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bergdg · 3 years ago

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Strixhaven Students: Prismari

In this five-part series, I’ll be creating a brand new Dungeons and Dragons character who would call one of the colleges of Strixhaven home. Each character will be built using content released in either published books or in Unearthed Arcana (UA) documents, such as the recently released Mages of Strixhaven UA.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to Fizzik Mythstone, Inspired Loremaster.

Art by ArtDeepMind - Link

From his earliest memories, Fizzik Mythstone seemed destined to join the family ranks in attending Strixhaven and being a student of Lorehold: there were many famous artificers amongst his relatives, including his uncle Hofri Ghostforge. As part of the family business, Fizzik's father trained young Hofri in the mystical arts of artifact restoration.

However, Hofri dreamed of what life could be beyond his family's plans, for Hofri had a love of the performing arts. As they worked in the family forge, Fizzik’s father would tell him the stories of the ancient weapons they worked on and the heroes who had wielded them. Hofri absorbed these tales, imagining how they could be adapted and performed. Eventually, he acted on his creative impulses and began to turn those stories into plays. And as he dreamt of larger stories, he began to learn different forms of magic to augment his productions.

When the time came to attend Strixhaven, he took his various skills and made a name for himself within his first year. Using the grand library of the Biblioplex, he even developed new methods of artifice that could be used for the stage. He eventually drew the attention of the two Prismari Deans, who offered him a place in their college.

Starting Stats (using the Standard Array)

Strength: 14

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 8

Intelligence: 15

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 12

Fizzik’s primary skills are his intelligence and ability to apply research that he has uncovered. He was trained from an early age to be an artificer, so spent a lot of time lifting heavy weights around the shop and then deftly moving between the various shelves. This ability came in handy when he started to work behind the scenes in various stage productions.

Race: Hill Dwarf

Fizzik comes from a long line of dwarves. When it came to looking at which sub-race to choose, I eventually settled on being a Hill Dwarf, as the Mountain Dwarf build felt like a more martial character; as Fizzik will show you, his skills lay in an arena different from the battlefield. The nice part about the dwarf race is that you get a +2 to Constitution, which helps to even out his “dump” stat.

Proficiency: Mason's Tools

Background: Entertainer

Throughout his youth, Fizzik's greatest joy came as he recreated tales of history for audiences. And while he was decent enough at acting the parts, he found greater value in the arts surrounding the theater: script writing, set and costume design, and directing. This was much to his parents' disgruntlement, unfortunately, as they (especially his father) felt that this pursuit was frivolous.

Proficiencies: Acrobatics, Performance, Disguise Kit, and Lute

Level 1: Artificer (Level 1)

Fizzik was trained by his father from a young age in the family business: artifact restoration. In his workshop, they examined ancient weapons, finely glazed pottery, and old books with brittle pages. As they worked, Fizzik learned about the spells and enchantments that wizards from eras past would place on them. And although he found the work a bit tedious, hearing the tales of history from his father as they worked sparked his imagination.

While Fizzik began his journey as an artificer, he eventually multiclasses so that he can pick up the Mage of Prismari subclass, which isn't offered to the artificer in this UA. In order to differentiate the types of magic learned between them, Fizzik specializes in different types of spells depending on his class. As an Artificier, these are Transmutation spells.

Starting Class Proficiencies: Arcana, History, Carpenter's Tools

Spells:

Cantrips: Mending, Prestidigitation

Leveled Spells: Catapult, Feather Fall

Level 2: Wizard (Level 1)

In his spare time, Fizzik would develop plays based on the stories he had heard about ancient heroes and the artifacts they wielded. He held his productions at a community center where the elderly dwarves would congregate after they retired. And while his productions were decent, he had dreams about making them grander.

One day while looking through some ancient histories, he came across a leather-bound tome, The Magiks of Theatre. Sneaking the book away into his private collection, he spent any free moment poring over its pages. He quickly mastered all sorts of new spells and began to implement them into his storytelling productions.

As mentioned before, in order to differentiate the types of magic learned between them, Fizzik specializes in different types of spells depending on his class. As a Wizard, these are Evocation and Illusion spells.

Spells:

Cantrips: Dancing Lights, Firebolt, Ray of Frost

Spellbook Spells: Burning Hands, Color Spray, Disguise Self, Silent Image, Thunderwave

Level 3: Artificer (Level 2)

Eventually, the fateful day came, as it had for many generations of his family: he was accepted to attend Strixhaven University. With one final, "Don't forget that Lorehold is in your blood," from his father, he was out of the house and feeling more free than he had ever been.

He loved most everything about this new experience; he even enjoyed the Basics of Archeology class his father had insisted on him taking, due to an exceptionally engaging Kor professor. But most of all, he loved discovering the countless mysteries held within the Biblioplex.

There, he uncovered some ancient texts from places of which he had never heard, such as the Undercity of Ravnica. He learned about some secret arts, in which various magic inks that could contain certain spells. These spells could then be cast by those on whom the ink was painted or tattooed (depending on the ink's properties), regardless of their own spellcasting abilities (or even lack thereof). He immediately saw how this could augment some ideas he had for some theater productions. After months of experimentation, he was able to replicate them via artificer infusions, a skill he had learned from his father.

Infusions:

Enhanced Arcane Focus

Replicate Magic Item - Masquerade Tattoo

Replicate Magic Item - Moodmark Paint

Replicate Magic Item - Spellwrought Tattoo, 1st Level

Spells:

Leveled Spells: Expeditious Retreat

Level 4: Wizard (Level 2)

Using his ink techniques and his knowledge from The Magiks of Theatre, Fizzik began to produce some plays starring his friends and other fellow first-year students. Word soon spread, eventually coming to the attention of Deans Uvilda and Nassari of Prismari.

After one especially rousing retelling of The Saga of Hafwyt the Curious, the two Deans approached Fizzik after the show. They congratulated the Dwarf for his retelling. Dean Uvilda commented on the brilliant use of his magic ink to create Illusory costumes, while Dean Nassari gushed over the various spells used to create lighting and sound effects. And together, they extended the invitation to join their college.

It was what Fizzik had dreamt of for a long time, as several of his friends he had made also belonged in Prismari. But he was hestitant to do so, kept back by his family's expectation for Lorehold.

One day, his famed Uncle Hofri came to give a guest lecture on artifact restoration for Fizzik's archeology class. Hofri managed to grab Fizzik as class ended, requesting they grab a bite to eat together to catch up. During that time, Hofri noticed something about his nephew. With a gentleness Fizzik didn't expect, Hofri gave him the space to open up about the Prismari offer. After a moment passed, Hofri said the following:

"You know, everyone's path to greatness is their own. If everyone trod the same path as everyone else, we would never have amazing stories to tell. Tell you what; I'll worry about uncovering history, and you be the best storyteller you can be so that everyone else can hear about it and discover it themselves."

That statement of support meant everything to Fizzik, and he accepted the offer from the Prismari Deans later that day.

Subclass: Mage of Prismari

Creative Skills: Two additional skill proficiencies

Athletics and Nature

Kinetic Artistry: You can dash as a bonus action. When you do, you can do one of the following: Boreal Sweep, Scorching Whirl, or Thunderlight Jaunt

Spells:

Spellbook Spells: Illusory Script, Magic Missile

Level 5: Wizard (Level 3)

Fizzik's knowledge of the theater grew leaps and bounds as a student in his new college. He began to adapt more intricate stories of legends past, and his productions moved to the large Prismari stages. Soon, crowds from Strixhaven and across Arcavios were in attendance of his shows. Even his uncle Hofri came periodically, especially if Fizzik had adapted a dwarven myth to the stage. But his parents never seemed to have the time to attend; there was always too much work to be done in the shops at home.

Spells:

Spellbook Spells: Blur, Continual Flame

Concept Art for Prismari Campus

After level five, I see Fizzik continuing to progress as a wizard, which has stronger ties to his time as a Prismari student. If I were to advance Fizzik in levels of Artificer, I would most likely pick Battle Smith as his class, with the Steel Defender being his primary stage hand for his many shows. I also see a time when he eventually reconciles with his family, especially since he has support from his uncle, the legendary Hofri Ghostforge.

Now, I will turn it over to you. If you were to play a character from Prismari College, what type of character would you build?

Next, we’ll be meeting a character from Silverquill.

Getting the word out: @flavoracle @kor-artificer @askkrenko @vorthosjay @wizardsmagic

#prismari #strixhaven #magic the gathering #dnd

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fyexo · 4 years ago

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200926 SuperM Open Up About The Encouraging Message Behind Their New Album "Super One"

The group's members are some of the most skilled performers in K-pop history; Kai and Baekhyun are from Exo, Taemin is from Shinee, and Lucas, Taeyong, Mark, and Ten are from NCT and its Chinese sub-unit WayV, respectively.

When they join forces as SuperM, however, the result is incendiary — otherworldly vocals mesh with indomitable rapping to create powerful performances that leave viewers reeling long after the group has left the stage. Don't believe me? Just watch the group perform their breakneck power anthem "100" and prepare to feel absolutely exhilarated.

It's been less than a year since their debut, but SuperM has already made history by becoming the first K-pop group to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with the release of their debut EP SuperM — The 1st Mini Album. It's an achievement that youngest member Mark credits in part to their fans, who banded together from multiple fandoms to support their debut; it was also a great source of inspiration for SuperM to work even harder so their next album would be even better than the last.

Now, SuperM is back with their first full-length album, Super One, out Sept. 25.

AKA, today! With the world currently under lockdown due to the pandemic, it was SuperM's desire to create an album that would give fans encouragement and, according to Kai, "take [them] to a place of hope." The 15-track album still includes the group's signature powerful sound with songs like "One" and "100," but also highlights the softer side of SuperM with tracks like the gospel-infused "Better Days" and funky "Together at Home" too.

We sat down with SuperM in a roundtable interview to discuss their new album, Super One, and how they hope its overall message of coming together will bring comfort to fans around the world during the pandemic.

1. After the release of your first EP debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart, did you feel any sort of pressure while preparing to release this album?

Mark: It was our first EP release, you know? So to have that No. 1 achievement itself was an honor. It was our first EP as SuperM and to have our fans really combine their strength to support us really felt great, so it motivated us to really work harder on this album. We put double the amount of effort we put in on our last album into this album, so we believe that the quality went up that much as well. We can’t wait for fans to listen to Super One too now.

2. What made you decide to combine two songs together to make your title track "One?" It feels reminiscent of Shinee's song "Sherlock!"

Taemin: When I recorded “Sherlock” with Shinee back in the day, it was one of the first times we were doing this [type of hybrid song creation], so it felt very experimental. At that time, I was a little worried about how it would end up sounding at the end of the recording process, but I think after recording [this kind of song] with “Sherlock,” I was able to see how this song would come to be as “One.” A lot of people might think that mixing two songs together is quite tall of a task, but we were able to do it and I’m really happy with the results.

3. What’s your favorite track on the new album?

Baekhyun: “Big Chance” is my favorite. I personally like taking big chances and looking for big opportunities, so just the title itself caught my attention.

Taemin: I would probably say “Wish You Were Here.” I actually think this would’ve been a great title track as well. I personally think all of the members did a great job in recording [this song] and I love how it sounds. This song is actually one that’s more unexpected from SuperM, because audiences usually expect a performance-heavy song and I think the message within it is one that really brings the whole album together and conveys the message that we’re hoping to convey with Super One.

Kai: “Tiger Inside” is one of my favorites because when you listen to it, you just feel energized and you feel that strength coming from the song. And I feel like it’s a song that showcases all of the members really well.

Mark: I honestly really like “Wish You Were Here” as well, but I’m going to say that I really like “Infinity” right now. "One" is a song that combines “Infinity” and “Monster,” but I feel like “Infinity” has its own story and dynamic and you can feel a different side [of it] than you can feel from “One” when you listen to it.

Taeyong: I'll pick “Together at Home,” because I like that message. Overcome this situation and—

Mark: Netflix.

Taeyong: And just Netflix.

Lucas: My personal favorite is “So Long” because the melody is really addictive, like once you listen to it, it hooks you right away. I really think it’s a song that fans will all appreciate.

Ten: “Infinity!” Like Mark said, the dynamics and storytelling were outstanding on that track. Also, I was so lucky that I got to try this rap/vocal kind of style that I had been wanting to try for a long time on “Infinity,” so I enjoyed recording it very much.

4. What is something you learned about yourself while creating Super One?

Baekhyun: One of the new things that I learned while preparing for this album in particular was that we were able to stretch our limits even more. As you know, we released "100," "Tiger Inside," and now we’re releasing the title track “One." Each of these songs has such a great concept and choreography — just putting all of that together was really challenging, to be honest. I think that was something that I learned when we were able to come together as a group and face that together.

