Epoch Arts 8-14-2015

COURTESY OF LESLIE LIENAU

Teaching Renaissance Art With an App Leslie Lienau, founder of The Conservatory for Classical Art, wants to teach classical methods.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Heroes, Sages, and the Essence of the World How a work by Hermann Hessee captured the essence of ancient Chinese poetry.

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C1 August 14–20, 2015

Music Tuned to

432 Hertz Said to Heal, Uplift

By Tara MacIsaac | Epoch Times Staff

decades-long debate among musicians about tuning is bound up with Nazi conspiracy theories, New Age healing methods, practical consideration of what’s easiest on a singer’s vocal chords, a revived connection to ancient math and aesthetics, and more abstract connections to a higher order.

It is said that 432 hertz tuning has a positive effect on water.

Should instruments be tuned to 440 hertz or 432 hertz?

In 1955, an international standard of A=440 hertz was set to unify the different concert pitches previously in use. This means the number of vibrations per second of the middle A is 440. But some say A=432 hertz brings music to another level.

See 432 Hertz on C3

Theater

C2 August 14–20, 2015

www.TheEpochTimes.com CAROL ROSEGG

THEATER REVIEW ‘Summer Shorts 2015, Series A’ 59E59 Theaters 59 E. 59th St. Tickets: 212-279-4200 or 59e59.org Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (no intermission) Closes: Aug. 29

Summer Shorts Look at Tough Issues Intense series triumphs, mostly

By Judd Hollander

Meg Gibson (L), Kellie Overbey (C), and Michelle Beck are three women dealing with the aftereffects of 9/11 in “The Sentinels.”

at usic h ony m the m p nce m/sy e i r e co Exp yu n.

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Presented by Shen Yun Promotions International

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AN ENCHANTING SOUND RETURNS TO CARNEGIE HALL

Concertmaster ASTRID MARTIG

Conductor

MILEN NACHEV

MUSIC FROM 5,000 YEARS OF CIVILIZATION EXQUISITE CHINESE INSTRUMENTS in a grand Western orchestra. Shen Yun Symphony Orchestra blends Eastern and Western musical traditions in a concert experience unlike any other. Majestic movements convey tales of divine beings descending to Earth. Lilting notes evoke the elegance of ladies at imperial court. Traditional dance rhythms from Tibetan plateaus reverberate through the concert hall. Shen Yun performs soulstirring original works, with solos by the world’s top Chinese tenors and sopranos.

Concert highlights also include Western masterpieces by Tchaikovsky, RimskyKorsakov, and Sarasate.

Soprano HAOLAN GENG

Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at

Carnegie Hall

Saturday, October 10 2PM & 8PM

Tickets: $118, $108, $98, $78, $58, $38 Online: shenyun.com/symphony/nyc (presenter) carnegiehall.org (concert hall) Phone: Presenter: 800-818-2393, 888-974-3698 CarnegieCharge: 212-247-7800 Box Office: 57th Street and 7th Avenue

NEW YORK—The meaning behind the meetings forms the basis of each of the three oneact works that comprise Series A of Throughline Artist’s annual Summer Shorts at 59 E 59 Theaters. In each, people’s culturally shaped, preconceived notions are quickly called into question.

‘10K’ In Neil LaBute’s “10K,” a Man (J.J. Kandel) and Woman (Clea Alsip) meet in a wooded area while jogging. Quickly striking up a conversation, these two, who at first glance having nothing in common, actually have strikingly similar issues of dissatisfaction in their lives.

This random encounter, if it is indeed random, quickly turns into something with far-reaching consequences. Crackling with sexual tension, an element of danger, and well played by both actors, the play keeps one guessing about who is pulling the strings and who has no idea about what’s going on.

The work asks just how far you can go without going too far. LaBute does a nice job with the directing chores here.

‘Glenburn 12 WP’ Next up is “Glenburn 12 WP,” written by Vickie Ramirez and directed by Kel Haney. As “diein” protests in reaction to police brutality are going on in New York City’s Grand Central Station, Troy (W. Tre Davis), a young black man, ducks into a bar nearby, only to find it deserted.

Moments later, Roberta (Tanis Parenteau), a Native American woman and apparently a regular customer, comes in and after chiding Troy for not being at the protests, begins a verbal game of cat and mouse. She is trying to find out what makes the young man tick. Troy, for his part, is just interested in getting a drink— if he can find the bartender, that is.

Part mystery and part social commentary—with issues of race and vengeance lurking in the shadows—the play shows how it’s often easier to believe one’s first impression of a situation rather than the actual truth.

Nicely presented by all concerned, it’s a tale that keeps you guessing until the end.

‘The Sentinels’ The final work of this series is “The Sentinels” by Matthew Lopez. This is the one show of the three that has the potential to bring forth an almost universal feeling of sympathy and understanding, though sadly it’s also the least focused.

Every September, Alice (Meg Gibson), Kelly (Michelle Beck), and Christa (Kellie Overbey) meet at a nondescript New York coffee shop and recall another

September—one that changed their lives forever.

Spanning 2011–2000, going backward chronologically, the show offers brief snapshots into these three women’s lives, showing that some are able to move on, while others let the catastrophic event define them.

It should also be noted that being defined by a certain event is quite different from remembering it and honoring those who are no longer alive.

As the play progresses, the characters become more engaging as the years of trying to heal are stripped away. Yet while we are able to see the pain these women feel, we never really get to know who they are beyond this event. The text does not fill in the gaps between the meetings or offer a strong back story.

Directed by Stephen Brackett, the play also features Zuzanna Szadkowski.

Taken as a Whole All three stories present the idea of people being thrust into a situation over which they have no control.

“10K” and “Glenburn 12 WP” both succeed brilliantly, not only for the tight acting and direction, but also the solid construction of the stories.

At first the two tales feed into stereotypes prevalent in the media today. For example, a scruffily dressed black man comes into a bar catering to a crowd completely at odds with our idea of who he would associate with. But then the story flips around in order to show what seemed so obvious at first glance to be a rush in judgment, both by the characters involved—on both sides of the equation—and by the audience.

It’s also sadly true that in either tale, if one wanted to create a scenario where the other party could be blamed for something that is not their fault, it would be quite easy to make others believe it was true.

In “The Sentinels” the question is not what is going on and why, but rather how those affected by a singular event deal with it— both in the short and long term.

The question becomes how does one remember the past and those lost without becoming overwhelmed by it forever?

The play fails to answer the question satisfactorily and neglects to offer the audience a chance to get to know the women. Thus, the story feels like we are eating an appetizer and then going straight to the dessert—somewhat fulfilling, but ultimately feeling that something is missing.

Series A of Summer Shorts boasts two very solid works and a third that’s intriguing enough to hold one’s interest but that needs to go a bit deeper.

