Category: art

art, creativity, design, discovery

Beginning: Frank Lloyd Wright – A Reinventor For The Ages

Christa Avampato
Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic emblem that he weaved through most of his work

“Love is the virtue of the heart. Sincerity the virtue of the mind. Courage the virtue of the spirit. Decision the virtue of the will.” ~ The Organic Commandments by Frank Lloyd Wright

During a recent business trip to Phoenix, I made a quick stop at Taliesin West – one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous homes, on the advice of a friend. “It’s really something you should see,” he said. I expected Taliesin West to be a museum. I didn’t expect to be immersed so fully into his life. The compound remains a revered school of architecture, a working studio, and an ongoing experiment in sustainable design.

Enormously difficult, arrogant, and brazen, the only thing that overshadowed his infamous personality was his genius as a designer. He broke every rule and then some, personally and professionally. Extraordinarily, he had only two semesters of formal study at an engineering school. It’s reported that he left that second semester, contacted his mother, and told her he wouldn’t be returning in the Fall because he knew more than everyone else there. His prolific life proves he was right. (However, imagine the legacy he could have left if he had a bit more humility to save him the years of struggle in his 40s and 50s.)

And this brings me to the very point of this post. I am very hard on myself. Brian can often he found laughing out loud as I explain to him that at the age of 35 I should be more accomplished by now. This is somewhat related to the curse of fully understanding on such a deep level how fleeting and short life is. I sometimes wish that feeling would subside for just a day, but it’s never happened. It’s so engrained that my mind automatically and consciously charts time, and keeps pushing me to seek, find, and do.

As if sensing my constant internal struggle with time, my tour guide at Taliesin West started the tour by saying, “Mr. Wright’s legacy truly began after his 60th birthday, and he is best known for the work he completed after he turned 80. He worked until 5 days before he passed away right here in this home. So don’t worry. You have plenty of time to make your mark on the world, too.” I breathed a little sigh of relief and an audible thank you to Frank. He may have been a selfish, conceited old coot, but his ability to create exactly the life he imagined at every age is damn inspiring.

Frank Lloyd Wright used his youth and most of his adult years as a way of building mastery. He experimented and reinvented. He tried, failed, and tried again. He never gave up, never lost faith, and never second-guessed his own gut – even in the face of very staunch criticism and shunning by his colleagues and contemporaries. Perhaps we could all do with just a bit of his confidence, dedication, and determination – he did have plenty to go around.

Take it from Frank – now is always the best time for a new beginning.

To see all of my photos from Taliesin West on my Google+ account, click here.

art, creativity, Muppet

Beginning: Museum of the Moving Image Celebrates Jim Henson

Christa Avampato
Jim and his colorful, famous friends

“Jim was like a sailor who had studied the compass and found that there was a fifth dimension in which someone could sail.” ~ Jerry Juhl, head writer of The Muppet Show

My pal, Dan, and I recently went to the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image commemorating his 75th birthday. Being enormous fans of the Muppets, we have had this date on the calendar for many months. I was skeptical that any exhibit could do his depth of work justice. I had no reason to be. the Museum of the Moving Image does a superb job of capturing a glimpse inside his genius mind.

Like Steve Jobs, Jim Henson inspired us to be the very best versions of ourselves. His vision was uncompromising. He was unreasonable in his expectations and it never crossed his mind that he couldn’t do something he really wanted to do. He had a different way of seeing. And even if the world around him appeared bleak, he never seemed to be discouraged. If anything the darkness around Jim just seemed to make his light shine brighter.

He is such an inspiration for those of us at the start of a new beginning, for those of us trying to do something that has never been done before. “It’s such a wonderful challenge to try to design and entire world…I love to feel I’m doing something for the first time…There are many ways of doing something. Look for what no one has tried before.” Beginnings held such a sense of excitement for him. He never sought to follow any lead but his own. Jim emphatically wanted to do things differently and personified the idea of the Apple commercial that the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.

