The Picasso of Poetry

ee cummings incredible, naïve at times, (yet brilliant, 

unusual topography the creative use of capitalization and punctuation to bring forth feelings of ambiguity he invented that) 


For modern eyes, obsessed with perfection, with dotting every i and crossing each t, with a capital letter at the beginning of the sentence and one punctuation symbol at the end, perhaps is hard for us to understand cumming's brilliance. Some of us cast him aside, another poet lost in Paris, lost in our history, to avant garde for his time and for ours. But in doing so, we overlook a man whose creativity rivals anyone and everyones. A man who was not just a poet. 

A man who was (a genius)


cummings was a painter, though many today only recognize him for his poetry. Influenced and inspired by Picasso, who he met while in France, cummings painted self portraits, and other surrealistic works. 

Self-portrait with sketchpad, 1939, oil on canvas. 

Noise Number 1, 1919, oil on canvas. 

Read more about Picasso and cummings here.

cummings was influenced so much by Picasso that he wrote a poem entitled "Picasso" :

Picasso

you give us thingswhichbulge:grunting lungs pumped full of sharp thick mind
you make us shrillpresents alwaysshut in the sumptuous screech ofsimplicity
(out of theblack unbungedSomething gushes vaguely a squeak of planesor
between squeals ofNothing grabbed with circular shrieking tightnesssolid screams whispers.)Lumberman of the Distinct
your brain'saxe only chops hugest inherentTrees of Ego,fromwhose living and biggest
bodies loppedof everyprettiness
you hew form truly




cummings' use of unusual typography is evident in his use of parenthesis and selective capitalization and his poem honors Picasso and Picasso's work. 

It's important that we search beyond the surface, that we try to learn more, try to contextualize what we know. Learning that cummings was a painter is so very important for understanding him as a person. And understanding who cummings was helps us understand his poetry. 


cummings (never ceases to amaze) 

Flappers? But its 2012

The Twenties. Speakeasies. Bootleggers. Flappers.



What is it that conjures up this romantic, racy image of men in loose suits and women in dresses adorned with fringe seated at a bar drinking the forbidden fruit of the early twentieth century?

Woody Allen's film "Midnight in Paris" took that image. Ran with it. Made a movie of the smoke filled cafés in Paris where the très chic discussed and mingled and thought.

But its not only the film industry that is exploring the past. Taking cues from the popular lifestyle of the '20s. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week has come to a close for this year.  But as models prep their skin for the next photo shoot and we prep our wallets for the shopping extravaganza that inevitably occurs after the Spring/Summer 2013 fashion shows, it feels only right to take one last nostalgic look back at the Spring/Summer 2012 collections -- A time  one year ago when the fashion industry presented one of the most daring styles for our era of tight, tight, tight. Designers took a 180 and landed at loose, landed in a speakeasy in the 1920s crowded with women in short pixie cuts and drop waisted dresses. The flappers were back.


Gucci's 2012 Spring Collection

Models came down the runway sparkling from head to toe. The difference from the 1920s? Everything is just more dramatic. The necklines are more dramatic, the makeup is more dramatic, and the hair is more dramatic (though I didn't realize that was all that possible). Hair stylist Luigi Murenu crafted sleek pulled back styles that emphasized the higher than high cheekbones  of the models.   Fashion show goers raved about the flapper-esque styles. (Read and see more here )

Ralph Lauren's Spring 2012 Collection

Once again, loose fitting, pastel colored, light and airy clothes float down the runway. Models wore short hats and drop waisted dresses remnicient of the 20s. Not nearly as dramatic, but equally as beautiful as Gucci's collection, Ralph Lauren captured the wistful, dreamy, I-can-do-anything-despite-what-everyone-says feel of the era.

Watch the video of the show here:

(Read more here and here)


Marc Jacobs Spring 2012 Collection 

“[The show] will ignite a half a dozen new movements in the world of clothing and style…the most influential show this season … the best presentation in New York in many seasons,” said Fashion Wire Daily of the world renowned designer's collection. Shiny details paired with light, pastel colors dancing with fringe came as yet another homage to the fashion of the 1920s. 

Gone but certainly not forgotten. And I'm not only talking about the 1920s. The styles that walked down the runway last September were echoed again as Vogue headlined "Prohibition-era Style at Billy Reid Spring 2013" (Read more right here)


I made a typo, you say? Yes, I was wondering when you'd call me out on that statement I made earlier.

The flappers ARE back.

What is a week-end?