Judd Hollander is the New York correspondent for the London publication The Stage.

CAROL ROSEGG

Experience the power of Shen Yun music

shenyun.com/symphony

(L–R) Tanis Parenteau and W. Tre Davis in the Summer Short “Glenburn 12 WP.” The short play deals with issues of race and our assumptions.

Music

C3 August 14–20, 2015

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When sound encounters a membrane such as your skin or the surface of water, it imprints an invisible pattern of energy.

CymaScope.com The reasons 440 hertz was chosen as the standard are a matter of some debate.

Music Tuned to 432 Hertz Said to Heal, Uplift 432 Hertz continued from C1 Tests Suggest 432 Hertz More Complete, Peaceful Music scholar Maria Renold, in her book “Intervals, Scales, Tones and the Concert Pitch,” described how she tested the different effects on listeners created by 440 hertz and 432 hertz tuning. She asked thousands of people in various countries over the course of 20 years to evaluate how they felt listening to each.

She said 90 percent preferred the 432 hertz tuning. When asked to describe it, they used words such as “completed, correct, peaceful, [and] sunlike.”

Conversely, they described 440 hertz tuning as sounding “uncomfortable, oppressive, [and] narrow-minded.”

Renold was influenced by the Austrian mystic Rudolf Steiner, who warned against the “luciferic brightness” of higher tones and advocated A=432 hertz as spiritually uplifting. Renold’s study was not peer reviewed; it has also not been replicated, but it appears no scientists have seriously attempted to replicate it.

Acoustical engineer Trevor Cox conducted an informal online study, asking people to state their preference among pieces of music shifted to simulate seven different tuning frequencies, including 432 and 440.

With 200 respondents, he found a slight preference for 440 over 432.

The test involved music that had been digitally retuned, however, not acoustically retuned. It is unclear whether this may have made a difference, since Renold stated that her test only worked with nonelectrical instruments.

Any tests she performed with electronically produced tones failed.

The move to 432 hertz has been supported by prominent figures, including Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi. Singing to this tuning is said to put less strain on a singer’s vocal chords.

The reasons 440 hertz was chosen as the standard are a matter of some debate.

Was 440 Hertz Tuning a Nazi Initiative?

The temperature of concert halls

in the United States played a part in the decision. American instrument manufacturer J.C. Deagan determined that 440 hertz was the best frequency for American concert halls. British scientists concurred that 440 hertz would be best, not based on the temperature of concert halls, but based on the heating of the woodwind instruments during performance.

The most controversial reason suggested is that the Nazis wanted to propagate aggression and stress by using this tuning.

Laurent Rosenfeld wrote the article “How the Nazis Ruined Musical Tuning,” published in the September 1988 edition of the magazine Executive Intelligence Review (a publication associated with the LaRouche movement, known to have some controversial political stances). Rosenfeld noted that it was Radio Berlin, Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels’s mouthpiece, that organized a conference in 1939 to urge the 440 hertz standard.

This conference laid the groundwork for the 1955 decision to officially set that standard.

No French composers were invited to the conference, as the French were particularly opposed to the 440 hertz tuning, Rosenfeld reported.

He wrote: “Other sources, such as Rene Dumesnil, another advocate of lower tuning, say that this London congress was a setup: The organizers first asked musicians, engineers, instrument makers, physicists, et cetera, whether they would agree to A=440, and whoever would not agree was simply not invited.”

Rosenfeld made no speculation on the Nazi motives for establishing a 440 hertz tuning, and it seems the idea of propagating aggression has been tacked on by later proponents of A=432 hertz.

French musician and A=432 hertz advocate Robert Dussaut said, according to Rosenfeld: “My opponents have answered me that the Americans want the tuning to be at 440 vibrations per second, because of jazz [which has raised the pitch to 440 and well beyond], and that we should be in conformity with them. It has been shocking to me that our orchestral musicians and our singers should thus be dependent

The move to 432 hertz has been supported by prominent figures, including Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti. upon jazz players from the other side of the Atlantic. .... Commercial considerations come first.

Artists have but to abdicate. “ Aside from political and commercial concerns, the tuning debate has also centered on claims that the vibration of 432 hertz is more beneficial for the human body and that 432 is a number with special, even mystical, significance.

Cymatics: ‘The Science of Sound Made Visible’ It is said that 432 hertz tuning has a positive effect on water, and thus on our bodies since our bodies are mostly made of water. This is part of the reasoning behind claims that music tuned to 432 hertz can have healing effects.

John Stuart Reid developed an instrument called the CymaScope, used in a field of study known as cymatics. The official CymaScope website describes cymatics as “the science of sound made visible.”

The website continues: “It is based on the principle that when sound encounters a membrane such as your skin or the surface of water, it imprints an invisible pattern of energy. In other words, the periodic vibrations in the sound sample are converted and become periodic water ripples, creating beautiful geometric patterns that reveal the once hidden realm of sound.”

Reid tested the effect of A=432 hertz on water with his CymaScope at the request of leading 432 proponent Brian T. Collins. Collins published Reid’s response: “432 Hertz pops out as a triangle, every time we image it.

We thought there was something wrong with the CymaScope but after trying for more than an hour we concluded that the number 3 was somehow universally connected to 432 Hertz.”

Cymatics shows patterns created by 432 hertz tuning to be aesthetically more pleasing than those created by 440 hertz. But composer Milton Mermikides pointed out on his blog that the containers used to hold the water would have influenced the results.

“Some containers will have prettier patterns with 432 Hz rather than 440 Hz, and others might have quite the opposite,” he wrote. “It’s like arguing that a particular shoe size is perfect by showing a video of one individual happily walking with one pair, and struggling to put on a different size.”

circle of 60 stones equals 25,920 years then each stone equals 432 years around the 12 sectors of the 25,920 year procession.”

There’s more to his explanation, but suffice it to say that the overall declaration that 432 is a number of great significance seems based on various manipulations of numbers. It may have some significance, but the significance isn’t glaringly apparent— it seems one must be looking for it to find it.

It has also been claimed that ancient musicians in Greece, Egypt, and in even more remote civilizations tuned their instruments to 432 hertz. Epoch Times was unable, however, to find any concrete evidence that this is so. In recent history, before the standard 440 hertz was set, musicians used a variety of frequencies for tuning.

432 a Special Number?

The strength of many claims that 432 is a number with special significance is diluted by the manipulation of numbers required to back the claims.

One of the simpler claims is that 432 is significant because it is the square root of the speed of light. Actually, the square root of the speed of light is about 431.6, but it’s pretty close.

The diameter of the sun is about 864,000 miles, that’s 2 x 432,000. The diameter of the moon is about 2160, that’s 4,320 divided by 2. We start to see that division and multiplication are required to make various values relate to the number 432.

