Author Archives: Mitch Guido

About Mitch Guido

I have had a short and uneventful life.

The Future of Media

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I can’t believe it, but there is a second article in the December issue of Gameinformer that applies to my the concepts of art that we have talked about before in this class. “I remember how I felt when I first played Final Fantasy VII. I suspect my reaction was not unique–I came out of that game feeling, for the first time, like I’d played a movie. I think that’s the first inkling I had of what was to come, what is still coming. More and more, it seems that traditional lines between entertainment media–film, book, game, song–are bleeding together. I think that video games hold the future of what we might call the “uber-media” form. The combination of all traditional arts into a single experience, mixed with the new art of the 20th century–the art of guided participation.” After reading through this editorial, I was curious as to who wrote it. It’s often that the editorial for the magazine is actually written by one of the staff, presumably because nobody writes in anything worth publishing–if they send in anything at all. However, the level of writing for this editorial seemed higher than normal, so I checked to see who wrote it. Brandon Sanderson wrote it. He is an accomplished author, who is currently in the process of completing the Wheel of Time (one of my favorite book series) after the original author, Robert Jordan, died.

It was extremely interesting to see somebody who works in a different media of art to discuss the merits of video games. Sanderson goes on to reference two other games as examples of “the future of art”. This has been a theme in many of my posts, because I am very intrigued by the evolution of art. While I do not like many of the new forms of art (especially in music), I do respect that they are art. However, I have played a few games that I would call art. They were able to sustain a story that kept me interested in the characters–like a good movie or book–with appropriate music, believable voice acting, and amazing graphics. However, rather than praising these games, they make me look to the future and think how amazing games will be in a few years. As Sanderson says, the “art of guided participation” seems like it is the art of the future. Since I draw, play music, write (both english and music) the possibility of being able to create art that combines all of these different facets of art is very tantalizing.

Beethoven in America

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As I am writing this, I am listening to Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony, “Eroica”, studying for the listening section of the Music 101 Final Exam. It just so happens, that there is an article about Beethoven in the New York Times Art section. This article discusses the evolution of Beethoven, comparing what he once meant to American’s to what he means now. There was a time when Beethoven’s music was associated with Nationalism, however, after his music was performed (and videotaped) for Nazi audiences, it lost this sentiment. As time has gone by, Beethoven’s music has meant less and less to American’s, as by now it is can basically be summarized by excerpts from his fifth symphony, his ninth symphony, Fur Elise, and his Moonlight Sonata. Most people do not know more than a few seconds from these amazing pieces.

I listen to mostly jazz music–though I know a wide variety of jazz artists and I have read the biographies of a few artists and am constantly researching information on jazz and the evolution of jazz. However, I never really became immersed in classical movement to the same level, because I didn’t know who to listen to. Of course, there are a multitude of songs that I can look up on youtube and listen to, however, I did not know what artists to listen to. I did not want to listen to somebody playing a song in the wrong style, as these versions are abundant all over the web. Just recently, I heard the entirety of Beethoven’s fifth symphony, and could not stop listening. The power of the symphony–particularly the trombones in the first movement–is just amazing. Yesterday, I had the first movement on repeat for four hours. It is strange, though, to think that people would consider me a musician, and yet I had never heard this amazing song in full until recently. I am glad that college is exposing me to new music–and this is just the VERY beginning. However, I truly wish that most people heard this music at some point in their life, and listened to it with an open mind. Not with the idea that “oh yeah, that’s the song that was in the background of this movie”.

Here is the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/books/beethoven-in-america-by-michael-broyles-review.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Itzhak Perlman

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On Saturday, December 10th, I was lucky enough to be able to see Itzhak Perlman (violin) and Rohan De Silva (piano) perform at the Tilles Center. The show was absolutely amazing. On the program, there were only four songs that he was going to perform (Schuberts Rondo for Violin and Piano in B minor, Brahms Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in A major, Op. 100, Brahms Three Hungarian Dances, and Saint-Saens Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D minor, Op. 75). Of course, he performed all of these songs wonderfully, all the more impressive because he is now retired. Though my friend said that a few of Mr. Perlman’s sixteenth notes were out of tune, there was only one note I heard that was a little off.
Out of the the four songs on the program, the Brahms Three Hungarian Dances was the flashiest. He played some of the highest notes I have ever hear on violin, and performed–with ease–insane sixteenth note passages. As to be expected, the overall quality of the performance was nothing less than spectacular.