5. Given that each member comes from another major group, how do you make sure that each member has their moment to shine on Super One?

Lucas: Visually, we all have different aesthetics that go along with our individual styling and I think that kind of points to each of our charms. In our upcoming music video for “One,” we all had different designs and colors, but it all still stayed connected. I feel like through those points that we give out through our art that it adds a charm for each of us.

6. Super One features a wider variety of musical styles and influences than your first album. How do you feel SuperM’s musical identity has grown with this new album?

Taemin: I would say that while putting together this album, we were able to [bring a greater sense of] harmony between the members than we did initially. Everyone is just so skilled, but with this album, we were able to experiment more and try out these different genres and see how it all comes together.

8. Which song on the album have you personally come to fall even more in love with in time, and what made you fall in love with it?

Ten: I would choose our ballad song “Better Days” because at first when I listened to the song, it sounded kind of old — seriously, it sounds like it’s from the '90s, a very old pop song. But after we recorded, I realized the song goes well with us and the concept we want to release because the lyrics are very healing. I think when you listen to “Better Days” you can get that energy that us together, we can make a better day.

9. SuperM has all of these modes of transportation that are featured throughout your music videos. At a time when we can’t travel and the world is kept apart, what does this represent to you and how do you want it relayed through the album?

Kai: If you look at our past music videos, there are helicopters, tanks, and a lot of cars. I think that goes really well with SuperM’s concept as a group. That’s why those modes of transportation were kind of illustrated through our music videos in our past songs. We can’t really travel right now because of the pandemic and everything that’s going on, but we really hope that, just like these modes of transportation take you somewhere, that this album can be that mode of transportation to take you to a place of hope and to a higher place where everyone can enjoy themselves and be happy.

10. Looking back on all of your journeys so far, what is one event that you considered a failure at the time, but now you feel it ultimately led to your success today?

Taeyong: As artists, when we start out our careers, I can’t help but feel like a lot of the moments that we go through feel like we’re still trying to get there, or like we’re not fully there yet. There are a lot of moments where it might have felt like a failure, but actually everything was a step to build up to what we have now.

Mark: When I first debuted, my hair was very short, so my bangs were above my eyebrow by like four inches and I honestly hated it during my debut. But coming back to it now, I feel like it was alright.

Taeyong: It was cute!

Mark: It was appropriate just for that age, you know! Just for that time in my life.

Ten: Like Mark, mine is the same. During the debut days like “The 7th Sense,” when I saw my own hair, I was like: “This is not going to work out.” But now I miss it so much; I’ve got to get it soon!

Mark: Hair is an important factor for a debut for us!

11. Mark and Taeyong, you both wrote and produced on the last two albums. When you're writing a song like "100" or "Together at Home," what is your creative process like?

Mark: Most importantly, I feel like whenever we have to create or produce something for our raps and rap making, the main theme and the meaning are what’s most important. This particular album, for “100” or any other song, the main meaning for the whole album is to really bring hope and to encourage people that unison is the only way for us to get through this and through all of our problems. So we kind of used that theme, in a way, to interpret each and every song. So for “Together at Home,” we really felt like, we’re all staying together at home, so what are the benefits and what are the goods that we can bring out of this? What are the ways that we can connect through our songs while we stay at home and everything? So I feel like that process worked for every other song and we enjoyed that while making the raps as well.

Taeyong: Also, the most important thing is the performances. This time, Taemin hyung fixed our choreography [so it has] more detail. I think, this time, our performance is really dope and great and untouchable. I think I’m very excited — please look forward to it. Thank you!

12. What is the key ingredient needed to transform a song into a SuperM song?

Kai: Each member's individual charms are a main ingredient, but if I had to add one more spoonful, it would be the producing and direction of our executive producer Lee Soo Man. As you know, SuperM is a group that is really strong with its performances, so that’s a really key ingredient that’s needed when making a SuperM song.

13. And finally, how has SuperM evolved since your debut together?

Baekhyun: With this new album, especially just the process of recording it, we were able to emphasize the message within the album. All of the songs have their own message, but Super One is all about unity and being unified. I think in terms of the sound of the music itself, we wanted to make sure to relay a message of positivity rather than just focus only solely on the performance. This was an album where we were able to focus on the messaging more, so I think we’ve matured in that sense.

Emelyn Travis @ Buzzfeed

#exo #kai #baekhyun #t: interview #200923 #e: interview

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collage-portfolio-time · 4 years ago

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Interview Preparation

Career Choice : Illustrator

Company Choice : FolioArt

1. Tell me about yourself. I am a 16 year old artist who has been working with portraiture, both realistic and cartoonish, since I was very small. I have won 2 consecutive awards for the international government-run ‘Manga Jiman’ competition, both in 2019 and 2020, winning the youths prize in 2019 and both the youths prize and 7th place in 2020, ‘making history’ as I won the youths prize two years running. The music I listen to inspires me a lot as what I draw can sometimes entirely depend on what I am listening to at the time. I have had a major interest in manga and anime since I was young and that has also influenced my style of work and the fandoms I go around to spread my collection of work to different places of the internet.

2. Why do you want to work for us? I love the fact your company will represent a range of illustrators, both well-known and up and coming. That makes you seem much more open to different styles of work and experimentation to me which I find myself drawn to.

3. What can you bring to our company? Why should we hire you? I can bring a range of styles. Like Ive said before, I work in both realism and cartoonish styles of work, which I feel could bring more people in from completely different sides of the art world. I can also work with a wide range of mediums, from digital work to watercolors, although I find myself preferring digital for the clarity you can get in an image.

4. What do you know about our company? You were established in central London in the 1970’s and are now working worldwide. You cover all sides of the art world from traditional works to GIF’s. You say you have a personal relationship with your illustrators. You have also represented artists that have worked with well-known bands for album art which include Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, and have also had artists under your wing work with film studios like when Joe Petagna created the concept for the Facehugger in Alien.

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are your career goals? I hope to see myself with enough of a following to simply be able to create for myself and be able to make a living, as selfish as that sounds. I don’t enjoy working for others unless I like their concepts and ideas as I will just simply be uninterested in what I create and end up producing something boring as a result. I want to work to the best of my ability, and as much as the art world is ran on what others want to see, I want to dictate what I do in the process while also getting approval from the people who will consume it.

6. Why did you choose this field/career path? I chose this career path as it’s the only thing I know. As I child I would never let myself do anything but draw, I was obsessed with the gratification I got when I saw that I was improving. That was probably a detriment in the long run as now I feel obligated to work in the art industry because if I don’t what have I been doing this whole time. I feel like I owe it to myself and to the people who have funded my interests and hobby.

7. Can you tell me about your role in your current place of work? Right now I am a college student, so my role is to learn. I will create, be criticized and create again. My job is to learn from the criticism and improve upon myself to represent the collage in a good light as well as myself, and hopefully gain recognition so the collage can say that they taught me for better reputation.

8. What are your strengths/weaknesses? My biggest weakness is my pride. I will become quite offended by the slightest bit of criticism that I think isn't warranted, and yet I am so self-critical that I will rip a piece to shreds if I go a touch out of my lines while painting. It hurts to have my fears confirmed that I won't be the gifted child forever and that I will blur into the crowd of other talented artists in my classroom. It's not only that but also the thought that I spent so long on a piece to be told that it didn’t match up to an idea someone else wanted or there wasn’t enough color, and I find myself unconsciously lashing out, but I am trying to work past that and take the criticism thankfully. Despite that, what could be considered one of my greatest strengths from time to time will be my stubbornness, as I will stick to a plan I like no matter what others tell me might go wrong, which sometimes works in my favor. Technically, I am more skilled with watercolors and digital mediums than I thought I was, as the amount of people I hear struggle with them is astonishing to me as I find I work with them with relative ease, but to counter that I now struggle with mediums such as acrylics and colored pencils as Ive laid off them for so long. I hope to get better with those mediums in the future as I practice more with them again.

9. Tell me about a time when you worked in a team? Were you a leader/coordinator/etc.? I studied performing arts when I was at The Academy Grimsby secondary school. We were tasked to create a script or scenario based on a prompt that I can't quite place now, and we were a group of 4 actors as most people there were dancers. I ended up writing up the entire script that I put together, although the others did prompt some ideas, and almost directing practices. I felt I was forced into a leading position as the others weren't engaging as much as they probably should have, apart from one other person who seemed to take it as seriously as I did. I feel despite the fact I was practically shoved into the lead, and even though the script was probably shoddy as I had never really written besides from creative writing in English, I lead them well considering I was known to be quite antisocial and introverted. That situation made me realize that I was better at controlling situations and being assertive to others than I ever thought I would be, although I wasn’t too strict or bossy from what I remember.

10. Tell me about a time when you faced a challenge. What was your reaction? How did you solve it? I faced quite a big challenge when I created the first page of my 2020 Manga Jiman entry. In the first page you get quite a copious amount of building shots, and while it looked good how I imagined it, I realized when I had finished the sketch that I had never really drawn a building before. It took me two days of constant redoing, experimentation and almost scrapping the first page entirely before I finally felt happy with what I had produced. Nowadays I find it much easier to step out of my comfort zone and delve into architecture when drawing backgrounds, and I feel this experience helped me progress as an artist.

11. Tell me about an accomplishment you are most proud of. Ive mentioned this before a copious amount of times, but my Manga Jiman awards. As they are government run and judges by professional mangaka (manga creators) I think it gives my awards that extra flair of pride that makes me cling to them. The thing I will probably particularly cling to is the fact they said I was ‘making history’ with my consecutive youths prize wins, which I think is quite a good thing to be able to say on a resume. Not only that, but my winning submission for the 2020 competition was given a talk about on the award ceremony by a legendary mangaka Kiriko Kubo, who said my ‘line was neat, the layout was good and the main character was charming.’,’the work can be read smoothly’, and that ‘creating atmosphere is important, and being able to do it like this is an exellent talent’. It gives me pride that someone so prestigious in a world I had barely entered would praise my work so highly.

12. What motivates you? What can motivate me most are two things: approval from others and money. I am materialistic at heart but also sensitive to others comments on my work, so the both end up being great pushes in my art career. I feel if I am being paid for my work that it is worth something, because objectively it is, and being praised for what I do makes me feel validated beyond what I thought was possible, so the two can push me to keep going.

13. What was your biggest failure? What did you learn from it? My biggest failure is the many times Ive tried to work with soft pastels. I don’t know what it is with that medium that renders me unable to function with them but I cannot create a good piece with those sticks of chalk in my hands. I learnt that I am not the best with dry mediums and should probably keep to my paints and digital mediums for now, although I'm always open to trying them out again and again until I get used to them.

14. What was your biggest mistake? How did you fix it? My biggest mistake was thinking I was going to get placed in my first Manga Jiman entry in 2019. I was 15 at the time, so there wasn’t much of a chance I was going to be placed within the top 10 because of my age alone but I didn’t realize that at the time. I had gotten so apprehensive about results that should've been obvious from the moment I was shortlisted, but I was aiming for the top 5 in the placings. I still think that my work might've placed in top 5 had I been older, but the embarrassment and sadness about ‘only’ getting youths prize at the time was almost overwhelming. That experience taught me not to get my hopes up on stuff like that and set myself up for the worst when it comes to things like this in the future, which I did in the 2020 entry. I was simply aiming for 10th place as I wasn’t even aware the youths prize was being awarded that year because there was only 11 of us, and one of the prizes was the yonkoma award for people who were between 11 and 13 containing a single 4 panel page which one of the shortlisted entries mirrored. I ended up getting more that I thought I would've in the terms of awards and recognition which I was happy about.

15. Are you willing to relocate/travel? I am willing to relocate and travel, although i would prefer to do so with someone else I trust as I tend to get nervous in new situations should that be possible.

16. Do you have any hobbies? What are they? I don’t really do much other than draw for my social media’s and complete collage work. I do small things such as singing and watching twitch streamers, but those are few and far between or happening while I work so I don’t think they can be considered big hobbies of mine. I used to bake when I had to take a lot of time out of secondary school due to sickness but I had a lot of spare time back then so it was more possible for me to have hobbies other than art.

17. What are your computer skills/technical skills? I know how to work almost all Microsoft programs, office 365/outlook, and various digital art programmes such as medibang paint pro and the basics of photoshop/illustrator. I also know general video editing such as keyframing and audio manipulation in Wondershare Filmora.

18. How did you hear about this position? I chose to contact you for this position as I had found you take submissions for new artists to represent and thought I'd shoot my shot.

19. What are your salary requirements? Minimum wage and whatever you/the client feel I deserve on top of that, even if that’s nothing at all. As long as I get minimum wage for my work and supplies, I am fine with that.

