Mightier Than the Sword

Dressed in familiar traditional garb, a Tibetan Buddhist monk hunched over a square table in the middle of the glass-enclosed atrium of the Jepson Center for the Arts in Savannah, rubbing a metal rod he held in his right hand against the serrated surface of a long, thin metal funnel (called a chak-pur) in his left. As tourists of the historic district’s antebellum mansions entered the conspicuously contemporary structure to escape the sudden summer storm, joining those who intended to attend this event, the monk remained solely focused on task before him, despite the squeaking sneakers, increasingly audible chitchat, and camera flashes. The colored grains of sand flowed like liquid through the chak-pur (a result of the vibrations caused by the metal rod) on to the wooden platform, guided by the monk’s steady hand and concentrating mind.

After nearly 30 hours over several days, the group of lamas from the Drepung Loseling Monastery eventually completed the mandala, a remarkably intricate circular design composed of millions of grains of various colored sand. Once finished, it was destroyed. Read more…

A Conversation With John Trigonis, Sharing His View
of the World on the Page and the Screen

As a poet, John Trigonis sprinkles words on the page that produce a sensory response from anyone lucky enough to read them—in a chapbook, on a Web site, in a literary magazine. Though still mysterious and provocative, his poems are filmic scenes from some bigger, larger life. Confessional and observational, his narrators share what they see and how they see it. Like all poetry worth reading, an honesty is palpable, and without knowing it we’re swept up in some kind of quest to discover, or uncover, some kind of truth. His work has been widely published in the U.S. and U.K., and Trigonis has also published six chapbooks of his poetry.

As a filmmaker, John Trigonis creates poetry in motion. Even when quirky and off-beat, his short films seem to naturally explore some facet of the human condition, searching with stories and characters for some kind of light. Trigonis, 32, wrote his first screenplay—a feature-length film—back in 2001, which led to writing and directing five more films (as well as directing another two). His credits also include work as actor, cinematographer, and producer, along with directing and acting for the stage.

And we, readers and viewers, benefit from the fact that the poet and filmmaker are one, both of those divergent creative crafts influencing each other in subtle ways. So whether with a collection of poems or a short film, Trigonis will make you think and feel.

Trigonis, a “freelance” professor at universities throughout New Jersey, epitomizes the indie spirit of 21st century and exemplifies the DIY movement, embracing the possibilities afforded artists during this era of social media and affordable technology. He’s even pursued a fairly revolutionary method of funding his latest project. In addition to using his own money, Trigonis turned to IndieGoGo, pitching fans and complete strangers on the incentives of funding the film (perhaps a producer credit will entice you, along with several other perks). He has already reached his goal, raising $5,595 in relatively short order.

Today, thanks to all those who contributed (from small amounts to larger donations), Trigonis—along with cast and crew—starts production of his latest vision, Cerise, a short film about a former spelling bee champion who is haunted, 20 years later, by the word that took him down. Production will continue through the week, and you can follow the filming process this week by visiting Cerise on Facebook and Vimeo for constant status updates, pics and vlogs.

Trigonis recently took time from a busy schedule of rewriting scripts, holding auditions, scouting locations, and making other preparations to discuss a wide range of topics—from his artistic roots and creative process to his DIY nature and the future of “crowdfunding”—with The Madness Of Art. Read more…

Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States, died today at the age of 87, and the nation and world will miss his presence.

His contributions to our society, however, will live on forever. (Read the Associated Press obit here.) Recently, the History Channel aired the much-anticipated and  thoroughly stirring “The People Speak”—a visually and audibly compelling 101 course in democracy and American history based on Zinn’s important work. So we present in his honor this performance from the aforementioned documentary, by an artist much admired by The Madness of Art, that in many ways sums up the spirit of the man who used his art to seek and deliver truth. Read more…

For the past 50 years, “The Elements of Style” has served as the de facto Holy Writ for writers, teachers and students on matters of grammar, usage and style. With 10 million copies sold in the last half-century, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s enduring classic is deserving of a golden anniversary ”celebration” and the accompanying hype. Or is it? Read more…

Top Journalism Prizes Underscore Industry’s Plight

It’s certainly no secret that the newspaper industry faces unprecedented perils. And that’s probably an understatement, if recent developments—regularly declining circulation, plummeting profits, shrinking staff sizes (a result of repeated, substantial layoffs and a more voluntary exodus of journalists out of the industry), the closing of century-old newspapers—are any indication. The “Pressure on the Presses” might prove too much to bear, as some predict that End Times are near for print newspapers. The announcement of the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes today underscored this reality—and how the conventional response of management at newspapers across the country might just be the death blow. Read more…

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky,
Notable Wordsmiths Read ‘Poems Out Loud’

Robert Pinsky, U.S.Poet Laureate from 1997 to 2000 and editor of the recently released Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud, launched a great new site earlier this month to accompany the collection and to celebrate National Poetry Month. Read more…

“April is the cruelest month.”—from T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”

It’s also National Poetry Month, and the Academy of American Poets (which started the annual celebration in 1996 as a means to rekindle interest in the art and to highlight its important role in American culture) is offering a Poem-A-Day throughout the month—a new poem direct to you inbox to begin your day. Read more…

For anyone who toils in the creative realm, surrounding oneself with sources of inspiration is vital to survival.

While the muse often manifests in the strangest places at the most unexpected times, she’s notoriously fickle, often ignoring even the most desperate distress calls. Mystifying and unreliable is the muse, and creators cannot idly wait for some outside force to trigger the cogs of the imagination.

Art begets art.

Yet, the creative process inherently demands recurrent sparks of inspiration. The presence of art, in its multitudinous incarnations, emits such an energy to kindle the nerve endings of the mind’s eye. Personal libraries—of books, of music, of movies, of art and other creations—offer a milieu conducive to creative work, filling a space with spirits that urge us to imagine and re-imagine, to continually seek new knowledge, to see the possibilities in and of our artistic endeavors. Art begets art, creativity breeds creativity.

Jay Walker knows this.

For more than 30 years, throughout his adult life, Walker has been amassing a large collection of books; for the last 20 years, he has added countless artifacts, along with rare books and manuscripts, to his treasury. Without a dedicated room to house his growing collection, books and other items spread throughout his home, occupying any suitable space in various rooms. But Walker had an idea—one that would not only solve the practical issue of storage but also bring together the pieces of his vast, unique collection in inspiring yet functional fashion.

“I’m an inventor by trade,” said Walker, founder of Priceline.com and Walker Digital chairman/lead inventor, during our conversation last week. “Why not build a library of human imagination?” Read more…

Supporters of the arts received good news late Friday when the Senate voted 60 to 38 in favor of a $787 billion economic stimulus bill following a 246-183 House vote earlier in the day. The bill included $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts, which seemed to be in serious jeopardy mid-week. Read more…

Critics of the economic stimulus plan (read: impotent Republicans in Congress) have, throughout the debate over the size and scope of the package, cherry-picked various programs—ones, of course, that they don’t like or that run counter to their ideology—as evidence of “pork.” And in some cases, both in the House and especially in the Senate, Democrats have caved, stripping billions of dollars from the package in the name of bipartisanship, despite the obvious ways in which these programs would have played important roles in moving this country forward during tough economic times. Read more…