hand, has a softer humorous style which shows in his sarcasm. In his review of Dragon Force he describes band members with the hyperbole “warp-speed guitarists”[iv], and the band’s singer “whose wailing voice, mane of hair and unplaceable accent (he is…a white guy from South Africa) convey an impression of bargain-bin grandeur 4. Here, Sanneh is humorously informative: I can visualize the singer and hear his voice; I know where he’s from. “Bargain-bin grandeur” is fantastic: it’s alliterative and juxtaposes “grandeur” with the contrasting idea of crap music.

Sanneh tends to use a particular introduction, which I find effective because it briefly describes spoken words and the concert setting. For example, “Lovely song, isn’t it?” That was Rod Stewart, onstage at the Nokia Theater on Monday night”[v]. Right away, I hear Rod Stewart’s voice and I know where the concert is. In addition, since Sanneh chose spoken words rather than song lyrics, I already sense the concert’s boring tone.

Another strength of Sanneh’s reviews is simple imagery. For example, Sanneh says the singer “paused to tune his guitar or to consult with his band mates or to fiddle with the DVD player that projected images behind the drummer” 5. Sanneh uses polysyndeton to create snippet-images because they’re not really the main part of the show but help place the reader at the concert. On the other hand, these images give me a sense of how controlling the singer is over the show.

[1] Lane, Anthony. “Battle Royal: Stephen Frears’s ‘The Queen.’” The New Yorker.

2 Oct. 2006. 10 Oct. 2006. . par. 2

[1] ---. “Dream On: ‘The Science of Sleep’ and ‘Renaissance.’” The New Yorker.

9 Sept. 2006. 5 Oct. 2006. . par. 8.; par. 1

[1] ---. “Kryptology: ‘Superman Returns.’” The New Yorker. 26 June 2006. Sept.

2006. .

par. 4.

[1] Sanneh, Kelefa. “Heavy Metal’s Light Side: Enjoying Silliness Along with the

Shredding. New York Times. 4 Oct. 2006. 10 Oct. 2006.

en=39c76ba1ae39e2b2&ei=5070>. par. 1; par. 4

[1] ---. “Between Tunings, Indie Rockers With a Shap Sense of Urgency.” New York

Times. 5 Oct. 2006. Oct. 2006.
music/05spil.html?ex=1161576000&en=14d6a6e300cf9c0e&ei=5070>.

par. 1; par. 5

Interview with Cindy

I’d just like to know, where’d you get started doing this woodcarving?
Woodcarving I started, um, actually I started this – to do something with my father. My father was suffering with post-polio syndrome, and he couldn’t do a lot of things he used to be able to do. And I had gone to Wayne Day, and the American Woodcarving School had a meet there. And my father wasn’t with me at the time but I looked and boy he loved woodworking: he used to make cabinets and do a lot of wood things. And I thought that would be something he still could do. So I talked to him about it, he said, “Well I’ll go if you go” [Laughs.] So… I said, “All right.” And we started going together. He went with me for years until he couldn’t go any longer. And that’s actually how I got into the woodcarving.

Ok
Trying to find something for him to do [Laughs.]

And does he do it now?
He did it, he did it for years, he’s past away.

Oh, I’m sorry.
Yes, thank you. He got to a point where he couldn’t, he couldn’t [Pause.] get up or down the stairs anymore into the place. So he stopped – he probably stopped, maybe five years ago. And I just kept going because I enjoy it so much. So he, you know, he did it for a little bit longer and then he [Pause.] he just couldn’t do it any longer. But um, I like it, and I’ve made a lot of friends over there. And the school is a nice place, it’s a, it’s a [Pause.] it’s really a studio workshop. There’s an instructor there, and if you want help on a project, he’s there for you. If you just want to work on your own, you just work on your own. So it’s a really nice place. But that’s how I got into it – kind of a strange way to get into it

So when, when you carve it’s almost like a family, you kind of have like a bond there that a lot of people don’t have when they do this sort of thing
Um.

