MCC Recognizes Artists for Exceptional Work

(From MCC Press Room)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2008

MCC Recognizes Artists for Exceptional Work
39 Visual Artists, Choreographers, Musicians and Authors Awarded $7,500

(BOSTON, MA) -- The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) has recognized more than 60 Massachusetts artists for creating work of exceptional quality in a range of disciplines. MCC’s Artist Fellowship Program will award $7,500 unrestricted grants to 39 artists, and distinguish 24 others as finalists. These outstanding artists were selected from 1,800 applicants in the disciplines of choreography, drawing, painting, fiction/creative nonfiction, poetry and traditional arts.

Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellows include Steve Almond, author of Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America; Xujun Eberlein, author of the just-released short story collection Apologies Forthcoming; and Joan Wickersham, whose memoir The Suicide Index will be published in August.

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Dialogue between Karl Iagnemma and Brian Knep

One is a fiction writer and a scientist at MIT; the other is an artist and a researcher at Harvard. The concept of a conversation between these two is particular attractive to me. I don't know Brian, however I have (sort of) known Karl since I first went to his reading at Newtonville Books in 2001. Karl's stories are often complex, and he has a unique way with language. He is one of the contemporary writers whose writing I truly admire – see my review for his debut story collection, "On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction." I look forward to reading his new novel The Expeditions.

Karl is not only talented but also a very kind person. I remember when I first started writing in English after 9/11, I was clueless about story submission and publication, being trained as an engineer. I wrote Karl out of blue and asked many newbie questions, including how his first story was published. He replied to this stranger right away, in a very helpful long email.

One question I asked him was, "Which one do you like more, doing your lab research? or writing a story?" And he said, "Boy, the research/writing question is difficult. I suppose I like writing more, because it's it's just more _fun._ But research is satisfying in a very different way. . .it's a good feeling to solve a problem, and of course I've always been interested in science and technology, since I was a boy. . .which is probably why the characters in my stories are often scientists or engineers! But it's hard to compare the two, since they're very different things." It is hard to achieve excellence in either field alone, and he has succeeded in both.

MCC's idea for having dialogue between artists of different disciplines is a good one, and as the first installment, this one was interesting to read. However, there seems little interaction between the two. It is hard for a discussion to reach certain depth without an interactive discourse. #

VSC Open Studios: Artwork-in-Progress

One thing I enjoy the most about a residency is the interaction between writers and visual artists. The visual artists never fail to impress and inspire me with their sheer creativity. The variety in their choice of art form is so great, it makes me wonder why they have larger freedom of choice than us writers.

Here is a small sample of work-in-progress I saw in VSC's open studios last week.

Right: Laura Scandrett's black dogs (painted with ink on paper)

Left: G Todd Haun's landscape painting

Right: Shari Schemmel's collage

Left: Chihiro Ito and his face on the wall



Below: Cathryn Aison's block print with a real wasp






Below: Lalie Schewadron's digital projection with enamel on clayboard

More VSC Photos

Above: Entrance of the dinning room

Below: The dinning room

Writers Residency: VSC or VCCA?

VSC: The Red Mill

As a writer, at some point of your writing career, you may find yourself tired of workshops, instead looking for a residency where you can write without distraction.

I am at Vermont Studio Center (VSC) right now. And I was at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) last summer. According to Jon Gregg, director of VSC, these two are the largest artist residencies in the US. At any given time, the average number of residents is 55 in VSC, twice as many as in VCCA, compared to the national average of 9.

There are some differences between the two residencies. VCCA, located in a ranch-like area of Virginia deep in the country, with horses and cows nibbling around, seems to operate in a more informal manner. There are no (advisory) visiting writers or artists, which helps to keep the overhead costs lower. In the application form, the suggested fee is $30 per day. Voluntary higher contributions are very welcome, of course, but you can also request a lower fee based on your financial situation. (I was awarded the Goldfarb nonfiction fellowship by VCCA last year, thus paid only a $50 deposit for a full two weeks of wonderful productive time.)

In comparison, VSC is an in-town site in northern Vermont, and its operation is

VCCA: on the path to studios

well organized and programmatic. Each month there are several visiting artists and writers, who give talks and one-to-one conferences with the residents. Thus, when applying, you have the choice of a month when your favorite authors visit. This is nice, however there is a catch. Except for the lucky few who receive full fellowships, for most residents the cost it a lot higher than VCCA. I received a partial scholarship and am paying for the balance, which amounts to $70 per day. The normal stay is one month, but because of the high cost I opted for two weeks instead.

