(Published by Zocalo Magazine on July 1, 2014.) “The primary concept, or underlying reality, of the science of our day is Relativity. Einstein added the fourth dimension to those of Newtonian physics: time. Therefore, the art of our day that incorporates time, or movement, motion, change, is the most vital of all the arts being created. It is the art of our time which will endure.” – David Bermant, 1919-2000 Ned Schaper meets me outside of the Stone Dragon Gallery – easily identified … [Read more...]
Authentic Photography, Natural Bodies: A Beautiful Body Project
(Published by Zocalo Magazine on May 7, 2014.) There’s a hunger in the world for love, acceptance, compassion and understanding. There’s also a hunger in the women of this world — and definitely those imbued by the unrealistic dictates of Western culture and the media’s unrelenting notion of what “perfection” looks like — to find self-love in bodies that don’t match what is showcased on television screens, movie screens, billboards and in magazine ads. Tucson photographer Jade Beall … [Read more...]
Odaiko Sonora’s Taiko Passion
(Published by Zocalo Magazine on May 2, 2014.) In an unassuming, square industrial building on Downtown’s southern edge is a place of creation. It is the Rhythm Industry Performance Factory and during a bright spring morning, Odaiko Sonora’s community taiko group is at practice. Sweating to the beats. Taiko, or “big drum” in Japanese, is ensemble drumming and it is a physically demanding art form. Beating the drums to achieve the resonance that speaks to the heart of us as human beings … [Read more...]
Downtown’s Shifting Landscape
(Published by Zocalo Magazine on May 1, 2014.) All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the mid-‘80s and through the ‘90s and early ‘00s, Downtown was considered a schlumpy locale eschewed by seemingly many Tucsonans. It was the artists, musicians, the writers and photographers, galleries, bars, a handful of entrepreneurs, restaurants, long-established families, some smart investors and … [Read more...]
Sacred Machine: Creation, Evolution & Moving On
(Published by Zocalo Magazine on May 1, 2014.) It’s easy to get deep with Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia. Diaz’s art and Valencia’s writing—plus their music with Blind Divine and Crystal Radio—dig into the heart of the mysteries of existence. One cannot look at Diaz’s work without feeling pulled into a rabbit hole of esoteric human inquiries; his pieces—especially in his recent book Soul of Science—are individual time machines of ancient knowledge and futuristic anomalies … [Read more...]