#-he also interested in theatre and get hooked to see how can an act captures emotions. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

girlsbtrs · 4 years

Text

Lia Menaker on her music, inspirations, and teaming up with Melanated Social Work

Written and edited by James N. Grey. Graphic by Moira Ashley.

Lia Menaker wants to support Black lives, specifically within the mental health sphere. So she donated the proceeds from her album, I am Kyrøs, toward ending the stigma around mental health in those communities. Girls Behind the Rock Show connected with her to get her perspective on her music, her identification with the cause, and how she feels it all ties together.

How did you find Melanated Social Work and how did you identify with their cause?

I actually know one of the founders personally, Marvin Toliver, so I’ve been following their social media and learning about the organization from him. We are talking a lot about police reform and the justice system now, which is great and important. But we often forget about the health component. And these guys, in their focus on the liberation of Black and Brown people, are working to end the stigma around mental health in Black and Brown communities, and working to make sure mental health professionals are truly culturally competent. I realized that they were the best place to dedicate my resources and time to.

What inspired you to donate your Bandcamp proceeds to them?

George Floyd was killed just weeks before my EP was set to release. And when the riots started, and the country started waking up to the level of police brutality threatening people of color, and the injustice of our institutions, it felt very strange to release the EP. The intersection of everything—COVID-19, the racial disparities and economic inequalities thus heightened, and the slew of unjust murders of POC—all became this giant traumatic thing our country was experiencing. I felt Black voices should be heightened, and in many ways, felt that it wasn't the right time to share the music. But on the other side of things, I also knew the world needed as much art as possible, of all kinds. Since the songs dealt with identity and the self, they could relate to what was going on in many ways.

I decided the best thing to do would be to release the music as planned, and in between the sharing and promoting of the album, to highlight as many Black voices and resources and information as possible. I wanted this to incorporate a donation and some awareness of solid Black-run organizations.

How has being Kyrøs allowed you to be more creative and free?

The word “kairos” is an ancient Greek concept referring to that perfect melding of space and time when it’s the opportune moment to act. It was a way of measuring time in moments (versus “kronos,” which was their concept for chronological time). When I came across the word, it felt like it described my change as an artist to a T. And once I took on the name, all that history that comes with one’s name—the feelings, memories, habits and obstacles that came with 30+ years of being “Lia Menaker”— dissolved. I think I subconsciously felt the freedom to try new things.

I started producing, and getting super creative on my live streams. I was improv-ing with no idea what I was doing, but it didn’t matter. I just kept doing it and didn’t feel the same self-judgment I’d had before. Approaching music with a sort of reckless abandon allowed me to be the best and boldest version of myself.

But what’s interesting is even the things that free you can start to take control of you. That high you get from being in such an open, creative space…you can only ride that wavelength for so long. At some point, you get stuck again, and you find yourself chasing that high. It can become an addiction, you know?

In a way, I ended up clinging to that identity of who I was when I was kyrøs, and I didn’t realize it until I was literally releasing the songs. It’s a big reason why it became the album name instead of my new artist name. I realized it was really more of an alter ego all along. That it didn’t replace Lia Menaker as an artist. So it turns out I was still learning lessons on identity as I was releasing the songs!

How did your childhood in theater and pop music inspire you?

While kids watched shows like Sesame Street and Barney, I was watching Annie, The Sound of Music, [and] Peter Pan… I was always drawn to it and felt like I could see myself in the characters. I begged my mom to do a musical at age 6 (Oliver), and then I was hooked doing musicals the rest of my childhood and most of my young adult life. So I think it felt like a language I understood, a form of expression I connected to on another level. There was always a story to the songs, an arc, [and] often, deep emotion and expressive vocals. I think the way I approach music—my soulfulness and the way I connect to it—comes from years of growing up with that. Also, I think a lot of my phrasing and how I articulate words comes from the musical theatre influence.

I think it was later in life that pop music began to really inspire me. Discovering Joni Mitchell was a huge one. Her incredible use of lyrics (in my opinion, she’s one of the lyrical greats and extremely underrated), and her 100% unabashed authenticity and womanliness was captivating. Her music is poetic, moody, unique—filled with so much complex emotion and story. Lyrically, I think my first album (Animal Behavior, in 2015) shows some of her influence on me. Especially the opening track, “Holding My Space.”

But pop aside, some of the great jazz vocalists were a big influence on me as well. It started with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. It was an easy segue because they sang a lot of Gershwin and musical theatre covers, but then I delved deeper into their work, and eventually found (and fell in love with) Nina Simone too. The raw, warm, raspy, bold voice filled with more soul and both joy and pain than I could imagine. And I always found that type of music so beautiful as a kid. I just found that part of people to be equally as beautiful as the lighter side, and found expressing pain through art to be the most incredible thing. So when I heard music that captured that, I think I was always intrigued.

What storylines in your 30's did you find that you were shucking off?