Because it connects you to sort of your father?
Well, yeah, for me, it, it did, yes. But you make your friends there, and they become your support group with your project. It’s a, you know, we all give each other the critical eye. And I think, from what I’ve heard, I’m not involved in any of the carving clubs. But they do pretty much the same thing: they all help each other out. Which is pretty much what we do over there at the school in addition to having the luxury of having an instructor there [Laughter.]

So you guys sort of teach each other…different methods you discover and…
Yes, yeah yeah. Or you just, your eye, your critical eye against their critical eye. Sometimes when you’re working on a piece of wood, you get um, very wrapped up into it and you stop looking at it through that objective eye. And you can’t quite see what you’re not happy with. And you either have to put the project away for a little bit and then come back and look at it. Or you ask somebody else to take a look at it. And they’re going to look at it fresh and say, “Oh, yeah well, this needs to be changed, and that line’s a little wRONG, or…try this.”

Really?
Yeah, yeah. We all do it with each other too and it’s nice. The group is really [Pause.] a very good supportive group

So would you consider it a collaborative art?
No.

Or a craft?
Oh no, no [Pause.] I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say that. I would say “It’s yours.” It’s just sometimes you get [Pause.] too into an art project and it’s the same with painting, it’s the same with clay, it’s the same with everything you get. You get too into it and you don’t see [Pause.] the whole view. Because you might be working on this one specific spot and you step back and you look and you say, “Mmhh it’s just not quite right.” Well, you’re not looking at the whole thing objectively. So you need a fresh eye. And that’s when you call somebody else over and say, “Ok, what do you see.” And then whether you do anything with their suggestion or not [Laughs] is a whole different [Laughter] issue. You might. And you might not. But, um. Everybody looks at everybody else’s’ projects. So.

Do you prefer working at the Wood Carving School? Is that what it’s called – “Just, ‘The Wood Carving School’”?
American Wood Carving School.

American Wood Carving School.
And it’s one of the few carving schools [Pause.] in the area. Actually there are no other wood carving schools in the area.

And that’s the only one it, um, North Jersey?
I don’t know if there’s anything in South Jersey. I know that we have people coming from Pennsylvania. We have people coming from New York State, to this school, because there aren’t many around. You know there are clubs I guess, but there aren’t schools so um, people travel pretty far to get there. There are a couple people that travel a couple hours just to get there, even over two hours, I guess.

Now do you prefer to work there? Or do you have a studio in your home?
I [Pause.] I don’t. I have a, a workbench out in the garage. In the summer sometimes I work at home [Laughs]. In the winter it gets a little chilly down there [Laughter]. And the other end of it is [Pause.] it can be messy. You know, you’re not here to [Pause.] it, it gets messy. You’ve got [Pause.] chips of wood everywhere and you need a place that is easy to clean up.

What sort of tools do you use? Do you just use a chisel, or do you use an electric saw or?
Uh. Chisels and gauges. Some knives, you know a knife occasionally [phone in the kitchen brrriiiinnnnggggs.] Excuse me [Brrriiiinnnggggg.]
[Moments Later.] Sorry about that.
It’s ok.
You can use rotary tools. You know, there are, foredoms and dremels.

Foredoms?
Yeah. A foredom and a dremel are pretty much the same thing: they’re a power tool that removes wood.

What do you prefer to use?
I like the chisels and gauges better

Why is that?
Um. [Pause.] Less dirty. I mean if you’re using a power tool there’s a lot of sawdust in the air. And certain woods are dangerous to inhale sawdust from.

I didn’t know that, like, what sort of woods?
Let me think. I believe, and I might be wrong, but I think the black walnut is not good to inhale – and none of them are great to inhale – but, some of them can do lung damage. Um. Mahogany might be one of those. But I think it’s more the black walnut. And so you really need to wear a face mask while you’re doing it and you’re supposed the wear safety goggles while you do it. And so, ya know, you got a lot of junk on your face and you’re trying to see what you’re doing and. So I prefer the chisels and gauges. [Long pause.] Although there are some projects where you, you have to use power tools.

Oh, like um, like when it’s a big piece, or you have to make fine marks?
Um. [Pause.] It I…It’s a certain style. I’ll show you when I show you one of the pieces that I did all power tool on. Um. It just allows you to do repetitive patterns a little more easily. I guess you could, I mean you certainly could do it with chisels and gauges but it would have taken me much much longer.

