'Hands Project' was a successfully funded Kickstarter project completed in April 2016.  I would like to thank everyone who participated in the project- friends, family,  artists, the Kickstarter community, and everyone in my network.

Special thanks to the Leadership Circle of the project: Derek Wright, Debbie Smith, Sara Hillery, Rosella Lopez, Morgan Kellum, Lynn Gold, Bram J. Levy, Rick Carpenito, Brady Farr, and Kimmy Smith.

The "Hands" Project is a bronze sculpture 14 x 13 x 7 in, sculpted as a monument to the maker culture that has developed amongst our generation of artists, freelancers, and creatives.  The sculpture asks the questions, "What is this experience about? What are we supposed to do? What have you chosen to do? ". My answer is in the choice of the medium. Over the course of this project I interviewed friends, artists, doctors, magicians, and musicians, constantly at work with their hands, to better understand the relationship they have to their work and body.  Interviews below . . .

Watch the Video, See the Rewards, and Donate at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1433188379/hands-project

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Interview with Stuart Palm, Mentalist / Artist / Hypnotist

www.stuartpalm.com

Alex: What artists in your field inspired you growing up and attracted you to the art form?

Stuart: As I'm a hypnotist and mentalist now, growing up I wasn't so aware of my field's existence, as a child all the way to my early twenties I was pretty committed to being a fine artist. I found inspirations in many fields that led me to the kind of performances and experiences as well as visual work I create today. I remember loving the logic game mastermind and being deeply inspired by the idea of the force in Star Wars when I was young. I found early inspiration in esoteric art forms such as tarot cards and reading systems as well as visual artists such as Dali and Duchamp. I have been studying different art and mystery art forms all my life, even before I realized that's what I was studying.

Alex: Your performance is very interactive, intuitive, and playful.  It comes across that you really enjoy the chemistry of the moment.  Can you talk about what elements you love most about mystery and the subconscious that make you drawn to interacting through this medium?

Stuart: I do very much enjoy the chemistry of the moment, I also enjoy that I never know exactly how a particular show is going to turn out. Everyone has a different unconscious experience. It is always inspiring for me to let the intuitive moment flow and direct the experience. Trusting in this is where deep magic can be found. I think I have always been searching for knowledge on forces that connect us all, and how to use them to better communicate with and help others.

Alex: I watched your Tedx talk, there was a strong theme of how choice, one’s perception of the world, and knowledge of the self, create existence.  Can you talk about the philosophical and existential pillars of mentalism?

Stuart: Mentalism as I performed it in that particular instance exists in a duality. On one hand it's a field of performance art, where there is psychology and metaphor at play, there are also sometimes deceptions of the perceptual experience which help to deliver the metaphor more completely. On the other side there is the older more esoteric idea and definition of Mentalism. This stems from the belief that all things begin in mind or consciousness, that the universe is born in a way from thought. What I was exploring in this TedX was my own realizations of consciousness through my experience of brain surgery and where it's brought me in my own understanding of my self. This has grown and developed in the last few years. I see that talk as one kernel of what has become a much deeper understanding and more powerful performance since. I'm working now on developing a new talk to deliver where this has brought me. 

Alex:  It’s interesting that skepticism then plays such a large role I imagine in the mind of your  audiences.  Can you talk about the balance of these oppositional forces, skepticism and faith?

Stuart: Skepticism today can mean two different things. On the one hand there is the healthy skepticism that all people have and should have about anything. On the other hand there is a world of evangelical skepticism, which, oddly enough is built on belief and faith. This belief however, is that there is nothing beyond what can be perceived or defined by the scientific method and direct observation or "proof" and a deep faith in science. Usually this tends to also include evangelical atheism. I see limitations in that version of skepticism, to me it is not skeptical. It is just as dangerous as having an evangelical faith in a particular God without having an open mind to other possibilities. The problem often arises in situations where you can find evidence but it would be impossible to find proof as their are too many variables or because we can't consistently observe the outcome. 

Personally I have faith in the Gods that exist in me and connect me to all things, and I have faith in the design of the universe. The idea of Gods to me is a model for forces of energy, and a powerful and useful one. As I look out on the world from the two little portals in my head, I don't see a reason to exclude any of the interpretations of that which we don't understand or the unknown, and at the same time, I have deep admiration for science. However, science is young and its limitations are still being ironed out.

In the case of my audience I leave it up to them to decide what they want to believe in and how to use what I am presenting. I hope to communicate deeply to the unconscious mind of the individuals who perceive my shows. I believe in positive transformations and in helping people be stronger and more able to be their true selves.

Alex: What am I going to ask next?

Stuart: Your next question has to do with the importance and use of hands in my work. It's amazing how much a hand gesture can communicate. When I am working as a hypnotist and even in hypnotherapy I ask my volunteers or clients to allow their unconscious to inhabit their hand, through this experience I am able to do many things, even allow them to hypnotize themselves at times. The hand is often an extension of our sense of self. We communicate directly through our hands all the time. 

On stage I am very aware of hand gestures and how they work to direct the audience, it's sort of like a conductor with an orchestra. In my hypnosis show, one of the first things I do is get the audience to lock their hands together. Those who are already under the spell of the show won't be able to get their hands apart. I instantly know which people are going to be the most successful for the experience from watching their hands.

Saturday April 9, 2016.

Hands Project is spending the month interviewing friends and artists that are making their own projects in art, film, music and photography.  This week I interviewed Brian Dowdy, Conductor.