I had this limited view of myself my whole life as a singer/performer. Since I was 6 years old, that was my life: community theatre as a kid, studying musical theatre at Penn State, tours and regional theatre, then songwriting, music and singing in every fashion. It was the way I saw my value to the world, and I basically lived for my dreams and goals—this is how I saw whether or not I was successful. And the thought of not reaching them consumed me…

I always felt I wasn’t measuring up to whom I could be. This was a huge storyline I had to face: this idea of not being enough right now. And then it got me thinking about all this living in the ego… and “if I’m not my dreams, my goals, or even my job, what am I?” This inspired the song “Some Kind” because I realized if I wasn’t those things I most identified with, I was still me. A lot of the lyrics to that song express the storylines I grappled with, and also how I made sense of them: “We measure all that’s left with time - a calculated art. The things we do that give us pride, we hold up high as if it’s all that we are / All the stories give us meaning - keep us moving on… make it real. Run our choices, our bodies - keep us fused to what we feel.”

I would look back periodically at my life and think things like “What have I even done? My tour wasn’t successful enough, not enough people are listening to my music, I don’t make the money I should be making at this age, I’ll never amount to anything.” [I used] whatever metrics I thought would show me proof of a valuable life. I still struggle with them sometimes. Realizing the storylines is just the start. You have to keep checking yourself [and make sure] that you’re not caught up in them again. They were ingrained in my head for years, so it takes time to rewire the brain.

Ultimately, in my 30s, I’m finding so much more joy in the process and the creation itself, and trying to practice looking at what I have in my life as “enough.” The older I get, the more I see life passing quicker, and the more I just want to take it all in. To bask in love and music and the feeling of living with versus without. The 30s are a great time, because I think it’s the decade where a lot of us start to realize these things. Though, of course, some of us go our entire lives without feeling like we are, or we have enough. And new storylines will always be created, so we have to just keep checking ourselves. Especially when we’re all so obsessed with social media. Social media is literally a collection of storylines.

What inspired you to meld together eclectic sounds? Why a soulful, jazzy voice with a minimalistic background?

I’ve always loved warm, jazz vocals. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up engrossed in musical theatre, and that included a lot of standards by singers like Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald. About four years ago, I also re-fell in love with Amy Winehouse and started really listening to her vocals and her style, pinpointing what it was that I loved so much. There’s a mix of this warmth and authenticity, but with a modern edge that just hits you in all the right places. So that’s what’s inspired my sound vocally.

But at the same time, I’m a big fan of using unconventional sounds and challenging people’s ears. A lot of what I’ve listened to over the past few years has strong electronic elements. SOHN is one I’m really drawn to, and he’s brilliant at the mix of pure/simple and unconventional. He has this way of putting a simple, soaring, haunting vocal over a backdrop of complex, evolving electronic elements. It’s a sound that you can’t produce with conventional instruments. When I first heard him, it blew my mind—it was like a spiritual experience, and I thought “I want to do THAT!” Susanne Sundfor’s Silicone Veil album was a big game changer for me too.

I loved the idea of marrying the two worlds—this classic, timeless feel with an electronic modern sound that reflects the times—to create something authentic to me and my influences. With so much of our world being digital now, it felt right to experiment with electronic elements. And when I started playing around with new software, and some samples, beats, and different gear, it just all slowly started to meld together into a sound that felt right.

What were some favorite ways that you experimented with sounds and techniques to achieve your sound? Anything that you might take over with you into the future?

A lot of the experimentation happened (and continues to happen) during my weekly live streams on Twitch (@liamenaker). It’s sort of the place where I have permission to work through songs, try stuff out, and honestly just have a lot of fun and engage with others during the creation process. The community there is also so incredibly supportive and open. The last song I wrote for the album, “Imprinted,” started out as some improv loops and just fooling around on my Twitch live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xWjEAYAa7w. And I have at least four others waiting in the queue to finish that also began the same way. One of which I sent over to a jazz funk band in Paris to collaborate with me on. So I’ll definitely keep this as part of my approach.

Aside from that, my process is always changing, to be honest. So I’m trying to remain open to new techniques and approaches, and to keep allowing myself to be inspired by other artists and sounds. I’d like to explore more synth sounds and recording techniques, and just keep improving as an artist and producer as well. One thing I’ve noticed, too, is if I zero in too much on one writing approach or technique, I start to cling to it, relying on that as the way I “should” write everything. And then things just start to feel stale for me, or I run out of juice or hit a writer’s block. Then I find a new technique or gear or collaboration. I guess that’s why my approach keeps changing. We’ll see how long the current one sticks for, ha!

Which track on the EP is your favorite and why?

I think it keeps changing. But at the moment, the opening track "All My Life" is my favorite. I’m really connecting to the meditative and tribal nature of it, and I think the chorus is the catchiest of the songs. It has that "nobody's gonna bring me down!" feeling too, which feels extra relevant now, as many of us in the country feel like we're just pushing forward, doing everything we can to make things work during this difficult time.

I constantly imagine songs in other places: are there any movies/TV shows or any other places where you'd imagine your songs would play?

I can see some of these in crime and murder mystery-type shows. I’ve had people tell me “Imprinted” has a Twin Peaks or James Bond feel to it. So maybe a show or movie with a kind of slinky jazz lounge vibe. There’s definitely a meditative, tribal feel to some of the songs too, so I think they could work in a movie/TV show with that vibe. But honestly, I think less about music in terms of specific movies or TV shows, and more about fitting themes. So, for example, “All My Life” is perfect to capture that theme of being unstoppable, or a character finally going after their dream. “Stranger” would work well for a theme of not feeling like yourself or acting out of character. I think a lot of the songs on the album fit clear, universal themes, and so I’m hoping that I can find some success pitching these to music supervisors, production companies, etc.