20. Do you have any questions for me? How would you represent me? Would it be a situation where you would recommend me to people looking to commission and leave us to our devices or would you be there the whole process?

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lindaliukas · 7 years ago

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Year in review 2017

Fourth year in review. This year I did more work with schools and was excited to see school districts start to embrace my work. Ran roughly 400 kilometres around the world and read 60 books. Flew over 120 flights and did over 60 talks. Published the third book in Ruby series.

2017 was a weird year. On the other hand I felt like I found professionally the guidelines I had been looking for: maximising freedom, maximising curiosity. Early on in the year I stumbled upon Robert Irwin who “decided to step in to his own curiosity” and knew I had found what I had been looking for. On the other hand I experienced first hand how easy it is to tip out of balance and ignore the things closest & dearest to you, resulting in a big mess.

Here are 2016, 2015 and 2014. And here is 2017:

January

Changed the year in Långvik with minimal hassle, maximum friends. Moved offices to Maria, again in snow & cold. Enjoyed the quiet days after Christmas and found kindred spirits. Met Andre Agassi at NBF (whose book I loved a few years back), but was most impressed with his charismatic manager who told me war stories about building schools.

Saw Arrival and Jackie. Loved this Tumblr story on Harry Potter and the CS classics list. Celebrated Nils' and Saku's birthdays. Ate more veggies and bought a Vitamix!

Went to Hawaii with Ville and enjoyed St. Regis & hiking. Kauai was green and lush and beautiful. Rode around the island to get one of my magic books of the year: Seeing is Forgetting (more on that later).

Washed my passport in the washing machine. It was a bad year for passports: I lost all together three.

Read:

The Girls.

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. (Ended up studying a lot more physics this year than I originally anticipated!)

Juniper. From this Radiolab episode. If I were to start a tech company it would be in this space.

Where Wizards Stay Up Late.

Tale of Shikanako #1. I forgot to read the next parts, need to put it in my reading queue.

Whiplash.

Mothers.

The Gene.

February

Spent most of the month in US: New York, DC and Boston. Visited DC public schools, took mom to see Bowery Poetry Club in NY. Had really wonderful, snowy, concentrated days in Boston and got to hang out with Jie & rest of LLK team + dinners with friends.

Atlantic wrote about Ruby & the philosophy behind it!

Did my first STEM Institute with Roxanne and the CS4All team of New York Department of Education. Was exhausted, happy, loved the thorough feedback and can’t wait to run the course again.

Left my laptop in an Uber in Boston and ran around like crazy trying to get it to New York in time. Bought a new iPad and started experimenting with tools like Astropad, Apple Pencil and PS Sketch that would later in the year replace my old system of drawing.

Wined and dined with Henrietta in a very random evening.

Read:

Beloved. Loved this. More Toni Morrison for 2018.

Association of Small Bombs.

Seeing is Forgetting the Name of The Thing One Sees. On of the three most important books of the year. Oh Robert Irwin. His entire doctorate acceptance speech:"All I want say is that the wonder is still there." Walks away.

The End of Absence.

The Underground Railroad.

March

Went to Melbourne for a few days to speak at NGV Victoria (and Australian TV!). Started my David Hockney obsession that would last the entire year.

Settled into New York life and the TED residency. Started new routines with hip hop yoga! Did an Arduino workshop at School for Poetic Computation and enjoyed feeling like a beginner.

Worked a lot on the Internet book, reading a ton of the original research papers of WWW and Internet. Fell in love with Fermat’s library. Spent a lot of time thinking how to structure the book between software, hardware and culture of Internet.

Visited Switzerland shortly and was chosen as one of the 50 most inspiring women in tech in Europe.

Saw two plays: Tove Jansson in Helsinki with Jemina and an immersive piece Strangest in New York with Paul. Had a really fun, magic, sparkly afternoon with Hugo in Whitney Biennal.

Read

Small Pieces Loosely Joined.

The Vegetarian.

Homo Deus.

Commonwealth

April

Tried to balance living in two continents. Wrote a lot, but also saw a lot of friends. Went to see Puerto Rican / New York Poetry Slam with Roxanne and loved it. Brunched with Jason & Sara, went flywheeling with Zach, had dinner at Farhad’s insane apartment and cooked for Otto.

Saw Ghost in Shell and a live version of Israel Story (and got many ideas for my own performances). Backed Climate Change Coloring Book, which was one of my favorite Kickstarter projects of the year.

Turned 31 in New York. Got to go to Sesame Workshop!!

Got a new, beautiful goddaughter.

A quick trip to Barcelona to see Hola Ruby out in Spanish & Catalanian. Had a magical midnight dinner with a locals and visited one of the most eclectic schools. Continued working on Internet (and concept stage boardgame).

Tried to read David Foster Wallace, but gave up. This year maybe.. Still, always, Björk.

Read

The Handmaid's tale

A Tale of Love and Darkness. Enjoyed this one a lot.

In the Woods

May

The spring was starting to catch up and felt mostly jetlagged for the entire month. On the upside: lots of wonderful encounters with new and old friends. Saw Mikito for the first time in a long time and talked art & technology (TBC!!). Met Fawn! And Karen! Had breakfast with Yon & left with the biggest grin. Celebrated Eve’s engagement.

Celebrated Vappu in Central Park and had one of those funny, warm, random New York dinners where there just happens to be some of the most celebrated musicians, cooks & tech people of Nordics all under same roof.

Saw the Commes des Garcons show in Met and felt Rei Kawakubo’s personality. Saw Georgia O’Keeffe (+Marimekko, Finnish pride!) exhibition with Tiina (and later read this great article). Organised Computing & Stories summit in SFPC and felt the future of computing.

Did another PD on Internet with the NYC teachers (and tested ideas for the book, win-win!) and also in Sweden for Swedish teachers.

Fell in love with China. 你好 Ruby! Hello Ruby won the prestigious DIA Award by China Academy of Art out of 2700 applicants. My visit in Hangzhou was short, but can’t wait to go back and learn more about the country and it’s technology & education culture. Here are a few stories: 1, 2, 3

Read

Startup.

The Wangs vs. the World

See you in the cosmos.

Americanah. LOVED this.

June

Ended TED Residency with a talk. Really wish I would have prioritised the residency more, but luckily the community doesn’t come with an expiration date.

Took my parents to Japan and was really excited to show them all the experiences I loved. Visited Kyoto & Osaka for the first time.

Flew to Birmingham CAS conference. Miles and the UK computing organisations have inspired me a lot and I was glad to be able to give back. Loved being back in London for a few days and spending time in Kew Gardens with Minna and her family + seeing house of Minalima with Emma. Celebrated Tuula’s 60th.

Worked too much. Had a familiar midsummer stretch with Ruby 3. Me & mom going through proofs at 4 AM in the morning. Decided to move the next deadline to May to avoid the summer panic.

For most of the year my phone only had data service. Realised how much I hated being interrupted with calls. Ville had also sold his car, so we were for the first time in 5+ years a car free household. Felt like the future.

Read

On China.

Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees. Finally finished. Best book I read all year.

American War.

July

Had my traditional summer vacation month and lived it vigourously by going to the dentist, eye doctor, doctor.. Oh well, ran and swam also and enjoyed the cold Nordic summer by biking in the soaking rain. Got Nintendo Switch and played hours and hours of Zelda.

Visited Berlin and danced my worries away with girlfriends. One of the most important weekends of the years with big consequences.

Celebrated the wedding of Pete & Liisa, met Juha 6/5, watered plants with little Isla, saw Valerian and had lunch with Miki with omnious predictions.

Did a biking trip to Kristo’s & Anna’s island with Ville and loved the archipelago and sense of summer childhoods. Visited the new Moominmuseum in Tampere and can warmly recommend it. Visited Meidän Festivaali, summer tradition.

Found A16Z AI Playbook and got inspired for the next book - it’s really amazing how much good educational material is out there. Some of my favorite newsletters on the topic for the entire year were: ImportAI, Exponential View and Creative.AI

Read

Artificial Intelligence: What everyone needs to know.

The Thirst. My summer tradition with the Nesbo’s..

In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia. Reggio was a lot on my mind through the year.

Sweetbitter

New York 2140

The Thing About Jellyfish.

August

Had a lot of family problems and overall a very sad month. But was also much more gentle towards myself and had a very strong idea of persisting. Stark contrast to the PR stuff happening around same time. Talked to everyone and everywhere. Cried a lot.

Third Ruby book came out in Finnish. The tetralogy is one step to being finished. I wanted to talk about the Internet, but everyone else still wants to talk about coding. Oh well. This was a nice, long talk about the book, although in Finnish.

Spent a lot of energy making home feel like home. Hosted dinners, spent a fun evening in Lonna, celebrated Flow weekend, had dinner in the Marimekko factory floor, went to the wedding of Johanna and Kalle.

Did two really important things for myself: started seeing a therapist and joined an all-girls running club. Monday evenings of track, hills and forests were the highlight of the week for the entire fall. Thanks Helsinki Core Trainers & Jarno. Went also orienteering for the first time in 20 years and found it very soothing.

Favorite things of the month: Melissa Kaseman’s art project, Preschool Pocket Treasures and Young Explorers.

Read

Rikinkeltainen taivas

The Idiot

The Sellout

Walkaway

September

Went to Copenhagen for Techfestival and enjoyed the small, weird, ambiguous, quality driven discussions. Felt fresh for a technology conference.

Worked on the English version of Internet book and started planning an illustration exhibition around Ruby with mom. Did some play testing at the English School.

Nelli had a masquerade party, dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and made a special dress! Celebrated Marjaana’s birthday in Lonna, ended up at an old friends apartment eating pizza at 7 AM.

Organised a surprise birthday party for my sister together with her friends and baby shower to my cousin’s wife. Hung out with goddaughter on a crips autumn day. Enjoyed doing small things for others.

Judged a hackathon at Marimekko and ended up doing my first machine learning project inspired by it! Found Liu Cixin’s books and mind exploded.

Went to Amsterdam and did a teacher workshop. Walked alone around a lot. Month ended up in better news.

Kept running. Kept reading this essay by Robert Macfarlane. Influenced my work a lot.

Read:

The Beautiful bureaucrat

The God of Small Things

When Marnie was there. Still haven't seen the movie!

Standard Deviation

Sophie's Choice

Sourdough. Loved this. Bought five immediately to giveaway.

Three Body problem. One of the other important books/series of the year.

A Mind at Play

River Town

October

Weird month. Mostly happy and relieved, but also way too much travel. I feel dizzy only reviewing what happened.. Was really happy to get a good review of the second Ruby book in US. The timelines of publishing really kill me.

Ran the Sipoonkorpi Trail and admired the baby kitten of a friend. Had a 15 year old intern who was bold enough to apply! Met with a lot of school people. Was back in Berlin for a few days, fell in love with my German publisher and their worldview.

Had pizza and watched Lady Gaga documentary with friends. Enjoyed this drawing from Aura.

Did an insane around the world few weeks: started with David’s birthday party in Copenhagen, followed by a very hungover flight to South Korea. Ran the best run of the year at Namsan Trail in Seoul, hung out with friends old and new. Saw Hillary Clinton live! Bucket list. Flew to Wisconsin and met with very cool librarians (and woke up to the news I had won an award on future of culture in Finland!). Spent a day in New York: saw friends, did a book event at my favourite bookstore, ran in Central Park.. and met my biggest kidlit idol, Oliver Jeffers, accidentally!

Visited four Finnish cities and three Swedish ones in a week. Did a project for Swedish teachers and tried reading Ruby aloud på svenska. Sounded like moomintrollet, but whatever. Flew to Japan.

Read:

Hold me tight.

Close to the Machine. This was like Patti Smith with computers.

Dark Forest.

Machine Learning: the new AI

Room of One's Own. Thousand times yes.

Little Fires Everywhere.

November

Went to Japan to accept the Rakuten Technology & Innovation award. Loved the other prize winners - among them an 80 year old app developer lady. Soaked for a rainy Sunday in onsen and visited the new Yayoi Kusama museum.

Went to Lapland with Ville. Enjoyed season's first skiing and started knitting again. Saw Tuntematon Sotilas movie. Dear friends got married and we got to be the witnesses. Met a new baby relative.

Very briefly visited Malmö and Oredev - wish I could have stayed longer. Flew to Miami and played Super Mario Odyssey almost entire flight. Got to visit an amazing school in Coconut Grove.

Finished Liu Cixin’s the Remembrance of Earth trilogy and a la Emily Dickinson: “I felt a cleaving in my mind / As if my brain had split; I tried to match it, seam by seam, / But could not make them fit.”

Went to Greece and had the warmest & most enthusiastic crowd. Hope next year will bring more collaborations.