Here at VSC writers are a minority compared with visual artists, with a ratio of 17:38 in the first two weeks of April. To my delight, our studios, in a new building named Maverick, are the envy of the visual artists. The building is only one year old and still smells of fresh paint, with windows facing the running Gihon River (I wonder why it isn't frozen). I like that we writers are all together in one office building, as it makes it much easier to have a writerly chat.

Both VCCA and VSC are open to international applicants. While I saw quite a few European artists but no Asians at VCCA, VSC seems to be the opposite in this respect.

One important thing to mention: both residencies provide great food. Again VSC is more programmatic in organizing meals. Last night when we lined up for our first dinner, the plates were filled by the kitchen staff instead of ourselves, and we were told "no seconds." In comparison, at VCCA, you get your meal in a buffet manner. This is easy on the residents, but might be harder for the chef to do quantity management. Last summer a change of chef at VCCA resulted in a few days of uneven food supply. On the other hand, to be as well-organized as VSC requires more kitchen staff and again increases overhead costs. There are pros and cons either way.

In conclusion, both VSC and VCCA are wonderful residencies where you can get writing done, yet you have a choice of organization style. Other things being equal, if you'd like an opportunity of exchange with established authors, and don't mind paying a bit more, go for VSC. If you just want to have your own time to write, and prefer an informal, self-governing rural setting, you'll probably enjoy the lower-cost residency (plus a nice trail in the woods) at VCCA more.

A friend once asked me what else I get from a residency. I find meal times a wonderful opportunity to network with other writers and artists. You sit with different people each meal, and you often can have fun and stimulating conversations. It is a real plus that you get out a writer's isolation once in a while.

Apart from VSC and VCCA, there are a number of no-cost and highly reputed residencies in New York State, such as Yaddo and MacDowell, for which you pay a small application fee but nothing else. However because of their limited capacity and high demand, those are much harder to get in. And you are only allowed to apply once per year. Those are my targets for next year.

Ning Feng and Paganini's 'Cannone'

by Hong Jiang (translated from Chinese by Xujun Eberlein)

(Hong Jiang is my townsfolk from Chongqing, China. Our friendship began many years ago as undergraduates in Chongqing University. She now works as a database administrator in one world, and the chairwoman of Yan-Huang Performing Arts in another. – Xujun)

I first heard Ning Feng's name from Hu Kun, professor of the Royal Academy of Music in London and my husband's childhood buddy. It was 2003, and I was organizing the "Concertos for Piano, Violin, Erhu and Pipa." I invited Hu Kun to perform a violin concerto. He was unable to make it, so he recommended his newly graduated student Ning Feng. I hesitated. The players I recruited for the concert were all world-level musicians, but Ning Feng was an unheard-of name.

As if guessing my thought, Hu Kun said, "Don't worry. I promise Ning Feng will make your concert a success." He even mailed me the congratulatory letter from the Academy's president when Ning Feng became the first in 200 years to receive full-score for his graduation concert.

Thus 21-year-old Ning Feng came to Boston. A fellow Sichuanese, his lovely honest face looked artless. If you ran into him on the street, you wouldn't have connected his image to a world-level artist. However, when he stood at ease on the ornate stage of Jordan Hall, intoxicant in his own playing of Jean Sibelius' "Violin concerto in D minor," his rakish manner and artistic excellence thoroughly conquered the entire audience. The nearly 40-minute long violin piece was played in one perfect breath. The excited audience applauded and shouted "Encore! Encore!" Ning Feng had to return to the stage three times. Afterward, several people said to me, "He was too good! My hands are red from clapping so hard."

From Ning Feng's bio I learned that he had already won a dozen awards in international competitions. I asked him why he hadn't been in the Paganini Competition. He said, "I will."

True to his words, the next year, in 2004, Ning Feng applied for the Paganini Competition and was accepted. A week before he was to set off for Italy, however, he contracted a bad flu and tonsillitis. His high fever lasted for days, and he was forced to cancel the journey. A few weeks later, the competition result revealed: the first prize was vacant.

