Art is by much Weaker than Necessity...

[...]
CHORUS: Shoot not beyond the mark in succouring man While thou thyself art comfortless: for Am of good hope that from these bonds escaped Thou shalt one day be mightier than Zeus.
PROMETHEUS: Fate, that brinks all things to an end, not thus, apportioneth my lot: ten thousand pangs must bow, ten thousand miseries afflict me ere from these bonds I freedom find, for Art is by much weaker than Necessity.
CHORUS: Who is the pilot of Necessity?
PROMETHEUS: The Fates triform, and the unforgetting Furies.
[...]

[Excerpts from Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, ]

Daily Austin Happenings ...

South by Southwest is here in Austin. I have not gone to any of the events yet; for some reason I have not even passed through the downtown area in the past week. Of course my distance from SXSW has not discouraged me from blogging about it. Well, Austin has become weirder because of it and that makes me a non-participant fan. Aside from SXSW Austin is welcoming spring by little purple and white blossoms.

The sad art history news this week was the death of Leo Steinberg. He was a great art historian who was considered one of the three "Kings of Culturberg" along with Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg. His print collection (3200) is held at the Blanton Museum of Art under his name. Here is more on Steinberg.

Tonight is Chaharshanbe Suri. Traditionally Iranians celebrate Chaharshanbeh Suri on the last Tuesday night of the year by lighting bonfires. Like the past years, this Chaharshanbeh Suri provided yet another resistance opportunity for people in Iran. I salute their courage and wish us all a Green Charshanbe Suir.

Leo Steinberg

Nightingales traversing the Middle East

Our fall 2010 concert by the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble “Bereket” under the direction of Sonia Seeman celebrates the interregional intersections across the Middle East with instrumental works, songs and dances. Featuring vocal soloists Daryl Harris, Aynur Hodge, Nastaran Kherad, Julie Slim Nassif, Burcu Tan. Drum solos by Mohamed Elmasry, Nicholas Ragheb and Sean Mecredy. Dance performances by Stacey-Lizette of Sabaya; Happy Rahman, the UT-Austin Lebanese Social Club. Choral performances by the UT Arabic, Hebrew and Persian language classes. Sponsored by the Butler School of Music and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. To read more on this concert check the College of Fines Arts Calendar page, here.

Fall 2010 concert by the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble, “Bereket”
November 4, 2010 7:30 pm
Bates Auditorium
Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music
University of Texas, Austin

Free and open to the public

Bereket Concert!

Our spring concert is tomorrow;
Please join Bereket, UT Middle Eastern Ensemble, tomorrow, Saturday April 24th, at 7:30PM, in Bates Recital Hall. This spring Bereket is exploring the Middle Eastern musical interconnections, from 'Traditional' to 'Popular.'

P.S. You can listen to our performance online starting at 7:30PM here.

Bereket Music Group:

This semester Bereket, the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble, is working on traditional Arabic music. I have been playing with Bereket since spring 2009. This semester I am playing Daff. I originally play Santur. Our director for this program is Roberto Riggio. If you are in Austin join us for a night of Tarab, the ultimate musical joy in Arabic musical tradition. The admission is free. The performance will be this Thursday, Nov.12th at 7:30pm at Bates Recital Hall.

Enjoyable Crowded Days!

Busy weeks, sleepless nights and rushed mornings is a typical description of my life but in the past two weeks something is different: I am similarly busy, sleepless and rushed, but I am less nervous, more excited, less guarded and more productive. I enjoy my busy, rushed and sleepless days and I think I have learned not to be nervous about them.

And,
I finally got my Texas driving license; Texas had a new regulation since October 1st 2008; no Driving license or state’s identification card will be issued to the international residents (aliens) whose I-94 card has less than 6month of validity. The thing is that most other states, if not all others, accept the receipt of the application for a new I-94 card and consider it as an evidence of the legal status of the applicant. At any rate it was a nightmare and it is gone now! But not really, it is not gone! The fact of the matter is that it is not my nightmare any more. If you live in Texas and you are an alien resident and you don’t want it to become your nightmare in future: Contact the international office of your school, institute or company, reflect your concerns in writing and ask them to reflect it to their supervising seniors. Your critique will eventually find its way up to the ears of the lawmakers. You can also contact your local representative in the House, even if you are not a US citizen; they listen and many times they tend to change things for better.

Also,
Listening to music is a task for me; by this I mean, usually I don’t enjoy background music. But I guess working in coffee shops has changed me in this way. Now I can tolerate background music of my choice. A year or so ago, Kia (not the car) told me about a free online music radio, Musicovery, which I use a lot these days. Musicovery plays music depending on your mood: you can choose your music style and your mood (Dark, Calm, Positive, Energetic)! If you already are a Musicovery user, I like to know what you think of it. If you just heard about it please check it out and let me know what you think. I think they have a cool and easy to use website and a good collection, which still has some room for improvement. I listen to lots of Country music there!

