Tumblr: J. Marie Valdivia

As if I wasn't already a part of the whole mass communications I decided to make a tumblr account for all my personally (but not website) worthy projects... enjoy!

Brian Taylor @ Gallery 291 San Francisco

Well, not much more can be said about Brian Taylor that his work cannot explain itself. Alternative process and photography are his tools of trade and he has mastered his skills. His current show at Gallery 291 in San Francisco shows the years of training and mastering his craft. The two pieces above "Sonora Desert Diptych" and "Fallen Trees Santa Cruz Mountains" were two of my favorite.

Gum bichromate four color processed images printed on water color paper is such a labor intensive process that only a true master can flawlessly accomplish. The "Sonora Desert Diptych" emulates Brian Taylor's love of the desert. Beautiful shades of brown glowing the desert golds. The calm serene of the natural state with gorgeous texture of the water colored paper printed on."Fallen Trees Santa Cruz Mountains", is so impressive because like most of his compositions it is so perfectly simplistic. It has a haunting peaceful emotive quality about this singular tree surrounded by a circle of thin branches, like a naked soul. Every last detail from the handmade books to the wood burned picture frames is paid attention to in the most meticulous manner. It would be a misfortune to miss this talented artist who transcend the lines of photography.

First Book Creation : Nocturnal Serenity

Nocturnal Serenity by Photography by J. Marie Valdivia | Make Your Own Book

My first book creation is completed! On October 20, 2009 I had my first solo gallery show at San Jose State University Gallery 5 entitled "Nocturnal Serenity". The book showcases the images used in the exhibit as well as some new editions.

Lectures with Preston Metcalf of the Triton Museum

"Art is what you take with you when you leave the gallery" ~ Picasso

Today was another inspiring day in the scholastic art world. I was fortunate enough to have a guest lecturer in my BFA seminar course. Preston Metcalf is the curator of art at the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, CA. He gave us his insight and advice for where artists should interact with gallery administration and how to survive upon graduation. Preston is a very animated curator passionate and realistic about the art world through his extensive experience. He made it very clear to know the difference between a commercial gallery and a fine art gallery. Commercial galleries are all about aesthetics. Whatever looks good to buy and place in your living room, aka something that pleases the masses. Fine art galleries, however, our into the IDEA.Museums are interested in entirely Ideas. Great art always has a great Idea, it may not be aesthetically pleasing but the Idea burns into your soul. The Idea should be overwhelming.

Other helpful tips he added were to always add the personal touch. MAke sure to be involved in the art community. Send emails, introduce yourself at gallery receptions, attend portfolio reviews, converse with artists, submit your work, get your art work out into any venue; basically don't be passive. If you want to be successful you can, but a real artist is always creating regardless of how financially successful they are.Preston informed us of ways to support yourself as an artist. You always have the time to make art. THe moment you say "I'm too busy I haven't had time to make art.",, than you are no longer an artist. An artist is always creating, there is a sense of self disciple, the need to create. Don't let money, a job, a relationship, or time stand in your way.

Remember: Aesthetics are least important; IDEA is the most important.

"Popular art is a celebration of the image, GREAT art is a celebration of the IDEA"

Rayko 3rd Annual: Plastic Camera Show

Friday February 27th, 2010 was the opening reception for RayKo Photo's 3rd Annual International Juried "Plastic Camera Show"and it was surprisingly my first visit to Rayko. A sad fact after I attended I was blown away not only at the participants who submitted work but at the presentation and curatorial efforts to create a forum for works created using one of my favorite tools. The Diana, Brownie, Holga and other plastic camera of the like were the tools used to create these intoxicating works of art of varying subject matter & content breaking the rules and definitions of fine art medium format or view cameras associated with Ansel Adams quality. It's not the tool that defines these photographers. This "toy" camera frees the artists to create what they feel is art to them without the stigma or pressure of the Idea of "fine art". Of course there were those cliched images which didn't breathe life or meaning for me as the viewer... but I was truly amazed at the beauty of such a simple country house, or the detail in a portrait of a grandfather, or the clarity in thought of the digital manipulations. These artist pushed their concepts and came up with a amazingly diverse and interesting show. Congratulations to Ann Jastrab, gallery director of RayKo Photo for keeping Holga and the like in business and showcasing these artists who never forgot the beauty of a true point and shoot.