Thought a lot about this essay from Stephen Wolfram and this one from Cory Doctorow.

Read

Forest Dark.

Stoner. This was the suprirse Ferrante of the year: kept popping up everywhere..

Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process. Loved this.

Death's End.

The Obelisk Gate.

The Fifth Season.

At the Existentialist Cafe. Took me almost a year to finish, but I can sense the reverberations..

December

I MET AL GORE. Everyone who knows me (or the 1.6 million people who watched the TED talk..) knows this was a huge deal, like a circle closing after 17 years. (The biggest daily of Finland also wrote a piece about the meeting on their economy pages. Teenage girls & their enthusiasm change the world <3). (Also, had lunch with Prince William, which on any other day would have been a huge deal, but all my excitement had already been used on Gore..). Slush was everything it promised: late from everything, random encounters, techno parties in the tunnels of Helsinki that went on until morning.

Went to Australia, spent half of the trip with a flu and lost my bank card, passport, and a few other gadgets. Decided it was time for a vacation. Loved seeing Australia beyond Melbourne and promised to come back for more than a few days..

Got a bit emotional about Finland turning 100 after being pretty nonchalant for the entire year.

Met with more childhood idols and got feedback on my projects. Met with a mentor and planned a trip to Dubai. Took a metro to Aalto University and heard about their AI research and quantum computing. Got really excited about visiting India. A teacher in NYC dressed up as Ruby for Computer Science week. Wrote about work and worked on writing.

Finished the Hockney book and was happy as a child with the Hockney-Falco-thesis. Perception (be it AI or art) seemed to be the theme of the year. Read Sherry Turkle's work and found direction(s).

Made gingerbread cookies with goddaughters family, took another goddaughter to movies to see Moomin. Celebrated Maija's doctoral dissertation (and surprise wedding!). Went to Christmas concert with Nelli & Juha, had many Christmas celebrations with friends. Saw Star Wars (if I had to choose, liked the new Blade Runner better) and Mozart's Magic Flute (loved the Komische Oper Berlin visuals). Watched the Crown.

Had girls over for wrath meaning and planning the new year. Spent Christmas together with Ville, just the two of us. Loved our tree, the new traditions and the quiet.

Read

Dinner at the Center of the Earth.

Manhattan Beach.

Minun Amerikkani. Felt this strongly.

True to Life: Twenty-Five years of Conversations with David Hockney. One of the big books of the year.

The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit.

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aryanarecords · 7 years ago

Text

INTERVIEW WITH RYAN WISE

I have absolutely no idea where to start with this. I have been thinking about how I would start this article for months, and now that the moment is here I still don’t know. Not in a bad way at all, it’s just that the person I interviewed has changed the way I view the world, a lot. There aren’t many words to describe it. I guess I’ll start with how we met, which is also kind of hazy. Bear with me. I was in the common area at the NYU hall I stayed at for two weeks over the summer. I was trying to play pool when I saw two guys dressed in really cool clothes. One had grey overalls with an orange polo shirt and yellow sweatband on. The other one had a black tee, Comme Des Garcons sneakers, and a bandana with flames. I guess it was the vibes they were giving off, but I somehow managed to approach them. I learned their names were Justin Miller and Ryan Wise. You’re probably thinking Justin Miller sounds really familiar. It’s because I interviewed him! You can read it HERE. (By the way, Justin was wearing the overalls and Ryan was wearing the bandana with flames.) I don’t remember what we talked about, or how I even approached them, but I told them how a bunch of us jam out every night in the basement and they should come. They did end up coming, and it was probably the best jam sesh we had. We even ended up writing a song all together. On my last night at NYU, I don’t really know how Ryan and I found each other, but I feel like that’s how we grew closer. We ended up in the jam room together and he started talking about his experience at NYU and ended up showing me a song he wrote. I fell so in love with it and I promised to share his music on here when it’s finally out. When I went back home, I had some stupid drama going on and he was always there to listen. In fact, he would share his problems with me too, which would become the basis for his EP. I specifically remember talking about how NYU sick we were, and how we felt so at home there. We felt like we belonged. I don’t think my NYU experience would have been the same if I hadn’t met THE Ryan Wise himself. This was honestly all over the place, but without further ado (can’t believe I just said that, OK), here is my favorite interview to date!

Give us some basic facts about yourself!

Name: Ryan Alexander Wise Born Day: 9/13/2000 Sign: Virgo Favorite Food: Rice Favorite Color: Black Base: Central Ohio Nicknames: Whatever you want, but don't call me RyRy or nigga if you ain't black.

How and when did you start making music?

I wrote my first song when I was a toddler and my dad recorded me singing it and like put music behind and it and everything. It was hella extra. I've come up with songs for as long as I can remember, but I guess the turning point was when I was 11 and I got my grandma's old iPad. I downloaded GarageBand on there and started producing and have been going ever since.

Who are some of your musical influences?

I wouldn't be doing any of this if it wasn't for Michael Jackson. When he died I looked him up to see what all the fuss was about, and was literally obsessed with his discography for 18 months straight. My current favorite artists are Kanye West, Frank Ocean, and Childish Gambino, so I'm sure they have a big influence on me. However, whatever influences my art is really what I'm listening to while I'm creating it.

What have you been listening to lately?

I've been trying to broaden my scope and get away from hip hop a little more since that's been all I’ve listened to for like 6 years now. Willow Smith and Tyler Cole came out with amazing albums this year, especially for how young they both are. Hella inspiring. Speaking of the Smith family, “SYRE” by Jaden Smith has been in rotation since its debut. “Chamber of Reflection” by Mac DeMarco, “Lone Wolf” and “Cub” by Thundercat, and “Swell” by Archy Marshall are favorites now too.

What was your inspiration for your new EP, Room & Bored?

My time at NYU this summer. I was working on a different project going into my month long stay there, but I ended up writing some new stuff while there and as a reflection of my time there when I got back. I looked at what I wrote (R&B’s three songs in particular) and realized that I had something there. I dropped everything else and started making those, because I felt an urgency to get that out there. Through the help of people at NYU, like you Aryana, I finally had enough confidence to release a body of work. NYU influenced what I wrote about, how it sounded, its title, aesthetic, everything.

This is a picture I took of Ryan in the jam room on the last night. He was performing one of the songs he wrote during his stay at NYU. Bad pic, but high quality sentiment.

How long did it take you to write and produce R&B?

I wrote 227 in a couple minutes one day at the beginning of my stay in New York. Same with 908 but like two weeks later. 197 amassed itself over a couple of days after I got back and was eventually trimmed down from 9 minutes to 5. I then produced the bulk of it through August and kind of sat on it, making tweaks until I told myself I had to put it out and tweeted “november 1st” to hold myself to releasing it on that date. So all together a little over 3 months.

How did you think of the title, Room & Bored?

I'm still kinda iffy on the title. I like it, a lot, but not sure that it really connects with the story of the project much. It’s playing on Room and Board obviously, and I think it’s clever and fits within my aesthetic, but the EP doesn't really convey a sense of boredom. Maybe 227, since it’s about suggesting that fun should be had rather than describing the fun. I don't know. But since it was based on my experience at a college, I wanted that to be incorporated into the title. I wanted this to be a project where different people can experience it differently based on their relation to me. So if you just happen to find this on SoundCloud, you might think I'm a college student. If you know me, you probably know that I was at NYU for a part of my summer and will get that it’s a reference to that. If you were at NYU and were good friends with me, you might get more things: who the songs about, the events that inspired the songs, the room numbers’ significance, and the title plays into that.

Each song title is a number, what do those mean?

Each is a reference to a room that was significant to the circumstances that inspired the songs. 227 was my friend Anthony's room, and that's where we would hang out and party most of the time. Since that song deals with themes of not necessarily fitting in at the party, but wanting to because “she” does, I named it after the room where I felt that. 908 was another friend of mine’s room, where an interaction happened between me and someone else. To fully feel and release the emotions that were ignited as a result of that interaction, I wrote 908. I also learned that it was the room number of my other friend, on the opposite wing of the dorm, and coincidentally it applies to things that happened there too (coincidence = the universe stunting on you with Jay-Z double entendres). 197 has to do with where I live. Since I wrote it after returning home from New York and it was a reflection on my experience there, I named it after where I was at the time.

What’s your dream venue to perform at?

I'd love to say like Madison Square Garden, but that seems hella overwhelming. Maybe like the Roxy, because I'd love to be in a more intimate setting with people that know my music better than I do. I’d take a ton of those over one MSG performance where 60% of the people there only know that one song that charted.

What genre would you define your music as?

I'd love to say Alternative, which to me just means the industry doesn't know what to call this, but right now I'd say hip hop or alt hip hop. I'm still very much in that state of mind. My ear is farther along than my voice, if you pick up what I'm putting down.

What was the first record or CD you bought?

I don't remember the first song or album I spent money on (it was probably trash and definitely on iTunes), but the first physical album I bought was Jay-Z’s “Black Album” on vinyl. Didn't have a record player yet. Hadn't even heard the album in full. I just saw it and impulse bought it because I felt like it. Listened to it later, and fortunately, it’s amazing.

Who would you want to open for?

Opening for Kanye would be dope but I'd probably be crying too hard to perform. Opening for Frank Ocean would be dope but I know everyone would forget about it as soon as Frank walked on stage. Maybe Kevin Abstract. Yeah, that would be dope. But opening for any of them would be a privilege and I would be so geeked to do so.

Any advice you have for young/ local/ up and coming artists?

Keep grinding. Don't let people discourage you. Yeah, not everyone gets to be a star, but you'll never be one if you let that get in your way. Don't aim for fame, aim for happiness. At least that's what I'm doing, and I hope it works out. Making connections with other, artistic peers can be very helpful. I wouldn't have R&B if it wasn't for people like Aryana and Justin (JUM The Lover) and others that I've become close to. They’ll help inspire you, make you feel at home if you're in a place where people don't tend to think like you, and will hook you up if you can't think of another verse and need a feature.

Can we expect more music from you? Is yes, when!!??!

Of course you can, but I don't want to give a date that I most likely won't keep. When it comes, it will probably be another EP, but longer this time. I'm not ready to come out with a full album yet. I don't know why. I have enough material, but need a concept or theme to tie it all together. If everything goes as planned, my next EP will be called COVER and you should look out for it.

Is there anything else you want to add?

If you've listened to R&B thank you so much. Even if you hated it, at least you tried. If you haven't, please give it a shot. The whole thing isn't even 10 minutes long. Support young artists. Retweet, reblog, repost, share, like, favorite everything by the young artists you know. Even if it’s not that great to you, it might be to someone else who’s in your sphere and wouldn't come across it otherwise. Listen to Room & Bored, or don't, it’s your prerogative, and why be racist, sexist, homophobic, or transphobic when you can just be quiet?

You can listen to Ryan’s debut EP Room&Bored HERE

Rock On,

Aryana

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elementsbyksorbe · 5 years ago

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The Seven Layers of Design

“A grownup is just a kid with layers on.” --- Woody Harrelson

Before Joanna and Chip … before the Property Brothers … when HGTV (at this point in time, a Discovery Channel offshoot) was in its infancy, there was Christopher Lowell. This Emmy Award–winning designer was clutch for the new network and laid the foundation for designers and decorators who influence not only how homeowners approach their design projects today but how they live.

“Today’s HGTV designers are expanding into furniture and lifestyle collections, household paint lines and more,” says Kathy Sorbe, lead designer and owner of The Elements in Storm Lake and at Prairie Trail in Ankeny. “The first one I remember doing this really well was Christopher Lowell. He was 100% authentic, entertaining to watch and was, at his heart, a talented and groundbreaking personality in the world of HGTV and celebrity designers.”

Without slick production and large budgets, Lowell managed to make design doable and within reach for the everyday homeowner. Developing an easy-to-follow method, which he called the “Seven Layers of Design,” his show was an instant hit. Watching old clips on YouTube, some of the colors hint at the early 2000s, but his fundamental principles – his seven layers of design – stand the test of time remarkably well.

Sorbe and her team credit designers like Clodagh and Kelly Hoppen as inspiration, and even though Lowell’s style didn’t always line up with hers, Sorbe’s fondness for the flamboyant designer is apparent.

“A lot of Christopher’s choices wouldn’t have been mine, but his approach to design was smart, efficient and almost foolproof,” says Sorbe. “He adapted, and that was a great part of his charm, but working from a solid foundation made adaptation all that easier. Sometimes things didn’t work they way he wanted … more often they did, and they looked amazing. But it was his humor and authenticity that underscored his talent for design. He made it fun!”

Layer #1 – Paint and Architectural Details

Sorbe says that in Lowell’s heyday, accent walls were a go-to. Impactful and dramatic in contrast, they were a major player in the room. When asked what the star of the show is in a room, Sorbe believes it shouldn’t be the walls. She thinks of them as more of a supporting player.