After Mr. Perlman finished playing the songs on the program, he took a list out of his pocket and randomly picked another four or fives songs off of that list to play. The list was comprised of songs that he performed the last time he played at the Tilles Center (which was a long time ago). I could tell that this was impromptu, because after Mr. Perlman chose a song, the piano player shuffled through his music to find the piece–unlike the first four program pieces that Mr. Silva had ready. I do not recall the names of these songs, but my friend knew most of them. He told me that they were basically the songs that most violinists would play if they wanted to commit musical suicide. And here is Itzhak Perlman just picking these songs on a whim and playing them perfectly after retiring from performing. It was absolutely amazing.

Terrorize Wall Street?

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The source for this blog post is actually very unique. When I received my issue of Gameinformer for last month, I was quite surprised by the cover. It has an image of the statue of liberty in red, with a censorship bar across her eye’s, and her body melting into buildings that are faintly visible in the pitch black surroundings. Beneath it, there is white and red text that reads “Ubisoft explores the volatile political climate with a groundbreaking and controversial look at homegrown terror”. Intrigued, I flipped to the cover story (about the newest “Rainbow 6”) and began to read it. “American’s are angry. And why shouldn’t they be? With an exponentially expanding national debt, crippling foreclosures, corporate bailouts, degrading infrastructure, dwindling job market, and widening income gap between the haves and have-nots, it’s getting harder to believe politicians when they speak of American exceptionalism as if it were a fundamental truth. In response to gradual erosion of our beloved nation, resentful citizens of all kinds of political backgrounds are rising up in the form of new political movements like the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street. But unlike in the 1960’s, when protests and activism resulted in the discontinuation of the military draft, the Civil Rights Act, and the sexual revolution, the contemporary bickering government parties have proven largely ineffective at slowing or reversing the downward spiral. The media isn’t helping matters. Rather than promoting discussion about viable solutions moving forward, ad-driven 24-hour media outlets and radio programs are content to stoke the fires and sensationalize political differences. History proves that if leaders don’t move swiftly to address these grievances, the political rage can sometimes find a more violent channel of expression. Case in point: the meteoric rise of militias over the past few years. In 2009, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported a massive resurgence in anti-government paramilitary groups, which have jumped from 43 militias in 2007 to nearly 300 in 2010. The sudden surge has captured the attention of the Department of Homeland Security, NSA, CIA, and FBI, who all view these groups as a real threat to the stability of the nation. Moreover, many of these disenfranchised groups frequently put their members through intense military training exercises–for what, no one knows.” (Gameinformer issue 224, Pg 55). This entire introduction is all factual. After this, the story goes on to discuss how the game takes place in an America where these groups are constantly attacking the government and the wealthy. The title “Rainbow 6”, comes from the group of special operations agents that the player controls in the game.
When reading those first few paragraphs of text, I thought that it was all part of the game’s fiction. Upon discovering it was all real, I re-read the introduction a second time and though “this could be a good topic for my Arts in NYC class”. There are 300 paramilitary groups in the United States? With all the trouble that Occupy Wall Street has caused already, the chances of a violent outbreak occupying are high, and if one were to occur, echoes of the event would surely happen across the nation.
In addition to this interesting plot, the fact that a big name game manufacturer (Ubisoft is extremely well known–as a matter of fact, “Rainbow Six” is a Tom Clancy endorsed video game series) is using this scenario as a narrative shows how much of an impact Occupy Wall Street has had. With all of the money that goes into commercial/entertainment products, these game developers do not randomly pick a storyline for their game. They have teams of workers that perform research–both in the facts supporting the narrative, and into which story will appeal most to the public–and spend months, even years, creating the basis for the game. Settling on an experience that focuses around Occupy Wall Street and the current state of the American economy reveals just how much Occupy Wall Street has permeated American culture. It is now a term that everybody–children and adults alike–are used to hearing, and is referenced in all sorts of media. However, before this game, there was no video game that incorporated Occupy Wall Street into its plot, especially not on such an intricate level.
(I tried to find the Cover Story Online, however Gameinformer only has their newest issue available on their website. That is why I typed up the introductory paragraphs from the article.)