Exhibit @ ICA : By a thread:

Friday February 5th was a day of art for the bay area, thanks to "First Friday's" where Downtown San Jose opens their door for free artist receptions of their new exhibits. San Jose's Institute of Contemporary Art's anticipated new exhibit titled "By a thread" featured contemporary artists who used unconventional materials usually defined for art labeled as crafts; sewing materials, pipe cleaners, and the obvious ... thread.

In the beginning I had no expectations of what was going to be shown. As I arrived I was blown away from all the beauty that exuded from what was displayed. All the artists were brilliant in their concepts and methods creating new work unlike that I've seen. Artists that stood out to me were Diem Chao, Beili Lu, and Allison Watkins.

Diem Chao is a beautifully talented Vietnamese artist that created porcelain cups with a silk overlay which she threaded with black and red thread to symbolize connections. a silhouetted hand threaded over a cup is connected by a thin red strand of thread that is sewn into two figures on another cup.

Beili Lu's "Bound #1" was one of the most talked about and praised pieces in the show. The piece was based on the Chinese philosophy of the "red thread of destiny". There was pins tacked into the wall into the form of a silhouette of a human figure. In a corner there was a human figure on the opposing wall, connecting the figures were single pieces of red thread strung from one pin from one silhouette to another pin on the other figure. The figures were strong in form and yet were "connected" by by such fragile threads of destiny.

Allison Watkins made one of the most enchanting pieces. It was a mesmerizing simplistic yet intricately woven piece of work. The piece was based off the histories of old linens from her grandmother. It looks as though she captured a fading memory from her closet. The most inspiring part of her work for me was that this most recent graduate had taught herself to do this at grad school.

It is a great exhibit for all artists of any media. The exhibit runs through May 15th, 2010.

Exhibit: Conceptual Landscapes: recent work by Castillo and Mariana Garibay

Macla: Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, is a wonderful contemporary museum that focuses on artists in the Chicano/ Latino movement. There current exhibit is called Conceptual Landscapes: recent work by Castillo and Mariana Garibay. Castillo's piece was an installation of sugar bags with her image printed on them. There was no artist statement provided, so one had to ascertain the meaning. The had her own image printed on these brown burlap sugar sacks, then hung them from the ceiling in huge circular columns. She also had large 11x14 photographs with repeated images of herself wearing the the sacks as a dress. I had wondered is she was supposed to represented the sugar cane fields that perhaps her people had worked on?

The more moving piece to me was the beautiful landscapes of Mariana. She brightly painted on the walls, and had paper images that resembles map like stokes upon them. She used mixed media of papers paints and other materials to create abstract images of the idea of a landscape. As a viewer each wall evoked a sense of a place. A red hued palette gave an air of love hate and fire, while the green hued wall had an almost floral vegetative alluring essence. They were all naturally beautiful to look at and gave a great sense of environment.


The exhibit runs through March 13th, 2010.

Lecture w/ Karen Sinsheimer Curator of Photographs @ Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Today I was fortunate to hear Karen Sinsheimer, Curator of Photographs at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art giving a talk at Stanford University. This was Karen's second talk to photography alums of the Continuing Studies Program at Stanford and her general topic this year was the trends in photography—for collectors and museums—the issues in terms of budgets and new processes and technologies.

It was a really informative lecture. She opened with a presentation on the SBMA's upcoming show "Chaotic Harmony" which will be opening summer 2010. It will feature photographers from Korea covering globalization, identity: cultural & personal, and anxiety of the current state of the country and its citizens. Some of the emerging and existing photographers I am looking forward to seeing are Sanggil Kim who photographed groups of young generation Koreans who have grown with technology. As well as Yeondoo Jung who photographs people in their realities (such as working at an ice cream parlor) and then photographs them in their dream scenario reflective of their realistic pose like being an ice warrior, the concept is simple but moving, everyone has a dream or an alternate version of their reality.

As much as I enjoyed her sideshow of the upcoming exhibit I was more captivated by her talk on the art market and art trends. The market has changed from gather all emerging art to focusing on the greats and antiques. She discussed how even the established such as Cindy Sherman or Loretta Lux can either evolve into something that is not representative of their usual work, or get pigeonholed into creating redundant work. She talked candidly about the importance of having a a reason for your work. Don't create with the idea of "I want to be in a gallery". Have a purpose, a reason, motivation; a why. IT is so important to be a proactive creative artist. Use all the tools of photography and any media to help you get your reason across. Humorously she referred to the "fuzzy photographers" who bow to the holgas thinking every image is a brilliant piece of work because it "is vignetted and has cool light leaks, and you never know what you're going to get". Point is there is no point to it or any other art unless you have a common concept, its just a pretty picture. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it doesn't make it fine art. But the idea of fine art, although there are some rules, needs to be defined by you. How you experience art and how you process it into your work. Regardless of the media you can use all the tools allotted digital, film, paint, mixed media & alternative process are just a few of the supplies offered.