With Season 3 of Downton Abbey beginning in England this week, it seems only fitting that we pay homage to one of the shows best characters. Perhaps you watch only to see the chatter between Michelle Dockerty as Lady Mary Crawley and her love interest Matthew Crawley played by Dan Stevens.  And yes, Hugh Bonneville is remarkable in his portrayal of Robert Crawley as is Elizabeth McGovern as Cora Crawley. But the star who steals the PBS Masterpiece Classic Series is none other than Maggie Smith who plays Robert Crawley's mother, Violet Crawley.
(Need some background on the show and how Violet Crawley fits in? Go here. )

In times of war (World War I, that is) Violet's witty comments lighten up the serious tone. Her clear disgust with anything and everything american is humorous, I imagine even more so for the British viewers. Yet even we as Americans can appreciate the digs -- they are too funny to make a fuss about. Delivered in Maggie Smith's dry tone, they become the most recognized lines of the show.

More funny lines here!

So what does this say about the audiences world wide that tune in every week to watch what will transpire at Downton? Well, a sense of humor is most important on all shows. Downton Abbey is certainly not an American Sit-Com. but  I have laughed as much at Maggie Smith's lines as I have while watching "Seinfeld" or "Friends". Maggie Smith breathes life into her character. As a result, the entire show reaps the benefits.

The arrival of Shirley McClain as Cora Crawley's American mother, has Brits and Americans alike sitting on the edge of their seats to see the showdowns between these two ladies.

What The War Had To Do With sPIEs

Wars have a funny way of changing things, whether it be by destroying their city or country, bringing the persecuted closer together, or inspiring great movies or poems. When people think of war, thoughts that often come to mind are the economy, brave soldiers, comedians and singers who became famous by trying to squeeze joy and laughter into the lives of the suffering.

Edith Piaf, Winston Churchill, and Hitler may be topics of discussion, but what about Julia Child?

Yes, I know what you're thinking - I have been misinformed or maybe I misspelled "Abraham Lincoln" and auto correct chose "Julia Child".

Well, neither of those things happened and my spelling is not that bad, thank you very much.

Julia? I don't think so

en.wikipedia.org 

Julia Child was a spy. An American spy. A famous and talented chef and an American spy (if you can think of a more badass career combination, please let me know). 

photoshop but still pretty cool

abcnews.go.com

Having Mrs. Child on our side has proven to be very beneficial to us. She worked on important developments such as creating shark repellent for underwater mines (apparently they look very tasty to sharks) and dealt with highly classified information. Her being involved in the war and travelling to places such as Sri Lanka and China led to her discovery that not all meals came from "cans and freezers". The OSS (Office of Strategic Services) later introduced her to "Paul" who introduced her to "the joys of real cooking". These "joys" were later developed during her famous stay in France when she truly developed her talent for making super delicious food and then brought those talents back to America.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech-Culture/2012/0815/Julia-Child-was-a-spy.-Was-she-any-good-at-it-video

In a way...thank goodness for that war (don't quote me out of context on that) or we'd still be eating out of freezer-burned cans.

When Silence is Music

"Thinking outside the box" is cliché. What do people mean when they say that, really? I never understand, but I nod along anyway. Perhaps I'm fearful that not knowing the meaning makes me less smart. That only truly smart people can define something so un-definable. 

I get wanting to be creative. Take risks. Creativity and risk are immensely important factors in the evolution of ideas. And its those people who think creatively and take bigger risks, that change the world. 

John Cage was a man of risk. He wrote his own history and made his own rules. College? Dropped out. In explanation, he stated " I received the highest grade in the class. That convinced me that the institution was not being run correctly. I left."    And Silence? His music.  "I found out by experiment... that silence is not acoustic. It is a change of mind, a turning around. I devoted my music to it. My work became an exploration of non‑intention"

Read more of Cage's biography and autobiography.



In silence, Cage found music, heard music and made music. In one of his most famous compositions four minutes and thirty three seconds, Jonathan Cage sat at the piano. The noises in the auditorium filled the air and wrote music that could never be repeated. Cage's composition ripped apart pre-exisitng notions of what music is. He pioneered the use of electronic music by creating bits of electronic sound bytes. Take a listen to the electronic sounds here. 

Cage also significantly increased the use of the prepared piano. The prepared piano "turns a piano into a percussion instrument by inserting objects between the strings" according to Alex Ross, music critic for  The New Yorker  "His intricacy of rhythm is really astounding,"  Ross says, "and the quality that separates him from a great many other composers, even some of the greatest in the classical canon."

Read more here.

For John Cage, creativity and risk were a part of every day life. He didn't intend to change American music, but his willingness to take risks allowed him to shape the future of the way people look at, define and hear music. And silence.