For all us young'un's out there: How much of our identity is actually wrapped up in our dreams? Do you think it's important to separate our dreams, identity, and realities?

Uh oh… you’re going to get me on a soapbox, ha!

So I think it’s different for everyone, but I think it’s fair to say that for most of us, yes, our identity is either wrapped up in our dreams and/or in our work. Think about it. When we meet people, how often do we ask, “What do you do?” as if the answer will give us an accurate idea of who they really are. And how often do we judge people based on their careers?

But the truth is, achievements DO NOT define who you are, and do not define your worth, value, or potential. And while dreams can shape us, they can also limit us. They can keep us from seeing other sides of ourselves. And when we’re hyper focused on them, we miss out on so much beauty! I find the most memorable moments of life are actually quiet, behind the scenes, and not at all the result of working towards a dream or goal. [Goals] are not as great when they determine your ultimate view of yourself and control your amount of suffering.

I think I’m just realizing now too, that I hate the term “dream.” Dream sounds like an “all or nothing” approach. “Ideal” feels more flexible. For some reason, it feels healthier for me to look at it as “my ideal situation” version “my dream.”All around us, we’re being told we need to “dream big” and “you can do whatever you set your mind to” and “live up to your potential.” We love to dote on famous and rich people or take courses on how to be like them. Those who never “make it” (whatever that awful phrase even means) are looked at as failures, less successful, not as worthy or talented or smart. It’s. All. Bullshit. And the song on the EP “Imprinted” basically revolves around all of this.

So do I think it’s important to separate our dreams, identity, and realities? I think it’s probably unrealistic to try to. I think it’s all intertwined. Our dreams (or “ideal situation,” ha) will probably shape a bit of who we are (our identity). But I think the key is to understand [that] it’s a very small, ego-driven piece of who we are, and doesn’t ultimately define us. And I think it’s important to see our identities (and dreams for that matter) as constantly shifting. To, as one of my favorite spiritual teachers Pema Chödrön talks about, get comfortable with the fact that the ground beneath us is always shifting. I think it’s healthy to incorporate the stuff on the ego-level (dreams, identity) and the stuff underneath, the non-ego (that pure essence of who we are underneath the dreams, underneath the identity perceptions, underneath all judgments and experiences). Because while the stuff on the surface doesn’t define the essence of who we are, it’s still a reality that we take the train into work, or have to cook dinner for the kids, or need to make money to survive, right? These are still very real; they’re just not the full picture. And that’s the important part.

I think it’s especially important for the younger generations to pay attention to all of this in the age of social media. [Social media has] made understanding the truth of who we are and the idea of living in the non-ego so hard. Social media is all ego, storylines. I’m not saying it doesn’t have a lot of good aspects to it too. But it make[s] it very hard to feel and see the layers of a situation. Things are often black and white on social media, and we are sold specific messages on what it means to be successful and happy. It’s a system based on instant gratification (likes, comments, followers), and we have the tendency to add it up to calculate our value. If we’re not careful, it can drive us further from the whole truth, and deeper into the storylines.

Lia Menaker’s album I am Kyrøs is available now on https://liamenaker.bandcamp.com/.

All proceeds throughout the month of July benefit Melanated Social Work [https://www.instagram.com/melanatedsocialwork/?hl=en].

#james nida grey

2 notes · View notes

theatredirectors · 6 years

Text

Lila Rachel Becker

Hometown?

Washington DC, but Brooklyn, NY is home nowadays.

Where are you now?

In Iowa City, IA getting my MFA at the University of Iowa.

What's your current project?

Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. by Alice Birch, which is such a challenge and also a dream. I’m in prep for Laterality by my classmate Leigh M. Marshall, which is a poetic drama about family, cancer, and duality. Working on putting together the tour of bad things happen here by Eric Marlin, which just ran at the Edinburgh Fringe. There's a lot going on, fortunately!

Why and how did you get into theatre?

All my friends were in the middle school plays and I was getting left out, so I auditioned for Seussical the Musical. I got really hooked on the exhilaration of performance, but I never got lead roles in anything and by the time I was in undergrad I started to suspect that if I wanted to keep making theatre, it would have to be in a different role. My acting professor told me that what I actually wanted was to direct plays, and the following semester I directed Machinal and realized he was right.

What is your directing dream project?

Hadestown, in a community space, where the audience eats dinner over the course of the show and the story happens around and among them. I'm also working on adapting Laura Marling's album Once I Was An Eagle into a stage production with dramaturg Madison Colquette. Staging that would be a dream.

What kind of theatre excites you?

I'm excited by plays that are formally inventive, where the form and the content or theme of the play are working in tandem, and it's impossible to imagine the play in any other structure. I love theatre that is intrinsically theatrical, and that couldn't be captured on film or in another medium. I tend to be drawn to play that operate on a political as well as personal level, and I love it when I'm drawn in as an audience member, made complicit in something, and then have my complicity revealed and thrown back at me. I love plays that make me feel like I've been hit by something.

What do you want to change about theatre today?