An example of more complex manipulations is given by Collins. “The connection of Stonehenge to the 25,920 year orbital procession of the equinox and the number 432 is obvious.”

He follows a pattern of dividing 360 by the number of stones in each ring and then dividing 25,920 by that number.

Performing these divisions, the other rings do not yield numbers related to 432 (though they yield other cosmically significant numbers, he said).

Only the ring of 60 stones is related to 432. “When you divide the 60 stones in the second circle of 360 degrees by 60 you get 6.25,920 divided by 6 equals 4,320. … If the second

A Matter of Preference Whether 432 is a number of cosmic significance or whether the 432 hertz frequency beneficially affects the water in your body may not matter as much as whether you simply prefer 432 tuning.

How music makes us feel may be more a subjective matter than an objective matter.

Ivan Yanakiev, a National Academy-schooled conductor in Bulgaria, had a cellist play Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 1 in G major” with the 432 hertz tuning.

“It was new. It was brilliant,” Yanakiev told Vice’s Motherboard magazine last year. “It was a channelling of pure light and love that vibrated through the whole room.”

Yanakiev cofounded the 432 Orchestra in 2013 to spread the 432 hertz vibration around the world.

Dr. Diana Deutsch, a perceptual and cognitive psychologist at the University of California–San Diego who has written about the psychology of music, told Motherboard she would be interested in conducting tests similar to Renold’s to see people’s preferences.

Both 440 hertz and 432 hertz are getting their play. The standard may change as a result, but if it doesn’t, those with preferences either way may enjoy tunes of their liking.

Film

C4 August 14–20, 2015

www.TheEpochTimes.com

10 Best Musical Biopics of All Time Talent is the ability to channel

By Mark Jackson Epoch Times Staff The best musical biopics result when the actor feels the role so powerfully, it goes beyond mimicry and gets into what’s commonly known as “channeling.” We know the word from seances, mediums, and the Oracle of Delphi and such, but the main thing is, when it happens, it’s slightly eerie.

It’s really a live theater phenomenon. It’s when the performance is so dead-on good, the hair stands up on the back of your neck because all traces of the actor completely disappear, and the historical character being played appears to reincarnate before your eyes onstage. The atmosphere during such channeling feels electrically charged; you can hear the proverbial pin drop.

In the movies, because of all the electronic and technical manipulation and the fact that there’s no living, breathing being onstage whose every move and breath is finely tuned and synced with the mood and breathing patterns of the audience—channeling translates less powerfully.

Still, there’s a bit of it going on in the excellent biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” with O’Shea Jackson Jr. playing O’Shea Sr. (aka Ice Cube). Of course, in this case, the physical genetic replication might have a little to do with it.

Top Ten The following is a list of musical biopics, from worst to best (worst being a relative term, these are all top-notch performances) where we believe some channeling was happening.

10) ‘La Bamba’ Richard Steven Valenzuela (Lou Diamond Phillips) is a Mexican kid who attains rock-and-roll superstardom under the stage name of Ritchie Valens. His half-brother Bob Morales (Esai Morales) is endlessly jealous of Ritchie’s success. After his hit “La Bamba” hits the top of the Billboard charts, he’s supposed to do a concert with Buddy Holly and “The Big Bopper.”

They all fly through a snowstorm and their plane crashes and burns on Feb. 3, 1959. Don McLean called it “the day the music died” in his ‘70s song, “American Pie.” The film put Lou Diamond Phillips on the map. For reasons of channeling.

9) ‘Cadillac Records’ Leonard Chess ran Chess Records in Chicago with his brother Phil, selling records out of the back of his Caddy— hence the movie title. Chess put blues legends Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Etta James, and rocker Chuck Berry on the map.

British actor Eamonn Walker channels the lightning of American blues howler Howlin’ Wolf like a thundercloud, the raw sexuality of his performance coming from a such a primal place as to be almost disturbing. Beyoncé channels Etta James; she’s riveting. So much so that the performance may have been the reason the real Etta James threatened Beyoncé with bodily harm for having had the audacity to sing Etta’s 1961 signature song, “At Last,” at President Obama’s inauguration.

8) ‘Coal Miner’s Daughter’ Loretta Lynn, one of country music’s biggest stars, picked

Sissy Spacek to play her. Spacek wasn’t feeling it, but went ahead anyway. Lynn’s husband was played by Tommy Lee Jones— Lynn was only 13 when they married, and had four kids by the age of 20. Clearly, Lynn recognized that something in Spacek’s constitution recognized Lynn. Because there’s a Spacek best-acting Academy Award to prove Lynn’s gut feeling was accurate.

7) ‘The Doors’ Speaking of channeling, Val Kilmer totally channels Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s biopic “The Doors,” so much so, that when The Doors band members themselves heard Kilmer’s singing, they couldn’t tell it wasn’t their former charismatic and disturbed lead singer.

That’s talent.

6) ‘Walk the Line’ Joaquin Phoenix channels Johnny Cash with a singing voice that’s very hard to tell apart from the original. And Reese Witherspoon channels Cash’s love interest (and later wife) June Carter. Might have done a better job than Joaquin.

She did win the Oscar for it.

5) ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?’ Without Tina Turner’s incandescent talent and charisma, along with her sexy backup singers, the Ikettes (one of whom dated Mick Jagger for a time), Ike Turner would have had a fairly low-wattage musical career. He was a talented show-businessman, but coming from his era, Ike did business as he learned it from his surroundings. He wasn’t so much a husband to Tina or a manager to the Ikettes, as a pimp to his

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It was during Kurt Russell’s channeling of Elvis in a TV miniseries two years after Elvis died that Hollywood recognized his talent.

whole musical venture (specifically the females involved in it), treating them like a kind of stable of musical prostitutes, with pimp-ish beatings meted out for rule infractions.

A live wire from start to finish, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” provides the nostalgia of ‘60s soul music and has terrific dramatic scenes.

It features fully arresting performances from Laurence Fishburne as Ike, and an incredible Angela Bassett channeling Tina.

The actual Tina Turner does the singing, but Bassett owns it by getting all the dance moves spot-on and committing to the portrayal of years of physical and emotional abuse.

4) ‘The Buddy Holly Story’ If you ever wondered how the lately kinda interesting-looking actor Gary Busey got his start in movies (he was formerly a musician), it was because of his uncanny channeling of Buddy Holly in the 1978 biopic “The Buddy Holly Story.”

And there’s no dubbing: Busey sang and played it all himself, sounding eerily like the real deal. Holly was a trailblazer, influencing everyone from the Beatles to Linda Rondstadt. Buddy Holly and the Crickets were the first white act at Harlem’s Apollo Theater— the Apollo booker thought Holly was black. You know the songs: “That’ll Be the Day.” “Peggy Sue.” “It’s So Easy.”

Look into the East

(L–R) Bobby Byrd (Nelsan Ellis) and James Brown (Chadwick Boseman) in “Get On Up,” based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul.

