Let the world change you and you can change the world

This is not a story of incredible heroism, or merely the narrative of a cynic; at least I do not mean it to be. It is a glimpse of two lives that ran parallel for a time, with similar hopes and convergent dreams.

Oh man, I love this quote. I know a lot of people give Che flack for being the poster boy for American middle-class radical wannabes, but I really admire what he tried to accomplish, the egalitarian principles he fought for. His trip across South America is also something I can relate to. When you travel you're changed by the people you meet and the experiences you gather. Though to be sure Che saw a lot more poverty and suffering than I did on my trip. Seeing "The Motorcycle Diaries" not only made me want to learn Spanish, but also to explore a continent that I still don't know much about.

A Theory of Special Ability?

As I mentioned in a previous post I've been reading about theoretical physics concepts and with that a bit about Albert Einstein.

I found interesting segments on NPR which detailed one of Einstein's most revolutionaries ideas in describing the nature of light, which has come to take a backseat to his other discoveries such as the oft mentioned e=mcª.

In detailing the nature of light, Einstein said that light can act like a particle and a wave. The commonly accepted thought of the time was that light acts as a wave, it cannot be two things at once.

The commentators of these segments attest his visionary nature to his rebellious spirit and ability to think outside the box.

As he got into his 40s his body of worked slowed down, and he didn't make as significant of discoveries as he did in his youth. A possible answer to this could be that in middle-age he had become an authority figure in the scientific community, and lost the characteristics of his youth like rebelliousness to authority.

I've been trying to "think outside the box" more in approaching school-work, projects and relationships with people in general and I think Einstein's life and work present an interesting example of what can happen by doing so!

Genius Award

aka MacArthur Fellowship gives $500,000 (given over 5 years) to Americans who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work."


The fellowship is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which might be familiar to all you listen to NPR, specifically the list of its sponsors. The foundation began after billionaire banker John D. MacArthur died in 1978 and left 92% of his estate to begin it. It's one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the U.S. and is based in Chicago! The foundation (under its General Program, the same program that supports journalistic institutions like NPR) thus gives grants to arts and cultural programs within the Windy City.


For this fellowship, you don't apply. Rather, anonymous people nominate you to an anonymous selection committee who then notifies you that you won by a nice phone call. :)


Last year the award was given to a diverse group of professionals including a poet, an investigative reporter, an evolutionary biologist, an economist, a painter, a papermaker, and an ornithologist among others.


I first heard about the fellowship when I watched Synecdoche, New York, the first film Charlie Kaufman directed. The main character in the movie receives the fellowship (he's a playwright) and uses it to construct a play about his life, meticulously creating sets that mirror the places he and the people in his life go and hiring actors to live it out. The project goes on for years and you can see how the people, who are the project's focus, age as it seemingly fails to come to fruition. The film itself got mixed reviews - it's long and complicated and weird, but I enjoyed it. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the main character Cayden, a brilliant man though he goes about his life in lacluster, fearful way that is pretty pathetic. I never warmed up to him as a character... Come to think of it, one of the few if any characters in the movie that the audience can like is Samantha Morton's character who serves as Cayden's companion. She is the light of the story, all the other people make you remember how much people suck. Despite the lack of heart-warming characters (does that say anything about Kaufman's view of humanity?) it was a really interesting, complex story let alone movie to make. Tell me what you think when you watch the film (which I hope you do)!


Watch the trailer! see if you can tell when he's using the fellowship!

I think the idea for the fellowship is amazing. I was looking up some of the fellows' previous work today and it's all inspiring and amazing work! I want to try to apply for a Fulbright Student Grant within the coming year, so it's exciting for me to see how programs similar to the Fulbright program work and give people the opportunity to do great work that may have otherwise gone undone.

Art du jour

Jeremy Blake is one of my favorite artists (his art is at the heading of this blog). He became known for weird colorful digital art installations and later art work in music (for Beck's album Sea Change)  & film (for Punch Drunk Love) A couple or so of his pieces are displayed in the permanent collection at MOMA, attesting to his influence and impact. Almost as interesting as his art was his life, which ended in suicide at age 37. His partner, Theresa Duncan was a great artist in her own right and exhibited at the Whitney Biennial in the 90s, an impressive gig to be able to get for a novice as she was then. She's also from Lapeer, MI near where I lived in Michigan! They had this great bohemian lifestyle in both New York and LA and were together for years before both committed suicide.

A burst of insanity (for lack of better words) led her to believe that Scientologists were curtailing her career in film and soon her and Jeremy began alienating their friends because of their bizarre accusations and behavior. Theresa eventually committed suicide and Jeremy followed soon after her funeral. What a shame and tragic story. It's been reported that their story has been optioned into a movie, with Gus Van Sant as an "overseer" or something like that.

Their story is so amazing and yet terrible, I'm sure part of their art's appeal were their own stories. I read about them 2 years ago during one of the most boring and frustrating summers (due mostly to the boredom) and their story has stuck with me in a weird and pathetic way. So many people would love to have the lives they did and they weren't alone or anything- they had each other! Yet something fissured beneath the surface and now though they're nothing more than stories and memories perhaps, their art lives on.

Here is some of Jeremy Blake's art: (stills from his dvd sequences)

                                        

Artwork for Beck's Sea Change:

Watch Beck's video "Round the Bend" to see his moving art
Read the article in Vanity Fair that tells the story of their lives
and Theresa's Duncan's blog

if you're interested!