Willem de Kooning

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I enjoyed the de Kooning exhibit at MoMA mainly because of its organization. While I can make pretend to know what each of his paintings depicted and share what I saw in each one, I don’t think that would make for a useful bog post. Abstract art is not an art field that I am knowledgeable in, and it is not an art form that I generally appreciate. What I did appreciate, though, was going through the exhibit and watching de Kooning style transform. Even if I am clueless as to what he is painting, I can still tell this style changed drastically. The first two or three pictures were ‘normal’ still-life paintings. Then there were more still life paintings, however they become more stylized as de Kooning began to develop his own method of painting. Upon reaching the second section of the exhibit, de Kooning has hit his stride, painting abstract lines and figures on various media, ranging from cardboard to traditional painting canvas.
One aspect of abstract art that I discovered in this section, is how we say we can’t comprehend it, but we actually understand a lot of it. There were two of his pieces–both in black and white, and both using paint drips and thin lines as media–that were distinct. Despite the fact that I could not decipher the picture that I was looking for in the painting, I could clearly tell the difference between the two. One had jagged lines and thick globs of paint dripping down it, while the other had curving, flowing lines and thin rivers of paint sliding down it. Just being able to tell the two paintings apart means that I can understand something about them, and upon comparing them, I realized I could understand quite a bit. Expressing his anger with angular lines, and his delicacy with sinuous, playful lines, de Kooning created two completely different pieces of art, using the same two colors and the same painting techniques. I find that amazing.
There were two more parts, if I remember correctly. The next section had one painting that I was drawn to. It was created using mostly aqua blue paint, and was comprised of wide brush strokes of myriad consistences. In each brush stroke, the thickness of the paint created different emotions and sensations when viewed. Since the paint becomes darker as the concentration in one location increases, the thicker strokes were deeper and almost water like. Contrast this with moderately thin strokes, and wispy strokes that were barely visible, and I found a second work of abstract art that is stunning. Seeing as there was another piece of art with the same colors and techniques use right next to the one I just described that I found infinitely less appealing, I do not know what it is about this painting that attracted me. However, I do know I have more respect for abstract art now.
Finally, the last segment of the museum was in Willem de Kooning later years. In this art collection, the thick, frantic, passionate, brush strokes were absent, replaced by deliberate, calculated, strokes. Instead of using an army of lines to create an image, de Kooning used one line. Instead of dripping paint all of over his canvas, de Kooning left an abundance of white space. Like with many great artists, de Kooning mastered his art form, and learned the final–and hardest–lesson: restriction. In jazz, the older, wiser improvisers are not impressed by a technically impressive solo, but rather by an emotionally controlled and developed solo. In writing, a young loquacious writer generally develops into a master that can express his sentiments in fewer words. In art, the same concept seems to apply.
The exhibition of Willem de Kooning’s art at MoMA was fantastic, and explicitly outlined the evolution of his art in an easy to comprehend way.

“Live music is central to Occupy protests”

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Recently in class, we analyzed Occupy Wall Street. This article–from the Journal News, a local paper from my home town in Westchester–focuses on how music has become a central component of Occupy Wall Street. “The sound of insistent drumming…announce[s] the location of the Occupy Wall Street home base long before its inhabitants are otherwise seen or heard.” This alone is a major factor of any protest or social movement. In the past, there were relentless, unified chants that could be heard at protests, but now, we hear all different kinds of music drifting out from Occupy Wall Street. “The soundtrack (for Occupy Wall Street) is just as democratic and grass roots as the movement…” This diversity makes sense, because Occupy Wall Street is composed of the 99 percent, encompassing millions of people with differing musical tastes.
As it grows, both in the actual participation size and as it permeates everyday society, Occupy Wall Street has gained some famous musical supporters. David Crosby, Graham Nash and Tom Morello–all recording artists, the last one a former member of the band “Rage Against the Machine”–have all performed for Occupy Wall Street. There have been enough musical contribution that “[Tom Morello] has also volunteered to contribute to an album of protest songs that Occupy Wall Street is putting together as a fundraiser this winter.” I am intrigued by this idea of creating a list of compositions/performances to represent Occupy Wall Street. How will the public respond to this, and are they choosing to do this in the winter because it is going to be brutally cold and they need something to keep people engaged? A “national-anthem-esq” playlist of songs could certainly increase the popularity of Occupy Wall Street, as it adds to the “Occupy cultural” that it is creating.