“We’ve evolved into a smoother aesthetic,” says Sorbe, “and that usually starts with paint. The less contrast, the smoother the look.”

When color isn’t interrupted, the smoother – and larger – a room will seem. Sorbe and her team like to paint walls and trim the same color in different finishes, or even shades of the same color. That’s not to say that the Design Team doesn’t do contrast. White trim is almost always a successful choice, whether it’s paired with the same shade or a dramatic contrast. In this case, the trim becomes an important design element in the room.

“I also love black framed windows against white trim,” says Sorbe. “I remember the first time I saw Diane Keaton’s home featured in Architectural Digest, and the designer had placed black framed windows in white trim. It was so striking, and thankfully many vendors have introduced this style into their line. They’re much easier to find – and more affordable – than they used to be.”

Layer #2 – Flooring

Everything starts from the ground up so the flooring is an important layer of Lowell’s philosophy. Sorbe encourages clients to think “simple” when it comes to flooring. Running the flooring at an angle or adding extra details can be distracting and restrictive when it comes to the rest of the room’s design.

“Together with the walls, the floor completes the shell of the room,” says Sorbe. “It sets the stage where your furniture, art and accessories can shine.”

There are almost as many types of flooring as there are styles. Wood floors are beautiful, natural, renewable, warm and timeless. Unfortunately, they can scratch and don’t hold up well to water. Laminate is a much more affordable option; however, it does look more artificial and doesn’t have the depth of wood. Also, laminate flooring is noisy in a way that some homeowners find challenging.”

“Luxury vinyl tile is newer to the market and one of our favorites,” says Michelle Patton, a design coordinator with The Elements in Storm Lake. “It’s affordable, has a rich look and a wide selection. It’s also practically indestructible.”

Layer #3 – Custom Upholstery

One of Sorbe’s mantras – function first, then we make it pretty – is easier to accomplish with custom upholstery from one of their design centers in Storm Lake or Ankeny. Clients look at size, style and function of the piece of furniture, then they can choose their fabric.”

“There are literally tens of thousands of fabric options,” says Patton. “And new performance fabrics like Sunbrella® open up even more choices. I don’t even think Christopher Lowell would have been brave enough to cover a sofa in white fabric but we do it all the time now.”

When making the investment in custom furniture, the Design Team can create drawings that show how your pieces will be used in the room. This means that you don’t end up with pieces that are too small or too large.

“Furniture will always look smaller in a big showroom,” cautions Sorbe. “Frequently, we’ll come into a project after the homeowner has made the big purchases, and unfortunately, big is the operative word: the client realizes that the pieces are too large when they’re delivered and sitting in the room. Scale drawings really show how the room will look and function, and ensures you’re investing in furniture that will fit and look amazing.”

Layer #4 – Accent Fabrics

Pillows, throws and accent fabrics are an important design element in any room. Sorbe and her team use them to add color and texture. Another nice thing about accent fabrics is that they are easy and affordable to change with the seasons or for holidays, giving a room a fresh look.

“There are some amazing fabrics … some colorful … some wildly expensive,” says Sorbe. “What might be too busy for a sofa or too pricy for a chair could be perfect on a pillow or ottoman.”

Layer #5 – Accent Furniture

The sofa and chairs are the comfort pieces. Lowell called the non-upholstered pieces the work horses.

“These are the tables that hold our wine glasses and the shelves that hold our books and treasures, so these are important,” jokes Sorbe. “Mixing fabric pieces with wood, metal and even glass will give you even more dimension and interest. When things get too ‘matched,’ the space can start to look retail and not like a home that’s lived in.”

Sorbe and her team like to look at large pieces because of their presence and ability to expand the space. Sorbe says that the eyes take in what’s in the room versus the size of it.

“There’s a myth that large pieces of furniture will overpower a room and make it feel small,” says Patton. “Even in a small space, a few overscaled pieces work better than many small ones. An eight-foot bookcase will look better on a nine-foot wall than a six-foot bookcase. The oversized piece breaks up the furniture line and can be impressive pieces in your room.”

A popular layout, especially in open concept floor plans, is two sofas paired with two or four chairs. Sorbe says it’s a great, but challenging look.

“Your rug and coffee table need to be large enough to support these pieces of furniture,” says Sorbe. “I think one of the largest coffee tables we placed was six-foot square. We had it custom-made so it fit perfectly in the space.”

Rather than traditional side or end tables, Sorbe and her team like to deploy drink tables. Small and heavy, but movable, they are sturdy and some of the most interesting pieces in the store.

Layer #6 – Accessories

“Accessories are the items that tell the story of who lives in this house,” says Sorbe. “Here’s where the personalities of the owners come out ... where we can look around and learn something about the homeowner.”

Patton cautions against clutter.

“Clutter is the enemy of style,” says Patton. “Too much, especially too many small accessories, creates what we call visual noise. There’s so much activity that the eye doesn’t know where to rest.”

The Design Team corrals collections on shelves and uses trays to turn several pieces into one. Editing treasures and photos down is important. Too much “stuff” creates chaos, and that activity can draw attention away from more impressive and important parts of a room’s design.

“Your showcase pieces should stand out, and that becomes more challenging when you have lots of other things going on,” says Sorbe. “Edit down your photos. We love to showcase good-looking kids and families, but instead of displaying every school photo from kindergarten through college, edit down to the most recent and your favorites.”

Fewer and larger is the approach they take. From furniture pieces to books and even art, the Design Team looks to make an impact with big, important and stylish pieces instead of more or smaller accessories and art.

Layer #7 – Lighting and Greenery

Lighting is one of the last – and most important – of Lowell’s layers of design. From fixed lighting to lamps, specialty lights and accent lighting, this layer’s first job is function. Sorbe says no one likes a dark room. Lighting can also add beauty and drama to a room, make a small room look bigger and create the overall mood for a space.

“Installed, or general lighting, like cans or overheads, provide overall illumination for your room,” says Sorbe. “When planning a space, we like to make sure that we install enough general lighting and then install dimmers for easy control.”

Sorbe says accent and task lighting is more fun.

“Apothecary lamps are a go-to for the Design Team and are one of our most popular items in the stores,” says Patton. “They are perfect for reading or close-up work, and when you turn them off, they just disappear.”

Lamps are often placed on bedside tables, but The Elements also likes to install pendants, not just over the kitchen island but to flank the bed. Sorbe says this is a sleek and sophisticated look but also functional, freeing the top of the bedside table for your book, phone or tablet. “Master bedrooms are often laid out in a way that only allows one place for the bed,” says Sorbe. “We like to use pendants instead of traditional table lamps. Bedrooms should be restful and uncluttered spaces, and adding pendants is a way to make sure surfaces stay clean and uncluttered.”

Sorbe notes that lamps aren’t just for side tables either. Small lamps find their way to shelves and niches in their finished spaces. The unexpected placement is a nod to The Elements’ motto: anything but ordinary.

No installation – by Lowell or The Elements’ Design Team – is complete without a nod to Mother Nature. Today, Sorbe encourages homeowners to toss the fig and ficus trees favored by Lowell and replace with more natural, organic greenery and elements from Nature. Birch is a go-to, but the Design Team loves succulents and large pieces of driftwood, collected by the Ankeny team at great personal risk.

“It’s important that none of your greenery or natural elements look fake,” says Sorbe. “Invest in quality pieces, and they’ll last for years … far longer than many of us can keep live plants thriving in our homes!”

Even distilled down to less than ten simple steps, a renovation or design project can be daunting for many homeowners. The Design Team at The Elements can help. From new construction to remodels … simple paint colors to whole-home redesigns … the designers can make sure the space you end up with is a space that says, “It’s you!”

To schedule a consultation or learn more about their risk-free House Call service, visit The Elements online at elementsbyksorbe.com, follow them on Facebook and Instagram and explore their profile on Houzz.com.

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gaiabros · 5 years ago

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Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions. There you will find our latest 2019 mixes to stream and download. If you like what we’ve been creating, please subscribe to GAIA BROS to receive news and announcements about forthcoming projects and articles.

You read that right, ladies and gents. 2019 marks the decisive end to a decade of Halloween-inspired, pop culture infused music productions, which have been in production since the series’ humble beginnings back in Fall 2009. Right off the bat, you may have a question or two popping up. Why is ELECTROWEEN ending on its decade milestone 2019 mix? Will there be more EDM mixes coming in the future?

Grab a beer and find a cozy seat, then come back and join us for the details. Story time, kids!

Setting The Stage: First Mention of the Series’ End

Before jumping into ELECTROWEEN 2019 details, I need to spend a little time establishing some relevant details from a year ago.

Last Fall, shortly after we had released ELECTROWEEN 2018, I flew down to San Diego to visit Matt and his girlfriend Jessica for the weekend of Halloween. We saw the Halloween movie reboot, carved up some pumpkins, dropped by Tatsu Ramen in L.A. for some delicious bowls of noodles, and drove up to Universal Studios Hollywood for their Halloween Horror Nights (in particular, to check out the Stranger Things attraction). We had a wonderful time together.

Pumpkin carvings by Scott, Matt and Jessica

It was during this visit when I announced to Matt that 2019 would mark the final year for the ELECTROWEEN series, ending a solid run of releases spanning our 20s to our early 30s. It has become a cherished tradition… something we’ve always looked forward to with the start of each new calendar year. ELECTROWEEN is Halloween for us, and a token of our years of friendship and love for the arts, electronic dance music, cult video games and films. In short, it is the summation of everything we love, and have come to love. This was bittersweet to talk about, but in the end it’s for the right reasons.

The rationale behind this decision is, for the most part, straight-forward. Since jump starting my DJ hobby back in 2006, I have released over 30 studio production mixes, manned two radio shows ([OuteR HeaveN] and PLURALITY at WSNC Radio), and performed countless live DJ sets at house parties, bars and private events.

In many ways, I’ve exhausted myself from the art form and feel a burning need to start creating my own music, rather than curating the works of others as I’ve done for the majority of my adult years. But also, life has happened, too.

Other Happenings That Have Influenced This Decision

During the same weekend I visited Matt last October, I simultaneously released my second album, Gravitational Waves, for my chillsynth project Gravity Mission. The album took three years to envision, create and release (collaborating remotely for the entire process) after a six year dry spell from our initial 2012 debut Before The Spoken Word. I came to realize the creative process was deeply rewarding and allowed me to evolve artistically in ways I had not previously imagined. In a real sense, it showed me that the barriers to creating music only exist in my head, and that changing course at any time is entirely possible.

Gravity Mission’s Gravitational Waves album (released October 26, 2018)

Lastly, life changes have been a considerable factor, often left out of the picture here on GAIA BROS. Having moved eight times since the release of my initial 2009 mix, I’ve been feeling the need to get more serious about putting down roots, connecting to a single place and getting acquainted with my local community. After my wife and I bought our first home in 2017, I started switching gears and pursuing other interests, including gardening, foraging, craft beer, table top gaming, GM’ing and traveling. It’s been a wonderful past few years, but a lot to handle. Thus I’ve had to make some tough decisions and learn to be more realistic with my time commitments.

“Tell Us About ELECTROWEEN 2019 Already, Please!”

Whew! Thanks for hanging in here for the entire reason why you’re reading this post! Let’s jump right into ELECTROWEEN 2019 — its inception, influences and more.

As the crown jewel in this decade long saga, ELECTROWEEN 2019 needed to be fantastically epic in a way that other mixes couldn’t be. It needed flair, funk and spirit on all levels. But most importantly, it absolutely HAD to be a fun reminder of why we started doing this whole thing in the first place. Returning full circle to our beginnings was key.

Where it all began: ELECTROWEEN 2009 (released October 16, 2009)

I began by looking back on our early mixes and questioning why we fell in love with the concept of merging EDM tracks and jack-o’-lantern heads together. We were creating something different, something bold — a novel form of expression that did not yet exist in the world. Several tracks started to stand out, and they were always the ones that jacked our bodies in ways unlike anything else. That’s when the realization struck: our final mixes for the ELECTROWEEN series needed to be celebratory and sentimental, using tracks with massive swing and vibe that pulse with uplifting energy and emotion.

This led to months of heavy Spotify rotations and research, ultimately pointing to the spiritual successor of the 70s: Nu Disco! A long time fan of Daft Punk, their French house discography was a great starting place for finding similar artists and classics. What originally felt like a monumental undertaking quickly became a super synthesized formula for hot disco beats and flashing synths, and the energy continued to pick up from there!

