That's It. Japan Wins.

I realize, in hindsight, that this title might not be popular among some veterans. For that, I apologize. But you should take solace in the fact that, it's obviously not true. Although there are rumors of an island where the inhabitants (Japanese) still don't know that WWII is over or that there are soldiers who have refused to surrender until very recently. Like, very very recently. As in, not until January of this year. And even then, he really surrendered to death more than anything else. Just saying. Not to be dramatic or anything.

Anyway. I've been reading a lot recently-- just in general, because I've been a hermit due to all my other commitments until now, the last quarter of my business school career, at which point, I've realized I'm just on the cusp of deciding that I want to tell everyone that they're lucky I'm wearing pants and that class participation, especially if it's in the morning, is pretty much out of the question. Also, they should seriously consider using presence as a measure of class participation if the student is a last quarter-about-to-graduate-b-school-student. Just sayin'.

Anyway.

I bring to you: exciting words I've learned recently.

Kintsugi: the art of repairing broken pottery with gold to celebrate the beauty that arises out of imperfection

and

Wabi-Sabi. I'm not as articulate as Wikipedia, so, put simply (or in the words of Wikipedia): represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".^[1] It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin^?), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō^?), the other two being suffering (苦 ku^?) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空 kū^?).

Ever Tried Explaining a Kanye West Music Video to Someone?

 

It's impossible. You sound crazy. But here's why Kanye West does follow the classical arc of the hero as defined by Greek mythology:

Kanye West, born as Kanye Omari West in 1977, is a Chicagoan born and raised. First known for breaking on the scene as a producer under Roc-A-Fella Records, he achieved early recognition for his work on Jay-Z’s “The Blueprint” (released in 2001) because of his unique production style of using high pitched vocal samples from soul, be-bop, motown and early rock songs incorporated with his own drums and instruments. Some attribute this style to his family roots in Motown. Regardless, Kanye later expanded his musical influences to include R&B, electronica, folk, alternative, industrial and synth pop into his repertoire to broaden his appeal and further experiment and challenge the confines of musical genre. Raised as a young man in a middle-class household in Chicago, IL, many of Kanye’s musical content has been influenced by the trials and tribulations of what could be seen as an “everyday hero” that has been adapted to the modern day.

Particularly, one can see that West has transcribed classical, Greek-inspired storylines into his works and has reinterpreted them to be fitting for the world that he relates to. Born from classical mythology and made popular by Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth” pattern, a “Hero’s Journey” is typically characterized by a hero that ventures forth from the world of the common day where fabulous forces are encountered and a decisive victory is won. The hero then comes back from this adventure changed.  Although West started with a focus on societal and cultural issues in “Workout Plan” and media expectations as seen in “Jesus Walks” in his first CD “College Drop Out” (2004). In his second CD (“Late Registration” in 2005) , Kanye the protagonist hides little as he continues to take on larger challenges, true to his self-adopted hero image by taking on such topics as the blood diamond industry in “Diamonds from Sierra Leone”. Additionally, a turning point is reached as he begins to depart from the social commentary and moved toward the self-inflationary attitude that we know now through “Gold Digger”.

Kanye’s challenges mounted in 2007 with the death of his mother, Donda West. Critics believe that this marked a turning point in his career when he became increasingly self-reflective and released his third album. Largely upbeat, his third album contained a more personal perspective through his Chicago-homage in “Homecoming” and his partnership with Daft Punk to produce “Stronger” but also more surrealistic, satirical visions such as in “Good Morning”, where he partnered with renowned Japanese anime illustrators to play an animated protagonist bear. His fourth album, “808s and Heartbreak” featured such songs as “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless”, which began to focus more on his persecution as an artist, but also further pushed the boundaries of his traditional producer stylings as he struggled to battle the mounting criticism against his music.

His pinnacle of surrealistic adaptations occurred in “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, his fifth album. In MBDTF, Kanye sought to have all of his songs intertwined with one continuous storyline with such standout hits such as “Dark Fantasy”, “Runaway”, “Power”  and “All of the Lights” (which was banned in some countries due to their risk of causing epileptic seizures). “Dark Fantasy” starts the narrative with Kanye saving an angel, whereas “Runaway” features Kanye orchestrating an elaborate dinner to entertain an angel with professional ballerinas. “Power” frames Kanye as (literally) a mythological hero whereas “All of the Lights” offers a throwback to his earlier Chicago-based days which juxtaposes a 80s-inspired light show with the black and white biopic of a little girl facing her own challenges growing up in the Southside projects of Chicago. Within this album, Kanye West switches from battling societal issues to literally battling people to save his angel. (To view the full video that was produced for “Runaway”, featuring supermodel Selita Ebanks, click here. It involves Kanye saving an angel, throwing a dinner party in an airplane hangar, ballerinas interpretatively dancing to rap, the angel falling into depression and Kanye West having sex with her and then the angel going back to heaven.)

