WARHOL LIVE - An Artist Date

Posted in artist dates, creativity, inspiration, rituals, videos

Despite a slight delay due to a) Autumn, b) Boredom, c) Booze,
I’m proud to (finally) present my account of October 15’s Artist Date: WARHOL LIVE - Music and Dance in Andy Warhol’s Work

Lights… Camera… ACTION!

As soon as I enter the first room, it’s party time.

Imagine stepping into a museum of “fine arts” and coming face to face with a life-size Elvis.

Not exactly face to face as the canvas is hanging on the wall, but still… here I am standing in front of a gun-toting Elvis and I’m hearing Judy Garland sing Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

I think to myself, This is going to be fun.

The second room continues to explore Warhol’s
attraction to music and the stars.

We learn that it all started with a childhood crush on Shirley Temple who was sweet enough to answer his fan letter.

When Shirley strikes the first chords of On The Good Ship Lollipop,
I have to bite my lip not to sing along.

By the third room, we can tell people are
getting comfortable with the whole setup.

Lying flat on a wooden platform in the middle of the room is Warhol’s huge Dance Diagram(2): Fox Trot - The Double Twinkle-Man (1962).

On each side of this work of art, men and women, young and old, are trying to follow the dance steps and keep up with the beat of I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.

It’s just like New Year’s Eve at my aunt Bertha’s.

In the fourth room, what fascinates me most are two
experimental films projected directly on the walls.

On the front wall, there’s Empire — silent film, black and white — which features nothing else but one continuous shot of New York’s Empire State Building for eight hours and five minutes.

Warhol filmed it from early evening, on July 25, 1964, to almost 3 am the next day, from the 42nd floor of the Time Life Building. He even lengthened Empire’s running time by projecting the film at a speed of sixteen frames per second, slower than its shooting speed of twenty-four frames per second, in order to make the progression to darkness almost imperceptible.

With Empire, Warhol wanted to “see time go by.”

Here’s a 6-minute clip. What I saw at the museum wasn’t this dark, so I must have caught the early evening segment.

On the back wall, you have Sleep. This silent, black and white film (16 mm), was shot on Memorial Day weekend in 1963, in the apartment of poet John Giorno, Andy Warhol’s lover at the time.

The movie stars Giorno — sleeping — for 5 hours and 21 minutes.

What I see when I stop to stare is a lower back, a naked rump, and half a thigh — quite a view considering the height and width of the projected image.

I don’t stare too long because hey… big butt sleeping.

Now comes the part of the exhibit where
everyone forgets about museum etiquette.

Reproduced in a cramped dimly lit room with mirror-covered walls is the installation Warhol created in 1966 at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Entitled Silver Clouds, it consists of dozens of large helium-filled balloons dancing in the air.

Sitting on the floor with other curious folk, I observe as people enter the room and turn crazy the moment they see the shiny objects floating over their heads. They start to jump and grab and punch the silver clouds, and eventually the scene becomes a bit too volleyball-ish so I stand up and leave.

Moving on, I walk through a short corridor where I listen to the one and only recording done by The Druds – a short-lived musical group Andy belonged to back in 1963. No comment.

I pass by the Brillo Boxes (two long rows, twenty boxes in all — impressive) on my way to a quaint little alcove at the back of the room where I get to dump my tired body on a kitschy cushy velvet sofa.

For an hour or so, I watch a selection of short films without even bothering to write down the titles. One of them takes place at a party: a cute blond guy dances out of control while another cute guy drips candle wax on his friend’s hairless chest.

All this time, I can’t make out what the actors are saying because music is blaring from the Brillo Box room. I don’t mind, though, as I much prefer the sound of Satisfaction and Like a Rolling Stone.

Next station: the album covers.

Warhol designed his first in 1949 for the album A Program of Mexican Music, and kept designing them till he died, in 1987. The bananas pictured above are three unused stickers for The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) record cover.

All in all, Warhol produced a total of 50 album covers including, in 1971, the Grammy-nominated Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers sleeve which had a genuine zipper.

My attention drifts to the writings on the walls, quotes taken from different periods in Warhol’s life. Here are a few I managed to jot down before my pen ran out of ink:

“I had this routine of painting with rock and roll,
blasting the same song, a 45 rpm,
over and over
all day long.”

“The Tina Turner concert was great.
I thought she was copying Mick Jagger
but then somebody told me
she taught him how to dance.”

“Some company recently was interested
in buying my aura.”

“I believe media is art.”

“Publicity is like eating peanuts.
Once you start, you can’t stop.”

“Punk has always existed.
Callas was terribly punk.”

I could go on and on, the exhibit holds 640 works and objects — paintings, silkscreens, photographs, films, videos, wigs… But I’ll conclude here by saying WARHOL LIVE is a darn good trip to take. That’s why I’ll definitely be going back to further enjoy the last part of the exhibit = the wild nights at Studio 54.

Before leaving the museum, I stopped by the boutique and ended up buying the official poster with Liza Minelli’s portrait ($9.95 - also available with Prince or Debbie Harry) and 10 postcards pretty enough to frame ($1 each).

Cool Artist Date, eh?

Don’t go thinking they’ll always be this extravagant. As a matter of fact, last week’s Artist Date was a visit to the hardware store. Sorry, no pictures.

WARHOL LIVE is on till January 18, 2009
at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavillion
1380 Sherbrooke Street West
Montréal - Québec - Canada

Did You Laugh Today?

Posted in creativity, drawings, happiness, inspiration

At the height of laughter,
the universe is flung
into a kaleidoscope
of new possibilities.
- Jean Houston

I make it a point
to laugh every day.