After her lecture I was inspired I wanted to take my holga... yes I still love ALL my holga... and get out there and start creating my art. Artists, dealers, and the rest of the audience was just as eager. So get out there and make some art.. for yourself.. for the world... something you are proud of. Because everyone will always have their own interpretation of your work positive and negative, you have no control over the perception. All you can control is your process.

Andy Goldsworthy: the artist of nature

Pablo Picasso said, “There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.” Scottish artist, Andy Goldsworthy’s art has been described as abstract because his work has many dimensions. However he’s an artist in the full sense of the word; a conceptual artist, a sculptor, and still life photographer. His work is created using sculpture as the dominant component and is then matched with the tool of photography to capture his temporary pieces. This is an artist who is compelled by the way light falls on elements of nature such as stone, water and leaves. Landscape is the materials he uses to capture and create temporary pieces made of nature. These structures made from nature would collapse with the wind or incoming tide or any other aspects of the environment’s hand; as fleeting as Mother Nature herself. His art illustrates aspect of the natural world by the use of rhythm and repetition, the interdependence of all parts of his compositions and lastly by being able to communicate his ideas through form color and surface without resorting to the use of clichéd symbols or text.
Andy Goldsworthy’s use of rhythm and repetition are the primary characteristics of his work. Some of his first pieces were that of large objects made of a variety of flat rocks that once built resembled a stone egg. They are very large in scale and beautiful pieces that reminded me of the large Japanese prayer stones. In these pieces for example he would start with a circular pattern of flat stones in similar dark hue and slowly stack the flat rocks on top of one another in a repeating circular motion.

To reiterate, his art illustrates aspect of the natural world by the use of rhythm and repetition, the interdependence of all parts of his compositions and lastly by being able to communicate his ideas through form color and surface without resorting to the use of clichéd symbols or text. I believe that Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who illustrates aspects of the natural world, and knows that all things are ephemeral. He creates his concepts with this thought in mind, and takes great passion when creating the sculptures and greater caring photographing them so that he can share these natural moments of beauty with others. He believes "Nature can be harsh - difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful".

Mass Media and Advertising Imagery

Malcom X once said, “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Although one of the most controversial militant iconic figures his words ring true today with one exception. The media may control the minds of the masses but the masses desires are reflected in the media. Many things throughout history contributed to this idea; things such as the war propaganda movies that inspired people to join the military, to the industrial revolution and household consumerism. The media has been present since we have been present. Americans are known as the consumerist country and sometimes the media inspiring consumers helps the economy. However sometimes the media pushes boundaries to the extreme. The media used to help out nice Stepford wives of the 1950’s pick out the perfect kitchen aide, now advertisers use cryptic suggestively scandalized images to sell everything from butter to clothing. Today everyone knows “sex sells”. Guess photographer Wayne Maser stated he tried to depict life, people’s desires, needs and dreams. The desires come from us and the media uses that to create images to make us think if we own those knee high boots or designer tie that we too will achieve our desires.
These sexualized ads that prey on consumer desires are now distorting them. Advertisements have abundantly evolved into misrepresented desires that sometimes do not even showcase the product. As much as they prey on desires they prey on insecurities. Jordache jeans had tv spots that showcased adolescent girls crying about how un-pretty they are, Calvin Kline jeans had skinny girls talking about horses and irrelevant things, basically the ads were about anything but the jeans, ignoring the product completely. This affects self image directly attacking or provoking the things consumers really don’t have but want. However it attracts controversy and has parental groups and women’s rights organizations criticizing the use of highly sexualized under aged kids. It changes women’s views of what is feminine or sexy and consumer’s views as to what are life’s necessities. Consumers spend so much money on purchasing the perfect jeans that will attract the perfect guy thus giving them the perfect life that was depicted for them in the advertisement. Some critic’s feel that those funds people are squandering on the next great jean should be better spent on social capital such as education, nutrition, housing etc. Comedian George Carlin said it best in his routine “ That’s all you need in life, a little place for your stuff. That’s all your house is: a place to keep your stuff. If you didn’t have so much stuff, you wouldn’t need a house.” That I think is the main negative aspect of consumerism, people spending their assets on stuff they feel they need based on advertising, and get little value or social rewards. The media perpetuates the idea of our self-image pressuring consumers until they’ve attained this skewed version of the perfect life.
Advertising and the media in general is hard to escape even if a person doesn’t own a magazine or watch tv you are still subjected to billboards and other images on your daily commute. The idea beauty and what men see as sexy thus contributing to eating disorders or an altered idea of self accost every female and I’m no exception. Another way the media has affected myself is it gave me a negative idea of what success is. I come from a financially unstable broken home. My idea of success thanks to sitcoms, commercials and print were that of a perfect family sitting down together for dinner, being young, educated wealthy and having the perfect wardrobe. Since I have learned that everyone is on a different path. I didn’t graduate in four years, I’ve worked and paid my way through school and don’t have the prefect car. My idea of success now is having good health, doing what needs to be done to be educated and being not only satisfied with what I have but being happy in life. Laughter and art are my greatest joys.