3) ‘Ray’ Who knew motor-mouthed Jamie Foxx was such a brilliant pianist? It’s part of what won him the role and then the Oscar, and then the Golden Globe, for a stellar channeling of legendary R&B singer-pianist Ray Charles. Director Taylor Hackford, who’d made one of the greatest musical documentaries of all time, “Hail! Hail!

Rock ‘n’ Roll” (which could almost be thought of as a biopic with the notoriously cantankerous, miserly, charming, and hilarious Chuck Berry playing himself), clearly had his learning curve with “Hail” translate into an award-winning, actual biopic with “Ray.” Jamie Foxx already had a handle on “Ray” through the piano playing, but it was his talent as a gifted stand-up comedian, and the penchant for mind-blowingly accurate mimicry that

Elvis Presley at a press conference inside his private railroad car at Los Angeles Union Station, on April 20, 1960.

tends to accompany that profession, that synced with the piano playing and shifted the whole performance to the channeling level.

2) ‘Get On Up’ Chadwick Boseman, so good in the biopic about Jackie Robinson, soon after stepped up to the James Brown plate and absolutely knocked the role of the self-appointed “Godfather of Soul” out of the park.

As I said in my review of the film: “Oh, he nails it. Top to bottom. Hair, talk, attitude, and jittery, shimmying, blurry-footed dance moves. Not even Jamie Foxx playing Ray Charles surpasses Boseman becoming Brown. Close, maybe. But if Jamie won an Oscar, so must Chadwick.” The word we’re looking for here is channeling.

1) ‘Elvis’ It was an ABC miniseries, made two year after Elvis died, and was also the first collaboration

between John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. People think it was Russell’s character “Snake Plissken,” with the eye-patch, the giant black cobra tattoo on his stomach, and his whispery, Eastwood-esque whispery delivery of the line “Call me Snake,” that announced Russell to the world as a Hollywood leading man. Which is true. But it was really during his earlier channeling of Elvis that Hollywood recognized his talent. Of these ten picks, this one may actually make the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

In the movies, channeling is just good acting. Onstage, it’s definitely something more.

There have been actors, like Michael Chekhov (nephew of famous playwright Anton), who claim they felt or even saw some entity moving about the stage, and simply copied what they were experiencing.

Either way, when it’s really good, you’ll know it when you see it.

AP PHOTO/STEVE YEATER

Actor Joaquin Phoenix performs a song from his film “Walk the Line” for inmates at Folsom Prison after a screening of the movie on Jan. 3, 2006. Phoenix played singer Johnny Cash in the movie.

AP PHOTO

Actress-singer Sissy Spacek (R) and country singer Loretta Lynn pose at a post-Oscar party in Beverly Hills, Calif., on April 1, 1981. Spacek won the Oscar for best actress for her portrayal of Lynn in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” at the 53rd annual Academy Awards.

Film

C5 August 14–20, 2015

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(L–R) Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) in the sound booth, while Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) coach him in laying down his first rap track, in “Straight Outta Compton.”

When Gangsta Rap Was Ghetto Journalism Story of the trailblazing hip-hop/rap group N.W.A.

By Mark Jackson Epoch Times Staff The birthplace of gangsta rap— Compton, California, was a place angels feared to tread. In the mid1980s, America became aware of its very own nightmarish thug life, festering not far from the Hollywood Hills.

Los Angeles, 1986. Picture, if you will, gangs called Blood Stone Villains, and the Rollin’ ‘60s Crips.

Picture insanely bouncing “KandyKolored, Tangerine-Flake” lowrider vintage Chevy Impalas, with mega-bass car-speakers blasting monster funk by Zapp (band) down Crenshaw Boulevard in the 100-degree California dusk.

It was a time when terms like “gat” and “bust a cap” entered the vernacular, gangs packed militarygrade weaponry, and the “heaviosity” of gangsta rap inexorably began transmogrifying the USA into a hip-hop nation.

Censored The origin of the black-and-white “Parental Advisory Explicit Content” sticker can be traced to former Vice President Al Gore’s wife Tipper listening to Prince’s song “Darling Nikki,” but N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton” was one of the first albums to get label-slapped with a resounding “thwack!” heard around the globe.

Why? It had harsh words unfit for children’s ears, certainly. But it

also told grim truths about a littleknown, deadly lifestyle. Such was the forbidden ghetto journalism of trailblazing hip-hop/rap group N.W.A. ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Endorsed by the band itself, “Straight Outta Compton” is the excellent chronicling of the rise and fall of N.W.A. It stars among others, the now legendary N.W.A. lyricist Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., who’s the spitting image of his famous dad, and is filmed by the same director who filmed junior’s dad in Ice Cube’s breakout comedy, “Friday.”

O’Shea senior was the group’s undisputed powerhouse charismatic star. His incendiary, prescient poetry shows—as depicted here— how little has changed racially in certain respects, in America, since the album for which the movie is named came out in ‘88.

Spanning roughly 10 years, “Straight Outta Compton” focuses on three members of N.W.A: entrepreneurial drug dealer Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), lyricist Ice Cube, and DJ Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins).

They and the other two band members, MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) formed the band, the acronym of which is now, 30 years later, widely known not to mean “No Whites Allowed.”

Being young American men, they were interested in having fun at the local dance hall, but they JAIMIE TRUEBLOOD/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Aldis Hodge as MC Ren in “Straight Outta Compton.” Live, in concert, N.W.A. rapped about the frustrations and dangers of the ghetto and gang warfare, as well as youthful, testosteronefueled braggadocio.

FILM REVIEW ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Director: F. Gary Gray Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge, Marlon Yates Jr., R. Marcos Taylor, Paul Giamatti Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes Rated: R

were also fed up, and weren’t going to take it anymore. They quickly began talking about poverty, racism, police brutality, and thug life as they saw and experienced it, in verse form, preferably danceworthy, and definitely uncensored.

At the outset, we see Dr. Dre in artistic sponge-mode, listening to a sea of records and practicing his turntable skills, while the soon-tobe Ice Cube watches the world and waits and writes. The group comes together the way most groups do;

It’s a slammin’ soundtrack— how could it not be?

20-something musicians hanging out and jamming, and pretty soon a vibe sparks and takes on a life of its own.

Shark Tank Out on the airwaves, the explosive lyrics that mirror these young musicians’ day-to-day lives are like blood in the water, and soon attract a circling music-biz shark—manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti).

Speaking of sharks, dorsal fins in the form of flashing L.A.P.D. turret lights circle constantly, as do those of law enforcement in general. The Detroit riot ignited by local cops’ promise to shut down an N.W.A. show if a certain lyric popped out of the microphones is shown. You know the line—“(Something) tha Police.”