What sort of, do you prefer any wood types, like any grain?
Well basswood is, one of the more, it’s an easier wood to work on: it carves beautifully. It’s uh one of the softer hardwoods. It sounds silly but that’s what it is. So it’s pretty easy to carve. Uhm, you get into cherry and walnut, and it’s a harder wood. The disadvantage to the basswood is it doesn’t have a very pretty grain – you can hardly see a grain in it at all. You get into, um, the mahoganies, it’s a prettier wood, or the butternut, is a beautiful wood. But butternut has the disadvantage of [Pause.] it can get a little hard to carve in places. It gets a little stringy sometimes so you can’t do the real detail work – small detail wood that you can do on basswood. So, you do trade offs [Laughter.]

And, well when did you start carving?
Nineteen-ninety-five

And really the impetuous was that you wanted to get your father into it right?
Yes.

Ok.
Yeah I already did, you know I’ve been drawing all my life and, dabbling with painting and things like that up to that point. But um, it was to get him going and…it worked out to my benefit greatly [Laughs.]

And how did, how do you learn to do this, I mean did you, you went to this school I understand. But did you um, learn from like several other carvers, or like from a teacher, or were you an apprentice to somebody or?
When you start at this particular school, you have three projects you have to do, when you go in. You have to carve [Pause.] a whale, which is uh, you know they just give you a little piece of wood, and they teach you, the instructor teaches you how to use a knife. That’s all you use on this project. It’s a little half of a whale. You have to do that and that’s to teach you [Pause.] safe ways of carving and how to go into a round shape from a square shape, and then sanding, and that kind of thing. Once you finish that, you go to a leaf carving, which is a relief. And that’s where you start to use your gauges a little bit. And again the instructor is teaching you how…how to remove wood and leave what you need. And then the third project is a full-figure project, it’s a monk, it’s a praying monk. And that’s again, a combination of using your gauges and your chisels and your knives. So you’re using all of your projects now and you’re doing a total in-the-round sculpture. Now once you’ve finished that, you’re on your own: you choose your project, and if you need help, they’re more than willing to come over and help you. But they have already taught you how to use the knife, how to use the chisels, how to use the gauges, and how to do the sanding. So, that’s their, you know, that’s their program over there. And I think if you were in just a club [Pause.] people would help you: they’d say, “Oh do this, it’s a great way to get started because you do have to learn how to do it or else you’re cutting yourself all the time.

And are you in a wood carving club or are you just sort of doing it at the American Woodcarving School?
I do it through the Woodcarving School. Because we don’t need a club in this area: we have the school, we go there, as most people in other areas go to clubs, we go to the schools. So it it’s the same group of people – every week. You know, I go there once a week. The same group of people are in my timeslot. Then there are timeslots, I think just I don’t think they’re open Sundays but I think they’re open six days over there for lessons. And you know there are the people that take the Monday class, the people that take the Tuesday class, and that kind of thing. And it’s just three hours of studio space that you go and carve. And if you want the help, the instructor’s there for you.

What inspires your creations? Is there anything particular in your life?
[Ponders] No. You hear a phrase a lot with…carving…um. You know you’re just waiting to see what comes out of the wood or what’s hiding in the wood. And, you get a piece of wood, sometimes I’ll get a piece of wood and I have no idea what’s going to happen with it and…you just stare at it and you try to envision what you want. Other times you do it a different way: you think, “I want to carve this particular piece,” and you go out and find a wood, you know, a piece of wood for that.
[She stands and walks to an oval table in the dining room] But, the dolphins on the table
So this is black walnut.

Interesting
[Pause.] And now, all of this is smooth part, and the eyes and all, I did this, with chisels and gauges. But the water – to give it that textured look – I did with the foredom – the power tool, to get that repetitive-type water.

That’s surreal, I mean, it’s…wow. How long did that take?
Well I carve slowly [Laughs.] It took a year.

Well, it’s beautiful.
Thank you

So you kind of took the shape of the tree that was there.
Ummm hmmm. And saw things coming out of it, and dolphins kind of came to mind.