Truth, Fabrication and Manipulation in Photography

Searching for photographers that dealt with traditional manipulation process was interesting because digital manipulation has becoming the dominant definition. Jerry Uselman and Starn twins for example are the reigning champions for describing this type of media. I enjoyed the articles we read because it shed light on the people who are using straight photography to manipulate. Webster’s dictionary defines manipulation as “to treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner, to manage or utilize skillfully”. One a photograph is taken the viewer manipulates it as well, they don’t see the artists’ intent, and all they have to work with is their perception that could also manipulate the photo. The Artnews article was very interesting because it talked about staged photography, the idea of fabrication. The photographer doesn’t have to wait for the perfect moment to arise say like Bresson; they can create their moment. One artist who does this that I appreciated is Anna Gaskell, who used Alice in Wonderland imagery to show female adolescence. Photographers are artists’ now more than ever using movie stills books as examples to help them express their ideas. Fabrication is merely using the tool of photography, to capture this staged idea whether it is like capturing the meticulous Sandy Skoklund’s brilliant ceramics or Cindy Sherman’s feminism in her movie stills. Joel Peter-Witkin and Duane Michaels are two brilliantly twisted on, opposite ends of the spectrum, directors of photography. I appreciated that Michaels never went to art school; he did what he needed to do in the most natural form. He understands what art is. When describing Joel Peter-Witkin’s work he says, “It scares me but I’d much rather be frightened than bored. Until you find your own truth you have nothing.” I think that is what makes them so interesting because they are putting their own ideas of truth out in the world and regardless of the “beauty” its truth in the purest sense of the word. Witkin makes another interesting quote in saying that “ we have to solve the things that make us unclear, the forbidden things, the things we’re told to love and trust and respect. We have to see them for what they are through our own true eyes.” I really think this statement is beautiful. Michael’s makes an early comment about a Mapplethorpe print and he said it was decoration, beautiful artful but not art. As much as I enjoy Mapplethorpe I understand what he means because Michaels and Duane are searching for something, their art comes from a universal idea of truth whether it be in life, death, sex, and personal memories. The artist has to question what exists, and once create

Favorite Photographer?

I don’t have a favorite photographer; I look at every artist regardless of medium for inspiration. I recently took a fashion photography course and was re-inspired by Richard Avedon. I admire his work because he blurs the line between fashion and art. Most critics receive commercial photography as something separate from “real art”. But I think regardless of the purpose anything can be done artistically well. I admire his conceptual ideas, creativity and tonality especially in his black and white photography. He had an amazing talent of being able to direct. Maggie Taylor is one who I have come to learn of. She is an amazing talented artist who I had the fortune of meeting at Modern Book gallery. Her illustrated Alice in Wonderland book, one of my favorite childhood stories, first intrigued me. I then was amazed at the type of photographer she was; one who used found images, scanning them, digitalizing manipulating them. To create these surreal beautifully animated pieces of art. The girl in the bee dress was one of my favorites. It is also interesting to compare her husband Jerry Ulesman, who does traditional photo manipulation – the old school way using enlargers to blend his images. Traditional meets digital. I’m not really sure where I want my art to go. I always considered photography a tool to express myself. I really admire mixed media artists who use a variety of artistic approaches to bring their ideas to life. I always said I wanted to do it all however to make a name for yourself you do have to have a type of work that is specific to you. Everyone knows who David Lachappelle or Ansel Adams or Sally Mann are because they have a specific style. I currently have been trying to figure out what my style is. I enjoy traditional black and white photography but at the same time love painting and manipulating and cyanotype photographs. I also equally enjoy the street photographer capturing the essence in the moment with staging photographs and creating a scene. I want to have an idea, a concept that drives my work. I want people to walk away feeling something whether it is positive or negative I want to evoke some sort of raw human emotion. How do I intend to do that? I have no idea… but I hope this class along with my own personal research helps me define this as I evolve as an artist.