I'm interested in changing the space that theatre takes place in. So many theatres feel elite and fancy, and the architecture of the space the audience enters through is rigid and off-putting for people who don't operate in these kinds of spaces. I want to make theatre for a broader range of people than we see in theatres now, and in order to do that, we have to create more welcoming, necessary spaces. You should be able to drink your beer in the theatre. In fact, you should be excited to come to the theatre bar, whether or not you're seeing the show that night. People are willing to pay upwards of $100 for sports tickets and to go to concerts that cost more than most plays. How can we capture that desire for entertainment in theatrical spaces?

Also, let's break the rules more often!

What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA?

Well, I'm in the middle of one, so it would be awfully hypocritical to be against them. In my experience, they can be great if you know the program that you're going to is going to give you what you want. It's important to know what you want to get out of the program before you apply, because if you're unsure, you may end up in a program that isn't geared to meet your needs. Do you want a rigorous classroom experience? Do you want to get teaching experience? Do you want to be able to see a lot of work while you're in school? Do you want a program that looks more toward design or more toward dramaturgy? What do you want to be different when you graduate? And think carefully about what the program will demand from you financially. There are programs that give good financial packages, so if that's a non-negotiable for you, don't give it up. I've also learned in the course of getting my MFA just how much I've learned from assisting, even when at times assisting felt stagnant. So an MFA is certainly not the only way to learn what you want to learn and get the experience you need to grow as an artist.

Who are your theatrical heroes?

Sarah Benson, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Mimi Lien, Les Waters, Nataki Garrett, Shana Cooper, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Anne Bogart, Katie Mitchell, Alice Birch, Caryl Churchill, Pina Bausch. I adore actors and they do vital and vulnerable work, but I think not enough credit goes to those stage managers who can just nail the rhythm of a show, designers who unlock the whole play in a single idea or visual element, and dramaturgs, always.

Any advice for directors just starting out?

We all have imposter syndrome, but don't let it get in the way of listening to your own ideas. It's so easy to observe others' work and think, "Oh I want to do that," but make sure you can find the balance between being inspired and challenged, and trusting yourself. Your greatest strength is that no one sees things exactly the way you do, and no one will interpret a play exactly the way you do. At the same time, as best you can, listen to everyone without judgement. You never know where the idea that makes everything work will come from.

Plugs!

If you happen to be coming through Iowa, check out Revolt and Laterality!

My website is lilarachelbecker.com and everything I'm working on is always up there.

Some wonderful writers whose work you should read: Anna Fox, Julia Izumi, Eric Marlin, Courtney Meaker, Margot Connolly, Leigh M. Marshall, Charles Green... I've got more recs if you want 'em--email me!

And check every once and a while to make sure you're seeing work by underrepresented artists. If you're committed to a theatre industry that is more diverse and equitable, show up with your attention and your dollars for those artists already working!

#Lila Rachel Becker #ask a director #theatre director

1 note · View note

funnythingshere0-blog · 6 years

Text

The best films about standup: from King of Comedy to Funny Bones

New Post has been published on https://funnythingshere.xyz/the-best-films-about-standup-from-king-of-comedy-to-funny-bones/

The best films about standup: from King of Comedy to Funny Bones

The King of Comedy (1982)

There’s something so intimate, exposing and ruthless about their artform that standups make perfect symbols for the battle we all wage to assert ourselves against an unappreciative world. So most movies about standup focus on failures rather than successes – none more so than King of Comedy, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s less celebrated follow-up to Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.

[embedded content]

Watch a trailer for The King of Comedy

Here is a film that spotlights the idea of standups as tormented souls, walking personality disorders in spinning bow ties. De Niro is the gag man in question, whose career frustrations, mental ill-health and obsession with TV talkshow host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) lead him to kidnapping and bribery-at-gunpoint. De Niro reportedly powered up for the film by gigging in New York comedy clubs – which is dedication, when you’re obliged only to attain mediocrity. Because Rupert Pupkin (when we finally see him in action) is a very mediocre standup – albeit one whose hunger for fame is oddly heroic (“Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime!”). The antihero of The King of Comedy is the patron saint of anyone who ever tried to heal their psychic wounds (or book a seat on Graham Norton’s sofa) by picking up the mic.

Festival (2005)

Stephen Mangan and Raquel Cassidy in Festival.

In the UK at least, the centre of the live comedy world is the Edinburgh fringe – and no one even tried to capture it in a feature film until Annie Griffin made Festival. While it looks at the world’s biggest arts jamboree through a wide-angle lens, this ensemble black comedy – Robert Altman is the usual point of comparison – focuses on comedy, and comedians, in particular. Stephen Mangan is the neurotic star standup, revisiting Edinburgh to judge that year’s comedy awards. Chris O’Dowd is the Irish journeyman who’ll stop at nothing to get nominated. Lucy Punch is the wannabe, given to road-testing her Jewish mother character act at the least opportune moments.

Nothing about the film adds lustre to the comedy profession: it’s a jaundiced take on how the fringe has surrendered to corporate comedy, by a director whose sympathies clearly lie with arty theatre-makers and Canadian improvisers. But there’s no denying the potency – or veracity – of its account of fringe comedy as a viper’s nest of anxiety and cut-throat competition.