Are those like, your, do they happen to be your favorite creature in the wilderness?
No

Or?
I happened to see dolphins in the water [Laughs.] that time.
[She motions to a bullfighter-sculpture standing on a marble display-column]

That is so neat.
And then this, this was also from a tree trunk, you know, or a piece of wood. But this is basswood. And this was all [Pause.] just, chisels and gadgets and the power tools on this. And then all of the embellishments on his jacket were done with leather punches.

Leather punches, what is that?
Well, you know when you get a belt if it has a pattern in it or a wallet and it has a pattern?

Umm Hmmm.
Those are little, they’re like nails with a design on the end and they’re just tapped into your leather? So, I took like this cluster of circles is one of them, you just tap it in and tap it in and tap it in and you use the pattern that way for that.

What do you call this piece?
This one? Just Matador.

[Looks at the Dolphins]
That’s Tresamingos [Trace-ah-mee-goes]

Does that mean three dolphins?
No, three friends. [Laughter.] Sometimes you have to have silly, silly names [Laughs.]

Now, Matador, is that, what does that mean?
He’s a bullfighter. I figure maybe someday I’ll carve the bull to go with it [Laughs.]

Yeah that’d be great.
Yeah it would be fun. But so you’ve got your serious things and then you can do, a lot of people will carve caricatures, you know, cartoon-type things. And a friend of mine had given me the black walnut. Well, that’s a pretty polished-off finished piece. And then I did this piece. It’s just a silly piece [She held a two-foot-tall log: a tree stump with half a human face carved into it.]

Oh, that is too cool. What do you call that?
His name is, Forest Stump [Laughs.] I like to think of Forest Gump [Laughs.]

How’d you get all of that detail?
Well, this is all carved. Then I went back and I took a little bit of, um, I took a little [green] oil paint, and thinned it real real thin, and put it onto the leaf part. And then the rest is just um, I boiled him or polyurethaned him. I don’t remember which. But, [turns it around] on the back and all. So you do them all the way and around but you don’t have to be serious all the time.

And those are maple leaves or?
They’re just my leaves, I guess. Yeah, they’re kind of like a maple leaf, yeah.

I love it how you put nature with human.
Yeah, yeah.

Just combine them.
The mix of them, right. I just thought, you know, it’s the perfect thing for a tree stump. [Pause.] or a log rather. [Places it on the table] They get a little heavy to carry around.

And how long does it usually take you to make these, on average?
Ya know, I only work on ‘em once a week. I work on ‘em for three hours a week – that’s it. And I get teased because I tend to be a perfectionist or a nitpicker. So I will take anywhere from nine months to a year on a project.

Now do you sell any of these or?
I do on occasion, yup. I’ve sold a couple pieces.

Do you sell them on the internet, on eBay or?
No…I’ve um. The two pieces I’ve sold were actually commissioned pieces, people that contacted me and said they wanted a certain thing and so I carved it for them. Those I go a little faster on, coz [Laughter] they can’t wait a year, “I don’t want it anymore,” “Well wait a minute” [Laughter.]

And then others, you know these [motions to the dolphins.] This one was in a gallery for a little while. And then I took ‘em out because I didn’t think, I didn’t think it was the right place for ‘em, so.

What gallery were the dolphins in?
They were down in Hilton Head, down in South Carolina, in an art gallery down there. And I didn’t really [Pause.] I guess I didn’t think it through – it was more of a painting gallery instead of a sculpture gallery. So people going in there were not looking for sculptures: they were looking for paintings. I think she took it in to draw people in, “Oh, that’s cool,” and then look at the paintings she had up [Laughter].
But, you know, each piece has its own little story. The falcon. This is cherry and you can see how beautiful the grain is in this.

It’s like wavy.
Ummm. And this used to be a tree in our front yard [Laughter.]

You’d never know.
It fell down and I said, “Well I gotta save the tree somehow.” So, I carved the bird

Well, I love the detail.
Yeah.

Recreating the log.
Right, the log within the log, right.

Yeah.
And leaving a little of the bark on the side. But, you know, he wasn’t real fat. And yet, it’s amazing what you can get out of it.