Vampire Weekend

Apparently i have no desire to work on my digital project. Photoshop and I aren't getting along however that means two posts in one day! Who knew I could be unproductively productive! I saw Vampire Weekend at the Mezzanine in San Francisco, one of my favorite venues. Medium in size makes for good standing view all around. I believe this was Live 105's pre- NSSN which was a first for them. I was surprised and ecstatic to have VW play! (Tangent: Mezzanine ...for reals.... you check my old ass ID with eagle eyes, how then did SO many babies get in and score MORE alcohol they obviously did not need.... Really.) I was surprised at how good they sounded as they pretty much performed their whole album! They walked out to hip-hops own Jay-Z which was pretty cute considering it was unexpected. I love when artists surround themselves in all genres. These guys have such a unique sound it was so fun to watch them. I know they are young but it was nice to see them so into the music. Ezra's foot I don't believe stopped taping once. They CD in my opinion was 5 stars hands down! It was great to see the quality hold live as well. There is nothing worse then finding out a great band can't perform. Enjoy a NEW Vampire Weekend Song "White Sky" they previewed for us... let your anticipation for the new album begin!

Ting Tings

Well I'm sorry to say it has been so long since my last post for those that actually read this thing..... I don't have to tell you how the economy has dwindled my concert list. However luckily I'm a procrastinator which means I can catch up on all that I have done... including the Ting Tings which I caught at 330 Ritch in San Francisco. It was a pretty fun show, although a rather short set. 330 Ritch has its pros and cons. Its great for being such a small venue I like the positioning of the bars, always a factor in a venue. However it is an 18 and up establishment so that being said there are too many babies who can't hold their liquor and just don't respect common concert etiquette. That being said these UK popsters have some battery powered energy. They can rock like there is no tomorrow. Ms. Katie White is flawlessly fabulously beautiful in person. Jules De Martino is just so witty, he was taking video of every one photographing them. Another plus of 330 Ritch, CAMERAS galore! no power zealous bouncers regulating. When video is rocking they are out of the way, but when drunk girls are trying to mosh during pop music they step in and lay the smack down. It was a packed show but the video still holds some memory enjoy!

Kings of Leon's sex is SO on fire

Well it finally happened, I saw KINGS OF LEON!!!!!! And it was every bit of amazing as I thought it would be and then some. They walked out of the pitch-black hall to a classical requiem that haunted the venue with anxious screams from the Warfield in San Francisco, CA. Then one by one we could catch glimpses of them as the ushers led them in with flashlights and fans flashed their digital cameras; as the screams elevated the lights flooded the stage as they opened with “Crawl” off their new album “Only by the Night”. Their drummer Nathan Followhill commands your body to feel him through every pounding he’s that talented. Then Caleb Followhill lead (yes if you didn’t know they’re familia) lends his raspy southern vocals to the sweet guitar and bass of Matthew and Jared Followhill. Every member has such a specific roll that you can hear in the sound of each song. There are only a few artists that I can listen to their entire discography and not either play out or get bored. These favorites ranging from Led Zeppelin, to Tom Petty, Faithless to Bjork or Radiohead to Andrew bird. The genre of each artist is irrelevant it is their ability to transcend time and grow as musicians. Kings of Leon has done that through their career. There concert was a reflection of that growth, they played their hit songs from their earlier albums such as “Four Kicks”, “Knocked Up” and “King of the Rodeo”. As amazing as they were on CD they mixed it in with their newer gems like “Manhattan”, “Revelry” and “Milk”. Caleb was phenomenal despite the fact he said he was sick which I didn’t notice when he belted “Cold Desert” however when he back tracked and wailed in “Charmer” the sexy high howls weren’t achieved but it didn’t matter because the audience filled in for him (for the worse), which I think he appreciated because he gave us a little smile for each scream we attempted. When ever I see videos of them playing overseas you can barely hear them because the sea of fans over power them almost Beatle status, I think KOL was proud to finally be respected for their music and be able to see it here in their USA. In every article/interview you hear the guys talk about their struggles with respect, the personal battles and the relentless limelight; I hate to break it to them but after this album I’m not sure those are going away anytime soon. I can go on and on about the songs they played but let’s not forget their new single “Sex on Fire” (also one of my new ringtones) which gets every girl I talk to hot and bothered. As if their physical attraction wasn’t enough they’ve grown as longhaired young kids in skinny jeans and anorexic vibes into hot men with tones muscles and (sadly) shorter hair but the skinny jeans still stand. With their southern rockin sexiness Jared’s bass lines strummed inside “hot as fever rattling bones”. I was attempting to video them as they sang but the crowd was jumping and I decided to drop the camera and belt out with the rest of the maniacal fans who came to see KOL’s sex on fire…. literally. My only disappointments would be 1. That they didn’t play an everlasting set including their discography and 2. That I didn’t get to meet them in person and 3. That I didn’t see them in the UK who seems to love them almost as much! I know all of these requests are out of the question and asking a lot so I will keep my pictures, videos, and memories of this kick ass show letting me smile at the thought that I WAS THERE!