September Reunion in Portland, Oregon

A few weeks back, Matt flew up to Portland to celebrate the end of the ELECTROWEEN series. We GAIA BROS reunited over glorious moments of food, drink and beats at home, while foraging in the woods for Chanterelles, and driving out to the coast. Matt and I carved up our pumpkin helmets for the last time and fully embraced the defining characteristic of our early mixes.

For the first time in seven years, we embarked on a photoshoot with gold and silver capes in search of Portland’s most aesthetically gratifying street art. Some gloomy weather rolled in, but we ended up working with the rainfall to leverage its luminous quality for the end product. Below is a gallery of the final images processed from the shoot, which we have included within the download files for the 2019 mixes. Continue on after the gallery for liner notes and the final cover art designs created especially for the occasion!

VII’s Decade Celebration Mix Liner Notes

From Scott: My tenth and final mix for the ELECTROWEEN series touches on the things most sentimental to me. It is everything I have to give, and everything I could ever say, in a timeframe just short of an hour and a half. This is the longest production I’ve created to date, and looking back on it, I never wanted a single moment of it to end. The mix embodies the essence of the long and wholesome nights spent with close friends and loved ones… those irreplaceable times that will forever shine in our minds and hearts.

My 2019 mix is divided up into three seamlessly transitioning acts: a soaring and lofty Halloween introduction at-length (VG OST and Synthwave), an all night long celebration (Nu Disco), and finally a sincere and heartfelt closure, painting a pensive mood with vulnerable feelings of love, melancholy and, ultimately, acceptance.

Samples from Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night are most prevalently stitched in between tracks. I completely fell in love with this game upon its release this past summer. Matt and I have patiently waited four years for this game, as we were original backers from the April 2015 Kickstarter campaign. It’s clear that Koji Igarashi and Michiru Yamane have put their souls into this beautiful masterwork. I also drew samples from other favorites including Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Game of Thrones, and 300, which all have their own places within the narrative of this work.

Having ventured into the darkness (perhaps a little too long) in years past, I’ve found my way back to the grooves that bring the “feel good” vibes in spades. I should note here that initially I had started working on this mix back in March 2019 in order to get a head start on the final mix concept. With that said, I am extremely satisfied with the end product. The coin design illustration I created for the cover art came together effortlessly based on the passion encompassing this special time. The whole process has been cathartic on a deep level. I’m grateful for these ten years of ELECTROWEEN and will always take them with me into whatever comes next. Special thanks goes to Matt for believing in this project and being a great collaborator, my wife Lindsey for her support and encouragement, and David for listening and being a loyal fan all these years.

Loveless’ Decade Celebration Mix Liner Notes

From Matt: OHHHHH MAN! Has it been a decade already? Where did all the time fly? I was just a wee lad yesterday bumping to Scott’s mixes and now I’m a seasoned vet of the Halloween variety. Tonight I am going to see Lana Del Rey with my girlfriend which will be a great cap on the end of ELECTROWEEN. Lana’s moody and melodic music is of a bygone era. She really evokes the spirit of ELECTROWEEN (side note: thank you to Jessica, my aforementioned girlfriend, for introducing Lana to me). This year I open with an instrumental and a remix of her first big hit, Video Games. A song that reminds me of a few weekends ago when I visited Scott.

We went mushroom foraging and shot the ELECTROWEEN liner photos. We haven’t shot photos like that since 2012 and it was amazing. The rain followed us every spot we went that day, brightening up all the colors. It was a tough shoot, but well worth the results.

We also went to a retro video game bar in Portland. There, we found the Sega Genesis version of TMNT: Hyperstone Heist. I haven’t played that game since I was in grade school and it was an incredible moment to share with Scott. The song “Video Games” evokes a simpler time with a tinge of melancholy. I think I’ll always pair this experience and that song together.

ELECTROWEEN is coming to an end. As I type that, my heart hurts. When Scott and I spoke about it earlier this year, it bothered me. I wasn’t upset with the decision, but ELECTROWEEN has become an integral part of who I am. However, it is important to move on and hone our passions. You cannot be married to every creative thing you do, and ELECTROWEEN has come to a fitting end. I think Scott and I will take everything we learned over the years and make something truly magical and different in 2020.

As for my mix, this year it was more personal. I skipped many of the video game pleasantries that have made up ELECTROWEEN’s previous iterations. I tried to throw in all styles of music we’ve used in the past 10 years and kept the overall mix more funky and positive. Halloween is for mischief after all!

In 2019 Loveless (my DJ persona) is locked away in a mental institution and the key is thrown away. This, of course, is the end of ELECTROWEEN and Loveless’ fate is uncertain, but you always gotta leave the end open for a sequel. Thank you to everyone who has listened to these mixes over the years. It has been a labor of love that I wouldn’t have traded for anything else. From now until the end of time the crisp Autumn air will always feel like ELECTROWEEN to me.

Thanks For Listening and Being A Part of ELECTROWEEN!

We sincerely hope that you enjoy the ELECTROWEEN 2019 mixes while testing out some of your best moves this Halloween season. Whether this is the first mix you’ve listened to of ours or your tenth, we want to thank you for being a part of our community and keeping the spirit of Halloween alive. ELECTROWEEN has been one of the most meaningful projects of our entire lives, and it will always be here, preserved in time. The mixes will continue to be available on GAIA BROS well into the future; feel free to dive back in any time.

The era of ELECTROWEEN officially ends here, and a new one begins. What is to come, no one can know for sure…

—

I’d like to close this significant chapter of our lives with a special quote:

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman

Peace, Love, Unity and Respect — forever and always. ❤

VII (Scott Werley) and Loveless (Matt Konop)

The End of an Era: Celebrating 10 Years of ELECTROWEEN Mixes #electroween #halloween #mixes Short on time? Head on over to our ELECTROWEEN Mixes page where we have created an archive for all of our ELECTROWEEN productions.

#2019 #Celebration #ELECTROWEEN #Gaming #Halloween #Mixes #Nu Disco #Synthwave #VG OST

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cunyappliedtheatreblog · 6 years ago

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Countdown Profile: Week 3 Jessica Cortez (’20)

Jessica Cortez(’20) is wrapping up her first semester in the MA in Applied Theatre. She is a Graduate Apprentice with the Literacy through Drama Program, working with middle schoolers in the Adolescent Literacy Program.

The Graduate Apprenticeship for Diversity in Applied Theatre provides recipients a stipend, a tuition award, and a placement with the CUNY Creative Arts Team. Jessica joined Michael Wilson (’11) to talk about leaving San Diego, falling in love with New York, and keeping her flames burning.

You mentioned that you were reading Morgan and Sindy’s profile last year. Where were you when you were reading it? Morgan and Sindy are apprentices, like Jessica, but now in their second year.

I was in San Diego, actually. I grew up in San Diego. I’ve never lived anywhere else. Welcome to New York. I remember saying I would never move to New York. Laughs. But I ended up finding this program and reading more about it, and this was the program that I wanted to go to. And then when I came to visit for the artistic review, I fell in love with it and I was like, why was I so scared to come here?

You fell in love with the city.

With the city, yeah. And the program. Both of them.

Let me go back to what you were doing in California. Did you have an acting background?

I have a theatre background. I do some acting. In San Diego, I was a teaching artist for the San Diego Opera and a Chicano theatre group, Teatro Izcalli, for about two years. I was working with anywhere from third to twelfth grade students, and we were doing arts integration programs in San Diego Unified School District. I got to partner with teachers, got to meet hundreds of students and…our primary thing was working with students to develop their own stories, based on their memories or issues that they saw in their communities. And then we helped them to produce those into a final production.

The Opera was separate from the Chicano work?

They have a partnership, so we worked together, hand-in-hand. The Opera really wanted to connect with diverse communities in San Diego. The programming manager at the Opera, he met Teatro Izcalli, and then from there formed this partnership, where Teatro Izcalli served as this bridge to the community, because they’ve been in San Diego for like 20 years now.

Were you doing work in music?

Actually no. John—the education manager at the Opera—he specifically was looking for people who wanted to do community engagement and didn’t feel it was necessary for me to have a music background, because he really was about wanting to connect with communities and tell stories, rather than just the traditional opera forms that they use.

That’s bold.

I saw my first opera after I got hired there. I really loved working for them, because John was very progressive and took a lot of risks and, like you said, was bold, in his choices. I feel like we got a lot of rich work done that way. In community.

Sounds like it. And yet you moved.

Yes.

Jessica (right) with fellow actors in a summer 2018 Teatro Izcalli production

What had you start researching master’s programs?

In college, my professor in theatre had told me, “Have you ever considered a master’s program?” And I never had. And so that kind of got the wheels turning. Once I graduated college, I was thinking, “I do want to get my masters.” And so, it had been about four years since graduating, and I was like, “okay, it’s time.”

What was it? Why? Why was it time?

Even though I was doing great work in San Diego, I felt that I was a little complacent. I wanted to grow as a person and grow as an educator and as an artist. And I could either stay on that trajectory—which is great—of doing the work I was doing, or I could throw myself into something completely new, and grow.

That’s bold. And, why applied theatre?

In my undergrad, I focused on Ethnic Studies. Social justice was my primary focus, and I had no past background with theatre. I decided to double major in theatre [in college] because I saw it as a platform that I could use to talk about those issues, and really dive into social narratives, and express people’s stories that aren’t typically told.

Thank you. It’s the tail end of November now, in New York. How’s your experience in the program?

It’s been exactly what I wanted when I thought about moving from San Diego. All along the way I feel like I’ve been given signs, I guess you could say, or affirmations that I’m in the right place, right now.

What are they?

For example, I was sitting in this room here for our training, and we were talking about people who inspire us. I said, “Evelyn Díaz Cruz,” who was my professor of theatre who pushed me to go into a master’s in applied theatre. I said that and my co-worker Marion, who is sitting there—

—Lopez? Marion graduated this spring in the class of 2018

Yeah. She was like, “Evelyn Díaz Cruz, from San Diego?” And I was like, “yeah.” She’s like, “oh my gosh, she directed my first official play.” I was like, wow, how is that even…like…I don’t even understand. It’s been a good experience definitely. A lot of work. A lot of challenges…getting back in the flow of writing again and all that. But overall I feel I’m learning a lot and meeting a lot of people, and feeling affirmed.

I’m so glad to hear that. What is a challenge that you’ve had in one of the courses that hit a sweet spot: it’s hard but rewarding?

Well, right now, because I’m working on the Co-Intentional paper [for Helen White’s course The Co-Intentional Director], I think that’s the most prevalent on my mind…I felt like it was really challenging, because I was so in my head about it. Like, “is this co-intentional?” I found I would stifle myself and not allow myself to really be present in rehearsals, because I was so worried about, “oh, am I being a good director, am I being co-intentional?” And then when I let down that wall, in a rehearsal, I felt like, “oh, did I say too much? Did I influence the direction of where the actors are going?” It’s been really rewarding because I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve also realized how in my head sometimes I can get and how that holds me back from really being able to create work that I feel says something about the world.

I hope that as you do it more and more you’re able to make it more and more your own. I think learning is awkward like that.

Yeah. It’s kind of like taking your first steps as a child.

If you were to have the audacity to imagine yourself in three years, after the program is over, what would you be up to?

I would love to be working in a theatre company as a community engagement director or an education director—a position where I can reach students and teaching artists and organizations and be a bridge between a theatre company and a community.

What fuels you to pursue this path?

Growing up, I didn’t go to plays. I didn’t go to theatre. And so coming to it in college, and having all of this transformation from going to see a play where I saw my story reflected, or being able to perform and act out my story, I felt like it was very impactful for me. I think about, oh, what would it look like if I had access earlier on in my life. The schools we were going into [in San Diego] were predominately students of color, or schools that don’t get theatre program, or don’t get arts programming at all. That’s what really fuels me, is to change that. Not to impose, “oh, here’s theatre, and it’s so great,” but to really offer an opportunity to kind of experiment, or try it out, or see what theatre can do. With my students, we’ve been able to accomplish a show that they were like, oh, we’re never going to be able to do that. Or we’re never going to act. And then seeing the after effects of them—so ecstatic for being able to produce something onstage, literally dancing and cheering. It’s that moment where you’re like, okay, this is why we do the work. This is what fuels me.

Thank you. I can see that, it’s exciting. And what are you working on here at CAT?

I’m an apprentice in the Literacy Through Drama Program, with Claro. I’m working right now at Bronx Writing Academy, with sixth and seventh graders, doing after school programming. My partner Brett and I have been going Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday from 2:40 to 4:15.

Okay. Describe a moment that springs to your mind from your work.