I left the museum grateful and nostalgic for the world that Jim opened up for all of us to share. He sought to huddle everyone together. In his imagined worlds, there is a seat at the table for everyone interested in playing a part. With its collection of ragtag unique characters, we are all welcome – and please bring your quirks and eccentricities. Afterall, they are what makes each of us special and Jim Henson wants us to come out and play, just as we are.

He showed us that it pays, quite handsomely, to be fearless.

Jim Henson’s Fantastic World is on display at the Museum of the Moving Image until January 16, 2012.

art, time

Beginning: Thomas Cole’s The Voyage of Life

Christa Avampato

On a recent trip to D.C. to see some friends, I popped into the National Gallery expressly to see Thomas Cole’s The Voyage of Life. It’s a series of four modest size painting that depict: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. I wanted to spend some time studying them to see if I could draw some kind of parallel to my life.

In Childhood, the world of course is shiny and new. Everything golden and light. Pristine and full of promise. (upper left)

In Youth, the hero is reaching for his castle in the sky, full of ambition and hope. (upper right)

In Manhood, something has gone terribly wrong and our hero finds himself in a rocky, stormy sea, praying for help and seeing none in sight. (lower left)

In Old Age, he is being welcomed home to the light that has seemingly always been just above the clouds of his adult life. He is surprised and delighted by this revelation. (lower right)

I spent almost an hour going from one painting to the other. I began to look for differences in the hero. Why did he get so lost in Manhood? Why did it take him so long to appreciate the light, and by extension I began to think about how I could avoid that same path. How do I make sure to keep the promise of childhood and youth, gain the experience of adulthood, and awaken long before old age?

Now look a little more closely at the hero. In the first three paintings he’s turned away from the angel. Only when he’s gone down to the depths of despair and reached old age does he look in the direction of the light that has always been with him. I found myself looking at the Manhood painting and wanting to shout, “Turn around! The help you want is right there!” And instead, our hero proceeds toward the rocks and falls with his boat rather than climbing ashore and reaching up. I’ve known people like this; I’m guessing you do to.

I went to my meditation cushion and had a long, deep think about this conundrum: how do we live up to the responsibilities of adulthood and still awaken to what really matters in the middle of the hustle and bustle? I want to live more of my life in the light. I asked for help and assistance, for strength and courage, for a 360-degree view that isn’t blocked by a handmade set of blinders.

Isn’t it amazing what art and our reflection on it can teach us? If Thomas Cole were still around I’d give him a great big hug. In The Voyage of Life he’s asking us to take a look around, all the way around. We’ve got this terrible idea in our minds that once we’re on a path, the destination is certain. He’s telling us to look up and out. Help isn’t off in some unattainable world; the help and hope we seek is right here with us all the time.

art, dreams, faith, free, work

Beginning: Let Yourself Get Carried Away

Christa Avampato
Illusion of Control by Brian Andreas

“If you hold on to the handle, she said, it’s easier to maintain the illusion of control. But it’s more fun if you just let the wind carry you. “ ~ Brian Andreas

The image to the right the latest piece of art gracing the walls of my tiny New York apartment. Brian Andreas is one of my favorite artists so I was thrilled to find this print of his at the new Housing Works store in my neighborhood just after writing a post about “Letting Go to Be Free”. It was like a universal affirmation telling me, “Hey kid, you’re on the right track. Keep going and have fun in the process.” Thank you, Universe. Duly noted.

I have often written about the illusion of control that came crashing down on us for a solid 18 months starting in 2008. The economy had been chugging along at a healthy clip for a number of years with only a few naysayers wondering just where on Earth all this growth was coming from. We wrote them off as fast as possible, covering our ears, smiling widely, and spending to our heart’s content. And we learned that the heart is never content. It always wants more so we leveraged ourselves to the hilt, the government included, and fooled ourselves into thinking that we were safe. The mind is a slippery place; we can convince ourselves of anything if we try hard enough.

Safety lies not in your company or your professional network. Both are as slippery as the mind. Like the girl in Brian’s painting above, you can hold onto the handle to maintain the illusion of control – after all, that’s what handles are for, right?