As if waiting for him, beginning that year, the competition was changed from annual to bi-annual.

In September 2006, 55 young violinists from all over the world traveled to Genova, Italy for the 51th Paganini Competition. Upon his arrival, Ning Feng's luggage and stage-costume were lost, and he had to wear jeans on stage. After a week of fierce contention in the preliminaries and semi-finals, Ning Feng found himself entering the final match with five other violinists. Besides a required Paganini piece, he chose a difficult Brahms' violin concerto. This is a piece of non-sentimental, profound music, thus one that is hard to please a jury with. The choice was a display of unusual confidence. Was he over-confident?

Ning Feng would later write in a blog article titled "Dream":

As a child I owned a hand-copied violin score, on its cover a hand-written title "24 Capriccios of Paganini." I thought then, "Perhaps one day I will be playing them on a stage."

In middle school, I once bought a CD, with it came a photo of Paganini's own violin "Cannone." I thought then, "Perhaps one day I will be holding 'Cannone' and hearing its sounds from my own hands?"

On October 1, 2006, in Genova, Italy, at the award ceremony of the 51th International Violin Competition, Ning Feng heard his name read three times by the chairman of the jury, who spoke only Italian. Ning Feng went on the stage three times to receive the medals, but he did not understand a single Italian word other than his name, and did not know what the awards were for. At last, he could not help but asking an English-speaking juror standing behind him:

"Who got the first place?"

The juror looked at him suspiciously, as if to decide whether he was pretending, before saying, "Why, it is you."

To Ning Feng, the highest award was that, as the first place winner he was given the honor of playing Paganini's violin, the 1743 Guarneri del Gesù 'Cannone.'

(Ning Feng, together with Chen Xi, will be performing violin in Boston on Saturday, March 22, 2008, as well as in New Brunswick, NJ, on Saturday April 12 2008. Details and tickets on www.yhpa.org. )

At the Boston Flower Show

Yesterday, my husband and I went to the Spring Flower Show at Boston's Bayside Expo Center. The walls separate a blooming spring from icy winter outside. After attending a talk "Introduction to Garden Water Features," we spent hours perusing exhibits. We studied several landscape showcases, and lingered in front of many intricate flower arrangements. For the latter I want to share with you a few of my favorites (you can click the photos to enlarge).

1. (left) Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, is distinguished by its asymmetric form and use of empty space as an essential feature.

2. (right) Joyce Girvin, Hollistin GC/Sedona Area GC, Second Award

Judge comments: "A true tornado. Visual weight at the top affects the balance."

3. (left) Linda Clarke, Ikenobo School. Plant materials: Forsythia, Spray roses

4. (below) Cathy Walsh, Independent, First Award

Judge comments: "Skillful handling of pristine plant material creates a walk through the Fens."

Our Ancient Watchman

A very long driveway, I thought as we drove in to look at a suburban house. We had seen so many, but this one looked promising from the outside except for the ugly green utility box in front. Inside was much nicer than any place we had seen and, to my delight, there was lots of land for gardening.

In the end, we did buy the house. But the first time I commuted back from work, I was greeted by the ugly green box. Why the developer placed an eye-sore at the most conspicuous spot in front of a nice house, it was beyond my logic.

“You will get used to it,” my husband, Bob, said, “it’s just something that needs to be there.” A typical male attitude: ugliness overlooked and beauty taken for granted. I kept telling him we should do something about it, and he kept saying that it belonged to NStar Electric and we couldn’t put anything on it.

Then one day, I saw a small sculpture of a man dressed in Qing Dynasty clothing sitting and pondering in a garden catalog. That is it, I told Bob. “Only $89, okay let’s try it,” he said. Apparently it was about price all along.

Our Chinese Man came, and was put on top. A wonderful difference. When friends came to visit, they praised, "Where'd you find such a nice stand for your sculpture?" The ugly utility box, as intact as it can be, magically disappeared from everyone's eyes.

However every time I walked by I had to move our Chinese man. The wind would always make him face a different direction. Bob said that he was looking around to see the world, but I didn’t really like the directions he chose. One windy night he blew off altogether and I found him in the morning on the ground, broken to two halves at his middle. Almost in tears, I asked Bob what to do. “No problem,” he replied, “I will fill him up with sand and glue him back together.”

