Engaging Culture with Culture Through Acts of Creative Excellence
How I’m Damned & What I’m Doing About It – Part I.
I recently read the book “My Name is Asher Lev” by Chaim Potok. In it a young orthodox Jew wrestles with his identity as an artist and Hasidic acolyte. I was struck by the similarity of his struggle with mine as a Christian poet. Apparently, faith and art are everywhere a tenuous match. But in our contemporary culture, even identity as an artist is often unjustified. Continue reading “How I’m Damned & What I’m Doing About It – Part I.” »
Meet Kent Smith via his Collaboration with Macedonia Films
A very interesting interview with Continuum Fellow, Kent Smith, was recently featured on Macedonia Films (a local film production company). The most intriguing portion, of course outside of Kent’s childhood but enduring affection for the movie Ladyhawk, was the following statement regarding the perfect marriage of film & score:
Less is more, Less is more, Less is more. When in doubt, err on the side of silence. There has never been a well shot, well acted, well written scene in a film that was utterly ruined by not having musical accompaniment. The opposite, sadly, is certainly not true.
Kent is currently collaborating with Macedonia Films on the score for the movie Avarice. Read the whole interview here: Meet Kent Smith
Meditations on “Agony in the Garden”
Three visual meditations on “Agony in the Garden” by William Blake, Gaugin & di Buoninsegna and a poem by Mary Karr:
Classical Music With Shining Eyes
This is absolutely wonderful! World-renowned conductor and speaker Benjamin Zander explains how classical music is something that can speak into the hearts of everyone.
Holding On by Philip Levine
Green fingers
holding the hillside,
mustard whipping in
the sea winds, one blood-bright
poppy breathing in
and out. The odor
of Spanish earth comes
up to me, yellowed
with my own piss.
40 miles from Málaga
half the world away
from home, I am home and
nowhere, a man who envies
grass.
Two oxen browse
yoked together in the green clearing
below. Their bells cough. When
the darkness and the wet roll in
at dusk they gather
their great slow bodies toward
the stalls.
If my spirit
descended now, it would be
a lost gull flaring against
a deepening hillside, or an angel
who cries too easily, or a single
glass of seawater, no longer blue
or mysterious, and still salty.
The Golden Age of Painting
A nearly 400 year-old document from Amsterdam contains the following anecdote:
“Today, the 26th of July, 1632, I, Jacob van Swieten, Public Notary, […] visited the house of Mr. Heijndrick Ulenburch, painter, living on Breestraat, […] and there asked a certain young girl who came to the door whether Mr. Rembrandt Harmens v. Rijn, panter, (who had taken lodgings at the house) was at home and available. The same girl replied‘yes’ and when on my request the aforementioned Rembrandt Harmens v. Rijn, painter, was called and had come to the entrance hall where I was waiting for him, I asked him if he was Mr. Rembrandt Harmens v. Rijn, painter, and he having replied ‘yes’ I then said to him that that was all and that it appeared to me that he was still fresh and vigorous and in good health to which he replied, ‘that is true, I am—thank God—fit and in good health.’”
It is true that in 1632, Rembrandt, 26 years old and living in the house of his dealer, was still “fresh and vigorous,” Continue reading “The Golden Age of Painting” »
An overlooked pop masterpiece.
Aching beauty, soaring, melancholic pop. Music that pulls at the sinews of the human heart while firmly nodding to the intellect. These are but some of the resultant qualities of two Texas boys and a Dane following their muse all the way to the heart of the city of Lost Angels. The Daylights are one of those rare bands that still holds the song to be paramount. Their combination of the American and European aesthetic has become even more apparent with their journey across the great pond to record their full length debut in London with renowned producer Youth. In today’s milieu of pre-fabricated, commercial drivel and indier-than-thou hipsters it is truly refreshing to find a new artist who is not afraid to embrace authenticity and beauty with something vastly superior. http://www.thedaylights.com/thedaylights/index.php
The Two of You by Czelsaw Milosz
Don’t run anymore. Quiet. How softly it rains
On the roofs of the city. How perfect
Request for Help
You may be aware of our recent affiliation with InternationalArtsMovement (IAM). IAM is a global community of artists and creative catalysts—people who take an active part in engaging with the arts and believe that the arts play a vital role in human flourishing. This community was founded over 20 years ago by painter, author & philosopher MakotoFujimura. We are excited about this affiliation.
In February 2012, IAM is holding a small, by-invitation-only gathering for catalysts in the “art/faith/humanity” spheres gathering throughout the world, and the Continuum has been invited to join this gathering. We have elected to send Kent Smith as our representative. For three (cold!) days, he and others will be gathering in IAM’s gallery in midtown Manhattan and meeting with the staff of International Arts Movement. This will be a vital time for us to build our relationships with one another in the movement, to learn more about the future of the movement, to contribute our input, ideas, experiences, and expertise to the shape of the movement, and to be more deeply equipped and resourced as we receive information on the programs and resources IAM produces.
IAM has raised funding for two nights of housing and three days of meals, but we have to cover Kent’s travel costs to NYC. I am writing to see if you would be willing to help underwrite the $500 in travel costs to attend this important gathering.
As IAM is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization, any donations made are tax-deductible. If you would like to support Kent & the Continuum’s participation, you may do it one of two ways:
- Mail a check made payable to International Arts Movement, 38 W. 39th St, 3rd FL, New York, NY 10018. Include a note that your gift is to be applied toward the “2012 IAM Catalysts Summit” and include Kent’s name (Kent Smith).
- Make an online donation. Click here and enter your donation amount under “General Donation.” Once you click “Add to Cart,” you will be able to leave a “note,” where you may designate “2012 IAM Catalysts Summit” and include Kent’s name.
IAM will reimburse Kent’s travel expenses based on donations received. (Any gifts beyond his travel costs will be used to support this regional gathering and the movement as a whole.)
This opportunity is something that will add tremendous value to our work on behalf of artists and the arts, and I am grateful the Continuum will be a part of it. Your donation will really help make that possible.
Continuum Cinema Series: Certified Copy
“This story bristles with ideas and intelligence, and the more you stick with it, the more complicated it gets.”
—Andrew O’ Hehir
“I can’t say that I understand everything Kiarostami has to tell me about life, art, romance, and tradition,…at least not consciously, but I know I feel haunted, elated, enriched by his wily and impassioned view of relationships as bodies in constant flux, of disagreement and individuality, and of the transformative power of a simple, sincerely felt timeout in a moment of bitter crisis…”
—Ed Gonzalez
Continue reading “Continuum Cinema Series: Certified Copy” »
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