Technology tripped all over itself to perfect the search function, web developers created all kinds of platforms like Wikipedia to collect information that would surface at the touch of a keyword. We were dazzled by all of the stuff we could get to, we were drowning in facts and figures. Now we are dazed by the endless stream of data that surrounds us. We don’t know where to begin.
Think about it. You don’t want to wade through pages upon pages of sites about the Chopin Ballades for piano. You would probably pay for a site to deliver a select sampling of recordings by ArturoRubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Yundi Li with an analysis focusing on the period of history in which they were composed and a critique of each performer’s style.
Or something like that. I know I would.
I want something unique, well researched and unexpected.
And I am not alone. Everyone wants something special.
This is what art is. This is what artists do. The experience of art has the power to provoke, startle, transcend and yes, transform you. This is what I want.
I am excited to see what what our world will become when technology lays in the hands of artists. When knowledge is learned through the senses and not the intellect.
What do you look for when you are searching for something? How do you know decide what is important to keep and what isn’t?
Here are three videos of my favorite pianists performing Chopin Ballade No. 4 for you to enjoy while thinking about -
What do you really want?
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She travels with her dancing shoes, her fan and her sword to dance classes every week with her friends and for Thanksgiving, they performed at the Florence Smith Senior Center in Flushing.
I thank the universe for the chance to be in the audience watching her dance. Thank you for a wonderful performance.
Thank you thank you thank you for dancing!
Here’s a video.
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Everytime I allow myself the sinful luxury of feeling sorry for myself because of a hard day putting out fires, putting up with an endless stream of problems and feeling fat,
- the universe chuckles knowingly and slips me a cookie.
It is a great thrill to be able to share with you the video, Spindle 7, created as part of my project of the same name that took me back and forth on the #7 train with my spindles and wool in 2008, meeting people and teaching spinning between Main Street in Flushing (Queens) and Times Square in Manhattan.
While the project itself lasted most of a year, the video was made over the course of three intense days of filming and riding the train with intrepid cameraperson, Marcia Connolly. She did not allow oncoming trains, urine puddles or irate commuters get in the way of the perfect shot. It was edited into a cogent whole by the sensitive and deft hand of Susan Forste. She also conducted the interview that provided the voice over you hear for much of the film.
Spindle 7 was made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Queens Council on the Arts.
Many thanks to both Marcia and Susan for their efforts, as well as to the all the spinners who participated in the project and talked to me about their lives, and to the riders of the #7 train who put up with that crazy lady and her spindle.
Click on the link above to see the 7 minute film.
With warmest regards,
Robyn
I am proud to say Robyn is a Queens artist and her project was supported by a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts. My mother-in-law, Mildred Phyllis Krakauer, would have added,
Geh verdreh zich dein kopf (Yiddish for “go spin your own head”)
Go ahead, take a bite!
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I thought it best to make a little video for you. Well, what are you waiting for? Grab your needles and find a baby.
Oh, if any of you want to knit a pair of booties and donate them to a charity, please let me know. Frances and I will be collecting donations up to December 1st and if any of you out there have been more naughty than nice – And You Know Who You Are! – this is an excellent way to position yourself higher in the gift food chain.
Email me.
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