Another topic that I find interesting, and I am constantly searching for in the news (as my previous blog posts show) is how art is transforming (art meaning any form or medium of art). This article also briefly brings the issue of music as a changing media to the limelight. “If Occupy Wall Street has no anthem yet, it’s partly due to how a new generation experiences music: through personalized iPod playlists streaming through headphones instead of communal songalongs.” Certainly, music has become much more personalized: people used to walk around with Boom-Boxes on their shoulders as opposed to headphone ear-buds in their ears. This probably has had an effect on Occupy Wall Street, as this individualism only increases the variety that the participants have, thus making it harder to unify them behind one cause or ideal. I wonder if they will be able to surmount this dilemma with this new album, or if more aggressive action is necessary to persuade people to place “Occupy Wall Street Music” on their iPod.

Occupying the Arts

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As always, society is reflected in the art that is produced in the respective time period. Artists find inspiration—sometimes subconsciously—in everything that the experience or learn about. Thus, it makes sense that there is a reflection of the current major movement in American, Occupy Wall Street, on modern art. However, I am not going to discuss the specific ways it effects the creation of the art, but rather, how it has an effect on what type of art is produced, and America’s perception of what is art.
The argument for Occupy Wall Street is that the rich upper class, an extremely small minority, holds the majority of the wealth in America. This affluent minority is referred to as the 1%, while the rest of the American inhabitants categorized as the 99%. As far as I am concerned, this division already displays Occupy Wall Street is a useless movement that will not lead to any good. Are they (the supporters of Occupy Wall Street) trying to tell me that somebody that is unemployed because they flunked out of high school, due to laziness, should be categorized with somebody who makes a moderate living because they worked in high school and graduated with a decent GPA? 99% is a number that encompasses millions of people: there are too many discrepancies between the population this number is intended to include to make it an effective assertion. Since every person in this group has a different reason for supporting Occupy Wall Street, there can be no ‘main assertion’, and so this movement will never actually bring about change. Every previous political movement that was successful had a clear focus and goal; that is why they were successful. http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ this tumbler post is proof of just how many different backgrounds and reasons there are for supporting Occupy Wall Street.
While there may not seem to be an obvious connection between art and Occupy Wall Street, there most certainly is. With all of the new social media that have been created and grown in popularity over the years, art has changed. Even what I would define as the three main groups of art—audio, visual, and interactive—are no longer clearly distinguished between. A video game can take all three of these art types and combine them into one fluid piece of art. A movie that is created by somebody who is not famous or rich can become art due to social media sites such as Youtube and Facebook. Unfortunately, with this increase in social medias popularity, there seems to be an increase in unrecognized artists. These new art forms, whether using different types of traditional media in untraditional ways, to employing brand new technology to create art, art often ignored. Who are they ignored by? The 1%. Since the upper class generally provides the paycheck for famous artists, many modern artists that are not recognized by the upper class barely make a living, despite their talent. Think of all of the starving artists there are—or even artists that make a moderate living—and then think about how the upper class still desires to acquire art that is “traditional”. Despite all of the changes that have occurred in American society—including the increasingly unbalanced distribution of wealth—the affluent class continues to hold onto their old beliefs. These unacknowledged artists are also part of the growing 99% in America. In this way, a clear bridge between modern art and Occupy Wall Street can be viewed.
Even while trying to research what, exactly, is the meaning behind Occupy Wall Street, every source I found was largely biased or not helpful. A blog about Occupy Wall Street is obviously going to be either for or against it depending on who created it. A site that is supposed to be informative is, once again, going to be extremely biased depending on who created it. Since there is virtually no specific and concisely outlined information about Occupy Wall Street that can be find online, I cannot support this movement. Regardless of whether I agree with the general idea—that the wealth in American needs to be redistributed—this is not the proper way of expressing these sentiments and it is not going to bring about change. We do live in a Democratic Republic after all: maybe if these people spend time educating themselves on politics, rather than standing in a street, and voted for somebody who has their sentiments in mind, they would be more successful.