Police paranoia was understandable in this case, but the censorship and especially the arrests were ultimately unwarranted— these weren’t vengeful, subversive rants but political commentaries meant to shine a spotlight on issues not discussed enough in American society.

After Heller gets in the mix, the film fairly quickly moves on to the band’s inevitable rise to fame and fortune, followed by the inevitable downward spiraling, due to financial inequities and artistic differences.

Solo Acts A movie about the full scope of N.W.A.’s influence necessarily has to include its breakup, and the resulting solo careers that included a period of vitriolic, internecine rap-war sniping.

This is pretty funny; the cutting back and forth between Ice Cube in a New York recording booth and the remaining West Coast band members listening to the resulting record with angry but chagrined faces (all girlfriends present stifling snickers) and the sullen but respectful admission of, “He got us.”

Much of the latter half of the film falls prey to the tendency of biopics to re-sort and condense— in short—to make stuff up. Much like its Broadway cousin, the “Jukebox Musical,” the music biopic rewrites history to match up with the hit parade, meanwhile cameo-ing in famous figures known to have been involved with a particular story—in this case a little sprinkling of Tupac and Snoop Dogg.

This but Not That Unfortunately, the movie errs on the side of hagiography as opposed to taking a good hard look at the shadow side of N.W.A. lyrical content.

The hypocritical downside of most gangsta rap is the extending of an expectant open hand toward racial equality, while offering a handful of misogyny and homophobia with the other, thereby gat-shooting itself in the proverbial foot.

The film reflects this disturbing dichotomy: most females in “Straight Outta Compton” are in various (advanced) stages of undress, and engaged in various pursuits that run the gamut of groupie activity, from latterday Romanesque pool parties to the unmentionable. Which begs the chicken/egg question: which comes first—the misogyny or the gold digging?

Individual Performances Giamatti shines as music-biz shark Heller, the scariest kind of bad guy because he really thinks he’s helping the band with the left hand, while surreptitiously bloodletting them with the right. Heller divides and conquers, dining on steak and champagne and talking business only with Eazy-E. Scarier still is the figure of former Los Angeles Rams defensive end turned notorious Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight, who muscles in on the action, played handily by R. Marcos Taylor.

O’Shea Jackson Jr. may or may not unfairly get the most accolades in the acting department just for looking and sounding so much like his dad. Is it acting, or is it Memorex? How’d he do his research? He grew up in Ice Cube’s house. Still, in showbiz—take it however you can get it. He’s got a sure-fire career ahead of him.

The Music, the Moment It’s a slammin’ soundtrack—how could it not be? All scenes involving musical performance are great fun, such as Eazy-E getting on the mic for the first time when there’s no one else to rap his lyrics and morphing from high-pitched geek to cocksure gangsta before our eyes.

This is a large-scale biopic about a musical genre perceived by the public as so dangerous that it prompted one group to name itself Public Enemy. Thirty years later, while it’s not yet entirely a completely accepted, ho-hum genre, America’s at home enough with it by now that the movie’s getting promoted in a manner befitting a more mainstream offering.

With Attitude N.W.A. wasn’t the first group to rap shocking lyrics, but it was the most successful. The guys weren’t angels with clear consciences and pristine values solely trying to promote social and political change. Who gangsta raps? Gangstas. And as anyone in showbiz knows, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. So just as Led Zeppelin sold albums like hotcakes due to their late ‘70s reputation as being incredibly dangerous, N.W.A. used its street cred as branding.

Still, gangsta rap as ghetto journalism was much-needed truth telling. Ice Cube, in a scene where a guerrilla journalist attempts to sandbag him in an interview, deftly sidesteps the ambush, saying, “I ain’t mad—you’re just doing your job. I’m a journalist just like you.”

And yet, has any good come of the last 30 years of telling the truth? “The truth will set you free”?

There are more African-American male youth on lockdown now than at any time previously, and the police’s relationship with the black community lately ... enough said. A definite downside is young teenagers idolizing gangsta lifestyle and trying to live it in, say, Iowa.

As if to address that very phenomenon, in one of the movie’s

A definite downside is young teenagers idolizing gangsta lifestyle and trying to live it in, say, Iowa. most electrifying scenes, a fullblown Blood gang member with many teardrop tattoos (signifying multiple murders) pulls over a school bus and menaces a young teen for daring to throw up a gang sign. “Y’all need to keep gangbanging those books and stop trying to be something you’re not! I kill Crips for breakfast!”

Amen. See the movie. Stay in school.

Things to Do

C6 August 14–20, 2015

www.TheEpochTimes.com JOAN MARCUS 2015

Penn & Teller on Broadway It’s been almost 25 years since the great magic-comedy team last brought their deconstructive illusionism to the Great White Way. Now they’re back with more shocking awesomeness. $47–$147. MarquisTheatre.com Through Aug. 16 Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway

COMMUNITY EVENTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Summer on the Hudson: FlyNYC Kite Flying Festival Aug. 15 at 11–4 p.m.

Pier I in Riverside Park South Kite Flying festival for all ages. Kitemaking kits will be provided for children and live music groups will play all day. Free. NYCGovParks.org Harlem Week Aug. 15–16, 22 Various Locations Harlem’s historic community’s rich artistic heritage in on full display during this “week” (actually more like a month). Free. HarlemWeek.com Elastic City Through Aug. 18 Various locations in NYC Elastic City intends to make its audience active participants in an ongoing poetic exchange with the places we live in and visit. The festival features participatory walks by artists, talks that have set out to undo the hierarchy of conventional artist talks in order to better situate the audience inside of an artist’s work, and artist-led workshops. Free.

Elastic-City.org Bryant Park Moves Saturdays through Sept. 26 This modern dance class, now in its fifth year, is led by dancers from the world-renowned Limón Dance Company. Free. BryantPark.org Exhibit: Oh Sit! 14 Sculptors Consider the Chair Through Nov. 8 Tower Plaza in Highbridge Park in Manhattan Located along the esplanade leading up to the recently opened High Bridge, Oh Sit! is a group exhibition of nine artists’ public artworks.

In a frantic world, finding a chair can be almost impossible and settling comfortably into one can be an enormous satisfaction. Free.

NYCgovParks.org

NEW ELSEWHERE Coney Island Sand Sculpting Contest Aug. 15 Coney Island Boardwalk This Coney Island competition is open to experienced artists and amateurs alike; would-be Michelangelos can register online or in person on the day. Free.

ConeyIslandFunGuide.com Jazz Age Lawn Party Aug. 15–16 Governor’s Island.

Sip on Prohibition-era cocktails like a classic St-Germain with mineral water and a twist or a glass of bubbly and none of the back-alley hooch of the day. $55 JazzAgeLawnParty.com

Kite Festival Sept. 19 at 11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Harbor View Lawn, Brooklyn Kites will be available for purchase or you can bring your own. Free.