I'm back

I have been swept in a tsunami in this sea of life..... yet have lived to tell the tale. I survived surgery, a dysfunctional family and numerous loveless jobs/relationships. It's all of these that make me the jaded yet positively peaceful character I am today. So Instead of neglecting my blog,.... which I now realize no one reads (and i still don't care), I've decided to make a solid effort in making daily if not weekly blogs. Of course that's today... who know what will really happen. But regardless, the effort stands in effect. First order of business is to catch up on where I've been venturing. Starting with SF Outside Lands, the past three shows and museum visits.
Go... live... experience... be...

The Wonderful World of Disney

Well, been a while since I wrote bout the beauty of anything artistic. I am mostly a photography commentator or mixed media because it is what I do. However I extremely enjoy architecture. It has always been a passion of mine. Ever since I was little I was always found starring out the window at various edifices. I love the materials, the hands on process, and just the brilliance of the finished product. It doesn't matter if it’s a quaint cottage or magnificent performance space. Speaking on the subject I recently was visiting family in socal and was able to visit Disney's own piece of art; the Walt Disney's Concert Hall. Designed by Frank Gehry, its brilliance lies in the form and material. It is extraordinary presence. You could stare at any piece of the structure and just be in awe of how it changes as shades of the day pass each hour. I believe that to be the most beautiful aspect of this piece of wonder. I remember watching a PBS special in one of my art classes’ ages ago. Anyhow I found it amazing how this maddening artist came up with unstructured piece of art that in the end had a complete sense of structure.

Social Distortion

I captured Social Distortion while holding down the front and center at their show in San Diego at the very eclectic Street Scene. It was an amazing show. Some bands will transcend not only genres but time itself. This fact enabled this amazing punk band to have a following likened, to TOOL, Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, U2... etc etc. Some bands have these fans that take the term die hard with the utmost passion. It was sadly my first Social D concert and I heard it wasn't their best. Since I have no comparison I am biased when I say they rocked because he sings with such an like summer's breeze, just chill kick back as if he was just singing and having a beer with some friends. Friends of say over a good thousand! The singing every line, belting as if they were on stage fans know how to rock. And I am proud to say not only I am a fan but I held it down.

JENNIFER STEINKAMP

JENNIFER STEINKAMP is one of the current artists at San Jose Museum of Art. She was featured in this years first zero one art festival showcasing the digital artists of today. The question everyone had in critiquing this new art was whether or not it was in fact considered to be art. Just because something is new does that warrant authentic "art". The festival along with two of the newest exhibitions were all digital media based, somehow done with computer programs in any way. Many visitors felt that this diluted its credibility as art. In JENNIFER STEINKAMP's art she uses digital projections on to a blank white wall. The images are moving and consist of things ranging from flowers to just color. The images are meant to exemplify space, time and movement. In its first encounter you get a feel for a bit of surrealism and impressionism. But as you walk through these digital paintings you can't help, as one viewer put it, that it is "a sick hippy trip". Is technology the new tool for art or merely just a form of media eye candy? JENNIFER STEINKAMP has been featured both nationally and internationally so her art is no parlor trick. She is well respected in her craft...Whether you deem it art or not.

Liars-Drums not dead

My most inspiring instrument to listen to is the drum. It evokes something spiritual, savage, human. Something so tribal and raw creates a mood so tangible compared to the screaming and pounding of say death metal. (nothing against) The liars have captured the eerie melodic sound to perfection. I could listen to one of their strongest songs "A visit from a drum" endlessly. The whole CD has great beats and Angus' vocals are reminiscent of Thom Yorke with a more raw quality. The newly released album like all of theirs prior are original and utterly addiction!