To laugh out loud.

You?

Synchronicity Sure Smells Sweet

Posted in artist dates, creativity, inspiration, law of attraction, rituals

I decide to go see Warhol Live…
I get an email about Bond No. 9.

Where’s the synchronicity,
you ask?

It’s in the bottle!

A few months ago, in my ongoing quest to attract abundance, I subscribed to HOLT REN- FREW’s newsletter knowing the luxury-goods store would provide me with plenty of opportunities to visualize.

I even included it in my Treasure Map; if you take a look, you’ll notice the name HOLT, way up there at the top, pasted beside a sexy red shoe (yet more synchronicity).

The email I received on Tuesday (the day I decided the Warhol exhibit was to be my Artist Date this week) came from HOLT’s and was about this new perfume by Bond No. 9 New York called Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue. It announced that as a subscriber, I was entitled to a free sample. Lucky me!

Apparently, that’s what Andy Warhol used to say half a century ago when he first got noticed as a shoe illustrator. For what would have been the artist’s 80th birthday this year (he was born August 6, 1928), Bond No. 9 decided to honour Warhol’s origins by celebrating the mutual sensuality of shoes and eau de parfum.

Here are a few details snipped from Bond’s website:

Bond No. 9 proudly introduces the third in its series of Warhol eaux de parfum.

Its name, Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue, recalls the artist’s formative pre-Pop years in 1950s New York, when he lived in the first of several apartments on Lexington Avenue and plied his trade as a prolific illustrator, mainly of imaginative shoes. Hence the Warhol-designed mélange of exclamation-point heels and high-button boots that covers the flacon.

Lush and unapologetically seductive, Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue dares (perhaps for the first time in perfumery) to link two of the most ultra-feminine commodities a woman can own: fragrance and footwear.

The eau de parfum we concocted is a floral woody chypre (chypre meaning fresh citrus topnotes and a lingering forest-like base) with highly coveted contemporary gourmand notes — a brew of peony, orris, patchouli, sandalwood, cardamom, fennel, almonds, cumin, and even crème brulee.

A seductive and intoxicating autumn-winter fragrance, Andy Warhol Lexington Avenue is the perfume equivalent of that rarity, an outrageously luxurious pair of stiletto heels that fit as comfortably as a glove. Wearing the scent, like wearing the shoes, will turn a woman’s walk into a sinuous glide.

Well, I’ll be wearing the scent with my flat-heeled,
brown-suede boots, if you don’t mind.

Because YES, I picked up my free sample on my way to the
museum, yesterday afternoon.

As a matter of fact, I wish to thank the charming Sylvie Michaud, at HOLT RENFREW - Montreal, for introducing me to the new fragrance and for being such a good sport by agreeing to let me add her pretty face to today’s story. If you’re ever in the neighbourhood, stop by and say hello. She’s cool!

HOLT RENFREW - Montreal is at 1300 Sherbrooke Street West.

Read more about the fragrance, the footwear,
and the Andy Warhol Foundation.

Coming soon (if I don’t procrastinate):
WARHOL LIVE — The Exhibit

The Artist Date

Posted in books, creativity, drawings, inspiration, rituals, spirituality

If Morning Pages are assigned work,
Artist Dates are assigned play.

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron asks us to think of this combination of tools in terms of a radio transmitter and receiver.

It is a two-step, two-directional process: out, and then in.

When you do your Morning Pages, you are transmitting: notifying yourself and the universe of your dissatisfactions, your dreams, your hopes.

When you do your Artist Date, you are receiving: opening yourself to insight, inspiration, and guidance.

Here’s more from Julia’s book:

An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.

In its most primary form, the Artist Date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers. You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child. That means no lovers, friends, spouses, children — no taggers-on of any stripe.

If you think this sounds stupid or that you will never be able to afford the time, identify that reaction as resistance. You cannot afford not to find time for Artist Dates.

Your artist needs to be taken out, pampered, and listened to. There are as many ways to evade this commitment as there are days of your life. “I’m too broke” is the favored one, although no one said the date need involve elaborate expenses.

Your artist is a child. Time with a parent matters more than monies spent. A visit to a great junk store, a solo trip to the beach, an old movie seen alone together, a visit to an aquarium or an art gallery — those cost time, not money. Remember, it is the time commitment that is sacred.

Commit yourself to a weekly Artist Date and learn to listen to what your artist child has to say on, and about, these joint expeditions. For example, “Oh, I hate this serious stuff,” your artist may exclaim if you persist in taking it only to grown-up places that are culturally edifying and good for it.

Listen to that! It is telling you your art needs more playful inflow. A little fun can go a long way toward making your work feel more like play.

The creation of something new
is not accomplished by the intellect
but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity.
The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
C.G. Jung

The magical thing about Artist Dates and Morning Pages is that they perform what Julia calls “major adjustments in spiritual chiropractic.” As they become a regular part of our lives, they quickly align us with a flow of what we normally call luck, or coincidence. In other words, they create synchronicity.

All of a sudden, we’re in the right place at the right time.
We encounter not only support, but also opportunity.

Magical, I tell you.

Now… time to schedule my next Artist Date.

Though I’m in the habit of going out on my own to explore dollar stores, flea markets, and art supply stores, such outings have become kind of boring. I need to treat myself to something special for a change.

And wouldn’t you know it (synchronicity?), The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is hosting WARHOL LIVE - Music And Dance in Andy Warhol’s Work.

I’m going to see it this week.
It’s a date!

P.S.: Do you experience the magic of synchronicity on a regular basis?