I’m thinking... we were playing…[a game]. All of a sudden we got on this conversation about dreams, and they were talking about astral travel. And this student she was talking about how her grandpa was able to do this, and now she’s able to do it, and now her brother’s able to do it. And then everyone in the room started getting really excited about dreams. And so just being able to see the generative themes coming up in the room, and then someone started talking about lucid dreaming…

You dropped the Freirian term “generative theme,” there. For Freire there’s always a bigger picture of that. It’s not just “nice” [that people’s interest coalesces around a topic], but it’s helping toward liberation. What’s at stake? Why does it matter for them to be talking to each other about dreams?

I think for them to be talking about dreams, and to be talking about these concepts, is connected to being able to imagine a reality outside of their own, or be able to control the content that they’re talking about in the room. To be able to talk about dreams in a classroom, is so different from traditional models of education, and I think that’s so important, to be able to allow them to open up that dialogue.

How is your experience in CAT, when you’re not out in the field?

It’s been really fun. We do a lot…I actually was really excited, because it’s such a family vibe, or community vibe…Claro’s really intentional about that…we have our potlucks, or we have the ‘80s party too, for Keith, for Halloween— —you did? —yeah!

You’d talked about the apprehension around moving to New York, and then discovering that it was welcoming.

What would you offer someone from the West Coast who’s thinking about moving to New York?

I guess, it’s not…it’s really a beautiful place. I love it here because there are so many people.

Thank you. Anything else you’d want some curious person to know?

I think what’s really been foundational in my transition here has been the cohort model. I’ve become really close with both my year and the middle year students. I didn’t know anybody coming here, I knew like one person. So I was worried that I would be very lonely when I came. But I think the program is set up in a way where I’ve been able to connect with different people and form friendships with them. So that’s been really nice, to not only see each other in class, but also to get together outside of class, to support each other, since we’re going through it together.

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rkbahuja · 7 years ago

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Los Angeles-based internationally acclaimed Cinematographer Martin Preiss is a product of Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague. Preiss recently made his Bollywood debut with Raabta. While talking to Pandolin, Preiss shares how shooting this foreign language film in a new country has taught him a lot about life, filmmaking and creativity. Here are excerpts from the conversation in which Preiss reveals how he used the most expensive lenses ever in a Bollywood movie.

Martin Preiss – A Selfie with the crowd on set

You are a Czech cinematographer, writer and director. How did a Bollywood film like Raabta happen?

Well, it’s a story. One day, I woke up at 3 a.m. in my Los Angeles apartment because my European phone was ringing. I picked it up and somebody from Prague asked me if I was interested in doing a movie in Hungary. I said I was, but I told them I was in California and it was the middle of the night and if they could call later. When I woke up, I had zillion missed calls from India. So I called back, and was put in touch with Dino (Dinesh Vijan, Director). We set up a Skype call and immediately clicked together. After reading the script, which I personally really liked, I sent him some visual references. After the presentation, I talked to my agent Ann Murtha and a week later was on my way to Hungary to my first location scout. So it happened really fast. There were other really good DPs that Dino was considering, so I must have caught his eye with something. I think the collaboration worked.

How different was it to shoot a Bollywood film as compared to your previous projects?

Not much, telling the story is the same almost everywhere. You need to prepare it as much as you can and be ready to improvise. It took me some time to adjust to the Indian crew style, which is completely different from what I’m used to in US or Europe. But I had a great 1st AC, Bobby Sanivarapu. He’s an excellent professional who helped me a lot in navigating through renting and on set time. Later, in the Indian portion, we had Syed Mohammed Husain and he organized the crew excellently as well. And I would like to mention the Hungarian/Czech crew as well, which basically made it feel as any other European or American production. So there was not much difference. The Flat Packs film production company in Hungary really had top of the game Line Producers, and they all provided excellent service.

Tell me more about the visual treatment of the film, since there are two parts to the story – one set in a period era and the other in contemporary times. Also what color palettes did you choose for the parts?

For me, there are three parts of the story: the Romantic Comedy, the Drama in the past and the Thriller at the end. So I was trying to subtly make progress in order to create more of a dramatic look and keep some colors and artifacts peering through time from the past to present. I call it layering and I believe that the audience can feel these layers unconsciously. The more layers you can fit, the better. We talk here about visual storytelling, which I’m always trying to put into my movies. The visual rhythm, contrast, colors, lines and shapes. I made a graph and a visual treatment of these changes and wrote to Dino saying, “There are some locations, some lighting and some color that will be inspirational, but this will never show how the film will look. I don’t copy – I create truth through my vision, inspiration, and through my whole experience here on earth. I create the picture for the film. It will bubble to the surface through the preparation process from my inside.”

And that’s basically what happened. There is some link when I see some prep pictures and the final frames in the movie. But it always bubbles on set, on location with actors, and with available time and money. Some parts were superbly prepared and the shots are almost the same as on the storyboard. Sometimes we improvised.

During the shoot of Raabta

Bollywood films are a lot about song and dance, which must be a completely different concept for you. What approach did you follow?

That was the difficult part as I don’t do music videos much. But Dino and Homi (Adajania, Co-Producer) were a great help in this as they made the songs into integral parts of the story, so I could relate to them. It was different from what I’ve seen in Bollywood movies, when suddenly the main character travels in one frame from India to Iceland and you don’t understand why they are there, as it doesn’t have any connection with the story. So, songs that illustrate what is happening in a movie is something I could work with. When we shot ‘Sadda Move’ in Amritsar, I must say that Ahmed Khan (Choreographer) saved me. That part of the shoot was really crazy for me, and basically all the credit for what you see goes to him. I merely supervised it. Ahmed Khan is such a great Cinematographer so I didn’t change much, as it was already great.

Which camera and lens kit did you use and why? Which other key equipment has been used in the film?

We used mainly two Alexas XTs with Hawk V-Lite Anamorphic lenses from Vantage Prague. I must say a big thanks to the producers of Raabta who believed me when I said that we would need those lenses to tell the story correctly and to get this equipment from Europe, as apparently they were the most expensive lenses ever used in a Bollywood movie. We had the full package, not just a few lenses. I chose those great lenses as we agreed to shoot in a classical anamorphic 1:2.35 ratio. The lenses have great color and feel. I tested almost seven sets of different lenses thanks to Vantage’s manager Jindrich Cipera, who provided this ability to choose the right lens for this project.

As it was mainly a romantic story, I wanted smooth skin tones, warmer feel and almost dreamy edges. Anamorphic gives you specific bokeh and beautiful flares. And all these “flaws” make the picture stand out. I’m not a big fan of a “clean” picture. I’m always trying to bend it somehow for the purpose of the story. For the underwater sequences, we used Mini with Zeiss Primes, as that was the only combo we could fit to the housing. Well actually we had two housings, so some shots are made underwater on Hawks as well.

I learned a lot on this shoot. I’m a dive-master and I shot underwater, but this experience pushed the envelope much further for me. It was a challenging four days and I admire the actors, who went from never diving before to doing it so amazingly. We used RED Epic as well for some “C” camera shots and various Drones. We went from big heavy ones to DJI Inspire to my personal DJI Mavic.

How much of VFX assistance was employed in the film? Which parts has VFX largely been used for?

That’s probably a question for my good friend Jaykar Arudra, who is the VFX supervisor. There are a lot blue screen shots, even when we went to shoot the period part in Mauritius. There’s always something you need to avoid. So the use of VFX is necessary. Basically we mostly used it for background swap. We needed big waterfalls, which we couldn’t get to in Mauritius, so that’s one swap. Then an edge of a high cliff forest etc. So the crew built some enormous blue screens (so far the biggest I’ve worked with). But I had a good experience with VFX work so I hope it was easy for Jaykar as well.

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And what kind of an experience was it to work with Dinesh Vijan as he is a debutant director?

We say we are like brothers. We have similar taste and similar history. It was a great collaboration. He has thousands of ideas and is a very good producer. To be a director and a producer on set is very difficult, as sometimes what you need to do goes against the other’s goals. He was very generous and we had lots of fun on set.

Did you watch any Bollywood films before shooting Raabta. Any movies you saw for reference?

No, I didn’t want to be influenced with the standard style of Bollywood. Basically I want to find my own style after I read a script. I watch so many films in a year— almost one each day so I have a lot of references in my head. I’ve seen all of the 250 top films on IMDB and many more and I recommend every filmmaking student to do that. But as I said above, I don’t copy, at least consciously.

How would you sum up your experience of shooting in India?

It was a growing experience. India is an amazing country with wonderful people and I learned a lot about life, filmmaking, creativity and more. I would not change this experience for anything else. It was a blast. And I became a bit more humble I hope. I also learned to live more in the present day. We Westerners tend to worry about the future and past. I think you (Indians) cope much better with it than we do, so that was excellent. I also found new friends, Homi Adajania is my cup of tea and I enjoyed every second with him on and off set. I would love to do a film with him. I became friends with many great co-workers like our first AD Siddharta Luther, my AC Bobby and the DIT guys Viki Vivek and Tanmay Kant.

With Director Dinesh Vijan

While working on the film, which areas did you feel that Indian films need to focus more on?

There would be plenty. But that is everywhere. It always seems to me, from the little I have seen in Bollywood cinema, that the woman characters and overall story is bit mono-thematic. An orphaned girl, a boy that loves her and a villain with lots of songs. The woman characters look like they are in control of the story, but they are not at all. The man rules. Not many Indian films would pass the Bechdel test. But as I said, I might have seen the 250 top IMDB films, but I’m a complete novice to Indian cinema. I’ve seen some, but not enough to really make an argument point. On the other hand, some business ethics could be straightened and made more transparent and trustworthy

You have received various awards at international film festivals. Raabta happens to be a commercial film but would you also like to explore non-commercial Indian Indie films?

I would love to. I’ve seen some interesting independent films from India. The official Oscar nomination for 2016 Visaranai was a film I saw here in Los Angeles and I liked it a lot. It was well-built and the characters were interesting. I would be interested in a strong drama script.

Telling the story is same almost everywhere - Martin Preiss Los Angeles-based internationally acclaimed Cinematographer Martin Preiss is a product of Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (FAMU) in Prague.

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ricardosousalemos · 8 years ago

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Björk: Homogenic

Robed in silver satin, luminous against iridescent grey, Björk stares out as us from the cover of Homogenic. Filigreed flowers crawl across the background like frost crystals, mimicking the embroidery on her gown. The Alexander McQueen-designed garment looks vaguely Japanese, with a kimono-like sash; her elongated neck is wrapped in rings reminiscent of those worn by tribes in Burma and South Africa, while her pursed, painted lips smack of Pierrot. Behind narrowed lids, her eyes glaze like camera lenses. The longer you stare into those enormous black pupils, the more adrift you begin to feel. Beneath two tombstone-shaped slabs of hair, she appraises us coldly, her expression unreadable. She might as well be made of wax—or marble.

After the dewy naturalism of Debut’s sepia-toned portrait and the bullet-train rush of Post’s blurry postcard from the edge, McQueen and Nick Knight’s Homogenic cover showed Björk in a way viewers had never seen her before: at once ancient and futuristic, elegant and severe, part warrior queen and part cyborg—a picture of near-perfect symmetry rendered in colors of ice and obsidian and blood. The album followed suit. Trading the playful eclecticism of Debut and Post for distorted, hardscrabble electronic drums and warm, melancholy strings, it showcased a newly focused side of the musician while embracing all of her most provocative contradictions.

By 1997, when she released Homogenic, Björk had been a familiar face to pop fans for a decade. The Icelandic singer and composer had first appeared on many listeners’ radars in 1987, when the Sugarcubes’ surprise hit “Birthday” made actual stars out of a quintet whose entire raison d'être had been to lampoon pop. (Her countrymen, meanwhile, had been listening to her since 1977, when she recorded her debut album—a collection of covers translated into Icelandic along with a few original songs, including an instrumental written by Björk herself— at the tender age of 11.)

After a few whirlwind years with the band, she struck out on her own with 1993’s Debut, enlisting Nellee Hooper of Soul II Soul and Massive Attack to co-produce the album. It was a clean break, trading the Sugarcubes’ jangly alt-rock for the electronic sounds then coming out of the UK: house beats and basslines, trip-hop atmospheres, and the rippling textures of experimental techno, which she fleshed out with orchestral strings, big-band jazz, and a smattering of world music. Surprising even her record label, which scrambled to manufacture enough records to keep up with demand, it went all the way to No. 3 on the UK albums chart. On this side of the pond, some listeners were less thrilled with her new, electronic direction: Rolling Stone carped that Hooper had “sabotaged a  ferociously iconoclastic talent with a phalanx of cheap electronic gimmickry,” adding, “Björk’s singular skills cry out for genuine band chemistry, and instead she gets Hooper’s Euro art-school schlock.”

