The Lardner Report

Unleash your creative superpowers!

The Other Side Of Paris: Street Art That Changes Overnight

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(Pic #1) Belleville bold: Paris neighborhood encourages art for art’s sake.

Capture it while you can, because the next day it may be gone.

The multi-cultural section of Paris called Belleville has a storied past – and a fascinating present. The iconic French songstress Édith Piaf grew up here, and according to legend, was born under a lamppost on the steps of the Rue de Belleville. It has since seen new waves of immigrants establish themselves — with an abundance of Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan, and Ethiopian eateries tucked in among galleries and cafes.

(Pic #2) Outdoor diners blend in with the high-energy street art on Rue Denoyez

 

But if you’re a street art junkie as I am —  Rue Denoyez will stop your heart. It’s about a quarter mile of wall-to-wall, pavement-to-roof  paintings, in a kaleidoscope of colors and styles, executed phentermine with a wide range of sophistication and raw talent.

Why? It’s legal.

The passageway is one of the few city-approved locations earmarked for what would normally be considered vandalism. This freedom has inspired local artists, residents, and tourists alike to contribute to the street’s organic growth; passersby see planters decorated with poems and mosaics, and discover miniature vases, teapots, and frames stuck haphazardly into quirky little holes in the wall. There is little blank space left — and somehow it all works.

The overall feel is somewhere between early junkyard and classic Basquiat. You can’t stop exploring, and sensing the art is alive. 

Doubtful the Paris Office of Tourism will showcase this colorful section of Belleville in its marketing materials, but for an extraordinary visual jolt — it’s an easy ride on Le Metro.

Self-portrait on Rue De Noyez, Paris

 

Losing Focus: It’s A Good Thing

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(Pic #1) Sharp focus – dull image.

“Focus!”  We hear it from teachers, coaches, bosses even spouses.

“Focus!” Put all extraneous thoughts out of your head and concentrate on the task at hand.  Focus is that single-mindedness that allows us to achieve. Without it, the greatest of intentions often disappear into the mist of fanciful daydreams. Focus can be your best friend when you are vigorously attacking your to-do list. But it can be your worst enemy when it comes to creating art.

Don’t get me wrong, attention to detail is important in art, and I suppose that requires some focus, but the engine that drives the artist is creativity, and that often requires the exact opposite of focus. It requires letting your mind run free, tuning into the seemingly random, unconnected sights and sounds that inspire great art.

Often the focused, crystal clear view of the world can mask an incredible universe of beauty that emerges when we blur our vision a bit.

(Pic #2) Sparing the details: the beauty of losing focus

In Kindergarten, I remember asking my best friend Tana Klugherz if she could “look blurry-eyed” at something – and do it on command, as I could. It was such a thrill to shift the world totally out of focus – into a palette of soft colors.  It turned everything into a lovely abstraction. Now I get to explore and change my view with technology and a good camera. Maybe not as fun – but still pretty magical.

On top of the page (Pic #1):  a shot of a bougainvillea branch in our backyard.  Nice photograph, well composed, perfectly in focus. No interpretation necessary, no imagination needed. Picture #2 (above) is almost exactly the same shot, but purposely out of focus.  Suddenly the colors and shapes become ethereal, suddenly they invite — in fact demand  — the viewer’s imagination.

Lose your focus — find your inner artist.

 

Creative Collaboration: The Mystery Of Artistic Alchemy

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Mighty Sam McClain and Mahsa Vahdat

If you follow the news at all, you know that early this year scientists all over the world shared their euphoria over the discovery of Higgs-Boson, a sub-atomic particle they called “a completely new kind of object to never exist before.” And for a moment, even though it made no sense to us, even though the scientists communicated in a language we didn’t really speak, we understood that the end result was miraculous, and so we shared the excitement, and we saw the world a little differently through their eyes.

My recent experience with an unexpected and totally new amalgamation is certainly less important, but for me the euphoria was no less profound. It wasn’t science — but music — that provided that miracle for me. It wasn’t Higgs-Boson, it was McClain-Vahdat. An alchemy of totally mismatched virtuosos that produced a sound like nothing I had ever experienced. And how they got there, is the real miracle. An American Blues master from  Monroe Lousiana, who grew up under Jim Crow laws… and a Persian chanteuse who sought artistic freedom in Tehran, under Sharia law. Two incredible musical talents, and all it took to bring them together was a Norwegian poet. But I am getting way ahead of myself.

(Pic #1) Mighty Sam McClain and Mahsa Vahdat at the Skirball Cultural Center, November 8th, 2012

My lucky day:

I was driving on the 405 to L.A.’s West Side when I heard a song on NPR that forced me to pull over. It was called “Two Jewels” – and it introduced me to a kind of art that takes you to a special place – and you just have to tell everybody you know.

It featured the soulful voice of blues icon “Mighty Sam” McClain and a new sound – at least to my ears – that can only be described as hypnotic. While I didn’t know Ms. Vahdat, I recognized the complex, colorful Middle Eastern tones.  And somehow, paired with the rich bluesy 50-year-vocal-history of Mr. McClain – magic happened.

I had to know more.

After scouring iTunes to download everything from the duo I could find, syncing it to my iPod for a daily dose, I find out McClain and Vahdat are playing live on the intimate stage of L.A.’s Skirball Cultural Center. I felt like a kid – intent on grabbing front row seats, and inviting my Persian friend Fariba to share in the experience.

On stage, McClain shared a bit of background on this unique collaboration, and revealed that when he first heard Ms. Vahdat’s voice, “I had to turn it off.” Later, he said, “her music grew one me.” Like me, he was hooked.

(Pic #2 ) Mighty Sam McClain sings “Two Jewels” – Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

I asked Ms. Vahdat what happened when she first heard McClain’s music – and she said, “I just cried.”

Each knew they were destined to work with each other. Norwegian producer/poet Erik Hillestad (known for his controversial recording, “Lullabies From The Axis Of Evil” – a compilation of traditional lullabies sung by women from Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) brought the two super talents together with his own poetry and the poems of Iranian Mohammed Ibrahim Jafari. Their melodies are based on Iranian folk music, mixed with bluesy English and classical Farsi vocals. It was pure adventure.

(Pic #3) Persian songstress Mahsa Vahdat, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles

What a gift to see and hear this Iranian gem perform. Because the sobering truth is – after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, in Iran the female voice was banned in public and even now female singers can only perform for “women only” audiences or alongside a male voice, and they can never publicly sing solo.

Vahdat and her sister Marjan  recorded a concert in 2008 in Tehran, at which the two performed without veils in a statement about oppression of women in their country. Mahsa’s bold resistance earned her the 2010 Freemuse Award – which advocates freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide.

On stage Vahdat told her audience, “Politicians may try to drive us apart. But art and culture can bring us together.”

Miss Vahdat is right — art and culture, like those unknown sub-atomic particles — can sometimes collide, and in that moment, in some small way, the world changes.

(Pic #4) Lonnie Lardner and Mighty Sam McClain, Skirball Cultural Center, November 8th, 2012

The pair has recorded two albums together:  Scent of Reunion (Love Duets Across Civilizations) and  Deeper Tone of Longing (Love Duets Across Civilizations). Highlights:  So Blue, Silent Song, Deeper Tone of Longing,Two Jewels, and Sun of Iran.