At last,
A late Happy Darwin's day! An early Happy Valentine’s Day! And as some people celebrate it; Happy Singles Awareness Day!

I am enjoying my crowded days; Enjoy yours!

Musicovery.com

The Musical Ending!

Our vacation will be over soon; Payam* has already left and Leva and Vahid are leaving the East Coast to get back to the golden state tomorrow.** Besides our frequent visits to the New York City, we went to Washington DC and Philadelphia. In our city tours while trying to stick mostly to arts, we often ate the street food, which suited both our pocket and taste.

We spent the evening in Broadway last night; we saw the Phantom of the Opera. It filled our eyes and ears with its glorious set and music. The Phantom of the Opera in Majestic Theater is in its seventeenth year. I read Susan Kay’s novel, Phantom (1990 - translated to Farsi by Maliheh Mohammadi in 1998). Kay’s novel is based on Gaston Leroux novel of 1910. I should say that I like Kay's novel more than Gaston Leroux’s book. In Kay’s Phantom we follow Erik’s life in memories of different characters and we go as back as his birth. I like this collective style in which a specific event, Erik’s life here, is told from various points of view. But this was not the narrative style in last night’s musical; The Phantom of the Opera was based on the straight style of Gaston Leroux, starting in the Opera House enchanted by the ghost and ending by the phantom's disappearance.

Speaking of Broadway musicals in April I went to see another Tony Award-winning musical, Spring Awakening. A sophisticated rock musical, Spring Awakening, is composed by Ducan Sheik and written by Steven Sater. The story is based on Frank Wedekind’s play about a group of teenagers and their attempt in breaking the limits of their sexual freedom.

The 1925 poster for The Phantom of The Opera

* I wish Payam had stayed for a couple of more days, so we could see the Phantom together.

** I've already started missing them!

No such Thing as Tradition!

I remember very well the first time I went to a play with my parents. Everything was glorious and I was little. It was Molière’s The Miser. Last night, while McCarter Theater Center protected me from the heavy rainstorm, I was one of the many delighted audiences of another Molière’s play: Tartuffe [The Imposter].


What I really liked about the last night’s performance is Daniel Fish’s (the director) lively approach toward Tartuffe. Although the performances were not as engaging as they ought to be – too much hands and a lot of shouting didn't make this comedy funnier – Daniel Fish’s mise-en scene was brilliant and made up for the feeble moments of actors' performances. The use of Video recording and the museum like setting truly harmonized with Roger Plancchon’s claim as Janice Paran wrote on Tartuffe Unmasked: "When I decided to stage Tartuffe I studied all the previous productions. That’s when I realized that there is no such thing as tradition."

The legend says that Molière died on the stage. Well, he didn’t exactly die on the stage but collapsed during his last performance. He died couple of hours after the play had finished in the middle of a February, in 1673.


Recently Seen Movies :

Hot Fuzz (2007): a British action, comedy, crime and so on; I liked the first half and really didn’t enjoy the idea of the secret society. I am sure there are far better films about innocent looking villages where everyone is involved in a crime. B is my vote for Hot Fuzz.

Vertigo (1958): was a revisited movie. I have seen it two times before. I should admit that this time I liked it more. Yet it is not my favorite Hitchcock movie. I generally do not like to get involve in supernatural when it comes to crime. Vertigo is perhaps an exception in my book. Although at the end we get to the point of “No Supernatural Reasons” for the most part in Vertigo we are trapped in a sort of illusion that suits the title: Vertigo. Nicely done! And about Vertigo vs. Rope: I still enjoy the straight forwardness of the story in Rope. Why should I choose at all? James Stewart plays in both of them!
Mar Adentro or The Sea Inside (2004) a controversial story and indeed a very touching film. Directed by Alejandro Amenábar who also directed The Others in 2001. My vote is A+ :for its performances, for its courageous position on the controversial issue of euthanasia and for its simply smart narration. I am sorry that I didn’t catch it sooner. If you haven’t seen it yet, please put it on your Must-See-List.

Café Vivien and Turkish Music

Three unrelated topics and a digression point:

For the first time last night I had a Turkish music experience that I liked; I had heard Turkish pop music back home (not my cup of tea); but if I remember it correctly Turkish pop music was an epidemic for sometime in Iran, the same was with Indian music, musicals and romance films, which had been exported legally and illegally from Bollywood. At any account last night’s Concert and Oud Recital was different and I very much enjoyed it. Oud master was Osman Nuri Ozpekel and the singer, with a very soft and rich voice, was Ayce Yesim. My favorite song piece was Yine bir Gul-Nihal aldi Bu Gonlumu, when Osman joined Ayce briefly. It was and a very calming piece composed by Ismail dade Efendi (1778-1846). Also my preferred Oud piece was Ferahfeza Sazsemaisi composed by Serif Muhittin Targan.