Björk paid no heed to critics (including fellow Sugarcube Þór Eldon, now also her ex-husband) who were dismissive of her burgeoning interest in electronic music. Moving from Iceland to London, she threw herself into UK dance music, soaking up its club culture and collaborating with 808 State’s Graham Massey, Tricky, Howie B, and Talvin Singh, among others. She may have come to electronic music as an outsider, but she had good instincts: For remixes, she avoided the usual suspects in favor of some of the most adventurous artists on the scene: the Black Dog, Andrew Weatherall’s Sabres of Paradise, the junglist Dillinja, even Mika Vainio, aka Ø, of Finland’s scorched-earth analog noiseniks Pan Sonic. Today, the material gathered on her early remix collections—1996’s Telegram and also the lesser-known, cleverly (if not at all succinctly) titled The Best Mixes From the Album Debut for All the People Who Don't Buy White-Labels—holds up far better than the vast majority of remixes from that era, keenly balancing the songs’ essences with a restless experimental spirit.

Part of that is because Björk never saw remixes as a simple marketing gimmick: Her youthful study of classical music had taught her to think of remixes as a contemporary iteration of the longstanding concept of theme-and-variations. “When I think of that word remix, it’s recycled, like trash,” she told Rolling Stone. “But for me, the word remix means ‘alternative version.’ It is just another word… for a variation. It’s like Bach—his symphonies were not completely written out so every time he played them, they would be different.”

Björk’s unconventional instincts and her keen understanding of the hidden links between classical and experimental electronic music—she had interviewed Stockhausen the year before, in fact—guided her on Homogenic, as strange and uncompromising an album as pop music has produced. From the album’s opening bars, it’s clear that she’s on to something new. Björk’s approach to electronic music had never been conventional, but it had generally been tuneful, and her beats tended to keep one foot tapping in time to house music’s reassuring thump. Not so “Hunter,” which bobs atop fluttering, fibrillating kicks and snares, its reversed accordion glistening like an oil slick. Aphex Twin had toured as Björk’s opener after Post, and you can hear his rhythmic influence across the album: in the filtered breakbeats of “Jóga,” “Bachelorette,” and “5 Years”; the resonant zaps of “All Neon Like”; and the buzzing, headlong stomp of “Pluto.” (The engineer Markus Dravs assisted in the beat-making, as did LFO’s Mark Bell, who co-produced much of the album.) Throughout, drums crunch and sizzle, throwing up little clouds of dust with every impact. And with the exception of the relatively frictionless skip of “Alarm Call,” her beats are far more kinetic than most programmed rhythms, twitching and flexing like fistfuls of cellophane curling open.

After the stylistic zigzags of her first two albums, Björk was determined to create something more focused. “This is more like one flavor,” she told SPIN of the album. “Me in one state of mind. One period of obsessions. That’s why I called it Homogenic.” The working title, in fact, was Homogenous. The Icelandic String Octet, performing Eumir Deodato’s arrangements along with string parts she had written herself, was the glue that held it all together. The result is a strange, captivating mix of impulses, with seesawing drones exploding into lush, neo-classical passages. You can hear the influence of the Estonian minimalist Arvo Pärt, whom Björk had interviewed for the BBC the year before, on the slow, elegiac string harmonies of “Unravel”; conversely, the cut-up harp and strings of “All Is Full of Love” faintly mimic the burbling pulses of Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. “Even though my arrangements are quite experimental, I’m very conservative when it comes to song structure,” she told SPIN. “So it’s this beautiful relationship between complete discipline and complete freedom."

Many artists have attempted to fuse dance music’s rhythms with classical instrumentation; recently, between events like Haçienda Classical (a pops take on the hallowed Manchester dance-music institution) and Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra’s Ibiza Classics, the concept seems resurgent. But endeavors like those, and even Jeff Mills’ more highbrow attempts at orchestral techno, nearly always fail; it turns out that DIY electronic dance music and classical orchestras, a format that has barely evolved in over 100 years, are largely incompatible. Björk succeeded where so many others have failed by weaving the two inextricably together into an undulating fabric as flexible and as durable as Kevlar, processing the strings until it’s impossible to tell where the silicon ends and the catgut begins. You can hear the influence she exerted upon a young Alejandro Ghersi, aka Arca, who would go on to collaborate with her on 2015’s Vulnicura; his own music’s viscous textures and mutating forms would be unthinkable without the example set by Homogenic.

Blanketing the album’s electronic elements like a heavy layer of snow, Homogenic’s strings give the album a somewhat monochrome palette; it’s a dense listen, and in songs like “Jóga” and “Bachelorette” there’s not a lot of breathing room. But those rolling, subtly shaded contours periodically give way to jagged crags and extreme contrasts. This was not accidental: The album was meant as a kind of sound-portrait of her native Iceland. Björk envisioned beats “like rough volcanoes with soft moss growing all over it,” recalls Markus Dravs, whose percussive sketches formed the rhythmic foundation for her songwriting. “I wanted Homogenic to reflect where I’m from, what I’m about,” Björk told MTV. “Imagine if there was Icelandic techno! Iceland is one of the youngest countries geographically—it’s still in the making, so the sounds would be still in the making.”

Many of Björk’s collaborators over the years have discussed her tendency to describe music in unusually synaesthetic terms: Despite her intensive formal schooling in music—she began studying music at five, and was introduced to the work of modernist composers like Messiaen and Cage while still very young—her studio vocabulary, when she’s trying to get a point across, leans toward terms like “more angular” or “pink and fluffy.” So it’s hardly surprising that she would take formal inspiration from Iceland’s steaming geysers, igneous formations, and other geological features that lend themselves especially well to the visceral textures and rhythms of late-’90s electronica.

But there were also more personal reasons for her shift of focus. After years in London, she had become homesick for the land of her birth. She had traded a country with a population of fewer than 265,000 people for a city of some six million; not only that, she had been through hell and back in the years leading up to the album’s creation. A string of relationships with high-profile artists—the photographer Stephane Sednaoui, Tricky, jungle producer Goldie—had all fizzled. A physical altercation with a journalist outside Bangkok’s international airport had landed her in tabloids all around the world. And in September, 1996, a 21-year-old Miami pest control worker named Ricardo Lopez, furious about her relationship with Goldie—unbeknownst to him, they had actually broken up just days before—assembled a sulfuric acid bomb in a hollowed-out book and mailed it to Björk’s management before locking himself in his apartment, putting a loaded revolver in his mouth, and pulling the trigger, all in front of a video camera while Björk’s “I Remember You” played in the background. Police managed to intercept the device with no further casualties, but Björk was left shaken—concerned for her ability to protect those closest to her, including her son, and conflicted about her own openness with her fans. Returning to Iceland for the Christmas holidays, as she did every year, she fell under the island’s sway. Inspired by the country’s landscape, she became determined to make music that expressed a geological essence that was as raw as her own nerves.

You don’t need to know any of these details to connect with Homogenic, however; its emotional impact far transcends the biographical footnotes of its making. Lyrically, the record picks up themes she had already explored on her previous two albums—loneliness; sexual desire; desperate, even defiant love; the feeling of being a fish out of water—but her writing is more vivid than ever before. “I’m a fountain of blood/In the shape of a girl,” she bellows in “Bachelorette,” and later, “I’m a path of cinders/Burning under your feet.” The song is a kind of epic saga, and Björk has explained that it forms the third part of a loose trilogy with “Human Behaviour” and “Isobel”—a sort of Bildungsroman about Björk’s own adventures in the wider world.

Many lyrics take place as internal monologues grappling with her own contradictions. “How Scandinavian of me!” she yelps on “Hunter,” a desperate ode to self-empowerment, chiding herself for having believed she could “organize freedom.” (To Icelandic people, she later explained, Swedes and Danes are hopelessly regimented.) The distorted, minor-key “5 Years” is lovelorn and angry—for anyone who has ever been stuck in a dysfunctional relationship, is there a more relatable lyric than “You can’t handle love”?—while “Immature” channels broken-heartedness into a kind of empowering self-reprimand (“How could I be so immature/To think he could replace/The missing elements in me?/How extremely lazy of me!”). Despite the self-flagellation, it’s a quiet, tender song, with a beat carved out of a sigh; its twinkling arpeggios sound like a dry run for Vespertine.

When love turns up on this album, it is almost always something that is over or absent—a missed signal, a sailed ship. But she makes real poetry out of these small, bitter tragedies, and she occasionally even finds hope in them. In the soft, delicate “Unravel,” she sings of her heart unraveling like a ball of yarn while her lover is away. The Devil promptly steals it: “He’ll never return it/So when you come back/We’ll have to make new love,” she sings, in a strangely affecting conceit about the fickleness and resilience of love.

But the main theme running through the album is the wish to rush headlong into a life lived to the fullest—an unbridled yearning for the sublime. “State of emergency/Is where I want to be” she sings on “Jóga,” a song dedicated to her close friend and tour masseuse, in which churning breakbeats and slowly bowed strings mediate between lava flows and Björk’s own musculature—a kind of Rosetta Stone linking geology and the heart. “Alarm Call,” the closest thing on the album to a club hit (the Alan Braxe and Ben Diamond remix, in fact, is a storming breakbeat house anthem) shouts down doubt with the indomitable line, “You can’t say no to hope/Can’t say no to happiness,” as Björk professes her desire to climb a mountain “with a radio and good batteries” and “Free the human race/ From suffering.”

If you’re looking for catharsis, you won’t find better than the album’s final, three-song stretch: Following “Alarm Call” comes the incensed “Pluto”: “Excuse me/But I just have to/Explode/Explode this body off me,” she sings, launching into an ascending procession of wordless howls as buzzing synthesizers flash like emergency beacons. Finally, the quiet after the storm: The soft, beatless “All Is Full of Love,” a downy bed of harp and processed strings. The title is self-explanatory, the lyrics wide-eyed, nearly liturgical. It is a song about ecstasy, about oneness, about infinite possibility—and about letting go.

Björk’s voice is, without question, the life force of this music. You can hear her finding a new confidence on “Unravel”: The edge of her voice is as jagged as the lid of a tin can, her held tones as slick as black ice. A diligent student could try to transcribe her vocals the way jazz obsessives used to notate Charlie Parker’s solos, and you’d still come up short; the physical heft and malleability of her voice outstrips language.

Videos had long been an important part of Björk’s work, but they became especially crucial in building out the world of Homogenic. Compared to the sprawling list of collaborators on her first two records, she had pared down to a skeleton crew for this album; working with an array of different directors, though, allowed her to amplify her creative vision.

Chris Cunningham used “All Is Full of Love” as the springboard for a tender, and erotic, look at robot love. Michel Gondry turned “Bachelorette” into a meta-narrative about Björk’s own conflicted relationship with fame—an epic saga turned into a set of Russian nesting dolls. Another Gondry video, for “Jóga,” used CGI to force apart tectonic plates and reveal the earth’s glowing mantle below. At the end of the video, Björk stands on a rock promontory, prying open a hole in her chest—a pre-echo of the vulvic opening she will wear on the cover of Vulnicura—to reveal the Icelandic landscape dwelling inside her. In Paul White’s video for “Hunter,” a shaven-headed Björk sprouts strange, digital appendages, eventually turning into an armored polar bear, as she flutters her lids and wildly contorts her expression—a vision of human emotion as liquid mercury. Her use of different versions of her songs for several of these videos also contributed to the idea that the work was larger than any one recording—that these songs were boundless.

Björk’s initial idea for Homogenic was to be an unusual experiment in stereo panning. She imagined using just strings and beats and voice—strings in the left channel, beats in the right channel, and the voice in the middle.

It’s kind of a genius idea: an interactive, self-remixable album, a sort of one-disc Zaireeka, that goes to the heart of the dichotomies that have always made Björk—theorist and dreamer, daughter of a hippie activist and a union electrician—such a dynamic character. And while it’s easy to see why the concept never came to fruition—there’s no way such a gimmick could have yielded an album as richly layered as Homogenic turned out to be—it turns out to have been a prescient idea: the direct antecedent to Vulnicura Strings, which excised the drums and electronic elements of Vulnicura and focused on voice and strings alone.

In retrospect, it’s easy to see the way that Homogenic paves the way for later career triumphs like Vespertine and Vulnicura: In its formal audacity and sustained emotional intensity, it represents a phase shift from Debut and Post, fine though they were. Björk’s personality has seen her seesaw between extremes throughout her catalog, and after the shadowy intensity of Homogenic, Vespertine would end up a softer, gentler record. (Björk has said that she envisions “All Is Full of Love” as “the first song on Vespertine.”) Created in the glow of her nascent relationship with Matthew Barney, it is the domestic album, the comfort album, the beach-house-weekend album. But Homogenic is the one that complicated the picture of Björk, that threw aside big-time sensuality in favor of more volatile forces, revealed a glimpse of her deepest self for the first time.

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