BrooklynBridgePark.org The Unseen Holocaust: Recent Polish Films Oct. 25 at 2 p.m., Oct. 27–28 at 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Place The fall of communism ushered in a new era of candid and artistically accomplished Polish filmmaking about the Holocaust. This weeklong series presents features, documentaries, and short films rarely seen in the United States.

Discussions with experts will follow the screenings. $15 public, $12 members. MJHnyc.org

VISUAL ARTS ONGOING IN MANHATTAN New York View: MTA Arts & Design Illustrates the City Through Aug. 15 The Society of Illustrators, 128 E. 63rd St. New York View celebrates a selection of work by artists, illustrators and graphic designers who have been commissioned by the MTA to design posters and who have been selected to create permanent public work for the MTA system. $2–$10.

SocietyIllustrators.org Painting With Threads: Chinese Tapestry and Embroidery Through Aug. 16 Metropolitan Museum of Art Showcasing the artistic imagination and technical sophistication of China’s textile artists. $12–$25 suggested. MetMuseum.org Sumptuous: East Asian Lacquer, 14th–20th Century Through Aug. 16 Metropolitan Museum of Art Explores the many ways in which this material has been manipulated to create designs by painting, carving, or inlaying precious materials. $12–$25 suggested.

MetMuseum.org China Through the Looking Glass-Costume Institute Through Aug. 16 Metropolitan Museum of Art Explore the impact of Chinese aesthetics on Western fashion, and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. $12–$25 suggested.

MetMuseum.org Sinatra: An American Icon Through Sept. 4 NYPL, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center Frank Sinatra, an artist of such uncommon talent, was known simply as “The Voice.” The

exhibition will feature neverbefore-seen photos, family mementos, rare correspondence, personal items, artwork, and recordings. NYPL.org Leighton’s Flaming June Through Sept. 6 The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St. Frederic Leighton’s painting “Flaming June” is on view in New York for the first time.

Complimentary portraits by James McNeill Whistler will also be presented. $10-$20. Frick.org

ONGOING ELSEWHERE Samara Golden: The Flat Side of the Knife Through Aug. 31 MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City Los Angeles-based artist Samara Golden (American, b. 1973) creates immersive installations that explore what she calls the sixth dimension, where a multitude of pasts, presents, and futures exist concurrently. $5-$10. MOMAPS1.org The Rise of Sneaker Culture Through Oct. 4 Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway From their modest origins in the mid-nineteenth century to highend sneakers created in the past decade, sneakers have become a global obsession. Suggested $16.

BrooklynMuseum.org

PERFORMING ARTS NEW IN MANHATTAN Shakespeare in the Parking Lot: MacBeth Through Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.

Clemente Parking Lot, 114 Norfolk St. Performances of Shakespeare’s play “MacBeth” in a parking lot.

Bring your own chair or come early and use one already there. Free.

ShakespeareInTheParkinglot.com Rooftop Films Through Aug. 22 Various Locations in New York Film festival showing independent movies in outdoor locations. $15–$20. RoofTopFilms.com Hudson Warehouse Shakespeare Workout Aug. 22 at 3–5:30 p.m.

North Patio by the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Riverside Park, W. 89th St. and Riverside Dr. French Art Deco gallery Friedman & Vallois presents Vladimir Montufar’s fanciful artwork that pays a homage to the Mayan culture and expresses different aspects of man’s universal condition. Vallois.com HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Through Aug. 24 lawn opens on

Mondays at 5 p.m. and films start rolling 30 minutes after sunset.

The 23rd year of the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival presented by Bank of America with Time Out New York and in association with Bryant Park Corporation. Free. HBO.com Resonant Bodies Sept. 9 Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W 67th St. Sopranos Dawn Upshaw, Lucy Shelton and Tony Arnold share the stage for the first time at this one-night-only performance highlighting each artist’s most distinctive repertoire, including new pieces written specifically for them. $35.

KaufmanMusicCenter.org Hollywood Arms Sept. 21 Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W 67th St. The incomparable Carol Burnett teams up with Tony winners Tyne Daly and Michele Pawk and 2015 Tony nominee Emily Skeggs (Fun Home) for an anniversary reading of Burnett’s autobiographical play “Hollywood Arms.” $45–$75.

KaufmanMusicCenter.org Trajectories Art Exhibition Through Sept. 26 Friedman & Vallois, 27 E 67th St. French Art Deco gallery Friedman & Vallois presents Vladimir Montufar’s fanciful artwork that pays a homage to the Mayan culture and expresses different aspects of man’s universal condition. Vallois.com Free Kayaking Through October Various locations along Hudson River This event offers free sit-on-top kayaks for public use in protected Hudson River embayments. Brief instruction and all necessary safety equipment will be provided as well as changing rooms, lockers, and locks, bike locks, sun block, and first aid equipment. Free.

DowntownBoathouse.org

ONGOING ELSEWHERE Shakespeare at Sunset: Measure for Measure Aug. 16 at 7 p.m.

Brooklyn Bridge Park A performance of William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure.” Free.

BrooklynBridgePark.org

MUSIC NEW IN MANHATTAN YMUSIC Come Around Part I: Qasim Naqvi World Premiere Commission + Repertory Sept. 11 at 8 p.m.

New York Live Arts 219 W 19th St. New York Live Arts’ debut music

series features yMusic, a genre defying, indie-classical ensemble comprised of six New York City instrumentalists flourishing in the overlap between the pop and classical worlds. Tickets start at $15.

NewYorkLiveArts.org DINE AND DANCE WITH SINATRA Sept. 26 at 5 p.m.–11 p.m.

‘21’ Club 21 West 52nd St. Hosted in the sophisticated Puncheon Room and Gallery, crooner Nick Drakides and his band will play for your dining and dancing pleasure. $165. 21club.com THE BIG PICTURE Oct 14 at 7 p.m., Oct. 18 at 2 p.m.

Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Place In this cinematic concert, Grammynominated clarinetist David Krakauer explores the intersection of music and Jewish identity in iconic movies of the last 50 years.

Krakauer adds his contemporary style to beloved songs from films ranging from Funny Girl and Fiddler on the Roof to Sophie’s Choice and The Pianist. $35 general admission, $30 for seniors and students, $25 for members and groups of ten or more. MJHnyc.org

ONGOING IN MANHATTAN Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Through Aug. 22 Lincoln Center A discussion, performance and opportunity to meet the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Free.

MostlyMozart.org Spiral Music Every Wednesday Rubin Museum Spiral Music presents acoustic music every Wednesday evening at the base of the museum’s spiral staircase. Artists who specialize in music from the Himalayas and South Asia are invited to forge a connection between their music and the art in the galleries. Free.

RubinMuseum.org

NEW ELSEWHERE Bargemusic Aug. 15 at 8 p.m.