Jim Snidero, the Buddhist?

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For my English 110h class, we are required to visit the Rubin Museum for our up-coming essay. As I perused the Rubin Museum’s website, I saw that they have live jazz performances, and that on November 4th, Jim Snidero and his quartet would be playing there. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and go see his quartet while getting a feel for the museum. While the actual museum exhibits were closed at this time, the gift shop, restaurant/bar and theater sections were open. The restaurant area was not at all what I was expecting. It was filled with people, and it had a very loud atmosphere, with modern music playing in the background. The concert, though, was held in the floor below. The acoustics were amazing: nobody used or needed a microphone (though I think the bass had an amp), and there was very little superfluous resonance.
Despite these unexpected surprises, the Jim Snidero Quartet was just as I expected: amazing. Unfortunately, they did not play any jazz standards, but I could still appreciate the originals that they performed. My favorite player was the drummer, McClenty Hunter, because exuded so much—and the right—energy in his playing, while never missing a change to interact with another band member. The last three songs that they performed were a suite that Jim Snidero composed The first movement was about the Buddha, the second movement was inspired by the Buddhist Temple museum exhibit, and the third movement was written with the deity of chaos in mind. While they band played through these songs, an image of what each song was about was projected onto a screen behind the quartet. This was a very interesting idea, because it allows the audience to see what inspired each song while the music is playing—however to me, it distracted from the music. Adding pictures to a song changes its purpose from absolute music, to program music, and this music was certainly absolute. Each song was remarkably distinctive, and amazing.

Jim Snidero\'s Website

Got Jazz?

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Being a jazz enthusiast isn’t easy. Most of the people that I listen to are deceased, and forgotten by those outside of the “jazz world”. It’s actually a disintagrating genre that is at the end of its life. At least, that’s what I’ve been told by a countless number for people. However, during high school, I started branching out and trying to find new artists (most of my jazz repertoire up to that point consisted of Glenn Miller and Charlie Parker). My search has taken me through the timeline of jazz saxophonists, staring with Lester Young and ending with Michael Brecker. After a short time, though, it became clear to me that there are plenty of jazz stars that are still alive and performing: Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Kenny Barron, Herbie Hancock, John Patitucci, Jack Dejohnette, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, Wynton Marsalis, etc. Now, while jazz may not be as popular as it was in the Big Band era, it is certainly not dead. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up “jazz” on the New York Times. When I found the jazz listings for October, I was extremely angry: how could I have not realized that I’m only a subway ride (or two) away from so many superb performances! Here is the link for the jazz listings in NYC. Having these opportunities is amazing, and something I’m not used to. I need to explore the city more.

Brad Mehldau

Brad Mehldau–Live in Tokyo: Someone to Watch Over Me

Music, Video Games and Art

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Bjork, an artist that is known for creating “unique” music, released a new album entitled “Biophilia”. In a jazz ensemble that I performed with in High School, I played an arrangement of one of Bjork’s songs. Even though it was heavily influenced by pop–which is not my genre of preference–I have to admit that it was intriguing and fun to play. Her newest album, though, sets itself apart from other albums with more than just her style of music. Available for Ipad only, there is an app that syncs with her album and allows the user to interact with the music. There are various methods of doing this, ranging from just playing games to the music, to changing the way the music sounds by tapping the screen. For a more in-depth description, Seth Schiesel goes through how the mechanics work in the attached article.

This idea of combining music with video games has been something that I have always wanted to seen done properly. Imagine a video game that has music written by a virtuoso musician (and no, I am not referring to Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber), graphics and video animated by top quality producers, and dialogue that is truly brought to life by the voice-actors. If this were to be accomplished, I would say that it could prove video games could be a valid art form. However, Bjork has diluted the importance of both the video games and the music with her newest album. Instead of paying full attention to the music, the audience can now be distracted by cheaply made games for a mobile device. Does tapping a screen–and by doing so, altering the sound effects of a song–really enhance the experience of listening to music? While it may be innovative, and thus have commercial appeal, I really don’t believe it has any artistic benefit.