It’s so real, his claws clamped on it. That must have been so difficult to do with his feet, or his claws rather.
Yup, but you have to get under. You have to get the back one all to make it look real, you know.

What influences your work, do you think? What mostly influences it?
Um. Hm. [Pause.] It just has to be pleasing to my eye, um. Do you mean in choosing a project or how I’m carving it.

Well like, is there any particular artist, or anybody, who um, or experiences that influences what you do and how you do it?
Uhhh, I guess a little bit. Um. I’m not real into modern art. So, my pieces tend to be a little more realistic than some. I like detail. I like lines of these, you know, clean lines. I’m not one to go into a gallery and fall over backwards over a piece of wood that’s just been sanded really well. I like to see things that I can recognize.

Would you consider this craft, or an art, or both or?
This would be an art. This is art. Coz, we’ve had this discussion with other carvers, you know. Unfortunately, sometimes people figure, “Oh, woodcarving’s just a craft.” It’s not. It can be. It’s all going according to what you carve. But I wouldn’t call him [the falcon] a craft. I call him a piece of artwork. Whereas maybe a little cartoon figure that might be a little more on the craft type thing, but, these are considered sculptures.

What do you like most about creating your art? What’s, is it the end result?
Yeah

Actually doing it, or?
Well, I enjoy it. I enjoy working on it. I enjoy doing the details end of it. Whereas most people don’t: they like doing the bigger thing. I like. We laugh at the schools. There’s a couple of friends that, they’re all excellent carvers. And we all say we should combine our talents: this one likes to rough the things out, which means get it down to a semblance of what it’s supposed to be, another one likes to kinda clean that up a little bit. And then [Pause.] I love making the waves on this guy; doin’ the fine pattern work over on him; you know, the claws on the bird there. I like detail. So my pieces are going to reflect that with, ‘I put detail into them.’ Whereas others don’t; they go past that. They leave that and they’ve got beautiful pieces. But, they’re different. And that’s what makes the artists different too.

So, how do you, what do you compare that feeling to? Like, that feeling of like, “Oh, I’m doing this, this is what I like to do so much,” and how do you compare that feeling to? Is there anything else you can compare that to?
Outside of the art field? Hmm. Because I paint a lot. I do water paintings. It’s soothing [Pause.] I find it to relax me. It’s an escape. Umm, because I don’t just do this. It’s not a job. It’s more of a passion. And so, that’s, that’s where I go, that’s why I stay at that school, and don’t just carve here. Because, if I were going to just do it here [Pause.] life gets in the way, you don’t get to it. So, Wednesday morning I’m going over there: “don’t get in my way” you know [Laughter.] And it gives you that chance to relax with it; forget about your other problems and. Focus just on the wood and making it [Pause.] look like you want it to look.
And sometimes you’d be surprised with how it comes out too. And [Pause.] sometimes mistakes are the best part of our piece. You hit the wood a little too hard, you pop a piece off, and, “uh oh, now what do I do?” And you have to [Pause.] find a way to make that error work for you. And sometimes you end up with great pieces because of a silly little mistake.

Does it go like in a totally different direction like maybe you were putting in a dolphin and then, you made a little mistake and then you’re like.
[Laughter.]
And make yourself a whale instead [Laughter.] Yeah, yes, that happens sometimes.
I’m trying to remember which piece took a big turn. Uhhh. I don’t remember which one it was but I know I’ve done some pieces where I didn’t plan on maybe a wing being that way, I planned on it being that way or something. And they just end up, and different.
This guy was one of them. [Holds what looks like the bust of a Native American face].

Wow, that’s so detailed.
Yeah, this, this was fun. And this was from a, it’s from when I went to a clinic for. This was carved…ninety-percent of this was carved in three days. We worked from nine in the morning ‘till four in the afternoon. And ya, ya start with a pretty large block of wood and this is what you end up with. And everybody’s is so different you would swear they were not all carved the same day, the same time, with the same instructor telling you, “Ok we’re going to work on this now.”

It was supposed to have a hand in it. I chopped it a little too small and I had to rethink it, and that kind of thing. So it ended up fine. But for a long time I didn’t think it was going to end up [Laughter] fine. Those things get a little scary.

That is just so detailed.
Yeah, see that’s what I like: I like wrinkles on the face and all that.

The eyes – I’m not kidding – they look real.
Oh good, that’s great.
But, that’s considered a mask. And that was a fun project. So, sometimes you get pushed to carve much faster than you’re used to. And that’s a good thing.
So you’ve got full sculptures, you’ve got the masks, let me show you [In the hallway] This guy.

What is that? I don’t know what that bird is.
That’s an avoset, that’s a shore bird. And that was one of my earlier carvings.

What was it, like maybe you’re second or third?
Umm that was. Yeah that was probably. It was probably my second. Oh no, my third project on my own. And so that piece it’s sitting on is also wood carved to look like a stone.

Did you paint that?
That I painted. Now the bird is butternut. And that has such a pretty grainy grain in it. And the color is nice, that’s pretty much the color of butternut with just oil on it.

Do you put oil on all your pieces?
No, some have polyurethane. Some have a varnish mix on them.

You said you um, something about cutting oneself / oneself?
Have you ever done that?
I have nicked my thumbs a couple of times, yeah. It’s real easy to do if your tools are sharp. A lot of times you’ll be working and I have my tools in a roll – a cloth roll. So you put them down, you take them out, you use them, you’re putting them down and you go to reach for another one and sometimes you just brush your hand along a chisel that’s there and because they’re so sharp you discover a little later, “Oh, I’m bleeding.” [Laughter.] But they’re like surgical instruments, if they’re sharp enough to be where they’re supposed to be.
And then there are the people that slip, you know, and can do some pretty serious damage to themselves. And we’ve had that happen in the school on occasions, where the person is just holding…you know sometimes a piece of wood just doesn’t want to come off right. And you do something that you know you shouldn’t do – you hold it a certain way and you really give it a push, and that’s when it moves it. People have gone into their abdomens; people have gone straight into the palm of their hand. Nasty stuff sometimes. We’ve sent a couple of people to the hospital [Melancholic laugh].

Stitches?
Yeah, yeah. And because they’re so sharp they don’t hurt that much. They’re real sharp. They hurt later. But when you do it, sometimes you don’t even feel it. So, you do have to be careful

Is this yours too? This painting?
No. That’s not mine
The painting with the boats on it over here, it’s mine.
But this is another one. This is basswood on walnut [Indicates a pair of shoes carved from wood on a dresser.]

“Intermission”
Yup. [Pause.] That was my first project after finishing all the three.

Oh, so that was, after you finished…
After I finished the whale, the leaf, and the monk, I did the tug shoes. And I’ve entered a lot of these in the North Jersey Woodcarving, Wood sculpture competition and won some nice prizes.

Oh, really?
Yeah, won a lot of ribbons. [Pause.] And a little bit of cash [Laughs.]

And recognition, of course.
Recognition. [Pause.] And this, a little dusty. This is a relief also, this style.

What do you call this one?
I didn’t really name it. I think “Lumberjack.” [Pause.] But, to show you what a power tool can do. This was not done with a power tool. This was done with gauges and chisels. But the piece in here… This was all power tool.

That must have taken such a long time to do.
That took me a year.

And what kind of wood is that?
That’s walnut. [Pause.] No, mahogany.

The colors, I just can’t get over that.
Isn’t it neat?

It’s like a maroon? Yeah, yeah it’s maroon.
Yeah.

What do you call this one?
Windswept Bay. [Pause.] Now this one, I had seen a poster of a carving similar to this. And thought, “Oh, I’m just going to replicate because I love it so much.” I got started on it and then another person in the school said, “Oh, that’s going to be great.” And so she started on it. And then a third person over there said, “Oh, that’s really nice, I’m going to do that.” So the three of us were working on it. The other two never finished it. They both got disgusted with it because it’s such a detailed piece. I love it. You know, I love doing all these little barrels over here and the window panes in the windows.

The bricks.
Yeah, yup. That was the fun part of it.

The church spire, all the clouds.
See, and that’s the stuff where the power tool, the foredom becomes lifesaving because you can just neor neor neor you know, go through it and, and get everything on there. And even, even these little lines – that’s wood.

That’s wood?
That’s a piece of bamboo – shaved real real thin and glued. They’re the only glued pieces on that. All of this is wood. It’s all just little bamboo pieces.

It’s very detailed. It really makes it stand out, very three-dimensional [Pause.] I can’t get over that.
Yeah, see, those are the ones you finish and say, “Nahh, that one’s staying with me. I don’t want to sell that one” [Laughs.]

Do you prefer to do these types of framed carvings or do you prefer to do the sculptures…
Sculptures. I like [Pause.] both of them. When I first started I did a relief early on and I did not enjoy doing it at all. I don’t know why. I just didn’t like the finished product that much. And yet, somebody wanted it. And you know, so it’s hanging in their house and they think it’s great. Since then I’ve been doing a lot of other things in the round. I thought, “Well I’ll try another relief again.” And I truly enjoyed it. So um, they, they’re just different, that’s all.

So, that’s what you call it, a relief?
That’s a relief carving. What you’re doing is relieving wood from it to give the picture.
So the project I’m working on now is a series of three reliefs that will go together and form a small table.

Interesting. Like a coffee table or a dining table?
A little table, it’s gonna be a little table about that big so I guess for plants or coffee or something like that.

And what’s the design? Do you have something in mind?
Well it’s partly done. Two parts of it are almost done. They’re down stairs. If you want to see them.

Yeah, sure.
Ok. They’re um, they’re butternut and they’re reliefs. I’ll bring them in. This is going to be the top of it. This is the tree trunk. And it’ll have a glass plate on top of it. And I’m going to go back – when I finish the whole carving – I’m going to just highlight these in green like I did with Forest Stump. So there will be a little bit of green on them. And then – I know there’s an insect or two and there’s one little bug. I’ll do something with that so you do see them. But that’s the top of the table. And then the sides are what they call green men: their faces coming out of the leaves.

That’s what that guy was upstairs, right?
No, he’s called…there is a difference if it’s a relief or if it’s three-D but I forget what they are. But this is – it’s hard to see in this light – but she is going to be on both sides. But you can see the difference. I mean, it’s not done yet. It still looks very rough and a lot of times I won’t even show it to people because they can’t see past the rough marks. But it will all be smoothed out and then it will be finished off like, um, the bird is the same wood as this. So when it gets a finish on it, it gets a beautiful grain to it.

Is this ivy, is this supposed to be ivy?
Yeah, it’s just a leaf. It um, it’s kind of a mythological type leaf – it’s a one-thumbed leaf, just come out. And then the other side is going to be a man’s face, kind of a jovial man. So it’ll have a woman, a man, and then a tree trunk in the middle. No symbolism at all.

I love that, that’s too nice.
It should be a fun piece when it’s done because that’ll go there, and this will go on top of it and the other side; it’ll be different.


I have one more question before I pop out. If you want to tell someone something about yourself who hasn’t met you, what would it be?
I have no idea [Laughs.] I don’t know, like what?

Something you’d like them to know.
As an artist or a person?

Ehh, it could be both.
I guess I don’t put on airs. I’m just who I am. You know, what you see is what you get. I’m not impressed with myself.

You’re modest.
Yeah, that sounds better [Laughs.] But I never said that [Laughter].

And what’s your main occupation?
I’m a dance instructor

One more question…I keep saying that. What’s your favorite food?
Probably chocolate chip cookies [Laughs.]

Review of David Breskin's Interview

David Breskin asks Spike Lee many evoking questions. Some subtle, some not so subtle. There was a line of questions about what inspired Spike to pick up a camera. Spike isn’t sure why. Then Breskin asks, “just out the blue, you decided to get a Super-8?” (Breskin 152). Spike has no response. I believe no response is as good as a response. Breskin stumped him.

Another interesting line of questioning deals with Do the Right Thing not receiving an award at Cannes Film Festival. Spike believes people should judge movies by the same rules. Breskin asks:
“Do the Right Thing, even in its very title, sets up a moral universe and a code, so it’s going to provoke a kind of scrutiny on the action that a movie in which things are more relative will not” (159).

Spike responds: “See, I never buy that shit. Because I want my shit – I mean, if you’re ever going to critique my work use the same motherfucking standards for everybody…” (159). Lee gets really pissed off at the question because he believes his movie should have been judged with the same standards – e.g. the idea of heroism – with sex, lies, and videotape, because sex… won even though it was unheroic. If they had been judged for heroism, therefore, Lee’s film would have won.

Another question that elicits an interesting reaction:
“How do you respond to the criticism [in She’s Gotta Have it], although they are not as central to the film as Nola, are actually more definite characters, whereas she is more of a body to be explored and fought over?” (165-1666)
Spike admits that his weakness as a filmmaker is writing strong female characters and it’s something that has been improving. He responds so candidly because the question was indirect. Breskin asks how Spike would respond to criticism that the female characters were less defined than male characters, not that they “are” less defined.

One more great question is:
“Your inspiration comes very much from the real world, whereas some artists are primarily inspired by other art, the imaginative world” (178-179).
Lee compares himself to big name directors like Steven Spielberg, and says, “they wanted to be filmmakers when they were still in Pampers.” That’s such a funny and honest response. The question is framed as a compliment and allows Spike to stand on the soapbox and let everything out honestly.


Breskin, David. Inner Views: Filmmakers in Conversation. Expanded Ed. New York
Da Capo Press.

Oktoberfest on the Rocks

The sound of German Polka music isn’t something you’d normally hear while walking through a park in New York State. Neither is the sight of men in lederhosen and women in dirndl dresses, locked arm in arm, dancing to it.

But at Bear Mountain’s Annual Octoberfest, with four musicians on stage in knee-high socks and green suspenders, singing, “Yodaley-hoo,” such partying is all part of the day.

At the beergarden, under an array of tents, you can get your own stein filled to the brim with goldfrothy beer and sit at one of the many picnic tables, where whole families congregate to delve their stomachs into an array of German food: bratwurst on a roll with onions; smoked pork chops with apples sauce; stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes; pierogis and sauerkraut.

Bear Mountain’s 2006 Annual Octoberfest takes place in a picnic area beside a lake at the base of Bear Mountain. It celebrates the traditional Oktoberfest held every year in Munich, Germany. The Bear Mountain version runs from mid-September through the end of October every weekend from 12 to 6 P.M.

Octoberfest party crashers inhabit this wooded region and try to take advantage of any intoxicated party-goers. The vendors sell items completely unrelated to Oktoberfest: Christmas stockings embroidered with dogs and cats; baskets of plastic corn and leaves. Why not let a tattooist paint your skin with a temporary tattoo? Nothing says German Oktoberfest like tribal ink-marks. And then there’s Rebecca King, a middle-aged woman selling hideous chain-mail necklaces – necklaces made of interlocked metal rings. She sold cloaks too – as though togas just went out of style.

But you may find yourself drifting to the stage area like a cartoon mouse to the smell of cheese when you inhale the aroma of waffles. Follow your nose, and you’ll watch a apron-wearing teenager pour butterscotch and drop scoops of ice cream onto freshly-made Belgian waffles.

Check the time with Coo Coo clocks swinging their pendulums on a wall being sold by husband-and-wife John and Norma Costa, along with lid-covered steins engraved with traditional German scenes, such as the Oktoberfest parade in Munich. The Fest originated to celebrate King Ludwig’s birthday. And the lids – to keep out the flies back in those days.

Buzz your way over to the picnic tables and try the sauerbraten that falls apart in the mouth. The potato salad that tastes oniony. And the red cabbage that tastes like…red cabbage. But forget the nackwurst on a roll, which tastes like a barbecue hotdog.

But why not grab yourself a stein and plate of food and watch a drummer, accordion player, guitarist, and vocalist play traditional German polka songs? Listen to the belching screams of the intoxicated audience. Or dance beside other attendees wearing lederhosen and feather-tipped caps.

Of course, there arrives a time when the music stops as the sun meets the crest of the mountain, when the polka band and crowd hold their beer steins in the air singing, “Ziggy Zagga, Ziggy Zagga, hoy, hoy, hoy – GUUULP!...ahhh.