PHYLLIS CHENI am in Houston for the Impulse Artist Series! For several years now, Jade Simmons has invited me to come down to Houston for her biennial festival but finally we were able to make it happen this year (without the interference of natural disasters, hurricanes, etc.) Listen to my in-studio interview/performance at Houston’s KUHF Radio’s Front Row also featuring with harpist Brandee Younger.
A couple of months ago, Katinka Kleijn asked me if I was interested in writing a movement of a work Oil-Free Blush exploring the toxic,carcinogenic properties in cosmetics for the upcoming Chicago Humanities Festival. It immediately made me think of my many allergic reactions to cosmetics.
Cosmetics have been used in a large variety of styles that reflect beauty of different cultures. I have been shocked by the Asian ideal of beauty as a flawless, porcelain white face. This face has been depicted in centuries in their art and still proves to be a popular desire among modern Asian women. Because of this desire to appear immaculate, Asian women are seeking a monotonous idea of beauty that erases their own individuality,emotions and expressions. The idea of suffocation is only brought to more attention when men would be playing the roles of women in painted white faces in traditional Chinese operas.
I chose the ingredient Aluminum 40 Lake because I wanted to create a piece that had something to do with color. “Lake” is often associated with pigments or dyes and in this case, from aluminum, a metal that has been considered toxic to ingest in many ways. I do not know if Aluminum 40 Lake is in many of the popular whitening cremes, but I found it fascinating that the Asian women try to take color out of their skin, whereas blush is something that is suppose to bring color. Either way, both types of cosmetics are bound to be very toxic if they are trying to change the color/pigment of your skin.
In this piece, the loops are introduced in correlation to a cosmetic product, creating more and more layers as it unfolds. The music slowly becomes more distorted beyond recognition until finally, a match is struck to light fire. Here’s a picture of the score.
I read in the New Music Box this week that Lukas Ligeti received the 2010 Alpert Award in the Arts. Â Way to go Lukas! Really incredible. Visit their site to see the other artists that were named fellows.
A couple months ago Ben Davis from Cuddlemagic contacted me about opening for their show at the House of Yes coming up this Friday. He then also asked me to join in on a few of their songs that they are currently recording and releasing soon. Not knowing much about the group at all, IÂ said yes and was pleasantly surprised when we started working together. One thing I felt I related to them immediately was their play with rhythm and meters. I decided to contribute on toy piano, music box and also handbells.
Cuddlemagic is a Brooklyn and Philly-based group. They’ve been on tour for a couple of weeks now and is making their second to last appearance this Friday at the House of Yes. The Dustbusters will also be playing, a Brooklyn-based folk/roots music group. I hear that there will be a contra-dance following!
I received an email from Random Access Music for a call-for-proposals to new music ensembles and individual artists. As a Queens-based musician, I was excited to see an organized effort to bring new music to Queens. Sadly people seem to be reluctant to do things in Queens, but the series will take place at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City right near the PS1 Moma. I hope that Random Access Music will get some fresh musicians involved. To find out more about what they are looking for, how to apply and about RAM, please visit their website.