So that's what Bob did, turning a bad situation into a good one. The heavier man was now able to hold his position in any weather. He outlasted his original stand, which had started leaking oil, and happily sits on the new one. He is slowly turning green with moss, but remains as happy and unperturbed as ever. In the snow he even gets to wear an extra hat.

Michael Wood on Lust, Caution ("色戒")

Michael Wood, London Review of Books' movie reviewer, says:

"Lust, Caution is billed as a film about sex and espionage, lots of both, and occasionally it looks like such a work. All its interesting moments, however, are about something else: style, masquerade, glances, silences. Each character in the movie has a movie running in his or her head, and when a young woman called Wong Chia-chi (played by Tang Wei), about to become a temptress setting up a collaborationist Chinese official for assassination, sits in a cinema and weeps copious tears, we know she will never be able to cry in this way outside the movie house."

Read the rest of the review here.

DAVID GARRATT: Who says words with my mouth?

(I met DAVID GARRATT at VCCA last October, and visited his open studio with great interest. He is a thoughtful, inspiring and gifted artist. I hope many of you will go see his solo exhibition in Philadelphia. -- Xujun)
The Clay Studio
137 - 139 NORTH SECOND STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
19106

DAVID GARRATT: Who says words with my mouth?
Juried Artist Solo Exhibition
HARRISON GALLERY
March 7 - March 30, 2008
Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 - 7 PM, Sunday, 12 - 6 PM
215-925-3453 www.theclaystudio.org

Ceramic arts are our passion at The Clay Studio, a non-profit learning center in the heart of Old City, Philadelphia. Our exhibitions, retail shop, classes, artist residencies and community outreach programs educate and inspire locally, nationally and internationally.

The Clay Studio is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Exhibitions are supported in part by:
The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, The Independence Foundation & The Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation.

Contemporary Art at ICA

Yesterday, at the request of a reputed sculptor from Chengdu, China visiting with us, we went to ICA (The Institute for Contemporary Art/Boston). My husband had heard that the building was an amazing piece of architecture, so we were all eager to go.

When we arrived, I was, at first, a bit disappointed, because from the front the building is unremarkable. However on the fourth floor, where the galleries are located, I was utterly attracted by several works.

One was "1^st Light, 2005," a projected digital animation by Paul Chan. The moving silhouettes that are projected onto the floor – flying bicycles and other materials, in contrast with falling human figures appearing at intervals – gives an odd yet long-lasting impression. According to the description I read afterward, this work is a post-9/11 parable of politics and religion. The rising material and falling body reversal characterizes our era.

Another piece, a blanket made of pins painted black gives a deceptive soft and downy feeling. I had an impulse to touch it as you would at any soft and warm object. This irony between the thorny actuality and soft appearance fascinated me. I thought about borrowing this approach in my writing. I was so totally absorbed that I forgot to look at the title, artist name, or description of the piece.

The material and appearance contrast (apparently many artists are going in this direction) is also evident in a work by Cornelia Parker. I was surprised to find out that the hanging objects were charcoal. It turns out the piece is titled "Hanging Fire."

Louise Bourgeois' room-size spider is dominating and instantly recalls Kafka (my husband said Men in Black). I would like to know if it was influenced by "The Metamorphosis."

And we found out what was unique about the building's architecture: the back part of the 4^th floor hangs in the air, sticking out over the bay waves. Looking out from the window the sight is peculiar.

FAREWELL, HEATH LEDGER

by Lance Berry

Today he passed away, and it's a shame. Not just because of the fact that no one will be able to enjoy his work anymore. Not just because for us Bat-fans, he won't be in the third film (if there is one). Not just because I feel like I've joined the Heath Party too late...but because he was only 28 damn years old, ... More>>

Flaubert etc. in San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo is one of my daughter's favorites. Yesterday she named a flamingo there 'Flaubert.' When asked why, she said, "Flaubert is a nice name for a flamingo. He's looking at you upside-down."

Left: "Flaubert"






Right: "Gregorie and Jean-Luc"







Left: "'Tourists.'"