Or you could trust the wind, your own intuition. You can tune in to the circumstances around you in a very honest way, understand exactly the resources that you have at-hand (literally), and find the best way to get the two to mesh. The wind will carry you, like it or not. Try to fight those winds, and you’re likely to struggle to no avail. Recognize their power and give yourself a chance to steer them in a direction that works for best for you. Less struggle, more fun, more learning.

From one control freak to another, let’s hold hands and see where the ride takes us.

art, books, story, writer, writing

Beginning: Author As Art Director

Christa Avampato
Scene from The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

In the past few months, I’ve been working on some fiction writing for a young adult audience. It’s a fun and interesting project, and it stretches my skills as a writer. I can write lifestyle-type pieces, as I do for this blog, with a certain ease after 4+ years of daily writing. Over 1400 days of practice, and counting.

Fiction is something different. When I write for this blog, I know where I’m going. With fiction, the future is an open road and while you may have a map, the characters take on a life of their own. You have to find out what they’re feeling, and why they feel that way. Sometimes they make you laugh out loud and sometimes they break your heart. The author may create these characters, but like children they grow up to be independent with their own ideas about the world they live in. The author just has to get it all down as honestly as possible.

The story I’m trying to tell is fantastical and though I’m not a terribly visual person, I’ve found myself imaging scenes and colors, as if I’m on the outside of a large picture window, peering in with my hands framing my eyes. I’ve struggled a bit with how to describe in words what I see in my mind’s eye, with how to communicate to a reader everything that I imagine. How do I get the reader to see all of the detail I see, exactly as I see it.

And then I came across “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”, a creation of Moonbot Studios. The story is not quite a cartoon, not quite an ebook. It’s a delightful mash-up of the two, and it is the new poster child of just what’s possible with electronic books, particularly for a young audience.

After watching “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”, I realized that writers and storytellers have just picked up another hat. I can now imagine a time not too far off when people will laugh about the term “transmedia storytelling” because all stories will have to jump across different mediums with ease in order to delight an audience with increasingly savvy expectations. It won’t just be a nice bonus, but required development. Writers, grab your virtual paintbrushes – you’re going to need them!

art

Beginning: How to Start Collecting Art

Christa Avampato

I’ve been thinking about dabbling in the art collecting world. Now, I’m not running out to buy an original Matisse or Picasso today, but I am looking into new artists who I think have real promise and a unique perspective. I have some art in my home and each piece has a special significance to me:

– an oil painting I bought on the street in Soweto, South Africa

– 2 small water colors I purchased on Karlov Most in Prague

– a print of orca whales from my trip to Alaska

– an impressionist style print that my brother-in-law (who happens to be a remarkable painter!) got for me in Chelsea

– a chalk drawing, Beast of the Forest, done by a 6th grader and gifted to me by the Crayola Factory after I did some work with them

– A tucan painted on a feather that I picked up in Costa Rica

– A small collection of photos I took during the month I spent in France before business school

I was surprised to realize that almost all of the art I have I purchased while I was traveling. It’s the best kind souvenir – art captures the essence of the culture where it was created and so it can transport you back to that place just by being in its presence. Though vacations are often filled with a myriad of activities, I always find that it’s the art of the place that I remember most. Incidentally, my framed art pieces were among my only possessions that survived my apartment building fire 2 years ago. I’ve always believed that somehow those pieces of art were supremely protected in an effort to support my own healing that I would need in the aftermath of that event.

In the last few months, I’ve thought about starting to collect art more seriously and went looking for some resources on how to begin. If you’ve ever been curious about taking up this venture, too, here’s what I found:

Jen Bekman
Art collecting has primarily been a pastime of the well-to-do, and there’s a pervading feeling tat if you have to ask too many questions about a piece of art, then OBVIOUSLY you don’t understand it. This is absurd, and Jen Bekman decided to change that. Bekman is a radical in the art world, meaning she didn’t follow anyone else’s road – no matter how well-traveled and time-tested it was – and decided to build her own path instead. At the ripe old age of 32, she opened her own gallery to support new artists and collectors alike. When she established her space on Spring Street in 2003, Jen wanted it to be a different kind of environment: one where everyone is welcomed as they enter and one that encourages people to ask questions.

