I Like This

Someone said something very similar to this to me a few years ago. I took it as a compliment. (and it's kinda sorta pretty much true...)

This is available as a print from a cool website called 20x200 -- you can buy this specific print here.

Burrough's Stuff

A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Could be sheer sentimentality, being from Kerouac town, but I am still fascinated by all things Beat.

This photo essay of William Burrough's belongings really got to me, especially the bit about these shoes.

What did we do before the internet? (uh, maybe walked around enough to bore holes in the bottoms of our shoes?)

Another Reason to *Heart* NYC

Besides just being really cool, this is a great way to deal with all those pesky grocery bags you keep taking (instead of just using a reusable one). So is this.

via Gothamist

What is Art?

A question that has plagued the ages.

Google "Art" and this is the first image on the list:

The first Google search item leads us to a site where you can buy stuff (like this masterpiece).

Wikipedia defines Art as

... a diverse range of human activities and artifacts, and may be used to cover all or any of the arts, including music, literature and other forms. It is most often used to refer specifically to the visual arts, including media such as painting, sculpture, and printmaking. However it can also be applied to forms of art that stimulate the other senses, such as music, an auditory art.

I was reading something this morning (for which I can't find the link...) and it led me to this title:

The Dubious Art of Torture

Costa Rican artist Guilermo Vargas Habacuc

tied a starving stray dog in a gallery space in Nicarugua, out of reach but not the smell of food, and let him die.

He argues

The purpose of the work was not to cause any type of infliction on the poor, innocent creature, but rather to illustrate a point.

Is that art? Does all art have to have meaning or "illustrate a point"? Does calling it "Art" lessen the moral or ethical implications of the act? This dog project is basically the installation art version of a snuff film, right?

I have a friend who considers the film Bride of Chuckie "High Art" simply based on the fact that two animatronic dolls have a make-out scene.

I, on the other hand, consider the whole concept of High Art to be defined by this video:

Getting into Voiceovers

I've been asked by a handful of people over the last few months just how I got into doing voiceovers.

I'm always happy to tell my story, with a couple of caveats:

• I can only tell you what I did. Other people did it different ways that may have been easier/faster/better/cheaper/kinkier. I did it this way. (James Urbaniak, for example, did it this way.)
• I most likely can't get you an agent. That's one of the hardest things to do, and it's a hurdle every actor faces. If it was easier to find work, it probably wouldn't pay as much. Or I'd be writing from my own private island already.
• There's a joke in the business that all the work is done by 8 people. This is not far from the truth.
  

That being said, here's what I did.

I had a friend who was doing well in Voiceovers. I asked her how she got into it. She referred me to her coach, Peter Rofé. I met him and liked him. I worked with Peter for about 4-6 coaching sessions before I recorded my commercial reel.

Peter invites selected students to workshops he holds with agents and casting directors. This is how I met my agent.

I was with my agency for about a year when one of the agents urged me to make a promo reel. She referred me to another coach, the saucy Marla Kirban. I worked with Marla for four sessions and then recorded my promo reel. This was a good idea. I currently have a handful of promos running on cable.

Unless you're already doing it, I believe working with a coach is a crucial part of starting out. Even if you're a trained actor, commercial copy is tricky. It's not a straightforward read. And it's not the same as doing it for the camera.

I highly recommend both Peter and Marla. I worked with a guy back in 2001 who I feel scammed me-- six months of weekly coaching sessions (at $85/hour) and I never got a reel out of it. I won't post his name here. Instead, I'll say if you're looking for a coach, be sure to do your research and get more than one referral from people you trust. There are gads of people who are more than willing to take your money and tell you you're headed for the big time. Don't believe the hype. The hype is pricey and a waste of time.

The other big issue that comes into play when getting into this business is money. There is a lot of it to be made. It's great work-- a lot of fun with creative people. But as in most cases, you've got to spend money to make money. I spent a good chunk of it getting myself. And I didn't make it back right away. I bet I went out on over 100 auditions before I booked my first job.*

It takes time, perseverance and a sprinkle of luck. But mostly perseverance. Voiceovers, like any field in the arts, is 10% "talent", 30% who you know and about 600% persistence.

Last summer I fulfilled my childhood dream when I recorded my first cartoon voice. That job came from a friend from high school, who is a writer and producer on the show.

Ok, maybe it's 40% who you know...

*Update March 2009: I have estimated that I probably had 600-800 auditions before booking the Campbell's Campaign which paid me more than waiting on tables.

High Rents Drive Out Artists. Duh!

It’s an old story, but let’s hear it again: Up go the rents, out go the artists. A new report from the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia's Teachers College makes the case that New York real estate values are driving artists to lower-cost cities and that the city’s cultural capital is endangered, according to an article in today's Sun.

(From Brownstoner, via the New York Sun)

And they're really just touching on visual artists here. The artists interviewed were between the ages of 62 and 97. I moved here when I was 23, lucked my way into a rent-stabilized roommate situation in the East Village which skyrocketed (but was still "a deal") when my lease-holding roommate moved out. That apartment today, a 3-BR on Avenue C, which rented for about $1750 in 1997, rents at over $3000. And yes, we had a mouse problem when they were gutting the storefront last year to make room for a bank. Now that neighborhood is filled with places like this.

I wonder if there are kids moving here today the way I did-- with less than $1000 to my name (like, In The Whole World-- no secret savings accounts or parental stipends), but naïve enough to figure that it could work. Nearly ten years later, rents have skyrocketed beyond all semblance of control, but most acting jobs still don't pay enough to actually live here, nevermind comfortably. The theaters I worked in, bundled in my winter coat because the window got smashed or the proprietor didn't turn on the heat, have all gone or are going condo or have been replaced by bars or restaurants. Luckily, some have found new homes (Collective Unconscious) and new places created in Williamsburg (the Brick, the Battle Ranch) and Long Island City (the Chocolate Factory), to name a few.

An open letter to people who have to ask this question: Yes. We need affordable housing. Even if we are white, college-educated kids who come from what used to be the middle class. We are your waiters. We are your bartenders. We are your office temps who shut down Excel when you don't know how. And unless you plan to really jack up how much you tip, save us a place to live.

Really. Are the tourists going to want to keep coming to visit to see all the Hedge Fund Managers in the city?

I'm telling ya, Berlin is looking really good right now. Where did I put those German language tapes?

If Jackson Pollack Went Digital

Fun time-passer.

via Stumble Upon.

Did Someone Say The Crush Project???

More than one friend sent me a link to this article in the Times about -- *gasp* -- Fake Ads on Craigslist!

This, perhaps, could be how my two favorite Crush Project Recordings, blink and wink, came about:

Across the country, aspiring writers are using Craigslist not just as a place to offload their futons, but as a pixeled writing workshop where they test their stabs at social satire on some of the more than 30 million visitors that the site draws each month. Their personal ads ostensibly seek a soul mate, but what they’re really looking for is an audience.

Read the rest of the article here.

I wonder if said "aspiring writers" would appreciate me just helping myself to their work? Is this what they consider "an audience"? What do all those copyright symbols on CL actually cover? Thoughts?