PORTRAIT OF A LINEAGE, Part 3

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Austin

The (increasingly nostalgic) exploration of my Wintory/Weinberger lineage continues today with another of Sonja Eisenberg's poems (performed here by my father, Terry Wintory).

The commandeered refrain

Pretends

Extraordinary bliss

As if

Those hours

Of gnawing fear

Were bubbles,

Asleep

Andy

The content of these poems can be enough to give me chills, let alone instant inspiration. I have been going back and forth on my interpretation thanks to the word "Pretends." Is it beneficial to lose ourselves in the temporary emotional release offered by, in this case, music? Or is it simply that-- temporary, an escape that leaves us no closer to confronting our fears when we return to them? Regardless, I visualized this as an attempt to wash dirt from ones hands. Soap protecting us and washing us clean. It is also a bit beyond my bedtime...

Paleozoic Part 1: Cambrian Explosion

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Austin

About 530 million years ago the so-called "Cambrian Explosion" occurred, marking a sudden surge lifeform population and biological diversity. Fossil records show an almost immediate leap forward in the complexity of countless species, and the overall makeup of life began to take shape as it exists today (in terms of animals and plant life). While geologically an "explosion," this process actually took millions of years and hence today's music is more of a gradual crescendo of coalescing and evolving individuals.

Andy

Maybe not quite Cambrian... but close enough. It's no single celled/simple multi-celled organism. 

Tombeau de Berlioz

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Austin

Hector Berlioz is among the most preeminent of 19th Century composers and his greatest contribution to the world of music was the complete revolutionizing of orchestration. He made the use of the orchestra into an art form of its own (arguably at the potential expense of musical depth for all composers thereafter). The extreme of that development came in the form of "Klangfarbenmelodie," the early 20th Century style of music defined entirely by its use of instrumental color. This is a style that I've largely shied away from (especially lately), but in honor of the great French Master, today have decided to give it another stab. I'm mixed on the results, not to mention the tremendous dissatisfaction from rendering orchestral music completely electronically.

Andy

Here is my orchestra of color. Each individual section gives off its own rich colored light, bright and brilliant. If only a single color is lit the result is a projection of that color onto whatever object it is aimed at. When all three colors shine, however, the result is white light. Not all that shocking given the primary colors and the wave property of light, but I thought it was an interesting corollary to Berlioz's orchestration.

Happy Birthday Yuri and Sam!

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Austin

Today marks the birthday of two very different and altogether unrelated heroes: Yuri Gagarin and Samuel Barber. Gagarin, the first human being to leave the Earth, is a Russian hero and was a symbol of Russia's prominence in the space race; Barber was a quintessential American composer whose style stood in dramatic contrast to the reigning trends of European composers of the mid-20th century. We salute them today with a Barber-inspired setting of the famous Russian folk-tune "Polyushko Pole," also known as "O Field, My Field."

Andy

Visually wishing a happy birthday to two dead men is a tough thing to do. So in a way, I didn't. I focused on the idea of being the first man in space. I imagine it could become alienating, pun possibly intended. So I shot myself spotlighted, otherwise in the dark. I used a very simple light set up (I'm holding the umbrella the flash is bouncing into) to create the dramatic transition between light and shadow. I also have my back against the fence which now separates the neighborhood which used to be the large field behind my house. O Field, My Field indeed.

PORTRAIT OF A LINEAGE, Part 2

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Andy

An admittedly strange photo today, but I was influenced by this poem. If the poem was not in turn inspired by the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box," than it's a great coincidence. I believe Holmes is said to own a Stradivarius in the story, and as the title would suggest cardboard is also involved. A woman is sent a box with two severed ears inside, hence this odd photo.

Austin

I return to the poetry of Sonja Eisenberg today for part 2 of this Portrait. The poem (here performed by me), is:

Do you recognize this violin

A Stradivarius?

Here's a puzzle:

Which sound could burst

Our card board bubble?

Precambrian Part 2 - Proterozoic

 

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Austin

Beginning approximately 2.5 billion years ago, this Eon saw what was potentially the most severe mass extinction in Earth's history, known as the "Great Oxygenation Event." The amount of free oxygen in the atmosphere skyrocketed after the various oxygen sinks became saturated, killing off the vast majority of life which had adapted to a low oxygen environment. Later, between 650-800 billion years ago (still during the Proterozoic Eon), the Earth entered into the so-called "Snowball Earth" period during which the surface was almost entirely frozen (this is all, of course, theory). I remember first hearing of the 'Snowball Earth' during a college geography course and have ever since longed to explore that notion musically. Today is the first attempt, though I think I've hardly scratched the surface.

Andy

Planet being overrun by pesky anaerobes? No problem! Try new OxiClean and in no time your atmosphere will become a harsh an inhospitable wasteland effectively ending the reign of the anaerobes!

Happy Birthday Michelangelo!

 

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Austin

I have always been inspired and intrigued by Michaelangelo's famous statement that when carving a sculpture, he was actually merely discovering the already-finished sculpture and removing the unneeded pieces. At the core of his block lay David or whatever else, pristine and awaiting liberation. Today is the rough musical equivalent; layers upon layers of musical fabric, each with their own individual logic and expression, slowly pealed away to reveal the simple core. 

Andy

Happy birthday buddy! It is incredibly nice outside and I rarely get an opportunity to shoot during the day so I took today's photo in my backyard. Good times.