Funny Bones (1995)

[embedded content]

Watch a trailer for Funny Bones

What does it mean to be funny? Can you inherit, learn or buy it? Peter Chelsom’s cult 1995 curio teases out these questions, and pays eccentric tribute to the halcyon days of British music hall while doing so. The film tells the story of Tommy Fawkes (Oliver Platt) – whom we meet bombing on stage in Vegas in the humiliating presence of his dad, the superstar comic George (Jerry Lewis, again). Tommy duly flees to his childhood home of Blackpool to rediscover his “funny bones” – by hook, crook or (more likely) chequebook.

There follows an eccentric celebration of vaudeville, featuring an array of eccentric cabaret acts, and a movie debut from the young Lee Evans, as Tommy’s long-lost half-brother Jack. Like many cine-standups, Jack is both extraordinarily gifted and deeply troubled. He also has “funny bones”, as per the description advanced by Lewis’s George in the film’s key confrontation. “There are two types of comedian,” he tells his son: “There’s a funny bones comedian and a non-funny bones comedian. They’re both funny. One is funny, the other tells funny.”

Man on the Moon (1999)

[embedded content]

I’m arguing for a broad definition of standup by including Milos Forman’s biopic of US comic (or should that be performance artist?) Andy Kaufman. As he says in the film: “I’m not a comedian, I don’t want to go for cheap laughs.” Some – Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw among them – would say I’m overindulging a too-reverent and conventional movie. But from a field that includes Bob Fosse’s Lenny and Richard Pryor’s thinly veiled autobiography Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling, Man on the Moon – starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman – is probably the most successful biopic of a real-life comedian.

And what a comedian! The story of Kaufman’s life can’t help but be interesting, because of the sheer oddity of what he did on and offstage. It’s all represented here: the faux-naive Foreign Man; the obnoxious lounger singer Tony Clifton; the stint as a wrestler. (Fans of Clifton are referred to Rick Alverson’s 2015 movie Entertainment, featuring his anti-comedy inheritor Neil Hamburger.) Every standup movie has a moment when an uncomprehending audience withholds its laughter. But Forman’s film makes a symphony of those awkward silences that soundtracked Kaufman’s career. For a study in comedy as an attritional artform, in how unfunny – when dialled far enough around the scale – can be the funniest thing of all, Man on the Moon has plenty to offer.

Obvious Child (2014)

[embedded content]

“What’s so great about you,” the standup heroine of Obvious Child is told, “is that you are unapologetically yourself on stage.” But is that such a great thing? How honest about your emotional life – and those who populate it – is it appropriate to be with a microphone in your hand? Those are hot topics at a time when the comic Louise Reay is being sued by her ex-husband for using material about their marriage in a show. And they’re very much at the heart of director Gillian Robespierre’s indie flick – although the chat surrounding this movie on its release concerned its status as “the abortion romcom”.

Like last year’s Stand Up Girl!, starring the Belgian-Muslim comic Nawell Madani, it’s a rare instance of a film about a female comedian. Lead character Donna is an autobiographical standup who mediates her personal life through the stage. And its star Jenny Slate is herself a standup. From the opening scene, when Donna alienates her boyfriend by broadcasting relationship intimacies from the stage, to the later scene when she announces her planned abortion to a paying audience, here is an unaffected study of how comedy isn’t just a means of reporting your emotional life, but of living it.

0 notes

arafatchowdhuryphotops · 7 years

Text

Personal Study

The theme abandoned is often seen in a negative light. Discuss how and why photographers have challenged this statement in a creative way?

Artist in the past have addressed the same theme as I am doing by exploring abandoned ruins of historical past events like coliseums from the roman times and castles from the Victorian era.

Abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of urban exploration. At first they are vandalised by locals with graffiti and other acts of vandalism. Common abandonments include amusement parks, elevators, factories, power plants, missile silos, fallout shelters, hospitals, asylums, and schools and poor houses. In Japan, abandoned infrastructure is known as Haikyo. Damage during World War II, the 1980s real estate bubble. Niki Feijen is a contemporary photographer who, in 2010 Feijen visited the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In this historical event a catastrophic nuclear accident occurred in 1986 the entire city of Pripyat, all 50,000 inhabitants, were evacuated within 48 hours. Most of the belongings of the evacuated inhabitants were left behind and never returned to again. This is a good abandoned place as it is silent from the absence of living creatures and background noise and looks like everything is at standstill from that very day of the incident. Abandonment can relate to the issue of housing and how people can’t afford to maintain their properties/house placements.

The photographer Iwan Baan can back this up. This is because he explores abandoned places that have been inhabited, as he says, “what I find really fascinating is what happens when architects and planners leave and these places become appropriated by people, like here in Chandigarh, India” (Baan 2013). This displays how abandoned can be beautiful as it proves that with something that is thrown away and wanted can be wanted by the people that really need it. It also confirms that you can make something that shouldn’t have any value be given value.

This can be seen in the image taken by Iwan Baan as it showcases how people have built a community with what they can find and use around them, for example the habitant in this picture has the built a gym using spare parts left over from an un built elevator. It also indicates how the inhabitant brings the people together by giving them the opportunity to build their own stable working community.

Iwan Baan relates to the question as explores the positives that arise of abandoned for example abandoned buildings are used by people that don’t have anywhere to live, Baan photographs of abandoned places that have been inhabited by people.