Kanye west has just recently released his “Watch the Throne”, a collaboration with Jay-Z. In his most recent album, Kanye positions himself as a hero returned through such hits as “No Church in the Wild” and “Otis”. In “No Church in the Wild”, Kanye West focuses on a scene of urban protest complete with racist overtones where a masked horseman (literally) stands up for the common man. Otis returns to Kanye’s Motown roots with Jay Z and Kanye West together destroying a Maybach and recreating it as a militaristic car with the backdrop of “Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding remixed in the background. Regardless of whether Kanye West really is the mythological Greek hero that he wants so desperately to be, if the story is to be believed, “Watch the Throne” completes the arc of his development as a musician.

Station to Station: A Cure for the Modern Age?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm kind of a jerk. Not to be a complete egomaniac, but I feel like after you've seen some things, traveled a little bit and tried to experience as much as you can, it's really hard after awhile to remember what awe felt like. Not like, "Oh man this frozen yogurt is the best thing I've ever eaten" but more like, "Wow. Humanity is awe inspiring" or "I can't believe that people really do this".

Particularly in an age where everyone is constantly hooked up to their cell phone, Googling what the average age of a great white shark is (it's older than you think) or looking up who the guest star was on SNL was last week (because let's be real, no one watches SNL anymore), it's easy to sometimes forget that you need to look up every now and then to see things. Much less be awed by things. (The two kind of go hand-in-hand.)

So I was intrigued when I read about Doug Aitken in my back issue of Wired Magazine (I'm really behind.) He was introduced to me as "This has been Aitken's subject for 20 years: the rootless geography of today's mobile life. When you check a text message and momentarily disconnect from the world around you, when you wander down an urban street that's alive with LED advertisements, when business travelers forget which city they're in because the hotel rooms all look the same-- that's Aitken territory. As technology has swallowed more and more of our lives, his art has grown in lockstep-- harnessing cutting0edge techniques, fiber optics and servers to turn practically anything into a screen. It's digital art for the digital age. And we need it. We're so surrounded by media it seems banal; Aitken makes it weird again, showing us how beautiful and disquieting our networked world has become."

 Even more so when I read what he decided to do: "With "Station to Station", he'll spend three weeks traveling from New York to California aboard a nine-car train filled with visual and musical artists. At each stop they'll have a stage for live performances, bringing out local talent too. His production team will shoot and edit video of each stop, as well as of spontaneous performances on the moving train, and post it all online while they're traveling. Huge displays will show footage Aitken has already shot-- some 200 hours-- of artists across the country talking about their work, the nature of creativity, and how their surroundings influence their work. LED screens affixed to the sides of the tain will broadcast footage out to the landscape-- a moving image that also, well, moves."

I finally caved when I read: "His goal? To make art that's simultaneously physical and virtual, local and global, broadcast using a mashup of the Internet and one of the oldest networks in the US, the steel rails. If "Song1" [another one of his pieces] was liquid architecture, this is practically a plasma. "We're living in a new topography," Aitken says. "Is it possible to be everywhere and nowhere?"

Okay, I got to be honest he lost me a little bit with the weird, "I'm going to talk in paradoxes because I think it makes me more mysterious" thing, but I was still intrigued enough to take a look at his final site with the movies. It's worth checking out if you want to be inspired by the type of artistic, creative souls that are just out there minding their own business-- existing outside your realm of consciousness but steadfastly on the periphery. 

I Don't Think I Understand Art Anymore

Apparently there's a new work out in New York at the Park Avenue Armory called "WS" (White Snow). (See: GalleristNY or Gothamist reviews here.) It's a big deal because it's seen as an official symbol of departure from the type of "safe" works that usually are put on display and focuses solely on the more controversial types of art that can only come when you're really "cutting edge".

People are angry about this because Paul McCarthy has asked that this installment be rated NC-17. That's right, no one under the age of 17 is allowed into this exhibit. People argue that things that have age ratings shouldn't be funded with government funds. The curator argues that art has dark sides, and, like all art, this type of exhibit will (essentially) be in the eye of the beholder. Just because it's darker doesn't mean its not art or that it's not valid. Although all involved agree that it's a "rough" exhibit (read: a man masturbating to orgasm, violent, staged murder scenes, strong implications of strongly--bacchanalian? behavior), the museum will definitely have a lot to explain-- and defend.