Fulton Ferry Landing near the Brooklyn Bridge Both established and emerging musicians perform at Bargemusic on a small stage with the dramatic backdrop of the East River and lower Manhattan skyline. $35.

Bargemusic.org

Dear Readers: If you have an event to list, please send details to nyc_arts@epochtimes.com in the format you see here.

Essence of China

C7 August 14–20, 2015

www.TheEpochTimes.com

How a Work by Hermann Hesse Captured the Essence of Ancient Chinese Poetry

By Leo Timm Epoch Times Staff The German author Hermann Hesse, known for his work about nature and his fascination with Eastern cultures and thought, penned a short, fairytale-like story set in old China. Titled “The Poet,” it concerns the life and work of Han Fook, an aspiring poet who leaves secular life to train with a mysterious old sage who introduces himself as the Master of the Perfect Word. It is one of eight short stories in a 1972 publication called “Strange News from a Another Star.”

Hesse’s hero encounters the sage while observing the indescribable beauty of a lantern festival reflected in the Yellow River, site of his home city. Overcome with a feeling that “true happiness and deep satisfaction could only” come from mirroring the “essence of the world” in his poetry, Han Fook comes across a strange old man in violet robes who reveals his identity as the Master and directs him to the mountains.

Paramount in Hesse’s story is the idea of expressing, through art, purity of thought in a world of chaotic phenomena. Though initially Han Fook leaves home to sharpen his skills and make a name for himself, he gradually gives up the attachment to worldly pursuit during his training. He discovers a form of higher achievement, one not rooted in worldly gain.

As Hesse’s countryman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, wrote in the sonnet “Nature and Art,” art is a manmade reflection of nature that, as Hesse’s protagonist discovers, offers true freedom.

Paramount in Hesse’s story is the idea of expressing, through art, purity of thought in a world of chaotic phenomena.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

“Nature and Art, they seem to go their separate ways, Yet suddenly they encounter each other. …

Indeed, only an honest effort is worthy!

And only when we measure out the hours And binding ourselves to art with spirit and diligence, Will nature again set our hearts alight.” (translated from textlog.de) Art as a search for the union of man with nature is a common theme that can be found throughout Chinese literature, as shown in the work of two famous recluse Chinese poets who lived over a thousand years ago.

Tao Yuanming and the Yearning for Nature Tao Qian (365–427), also known as Tao Yuanming, was an official in the fragmented Six Dynasties period (220–589). After many years of service, he became disillusioned with the annoyances of political life and went to the countryside, where he composed many well-known works.

In “Returning to Residence in the Fields No. 1,” he makes clear this flight to nature and escape from secular toil.

“Since young I was not matched with the worldly customs: My nature is in love with the hills and mountains. ...

Caged birds pine for their old woods; The ponded fish thinks of its native depths.

I have opened up land in the southern wastes, Keeping my simplicity, I return to plot and field. …

My home has no turmoil of the mundane world; In its empty rooms there is the wealth of leisure.

For so long I have lived in a cage, And return now to Nature.” (translated from source at gushiwen.org) One of Tao Yuanming’s most famous prose works, the “Peach Blossom Spring,” depicts the narrator’s journey to a land hidden from the outside world.

Following a short, idyllic stay, the traveler leaves with the intent to return. Yet even with the backing of a rich friend, he is never again able to rediscover this utopia through physical, external pursuit.

Just as Tao Yuanming is driven by a yearning for the natural realm, Hesse’s protagonist is motivated by an innate desire to reflect the beauty of the world in words. He feels it predestined for him that he should have the opportunity to study and learn from the Master of the Perfect Word, and gives up his bride and position to train in the wilderness.

The predestined feeling is acknowledged by Han’s father, who surmises that it may be the prerogative of a god. Han Fook takes off for the northwestern mountains and begins the cultivation of his art, which he admits may take many years.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Cultivating Artistic Mastery in Nature’s Sanctuary As Han Fook trains, it soon becomes clear that his skill is not the only subject of his cultivation—he himself must elevate in spiritual level. Multiple times he steals back home with the thought that he has missed out on life, but every time he cannot help but be drawn back to the woods and to his master, who teaches him through hints and simple instruction, as well as the teaching of the flute and the zither.

The use of music has profound significance in Chinese spiritual tradition; it was considered by Confucius, the great social and moral teacher, to be a key instrument in harmonious governance. Likewise, the art of poetry itself serves as a lyrical connector between the confines of human language and the myriad expressions of the visceral, natural realm.

Chinese poetic work is permeated with scenes of nature and speaks to the calling of a higher plane. Wang Wei, an eighth-century poet of the early Tang Dynasty who became a devout Zen Buddhist, is a renowned example.

In “The Villa of the Southern Extreme,” he describes relocating to the mountains in search of a “good Way,” and eventually loses track of time while conversing with an old man he meets in nature.

Wang Wei’s poems focus on scenes that depict the vast scale and majesty of the natural world; humans, even when they do appear, are in the diminutive.

In “Mountain Life in the Autumn Night,” Wang Wei writes of massive mountains after a rain, demonstrating the greatness of

Just as Tao Yuanming is driven by a yearning for the natural realm, Hesse’s protagonist is motivated by an innate desire to reflect the beauty of the world in words.

“Tao Yuanming Seated Under a Willow” by the Japanese artist Tani Bunchō, 1812.

Detail of “Peach Blossom Spring,” painted

by Ming Dynasty-era artist Qiu Ying.

Heaven and Earth. Then, through pine forests and running spring waters, washerwomen chatter in a bamboo thicket. A final line by the narrator expresses his humble satisfaction with the scene.

It is this humble reverence that Han Fook develops before his master and, more importantly, before the world. He even becomes unattached to the passage of time. He gives up not only his secular fortune but even the desire for secular accomplishment in exchange for full mastery of his vocation.

Only through apparent loss was Han Fook able to find what he was searching for. As Goethe put it in “Nature and Art”: “He who seeks greatness must bring himself together: The Master reveals himself only in limitation, And the law alone can give us freedom.”

Transcending the Human Element, Leaving the Secular Plane After the sudden departure of his

master, Han Fook realizes that his training is complete and returns to his home city. He gazes upon the same lantern festival that first prompted his spiritual odyssey.

Looking at the autumn scene, Han Fook, now an old man and the new master, beholds the perfection not only in nature but in his diction, just as the Yellow River reflects it in its waters.

For the world described in the verses of Chinese poetry—the mastery of “perfect words,” as Hesse called it—is one reached through spiritual elevation and the giving up of material interest.

The poetry of Tao Yuanming, Wang Wei, and that of the later Tang and Song Dynasty masters—Li Bai, Du Fu, Su Shi, to name a few—married the lyrical art of poetry to the wisdom of classical Chinese teachers and philosophers. The vast body of famous works and the richness of the Chinese written language have reached a broad audience over many centuries and into the present, beyond the borders of China itself.