Leveraging the power on e-commerce, she also started an online program called 20X200 that brings art to the masses wherever they happen to live. The e-commerce site continually rotates an exclusive collection of photography, prints and paintings, with prices that start at at $20. Makes good sense for emerging artists and collectors alike!

deviantART
I met the fine folks from DeviantART while I was speaking at SXSW last in March. They had set up a gallery space filled with so much beautiful graphic art that I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole into a world of vibrant color.

From their website: “deviantART was created to entertain, inspire, and empower the artist in all of us. Founded in August 2000, deviantART is the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts with over 13 million registered members, attracting 35 million unique visitors per month.

As a community destination, deviantART is a platform that allows emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their works within a peer community dedicated to the arts. The site’s vibrant social network environment receives over 100,000 daily uploads of original art works ranging from traditional media, such as painting and sculpture, to digital art, pixel art, films and anime.”

PicassoMio
Is an online clearinghouse of sorts, curating a handpicked collection and offering assistance and guidance to new and seasoned collectors alike.

From their website: “Founded in 1999, PicassoMio is the world’s leading destination to discover curated modern and contemporary art and design. Thousands of art collectors have taken advantage of our hand-picked selections.

As the Internet’s most successful curated original art and design seller, we receive a monthly traffic of 1 Million hits and sales in over 50 countries.”

As I learn more on this new journey, I’ll share what I find. I hope you will, too!

art, change, charity, nonprofit, photographs, poverty, relationships, social change, society

Beginning: Hear the Hungry Benefit with Featured Artist J.T. Liss Raises Funds to Provide A Supportive Community for New York City’s Homeless

Christa Avampato

On Monday night I attended a fundraiser at Webster Hall for a start-up nonprofit called Hear the Hungry. The group’s mission is to bring “food, companionship, and other basic necessities to the homeless in New York and L.A.” I am especially moved by their holistic mission because of a recent experience I had with the homeless in my own neighborhood while I was taking a walk with my pup, Phineas. Yes, we need food, but we also need a compassionate ear to hear us and a generous heart to sit with us for a while. Hear the Hungry is providing this unique and badly needed service in our city, for a population that is largely stepped over, ignored, or just plain invisible to too many of us.

Events like this are powerful reminders of how much of an impact we can have at every turn if only we recognize our own power in every exchange we have. The day after the event I walked through my usual activities much more conscious of my interactions with others, particularly those who I didn’t know. It made me think about how important it is to be present with others, to give them our full attention, and to recognize their unique value.

Two Ways You Can Help:

Hear the Hungry
In its one year, Hear the Hungry has changed the lives of the homeless through compassion, trust, and the firm belief that all people deserve the opportunity to belong to a supportive and loving community. If you’d like to learn more about them and get involved in their mission, find them on Twitter, Facebook, and at their blog.

Photography For Social Change
Through his initiative Photography for Social Change, photographer J.T. Liss creates stunning, poignant images with the goals of “inspiring advocacy, helping others in need, and allowing art to spread positivity.” 25% of the proceeds from all photos sold will go to unique nonprofit organizations that are striving to help others in need. Current partner organizations include Hear The Hungry (NYC), Hug It Forward (CA), and Saint Joseph Music Program (NYC).

For more information on J.T. and Photography for Social Change, please visit and “Like” his Facebook Page.

art, creativity, film

Beginning: Sketches of Frank Gehry

Christa Avampato

http://www.sonyclassics.com/sketchesoffrankgehry/main.html
Over the weekend I watched the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry by the brilliant director Sydney Pollack. This was Pollack’s first documentary and he starts the movie by freely admitting that he knows nothing about making a documentary and nothing about architecture. “That’s why you’re the perfect choice,” laughed Gehry. I was struck by how much of the documentary dealt with the topic of beginning. “At the moment of beginning, I’m always terrified,” said Gehry. “It’s just me and this enormous task, and I delay and procrastinate because I’m afraid I can’t do it. And then I start, and I realize I actually can do this.”

