State of the Arts: July 16, 2009 Archive

Art Hounds: Saving the planet, one show at a time

Posted at 7:00 AM on July 16, 2009 by Marianne Combs (0 Comments)
Filed under: Art Hounds, Events

(Image courtesy of Brave New Workshop)

This weekend has a little something for everyone. Tomorrow night Brave New Workshop opens its latest improv show "Save the Planet; Yes we can, but do we have to?" It's a send-up of post-election lassitude and all issues in the shade of green.

If you're feeling the old political protest spirit move you, I hope you already have tickets to see folk singer Arlo Guthrie perform at the Fitzgerald Theater tonight in St. Paul. I say "hope" because last I heard the box office was sold out.

Elsewhere in the world of music, Sommerfest gets underway Friday, with a wide array of free concerts on Peavey Plaza, as well as an evening of Strauss and Mozart in Orchestra Hall.

Also, local band The Melismatics perform Friday night at The Entry along with guests Sick of Sarah.

It's also a great weekend for dance. You can see new dance works by Vanessa Voskuil and Sachiko Nishiuchi as part of Momentum: New Dance Works at the Southern Theater (the series continues next weekend with works by Sally Rousse and Megan Mayer).

If that isn't enough for you, head over to the Ritz Theater to see "Reeling Over Love" by the dance group Eclectic Edge Ensemble. It runs tonight through Sunday.

Finally, Intermedia Arts presents an Art Car show and workshop Saturday at Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis. Note: Art bikes are also welcome.

Not seeing what you want here? Check out what these Art Hounds are doing this weekend.

Want to be an Art Hound? Of course you do!

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Sense and Sensibility...and Sea Monsters

Posted at 11:26 AM on July 16, 2009 by Marianne Combs (1 Comments)
Filed under: Books

The conversion of Jane Austen's romances into horrorific tales more worthy of Mary Shelley continues. From the creators of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" comes "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters." Here's their video trailer for the new book:

Evidently Quirk Books is also at work on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."

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Francis Ford Coppola on the need for risk

Posted at 1:56 PM on July 16, 2009 by Euan Kerr (0 Comments)
Filed under: Film

Chasing Francis Ford Coppola down for an interview, even with an appointment can be complicated. We were due to chat about his new film "Tetro" which opens in Minneapolis tomorrow.

After talking to someone in Romania who had various other contact numbers I eventually found him coming out of a meeting which had run long. We talked at length about the film, but also where, after a decades long illustrious career, he sees himself fitting into the film world.

He confessed he feels free to explore his own projects. "Tetro" is largely self-financed he said.

"I've concluded that the great joy is to learn something," he told me. "Whether it be learning about yourself, your own feelings, or whether it be to learn about some interesting field or learn about life or how to behave in situations."

"So for me, I make films to learn, most of all to learn about the cinema which is you know really a young art form , not even, it's a hundred years old, and amazingly there have been a tremendous number of masterpieces made in such a long time, but it still is such a young art and much of the language we use in the cinema was invented in the first 30 years of the silent period, because the film makers were very much encouraged to experiment in those days because no-one knew what film was, and they invented it."

"Now things are much more rigid and financiers don't want experimentation, and it's only out of experimentation that you can learn. You have to risk failure in order to have a big success."

I remember once, years ago when an important man asked me 'How do you make a film like the Godfather that is both a commercial success, and plays all around the country, and is also an artistic success?'

I looked at him and I said 'Risk! You have to risk.' There is no such thing as risk free art."

"Nowadays we are obsessed with the best seller and novels follow formulas and films tend to follow formulas. But to have the big success and also to make a contribution to the film you have to go out into the wilderness without any assurances and use your heart and you knowledge and your skills to do something. That doesn't go well with a business that requires hundreds of millions of dollars to pursue."

We will air parts of the interview tomorrow on "All Things Considered."

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How To: Make a Mosaic

Posted at 5:35 PM on July 16, 2009 by Marianne Combs (4 Comments)
Filed under: Craft, How To

If you saw last week's bit of "fast art," you know I've been hanging out at Mosaic on a Stick lately, learning the ropes. In the process I've gained a great deal of respect for the creativity involved in making a really stunning mosaic. While many people consider mosaics to be a sort of craft, enthusiasts know that it can also be high art, in the right hands.

The tradition of making mosaics goes back centuries, and when done correctly they can last for centuries as well. Across much of Europe and North Africa you can visit mosaics that date back to the Roman Empire.

Making a mosaic is surprisingly easy, once you have the right materials in place. Check out this "how to" slideshow. And once you've finished, check out the mosaic art of people like Sonia King, Emma Biggs, and Brooks Tower.

(p.s. Many many thanks go to Lori Greene, owner of Mosaic on a Stick, for humoring my quest for knowledge, and for being my hand model for many of the photographs.)

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