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Fine Arts

C8 August 14–20, 2015

www.TheEpochTimes.com COURTESY OF LESLIE LIENAU

At the Confluence

The Envelope Technique

WHERE PAINTING & PHOTOGRAPHY MEET

Leslie Lienau

Teaching Renaissance Art With a Drawing App

By Christine Lin Epoch Times Staff Part 9 of 9

The increasing prevalence of photography has fundamentally changed the way representational art is created and perceived in the modern day. At the Confluence examines how some of today’s artists have responded to the shift.

Leslie Lienau is the founder of The Conservatory for Classical Art in Edmond, Oklahoma. The school teaches methods used in the Italian Renaissance and the Beaux-Arts traditions of the 19th century.

In November 2013 Lienau launched Miira, an iOS app that allows users to take or import photos to work from. Its functions include a grid overlay, guidelines, shape blocking, and freehand sketching. With these tools, an artist (or hobbyist) is able to map out a photo reference for easier drawing.

Using guidelines, artists can create what’s known as an envelope around the object they are drawing so as to accurately define its overall shape. Guidelines also make spatial relationships between objects easier to understand. Using a grid, one can check the exact placement of details, or transfer the image 1:1 onto a similarly gridded canvas. With one tap, the image

can be changed to grayscale so as to better assess the values of colors.

For a classical art instructor to create this kind of app is sort of daring, given the stigma that surrounds technology in ateliers.

“There are so many different viewpoints on this issue,” Lienau said in a phone interview. “I deal with it all the time. Some traditionalists say you’re not good enough if it’s not done from life.

That can be really hard for a lot of artists.”

A Practical Workaround Case in point: Edmond’s museums. Edmond, Oklahoma, is a town of roughly 87,000 people. The museums nearby include the Oklahoma City Art museum, and the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma.

“There are some great museums, but they won’t let people set up easels there,” Lienau said.

“Maybe they’re afraid of damaging the artwork, so they tell people ‘drawing pads only.’”

That’s a problem because part of the training of a classical painter is to make copies of old masters’ works. If you’ve ever seen someone at the museum attempting to make an exact replica of a Raphael, that’s what she’s doing. It’s for learning, not the black market.

“The benefit is to really learn about the process and understand what made the masters

COURTESY OF LESLIE LIENAU

Artists can draw guides using the Miira app to judge the accuracy of a drawing.

Leslie Lienau.

good,” Lienau said. “It’s hard to do that from a photograph.

The best way to do that is at a museum. But in my town that’s tough. It’s great if you’re in New York City and you can go to the Met.” Portraits are another area where having a photo reference has become more than a niceto-have.

In the old days before photography, if an artist gets a portrait commission but the sitter didn’t have the requisite six hours a week to model, the artist’s best option was to do the job in two segments. First, the sitter would be invited to the studio to sit for the important parts— composition, face, and hands.

Then, the artist would dress a mannequin and pose it on the couch for the rest of the portrait.

Photography provided a more

elegant solution for the problem. The sitter would still come in, but the sitting would also include a photoshoot so that the artist had a photo to refer to later. No mannequin necessary.

Today, sitting for a portrait is almost unheard of. With sitters’ busy schedules, and models charging more than many individual artists can afford, knowing how to paint from photographs is becoming a necessary skill.

A Teaching Tool Miira works not only as an artmaking aid but also as a teaching tool.

“We want to help artists, students, and teachers,” Lienau said. “It’s really hard to teach a visual language with speech.”

With Miira, a teacher is able to instantly take a photo to dem-

The envelope technique is a central feature to Lienau’s drawing, on her app and in her studio. Here, Lienau explains the basic concept of using a visual envelope to develop a drawing.

When I studied with Ted Seth Jacobs at his school in Central France, I learned a systematic approach to drawing from direct observation, or rather, drawing from life. He taught me how to begin the drawing by building an “envelope” around a subject, whether a portrait, a figure, or a still-life.

The envelope encapsulates the entire subject within a simple geometric form made up of five to six straight, intersecting line segments. After the envelope is in place, the other elements and forms can be added within its confines. The envelope is conceptual and somewhat difficult to grasp because one has to draw something that is not actually seen.

On my blog, miiraartisttools.com/blogs, I describe the systematic process I use to make a portrait and will explain how my invention, The View Frame, enables the artist to actually “see” the envelope prior to beginning the drawing. I also explain how the tool can be used to measure proportions and see the alignment of forms.

onstrate concepts like making an envelope, instead of standing next to the student, holding a tilted pencil and squinting in the hopes that the student can see just what is being referred to.

“It enables the artist to understand what they’re seeing, and change their thought process,” Lienau said. “It helps you understand what the mistake is.”

Lienau gives the example of a portrait she did where something in the model’s face was off, but she couldn’t figure out what. Using guidelines on the app, she drew horizontal lines from one corner of the mouth to the other, one wing of the nostril to the other, and one pupil to the other—and realized that the eye-line was askew as compared to those of the nose and mouth.

Knowing that, she would know to pay extra attention to avoid this mistake in the future.

The Burden of Choice Lienau is first to say that the app isn’t for everyone, nor is it a panacea for all drawing woes. In her school, the app is not for tracing, not for snapping photos in a live-drawing class, and not for beginning students. In fact, to someone with little classical art training (this reporter), the app is nearly useless.

“I tell them we are only going to draw from life,” she said. “I don’t let them use my app until they have a handle on what they are looking at—and that’s usually a year to master drawing from life.”

But it’s tough convincing students, especially those who grew up with technology, to work strictly from life. Students at The Conservatory for Classical Art range from 6 to 85 years old, according to Lienau.

That’s why there’s a learning curve for teachers. Not only do you have to teach drawing, you also have to teach sight.

And then there’s shopping for apps. With a number of apps out there that trace, posterize, and adjust hues and saturations, the hardest thing is for students to decide what digital aid to use, when to use it, and why. As the world of fine arts continues to interact with that of technology, literacy in both will become more important than ever.

To see the entire series online, visit EPT.ms/AtTheConfluence The series “At the Confluence” that has appeared in the Epoch Arts section over the last eight weeks is a nine part series. Epoch Times regrets the error.

NEW YORK GOES GREEN

In Times Square!

27th Anniversary!

AUGUST 16TH, 2015 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

A Great Day Of Family Fun! . Facepainting Artists . Delicious Food And Entertainment . Great New York Tap-in . Green Products Including Electric And Other Green Vehicles . Learn With Seminars And Workshops On Sustainability And Energy Efficiency . Exciting performances all day on the Solar Stage . Eco Activities, The Recycling Olympics And Much More!

Broadway @42-44th More Info At

EcoFest.org

Free Admission