Two other poignant points about the idea of beginning happen in the middle and at the end of the film. Towards the middle of the film, Pollack shares his feelings about his early career as a director. “I always felt like I was pretending when I first started. I felt like I was faking it for a long time, and then eventually that feeling went away and I was just a director,” he said. “That happened to me, too,” agreed Gehry. Toward the end of the film, Pollack asks Gehry, “Do you ever look at one of your buildings and wonder how did I do that?” “Every time,” replied Gehry. “Every time.”

Two giants, one in architecture and one in film, talking about their own uncertain beginnings in their chosen professions and their continued and consistent beginnings in all of their creative projects. The beginning process is terrifying. It’s you and a very blank canvas at the start of every day at the start of every project. It can be overwhelming. Take some advice from Pollack and Gehry – just begin. Give it a go. It worked out okay for both of them. There’s no reason why it can’t work out for you, too.

art, health, healthcare, music

Beginning: The Music Stays With Us to Our Last Days

Christa Avampato

From http://www.rockandtheology.com
On Saturday morning, I started a busy week of yoga teaching at New York Methodist Hospital. I went to the Geriatric Psychology Unit. Because it is an acute care facility, I always have a different group of patients whom I work with in a small group class. Their cognitive and physical abilities vary widely. This weekend I met a woman, Ruth, who spoke very little and though she could hear me speaking, my questions didn’t register in her mind. Their illnesses are both fascinating and heart breaking to witness. My mind can’t help but go to the thought that some day I and / or the people I know and love may find ourselves in this same situation of loss as the years tick by.

There was a piano in the room where I was teaching the class. Ruth slowly shuffled to it and played a church hymn that she probably learned as a young child. Her shaking that was prevalent throughout the yoga class completely stopped. Color came back to her cheeks and for a moment she seemed aware again as she played the hymn. I was astonished and asked Caroline, the recreational therapist, why Ruth could play the song perfectly but not answer the question, “how are you?” Caroline had a very simple answer, “Music is the very last thing to go from the mind. Cognitive abilities, math skills, and speech can be completely gone but music sticks with us until our very last days.” I had no idea.

I’m certain that there is a very sound, neurological reason for this. Perhaps musical ability is stored in an area of the brain that is not affected by the loss of cognitive ability from aging. The writer and philosopher in me finds this notion to retaining music as a beautiful, powerful justification for making creativity and the arts a very necessary part of our lives at every age. When everything else falls away, and I mean everything, we can take comfort that music will become our final voice to the world.

art, books, change, choices, imagination

Beginning: The Ambiguity-loving Nature of the Imagination

Christa Avampato

“Imagination sometimes has to stand in for experience.” ~ Steve Martin, An Object of Beauty

I just started reading Steve Martin’s latest novel, An Object of Beauty. From the first 10 pages, I was hooked, as I always am with his writing. Lines like the one above are common place in his writing and have such an inspirational effect without slapping the reader in the face.

Just as I started to read An Object of Beauty, I also saw the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car. It’s the story of how GM pulled its well-received electric car from the market in 2005 and the conspiracy behind the decision that involved politicians and oil companies. None of the parties involved could imagine a world beyond their gas-guzzling vehicle experience.

A large company that I read about frequently is making some horrible investment decisions. Despite all of the market trend and competitive intelligence they have, they are refusing to invest in new technology. The new technology wouldn’t be that expensive to invest in. It wouldn’t even be that difficult to implement. They aren’t investing in new technology because the company’s leaders aren’t personal fans of new technology. They would rather plod along on the same road that has carried them to success up until now rather than try something new. As an investor in the company and a huge fan of the brand, I find their decisions frustrating. I can only imagine how their more progressive team members feel.

Experience has its place in our decision-making. It can be a helpful lens through which to view opportunities, though where I draw the line is when experience is used in place of imagination. What made us successful in the past will not always make us successful going forward. Times change, customers change, the world changes. And to stay relevant and engaged, we need to change, too. Experience doesn’t like change. The imagination embraces change, is fueled by change. Make good use of the imagination’s love of ambiguity. The only certainty we have in this world is that sooner or later, everything everywhere changes.

I found the image above here. I wouldn’t recommend any of these reasons.