In a recent interview Baan said “Over the past seven years, I’ve been following my fascination with the built environment, and for those of you who know me, you would say that this obsession has led me to live out of a suitcase 365 days a year. Being constantly on the move means that sometimes I am able to catch life’s most unpredictable moments” (Baan, 2013). This displays that Baan is quite passionate about discovering places that are visually interesting to observe. Iwan Baan addresses theme such as deserted, architecture and you could also say he addresses culture. Baan made the work to challenge a long-standing tradition of depicting buildings as isolated and static by representing people in architecture and showing the building’s environment ultimately trying “to produce more of a story or a feel for a project”. (Baan, 2013)

Iwan Baan’s intention is to capture and understand what happens when architects and planners leave and these places become appropriated by people, like here in Chandigarh, India, the city, which has been completely designed by the architect Le Corbusier. The message that he is trying to project is that instead of letting the building become abandoned you could let people that don’t have anywhere to live to stay in them. One of the places that Iwan Baan took some pictures is the notorious Tower of David in Caracas. This was one of his best series as it highlights the problems of wealth in countries Nearly 70% of people in Caracas, Venezuela live in slums that drapes like silk over the city’s hills. This building was supposed to be a dramatic symbol of wealth, but now it is home to temporary residents. The skyscraper, halted mid-construction in the early 1990s, was taken over by thousands of squatters in 2007. For years they turned the building into an informal community that was photographed, filmed. This building is now known, as the vertical slum. Iwan Baan was amazed by how the inhabitants were living and how they found solutions to the problems that they had. He said, “Within the tower, people have come up with all sorts of solutions in response to the various needs which arise from living in an unfinished tower. With no elevators, the tower is like a 45-story walkup. Designed in very specific ways by this group of people who haven't had any education in architecture or design.” (Baan, 2013) Baan was amazed by the architectural background and people that have been disregarded, have the knowledge and capabilities to do something that others couldn’t do. In the picture tittled ‘Abandoned Office Tower In Caracas’ you can see that they have settled in with the resources they need e.g. TV, food and mattresses. Iwan Baan said inhabitants made use of objects and possessions they have found to claim their space in the Tower.

Niki Feijen is an abandoned photographer he takes pictures of places as they were left frozen in time. Niki Feijen has travelled the world in search of crumbling beauty lurking beneath a thick layer of dust inside private bedrooms and public buildings. Niki Feijen’s work addresses themes such as Abandonment and architecture as Iwan Baan. Niki Feijen was fascinated by Abandonment when, as a child, he became obsessed with a creepy abandoned house not far from his home. He said in an interview by Daily Mail ‘I passed it a zillion times until finally I had the guts to have a peek inside,’ he recalled. ‘The adrenaline, the excitement. It was amazing and then years later Feijen was photographing rally races and rocks concerts when he came across pictures of decaying buildings that reignited his childhood passion for beautiful ruins. His ideal shooting locations are ghost towns, long-shuttered insane asylums, dilapidated hotels and castles frozen in time and looking like at any moment their inhabitants will walk through the door and reclaim their personal space. This highlights that he wants to show an abandoned location as if it has never been touched and has been stopped in time.

This can be seen in his latest work of Chernobyl, he has said that he never brings any props or rearranges anything before taking pictures on location because it takes away from the authenticity and doesn’t show an accurate representation of abandonment. The title to his recent series of photos is called ‘Frozen’. The title changes the way the viewers observe the work because it adds to the airiness that is being perceived, it allows us to think more about the photograph i.e. what happened before it was abandoned and why it is placed there.

In Frozen, one particularly unsettling and thought-provoking image consists of dusty old jackets and a woman's black leather purse hanging from hooks in a foyer, and a pair of dirty slippers left next to a rusty bicycle waiting for their owner to come home. This adds to the beauty of abandonment as it unlocks our imagination by making us think more about what is happening. This vast bedroom still bears the marks of its previous inhabitants, with white pillows resting on the two single beds joined together. This is one of the photographs, from his Frozen series, it is haunting as nothing is changed and you are given the creativity and imagination to put your own input in what happened. One of his more controversial photographs from his frozen series is the photograph from Chernobyl, as he showcases an incident that has effect people’s lives and illustrates how it was left behind or frozen in time.

Andrew Moore relates to the question as his large-format photographs are dense documentaries that depict the collision of the past, present, and future. When seen from the bird’s eye view, larger themes emerge. In a recent interview by Alec Quig.

Alec Quig said, “I was photographing small businesses, craft industries that were remnants of the 19th century industrialism that had persisted and were still in business. Only in a city like New Orleans could things like that exist. People were making brooms by hand. There were ladies sowing the lace linings for coffins. Strange Masonic buildings. Ice factories. ”This exhibits that he has a fascination of how things were back in the day and how he can make viewers relate to his work by reminiscing the past.