Dave Calver illustrations are under my attention these days, especially his New York subway pieces. Although his black and with works reminds me of Philip Guston, in his other pieces exists a placid fantasy; the quality that make me think of Paul Klee.

Hoax (2006) directed by Lesse Hallström story wise is a B+ movie that mingled with masterful decoupage and talented performers becomes an A+ production. Richard Gere plays brilliantly; definitely one of his best performances.

And Café Vivian is the place where I do my work these days. It is with in Princeton campus and it's open till late every night, which suits me fine.

Bling (a.k.a Hand), Dave Calver, 2005

Rabbit Transit (unofficial name), Dave Calver, 2006

Weekend In Action

On Friday we went to see/hear Princeton University Orchestra. It was a very cheerful performance to the point that the freezing cold of that Friday night became forgivable. The piece that I really liked was Debussy’s Nuages (Clouds) and Fetes (Festivals) from his Nocturnes.

There are two exhibitions that I would like to check as soon as possible. One of them is a photo exhibition near Princeton, on Gruss Center of Visual arts in Lawrenceville, called Eyes On Me: Portraits of Muslim Women. I am more interested to see Shirin Neshat’s influence on these artists: at least by the look of the invitation card it seems she had a lot of influence. This exhibition is up until December 15th so there is not much time.

The second exhibition is America Fantastica: Art, Literature, and the Surrealist Legacy in Experimental Publishing, 1938–1968 which is up until January 22nd on MOMA. I read all volumes of View and VVV on the rare book section of Princeton art library. I think these publications are one of the most amazing avant-garde magazines that have ever existed.

Since I was studying very late on Saturday night and through Sunday morning I had planed to see Mars, Mercury and Jupiter on daybreak, exactly where the sun rises on the east. We could see it with naked-eye. It was a very unique experience. My poor husband wanted to go to sleep, but of course I did not let him.

Also this is the first post that I write/type with my new MacBook laptop for Tameshk. Her Name is Bibi Huryeh and she was my birthday present. (There is no need to say that I love her.)

Bibi Huryeh, My new MacBook Laptop

The Inspiring Weekend

Today is an inspiring day due to the weather. I had three emails confirming the good weather from three different locations: My advisor from New York started her email by “Hello on this beautiful Monday morning…”, a friend from Baltimore wrote: “ It’s a beautiful day today…” and my cousin from Vancouver reported: “ God! Isn’t this weather beautiful…” So I thought I ought to add Princeton.

Last week on Friday I went to NYU for the Border Zones symposium. It was on Art History in an Age of Visual Culture, a very exciting subject especially when speakers covered problematic issues in Art History from the Fourteenth century to the Postcolonial era. What I liked the most was the Nicholas Mirzoeff approach toward the visual culture. His book “Watching Babylon: the War in Iraq and Global Visual Culture” points out a bunch of problematic issues such as the fears of experiencing war against Iraq by watching television and How much we do trust the Media!

On Saturday I had a chance to take a quick look at an exhibition in Whitney museum: Picasso and American Art. I was overwhelmed to see how Picasso’s works, in particular, has influenced the American art and how under this influence American art went to a new direction.

And on Sunday we went to the MacCarter Theater Center in Princeton to see a play written by Brian Friel in 1979 called Translations which was directed by Garry Hynes. The story happens at a Hedge school in Ireland around 1833 when people were still speaking Irish. It was a fine play and we ended up having a great weekend.

Organization, Arshile Gorky, 1933-36

The Studio, Picasso, 1927-28

* By the way: Happy Columbus Day !

Dance

On Tuesday night we went to a dance performance by Chicago’s Hubbard Street Dance group. The performance had three parts: Gnawa choreographed by Nacho Duato, was a ballet for pair of six men and women set to music pieces from “Ma’ bud Allah”, “Carrauri” and “windows” to worship love. Strokes Through The Tail, choreographed by Marguerite Donlon, was a humorous and amusing dance inspired by Mozart’s Symphony No.40. Minus 16, Ohad Naharin, (Revival) by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin was the last part in which dancers break the stage’s limits and involve the audience in their performance by the familiar ranges of music from Dean Martin to Cha-Cha, mambo, techno and traditional Israeli music. I liked the last two parts more, for their over all creative arrangement, costume, light and set design.

I think I owe my interest in dance to my dear aunt, Aki, who put my cousin and me in a ballet class when we were as little as 5 and I owe my moody and nerves approach toward dancing to “the dance class being illegal then in my country”. Since I have had these different and often mixed feelings about dancing, I always wanted to see a dance performance on a stage with a wish to settle my mind about it. Well it didn’t help this time.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago