Good Day everyone…
LAL had a hiccup recently, well it was much more than just a hiccup….our site crashed, our email addresses crashed, everything crashed.
But we’re now back online.
Please be in touch anytime, and know we’re on our way to getting this site back in the works of more regular updates etc.
When I first heard about Eric Lewis, aka ELEW, it was through a friend. He said, “You gotta check this guy out, he’s like nothing you’ve ever seen or heard before.” He could not have been more right.
Soon after that, probably two years back, ELEW was performing with The Roots at the Highline Ballroom. This was inherently intriguing, as I really love The Roots, and at the time they had just begun to perform nightly with Jimmy Fallon, so seeing them live was not too easy. Thought it would prove to be a great chance to catch ELEW in a light that might be foretelling of his skills.
This proved to be the case as when the concert began, ELEW stood at the keys as if he was entering a battle, staring them down and soon banging on them feverishly, as if they were his enemy.
I thought it strange, until the moment he picked up his keytar, a keyboard that is worn like a guitar. At that moment, I realized this guy does what he feels, and there is not going to be a sound that comes out of him that does not emanate from his soul. Yes, this is heavy, but this is what makes great music. Regardless whose music ELEW plays, his take on it comes out with the power of an earthquake. He will shake you with his bass notes and make you feel the temperature of his melody lines.
What amazes me about ELEW is his philosophy about music and his approach on being an artist. Let it be known that ELEW is taking on the Jazz community. He has taken it upon himself to play music in a jazz style that was born in the rock n roll world. Of course this is scoffed at, but ELEW faces this battle like he did at that first concert I saw, as if this battle is all that exists. In my opinion, this is graceful. As for taking on the jazz community, well, he just has to. He’d rather not, but they spurn him for his direction. I get it, but I don’t agree with it.
In New York City, and abroad, this is what being an artist is all about. Overcoming obstacles and difficulties that will derail you from your intended course. To walk this path is a challenge, a formidable adversary, and ELEW, like so many artists pushes forward, regardless of these obstacles.
For more info on ELEW, please click here.
I’ve been going over my idea called Look At Life for so long. Its a bit odd for me to think back over the last five years and analyze the many things I’ve done to make this little pipe dream a real business. This year, things are finally coming into focus.
Now that we are coming to a new stage of its development, I’m excited to be able to share specific art/artists and their ideas that I have aligned with over the years. The artists involved are the ones that make this place so special, and it is for them that I go out on a limb.
Because I do think the internet has devalued the fine art experience by making imagery so quickly accessible, I believe generations to come may not have as much of a passion for galleries and museums because they can view all of that work online. This is distressing to me as my passion for the Arts grew out of my appreciation for experiences in these venues.
My hope with the soon-to-be-released Look At Life Signature Metal Prints is that we will help people realize how wonderful art can be in a non-complicated manner. We seek to share our network’s artwork in as many places as possible, but aim to share it in high traffic areas where a lot of people will be able to enjoy it, and realize that the Look At Life community has a diverse amount of art and thought within.
And of course with this, we hope to inspire the world to support the experience of enjoying art in person.
I stopped by what was once the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral Catholic School this past Saturday for an all-star art exhibition in support of our troubled public school system. It was four stories of art from some of the most prolific artists of our time side by side with a bunch of up and comers that you probably haven’t heard of yet, but will soon. As expected, the artwork and turnout was exceptional. And, more importantly, the message to fix our ailing public school system was prominent. The exhibition is being supported by Bing’s education platform, Redu, which I encourage you all to join and become involved with. Here’s a quick video to give you a better idea of what they are about…
The public school system in this country has been plagued for many years now with problems that have made it tougher and tougher for children to get a decent education. And it is in these very public schools that we are able to develop our passion, understanding and “eye” for the arts. The Re:Form School exhibition is still open today until 6pm at 233 Mott Street (at Prince) and it is never to late to get involved with Redu and try to make a difference in our public schools.
The digital spill is coming. The cup that is our digital world is filling quickly, another representing obsolescence empties, the table it sits on is shaking, and some guy at the table next to ours is about to buy a round of variables.
Things are about to change, big time. For this city, the New York Times is a staple here, and the recent news that it will eventually fold flabberghasts us. This amendment in process provides as much of an understanding of the way things are happening as it does illustrate a movement we likely should not disregard. Even though I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a copy of this newspaper, I have often found info through it online and over iPhone apps more recently, so as much as I would say I’m upset about this eco-friendly change, I’m not going to be able to do that.
It’s a bit odd, and telling, of our world to be manifesting a new era. It seems that empires of history have shaped themselves around changes in technology. Gun powder changed war, and the industrial revolution enabled growth and capitalistic succession. Blah blah blah, can we easily place the conglomerate meaning of what this change will be, and mean? No. But, hopefully it does not end with Terminators running amuck. (Good thing there are California elections coming up.)
To this city, anyhow; not much will appear to change. The socially cognizant mindset behind this message of not printing hundreds of thousands of papers per day really tickles my fancy, but some aspect of this altering feels off, and in this way, in a tainted sense of course, very New York. Perhaps it will mean that our nation will become more skilled and technically savvy, but again, I can’t see the future like a fortune teller can, so we have to leave it at TBD.
My point is, again, por supuesto; there’s always something changing here.
Hello LAL’ers, view the video above I put together after a few photo trips in 2009. This is an intro to my interests in art.
I’m here to share my photo book “The Long Way Home.” with you. As an artist, I really think it’s important for me to recognize different fundamentals of creativity, and so I choose to put together multimedia works of art, bearing this in mind. Click here for the music that goes with this photo book.
Most of the soundtrack is based around the acoustic guitar so I thought of doing the single-camera-singer-songwriter setup but eventually decided on something different. The idea seemed unique to me so I wanted another visual element to push it further. Time-lapse photography always interested me because it captures minutes or hours of life and condenses it into seconds. Through trial and error I discovered a useful workflow and went about shooting landscapes in Maryland during the Fall and late summer of 2008.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the process of time-lapse footage here’s a condensed version of a how-to. A tripod, timer and a camera are your three necessary components. Judging on how much footage you want from a particular scene, set the timer to intervals of 5, 10, 20, 30 seconds etc. I usually base my intervals on the wind and landscape but everyone has a different vision. The final step is to divide the amount of frames shot by 24 (standard speed is 24 frames per second) and there’s your clip length. After shooting, crop the images to 1080 x 1920 and if you choose to manipulate the images; you can write scripts in Photoshop to adjust whatever you choose, whether it’s levels, contrast or color.
I don’t know how to use Final Cut so I posted in a Vimeo forum looking to trade composing a soundtrack in exchange for someone to edit this footage. Sophie Broadgate, a film student from Manchester, responded and went to work on making it a cohesive body of work. There you have it, all of that fits into 3:38.
There are some websites on the internet that you should not check out, ever. Aaron Stern’s photoblog is not one of these. A Medium Format says so much about the culture of New York City, from the inside out. And in NYC if you’re here, this is a great portal to keep an eye on what is current and cool.
A few things about this site you should understand. One, it is a reflection of pop culture in the city through the lens of a gifted and young photographer. Two, the different types of shooting Aaron does adds an aesthetic through the site that I find pleasing, and think that other young photographers recognize as fun, but adding character to their bodies of work. Aaron utilizes different types of cameras, from film to digital. His process is based on what he likes, not what people are looking for or what is easiest. This is a symbol of art in our new generation. It’s about choice. Third, and what needs to be elaborated on in an entirely new paragraph is what Aaron’s website captures.
The culture that Aaron exhibits continues to be the new and next wave of where/what/who is popular here in the city. It is about the people and what they want, and really demand, out of events and experience. The diverse nature of trendsetters, uber-elite, hipsters and the like are a bursting threshold of cool here in the city. The look they provide an opening or event is remarkable. It should be taken into account that this is not an easy thing to tap into. What is incredible about Aaron’s documentary work is not only that he highlights culture, but he is the one aligning the ideas for a lot of these events and in effect positioning them in this way.
Like great photographers, in fashion particularly, these individuals stage their images to appear a certain specific way, but this is in a controlled environment. Aaron’s creativity is special because of the overarching moves he is making; it is not one thing, but many, that constitute his contributions to the city and it’s evolving culture.
To New York City, the date of September 11th means so many things.
It is a reminder of pain and loss. It consumes people with frustration and anger. It breeds sadness. It holds so many negative connotations to so many. We here at Look At Life are respectful of this.
The vicious attacks on our country were an assault on freedom and our very way of life. And in recompense, our government waged war on terrorism, both at home and abroad. Every action has a reaction, and whether we agree with this or not, it has shaped our understanding of the power, we as a nation, a community, and individuals have intrinsically within us.
Now, years later after this attack, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is starting to pick up steam, and come alive. This is a symbol of our country’s strength and perseverance. We should all be proud of this ability. And it is this ability to move on and create anew that is the reason our New York City based artist network is choosing to soft-launch our new website on this date.
We seek to be a visual reminder of the strength and beauty of our city, and our country. Without taking away from the respect due to those lost, and their families, we hope to express this as our new home, our little piece of city, is built anew.
Welcome to Look At Life.
This video displays the artists pulled together during the last four years of our time as a community network. These artists works are a part of Look At Life’s 2010 Portfolio. These individuals, and their various artistic styles, display the diversity of visual art that our community network has been pulling together over the past few years in New York City.
Ranging in style from painting to ink drawings to photography to mixed media, we offer emerging talent a unique distribution method for their art, generating publicity and sales.
Last night, Benj Gershman (http://www.benjgershman.com), founder of Look At Life, brought together music and art in a way New York City is proud of. The idea that a musician can venture out into other realms of art is nothing new, however doing this with a significant amount of integrity is not always simple.
Beginning his professional photographic career by exhibiting with the iconic Morrison Hotel Gallery (http://www.morrisonhotelgallery.com) is nothing short of smart. This fine art music photography gallery is home to Rock N’ Roll’s most well-known and established photographers, and now the home to photos of O.A.R. by O.A.R. There is nowhere else that could have made sense for this bassist to share his documentary work of the band he founded in 1996, while in high school in Maryland.
The diverse array of images not only show the developing skill of this young photographer, but they show the next generation of photographic artist’s capability to utilize both old and new technologies. Ranging from film to Polaroid to digital, and even some iPhone photos printed onto metal, this photographer proves that he not only grasps the beauty of creating through different mediums, but understands how to capture the eye of an exhibition attendee.
This exhibit is viewable from August 20, 2010 to September 9th 2010, at the Morrison Hotel Gallery Bowery location (former site of world famous NYC music club CBGB’s), 313 Bowery @ Bleecker in the East Village. All images are available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to O.A.R.’s Heard The World fund, which benefits youth and education programs worldwide.
See these links for more information on the exhibit and Benj Gershman Photography:
http://www.facebook.com/benjgershmanphotography
See these links for coverage on the opening:
http://www.stylecaster.com/news/9110/o.a.r.s-benj-gershman-gets-hipstamatic-with-his-photo-show
http://www.spin.com/articles/oars-benj-gershman-exhibits-original-art-nyc
http://www.papermag.com/2010/08/benj_gershman_and_friends_rock.php
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/niteside/NTSD-OAR-Bass-Guitarist-Benj-Gershman.html
http://www.chipchick.com/2010/08/hipstamatic-oar.html
Click here for a link to O.A.R.’s website http://www.ofarevolution.com