The themes that his work addresses is Abandonment, architecture and cultural. He addresses these themes to find narrative approaches of documentary photography and journalism to detail remnants of societies in transition. His parents were his source of inspiration him as his father Sydney Hart Moore, was a commercial architect, and his mother Patricia Lambdin Moore, was an editor at the New York Graphic Society, a Fine Art publisher. Moore’s parents supported his early interest in Photography; his father built him an attic darkroom and his mother introduced him to the works of Peter Beard. The intentions of the photographer are, to educate people on the culture behind it. He said “It's all about getting into and discovering these places that have an incredible connection to the past, making a bridge between the subject, myself, and the viewer, bringing people into the work “(Moore). This demonstrates that these places having a connection with the past helps you think about what happened during that time and also gives you the sense of de ja vu. The photo titled ‘Cuba’ is of a theatre that was taken by Andrew Moore in Cuba. This was one of many pictures taken by Andrew Moore in his photo series titled ‘Cuba’. The title doesn’t change the way you thing of his work as he usually titles his work based on the location he is taking the picture e.g. ‘New York’ so this doesn’t have an impact as you see what you get.

From what I have discussed these three artists Iwan Baan, Niki Feijen and Andrew Moore all look at abandonment in a positive light as Iwan Baan, believes abandonment is a way to build a community and to give temporary residents a place to live. Niki Feijen, believes that abandonment is a way to reminisce because it leaves a story behind as the residents leave the building and all the objects are left in the places they’ve left it. Andrew Moore, believes Abandonment is a way to look back at the past and to see how things changed, so he believes its beautiful as it can have an impact on the future. Iwan Baan has the most impact on me as a person as he teaches us about inhabiting and how we should try to give people a place to stay when no one is using it. Niki Feijen’s work has an impact on me to as when exploring abandoned buildings, I’ve never saw it like he did but it has opened up the way I look at abandoned buildings. When researching these artists, it has influenced my work in component 1 as it changed the way I look at abandonment and also changes what I take pictures of.

0 notes

templeofgeek · 7 years

Text

Julie Dolan is an actress whose career has been quite expansive, spanning film, television, commercials, theater, voice-overs, music, and more. Ms. Dolan is the official voice for General/Princess Leia and has appeared in several Disney properties such as Disney Infinity 3.0 – The Force Awakens, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, and Star Wars Rebels to name a few. She also portrayed a keytar playing hamster, more on that later.

I reached out to Ms. Dolan to chat with her about her career. Here is Temple of Geek’s 10 Questions with Julie Dolan.

(Danniel Slade) Ms. Dolan, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some of our questions. I would like to start off by asking you how you got your start in the business?

(Julie Dolan) I was born in Hollywood and my dad was in the industry and my mother started me in dance classes at 3 years old and acting and piano lessons at 9 years old. I got an agent when I was 9 or 10 and started going on interviews for TV, film and commercials. I didn’t get into the voiceover business till later on. Once in a while when I was acting in a project, I would be asked to do a character voice that was needed and I started booking voices without having a VO demo or VO agent. One day my sister said, “You might want to put a little effort into some voiceover classes and get a voiceover demo and see where this could go”. I never thought it would end up going as far as playing “Princess Leia Organa”. I went to classes (I still continue to take classes) I recorded a voiceover demo, got a voiceover agent and started booking voiceover jobs.

(DS) You’re also a musician and have played with multiple bands. Can you tell me a little about your music career?

(JD) I started piano lessons at 9 years old playing classical music. A nun in a convent taught me. Later on in life . . .I somehow got myself involved playing keyboards in All Girl 80s Cover band and then proceeded to play with a lot of other cover bands and finally started working in the tribute band world. I have been in tributes to Alice Cooper, Tom Petty, Led Zeppelin and more. I’m currently in Tribute Bands to INXS (INXSIVE) & Bon Jovi (BORN JOVI) I also work with a David Bowie tribute off and on and my baby is “The UnderCoverGirls”. An all female Classic Rock Show. We now do an 80’s Tribute called “Radical Candy”.

(DS) You are the official voice actress for General/Princess Leia, how did you land such a gig?

(JD) Sometime in 2010 I got a call from my agent and she asked me if I could sound like Princess Leia. I said “Hmmmm, I don’t think so” and she said “I have an audition for you – I don’t know what it is for, but here is the Obi-Wan Kenobi speech from A New Hope and an audio sample of what Princess Leia sounds like . . . try to match her voice”. So I worked on the copy and the voice and when I felt I was ready I recorded it and submitted it to my agent and then she submitted it to Disney/Lucas Films. At that time, we still didn’t know what the project was. Apparently, they had listened to auditions from about 200 girls and couldn’t find the voice they wanted. Then they brought in Carrie Fisher and they didn’t feel that she was the right fit for sounding like she did in A New Hope. . So they auditioned around 200 more girls and narrowed it down to 3 girls and I was one of the 3. They brought us into Disney Imagineering Studios where we recorded a speech that was similar to the Obi-Wan Kenobi speech but they altered some of the words to fit what the project was for.

I realized (by the dialogue) that it was for the new Star Tours – The Adventures Continue ride at Disneyland. After about two weeks I didn’t hear anything so I didn’t think I got the job and then my agent called me and told me that I booked it. They heard something in my regular speaking voice that is very similar to Carrie Fisher. I don’t ‘put on’ the voice. You either have the timber, the pitch the essence of a voice or not. In May of 2011, they opened the new ride at Disneyland and my agent and I were invited to go see it. We sat there . . . anxiously awaiting Princess Leia’s hologram to appear and were so surprised when we heard the voice. We thought it sounded exactly like me. I was almost embarrassed. But the reviews from people were – that it sounded just like Princess Leia. I was so relieved! It was a couple of years before I heard from them again. I got a call to meet with Dave Filoni (writer / director for Star Wars Rebels) He had heard my voice on the Star Tours ride. Here is an interview with him where he talks about it. (Rebels Recon #2.11: Inside “A Princess on Lothal” | Star Wars Rebels) Starts around the 2:30 mark.