Below: "Family Vacation"









A bonus photo (below): "Claim Device"


(Photo copyrights 2007, Sonya Eberlein. All rights reserved)

New Year Notice

Do you like this photo my daughter took this week? I'll tell you what it says. It says I ♥ you, friends! (Copyright 2007, Sonya Eberlein)

Starting today, I am on the road for two weeks, during which posting will be light. But there will be posts. Stay tuned.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Maple Fights Her Art Teacher in Shanghai

My younger sister, Maple, who did not get a chance to go to college in her youth, is taking an art class in an adult school in Shanghai. It was a big decision for her, but she is enjoying it. One day last week she reproduced an oil painting as her homework and submitted it to her art teacher. At the point the following dialog took place:


Art Teacher: Where is the original from? That doesn't look like ours.
Maple: I bought it from a bookstore. Our school's oil painting selection is all bold strokes. I prefer the fine, smooth, classic kind.
Art Teacher: There are many in that style, why did you single out Pan's?
Maple: Is he not good? I felt his Chinese landscape paintings intimate, pretty and realistic.
A Classmate: I, too, think he's good.
Art Teacher: His work indeed sells well. But his taste is a bit low.
Maple: (smile) Then my taste is low as well. Does your low opinion come from his high market value?
Art Teacher: Not that. There are high sales with high taste. Like Chen Yifei.
Maple: Could you teach me how to tell whether a painting has high or low taste?
Art Teacher: That is a complex issue. For instance Pan likes to paint beauties, make you feel that…something.
Maple: Didn't Chen Yifei often paint beauties too? Is it because Chen is famous, a so-called "great master," that your assessment is different?
Art Teacher: It is different. Look at it as you would a portrait, Chen uses much more refined composition and color, while Pan always likes bright, cheerful colors, catering to the market's popular flavor.
Maple: Speaking of color, I rather like bright and simple primary colors, or secondary colors. Didn't Van Gogh and Gauguin both like bright cheerful colors? Who would say they have low tastes?
Art Teacher: That's because they played the refined for too long and got tired of it. You as a beginner should practice more with the greyer tone of composite colors. That's the right thing to do.
Maple: Exactly because I'm a beginner, I have no idea where to start my brush with the gloomy complex colors. I also love Cezanne and Levitan, but their works can only be enjoyed but not copied. That is an artistic mood, I just can't copy.
Art Teacher: You are not old, how can you be so obstinate? You’ve seen lots of paintings have you.
Maple: I'm a lot older than you are. Even if I don’t eat pork, it doesn't mean I haven't seen pigs running.
Art Teacher: (laugh) Your temper does suit an artist. Do you know about He Duoling and Zhou Chunya in your Sichuan?
Maple: Heard some.
Art Teacher: Do you like their works?
Maple: I liked He Duoling's early works. His new works I can't comprehend. The infants floating in the air? Don't know what it means.
Art Teacher: Then you must like his "Spring Breeze Has Awoken"? That's too old fashioned clodhopper. Changing means making progress. Some modern works, you have to use more brain to be able to understand.
Maple: I can understand Dali, looking at his works is like looking at nightmares. But some works of so-called post-modernism or surrealism are so hard to understand, like emperor's new clothes, still you don't dare to say you don't understand.
Art Teacher: (laugh) You saw my works in my studio, do you think they are good?
Maple: You are my teacher, of course I don't dare to say they are not good. But I didn't understand them.
Classmate: I didn't either.
Art Teacher: How depressing!
Maple: (laugh) If your goal is to have nobody understand them, so they are no longer clodhopper, and that means success, then you have already succeeded!
Art Teacher: Did you go see the galleries on Moganshan Road? You must like them?
Maple: Those are commercial goods, not art. No point to say I like them or not.
Art Teacher: Goods and art shouldn't have strict boundaries, don't you think? I sell my paintings too, but I invest lots of emotions in my work. Even artists have to eat rice. Maybe you are too rich so you talk like this?
Classmate: This I agree. You must have lots of money to talk like this.
Maple: I thought real artwork is for collecting? This is a confusing topic. Lets stop here. Would you like a cup of coffee?
Art Teacher: I especially dislike coffee; it is bitterer than Chinese herb medicine.
Maple: Your taste is a bit low.
Art Teacher: (laugh loudly) Revenge comes real quick!

Germany Exhibits Fake Terracotta Warriors

China's report: "Germany's 'terracotta warriors' exposed"
A US report: "German museum admits terracotta warriors are fakes"