clickBiophilia

Egyptian Hals

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During my time at the metropolitan museum of art, I perused the Frans Hals exhibit with the rest of the class. I loved how it was actually possible to see the evolution of Hals’ style—from a precise, scientific, painter concerned with painfully intricate detail, to an emotional painter that utilized broader sweeps to give the observer a sense of movement and life in his paintings. Despite this progression in his style, Frans Hals still continued to paint ‘ordinary’ people (people who were not considered nobility), as well as nobility. This choice is interesting for two reasons. The first reason is the obvious reason; most other painters did not deem those not of noble descent worthy of their artistic talent or time, and also, these lower class—though far from poor—people could not pay the artist as much as a wealthy noble. Far more intriguing, though, is the idea that Fran Hals documented the beginning of a social movement. By drawing these people, Hals unknowingly brought attention to the fact that a new social class—what would eventually be recognized as the middle class—was appearing.

The second exhibit that I chose to wander through was the Egyptian exhibit. These two exhibits don’t seem to have much in common—besides the fact that they focus around the deceased—and that’s because they don’t. While both the Frans Hals collection and the Egyptian culture exhibit were very well organized and displayed in a manner that was easy to navigate, they were two starkly different displays. Overall, I preferred observing the art of Frans Hals, probably because I had a tour guide that explained why each painting was significant. However, the Egyptian section was certainly interesting as well. For example, after walking through the typical halls of Egyptian hieroglyphics and sarcophaguses encased in glass, I entered a wide-open space. There was a shallow pond of water surrounding the central display (two buildings that were replicas of ancient Egyptian Pyramids) with a walkway around the edge of the pond. The ceiling was raised extremely high, and was made mostly out of glass, so that light filtered through in a calming manner. Though there was not much to be observed in this particular room, it served its purpose in breaking up the stereotypical monotony that most Egyptian exhibits fall into.

Overall, I enjoyed the trip more than I though I was going to. Perhaps reading about art ( http://www.bradmehldau.com/writing/papers/september_2011.html ) and being constantly surrounded by it in College has given me the ability to appreciate it better, because I used to not have the patience to stay in a museum for more than twenty minutes.

Three Ways to Look Back, None Easy

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This article details the various ways in which 9/11 is commemorated at three different places in New York City. The first is the School of Visual Arts, the second is the Museum of Modern Art and the last is the International Center of Photography.
The School of Visual Arts uses mostly photography to express its sentiments on 9/11. Out of 6,500 pictures submitted, 300 are lined up and strung across to tell the story of 9/11. What I find impressive is how most of the art does not explicitly show the buildings being hit by the planes and yet it still manages to express the complex emotions that are associated with 9/11. I’m glad that we can display such emotions without taking a hammer and hitting the observer over the head with it. The sublime nature of art is one of its best and distinctive qualities.
At the Museum of Modern art, rather than solely utilizing art that was made for or because of 9/11, pieces are displayed that were created just to be art. After all, art can elicit various reactions based on when and where it is placed. From the author’s opinion–which he strongly conveys–the “random” art does not feel out of place, and actually helps create a soothing atmosphere. Juxtaposing a scene of peaceful flowers with the wreck left after horrible incident is somewhat soothing. It even seems to give a feeling of closure to the event. Since I am a musician, I found one musical, or at least auditory, aspect very interesting. Stephen Vitiello stayed on the ninety-first floor of the tower when Hurrican Floyd struck. By recording they sounds the building made during the hurricane, he created an audio that personifies the building by giving it a voice.
Last, but certainly not least, is the International Center of Photography. In the article, the author describes this location of art second, but I feel it fits better last. This is due to the fact that it is focused on the aftermath of 9/11, including the reconstruction. What stood out to me, from the authors description of the artwork, was the exhibit that showed 49 aerial photos of the new towers under construction. Through these pictures, the observer can follow the evolution of the towers, like a phoenix reborn from its ashes.
Even though this article is a few days old, and the tenth memorial for 9/11 has already passed,  I feel that these presentations could, and should, be timeless if they are combined. Making a complete timeline of September Eleventh is not an easy task: especially doing so through various media of art. However, these exhibits seem to have accomplished this feat. To see the article, click here.