They invited me to do in-house project for Disney. I did a couple scenes (as Leia) and was hooked up to motion capture helmet. . Still not sure what that was for. A few weeks later I was booked on “Star Wars Rebels”. Following that came several video games and eventually “Lego Star Wars – The Freemaker Adventures” which premiered this past July (2016)

I was then asked if I could do “current” Carrie Fisher voice (General Leia) So I put on my hard hat and went back to work to see if I could match her current voice.

General Leia was a bit of a challenge for me at first but they were happy with it.

(DS) Were you a fan of Star Wars before landing the part?

(JD) I am now! Of course I had seen the three trilogy movies back in the day but I was not an avid fan like the ones I have met since I’ve been invited into the Disney/Lucas Film family.

(DS) What is it like voicing such an iconic character?

(JD) Well, you better damn well nail the voice or you’ll hear about it from the fans! When I booked Rebels, I did a lot of research. I watched all six movies several times.

I read everything I could about Princess Leia: her goals, her aspirations, what she believed in, what she wanted. I watched her movements, her mannerisms, her emotions, so I could really get inside of Princess Leia’s head and try to become her as best as I could. I’m so grateful and how quickly I was welcomed into the family by Disney/Lucas Films and the fans.

(DS) How does voice acting differ from live acting and do you prefer one over the other?

(JD) The process is the same. You map out the who, what, where, why, when of your character.

The approach is different for on camera, voice acting or theatre. For voice acting you are much more animated (no pun intended). For on camera, you bring it way down. One slight eye movement can say so much.

Theatre is so rewarding because you play the role from start to finish and have the live audience there for an immediate response which feeds your soul right then and there. I love working in TV/Film as well whether it’s “on camera” or “voice acting” because once you nail it, it’s captured and will live forever.

(DS) I read online that you like theme parks and that you worked at Universal as a costumed character dancer for many years. What is it like knowing that you voice a character (Leia) for Star Tours that is playing at Disney Theme Parks around the world?

(JD) I worked at Universal Theme Park for 11 years dancing in shows such as “American Tail”, “Fievel Goes West”, “Land Before Time”, “The Flintstones”, “Rocky & Bullwinkle”, “The RugRats” – all live action shows. Great experience and that’s where I met my husband. (He is a stunt man and was in the “Wild Wild Wild West Show”)

With Star Tours now at Disneyland, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Tokyo Disney and will open at Disneyland Paris in March of 2017. . It’s an interesting feeling knowing that my voice as “Princess Leia” will probably live longer than me!

(DS) You were in a KIA SOUL commercial that aired during the Olympics in 2016. I have to ask, what is it like playing a human sized hamster that plays keytar?

(JD) Yes, I am the Keytar playing Hamster in the Kia Soul Commercial featuring Nathaniel Rateliff, which is still airing! Since I had done so much work as a costume character at Universal Studios, I was right at home in the costume and was able to move, dance and play the keytar. However, on THESE particular costumes, you don’t wear anything over your face so it’s a lot easier to breathe. You wear an open helmet so the CGI artists can see your face and then they draw exactly what facial movements you do. The only problem is, once you are in that costume, you need help to get out of it and it takes a while so ya don’t drink a lot of water ha ha.

(DS) With the geek genre becoming so prevalent in today’s culture, is there a particular character that you would love to do either on film or as a voice?

(JD) I would love to continue to voice “Princess Leia”. She has become sort of a sister to me and I want to keep Carrie’s voice alive. My goal is to do voice work AND book an “On camera” role in the next Star Wars movie. Wish me luck. :-) I would also love to play a character on the ABC Series “Once Upon A Time”.

I was heart-broken and devastated with Carrie and her mother’s death. I never got to meet Carrie but I had done a few shows with Debbie Reynolds (as a dancer) and Carrie was in the audience.

(DS) Are there any future projects that we should be watching out for?

(JD) I have a few short films coming out that will be submitted to Festivals. One is called “Tell Me I Love You” and the other is called “Motor Mesa” and I am continuing to voice “Princess/General Leia” in different projects. I will be at Colossus Con in Pleasanton, CA on Saturday, April 8th and am hoping to go to the Star Wars Convention in Florida also in April.

(DS) Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. Please let our audience know how to find out more about you.

(JD) Thank you for having me! I have an autograph store where people can choose photos and I will personally autograph them. We also just got in my Action Figures.

Websites:

www.theautographdog.com

www.juliedolan.com

www.juliedolanvo.com

Twitter: @justcallmeleia

Facebook: www.facebook.com/juliedolanvo

Instagram: juliemdolan

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

10 Questions with the voice actress of #PrincessLeia, Ms. Julie Dolan #StarWars @JustCallMeLeia Julie Dolan is an actress whose career has been quite expansive, spanning film, television, commercials, theater, voice-overs, music, and more.

#Carrie Fisher #Disney #General Leia #Julie Dolan #Kia Soul #LEGO #Leia Organa #Princess Leia #Star Tours #Star Wars #Star Wars Rebels

0 notes