Interview with Brian Dowdy, Conductor 

Alex: Brian, you are a doctoral student and conductor of Campus Orchestras at the University of Minnesota, can you tell me about what project you are working on right now and what you are most excited about?

Brian: Being both a student of conducting and an instructor for Campus Orchestra means I'm learning and conducting a ton of music at any given time, and that is awesome. This year alone I'm conducting operas, oratorios, and orchestral works by Bach, Brahms, Beethoven, Copland, Floyd, Sibelius, and others. It's humbling and exciting, and it keeps me learning all the time. Probably my most engrossing project is centered on the "symphonic poems" of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. Liszt wrote these in the mid 1800s, and for various reasons they fell mostly out of favor during the 20th century. Yet they are stunning works, calling on legendary figures like Orpheus or Macbeth, while, through instrumental sound alone, tapping into our very human experiences of love, loss, and hope. The concert will take about a year to put together, and this summer I'll go to Weimar to study the original manuscripts, written in Liszt's own hand. My hope is that the work will result in more people playing and loving this music.

Alex: I am fascinated by the heightened awareness amongst musicians, their signaling, instincts, and the communication of subtle queues. Can you talk about those relationships, especially from your vantage point in the pit?

Brian: Great musicians put as much or more attention into listening and watching their fellow-musicians as they do playing their own part. They learn to be extra-sensitive to non-verbals and to read musical intention from the a sway of the torso or the quality of a single breath. I love watching ensembles move together, and I'll very often ask the orchestra to play without me conducting, because they suddenly start playing like a chamber group again - moving together, watching each others' bows, etc. But maybe the most important thing is breath. Think about the very first note of a piece, starting from stillness. If everyone takes a breath together, that note will almost invariably be together.  That's how a string quartet does it, and the same is true for the orchestra. Since you mentioned the pit - all of the above is brought into sharp focus in opera performance. Conductor and orchestra players all have to stay connected to each other while really listening to the singers, to support how the singer is shaping their phrases.  On the other side, great singers know how to lead with the quality of their sound and breath. When everyone is sharing in the leadership and listening, great music-making becomes possible.

Alex:  What about the information and nature of each instrument, can you talk about how they inform your practice?

Brian: Most of my practice is score study - analyzing how the piece is built, hearing individual parts and how they relate,  and making interpretive decisions about every note of every instrument. This process requires playing the score at the piano and singing through various parts. This gets the piece "in my bones" and in my breath, helps me hear it clearly in my head, and ensures that I make organic musical decisions.  Of course, what's natural to the piano or voice may not be natural to an oboe, violin, or timpani. So that's something I have to consider, and this often means me calling on the expertise of others who actually play those instruments! 

Alex:  As a conductor, what is your emotional state going into performance, how do you prepare?  Do you try to go in clean, and unencumbered by your own thoughts and emotions, or just the opposite?

Brian: For me, there are actually two big emotional moments: the first rehearsal and the performance. Most of my preparation happens prior to the first rehearsal, because I need to be ready to lead the ensemble.  So, by the time I step on the podium I've amassed a huge amount of feelings and opinions about the piece, things I'd like to accomplish, etc. But it can't all get done at once. So, it's critical that I be fully present emotionally, while still having the "detachment" required to listen, to trust the process and the players, and to get the right work done. For the concert, a similar emotional presence and poise is crucial. The difference is that by concert time we're all on the same page, musically speaking. So I usually feel a greater sense of calm than before that first rehearsal. As for the encumbrance of thoughts and feelings - I usually don't "think" about too much during performance - I try and let that go. But like anyone, all my thoughts and emotions are up there with me somewhere. I just try and stay connected to the emotional trajectory of the music, so that I'm feeling what's about to happen, so that I can lead that journey for the ensemble.  And I try to stay emotionally available to the music as it happens - that usually leads to more organic and beautiful music-making.

Alex: This is another old world, masterful profession, where gesture and body awareness are highly important.  Can you talk about your relationship to your hands and body, as a conductor?

Brian:  Conductors usually start conducting after years of playing an instrument and/or singing, and also after years of communicating non-verbally when playing with others. The weird thing is, when we do start conducting, we have to relearn all that stuff. The instrument has changed!  Now, some folks like to say that conductors "play" the orchestra, and it's true that we are using physical movement to affect the sound.  But we also have to "play" ourselves. We have to rediscover physical gestures that work for our specific bodies while clearly communicating musical ideas. Still, listening is the conductors most important job, and the body has to be "quiet" enough to make room to receive the complex sound coming from the ensemble. For me, this has been the most powerful physical lesson so far - if I make my body quiet enough that that there's room to hear all those sounds, then I can trust my hands to lead, to respond, and to affect the sound in a beautiful way. Then sometimes it seems I can feel the sound on and around my hands, and that makes me feel connected to the musicians, and that's when something really special can happen.

Thursday March 24, 2016.

Hands Project is spending the month interviewing friends and artists that are making their own projects in art, film, and photography.  This week I interviewed Zinni Veshi, Artists/Painter.

Interview with Zinni Veshi

Artist / Painter

Alex: You just finished a mural painting for the New York public library, yes?

Zinni: That's right, and I can't wait to see it installed in the Bill Blass ceiling of NYPL.

Alex: can you tell me about the scale of it, the research that went into the project, and it's challenges?

Zinni: It is a big scale mural, approximately 33 feet by 28 feet, and divided into two pieces is covering a good portion of the walls at Evergreene Architectural Arts for more than two months. Basically I considered three factors when I started to work on the mural, the first, was the fact that there are three other murals done by Evergreene for the Rose Room of the NYPL, around twenty years ago. I went to Rose room, where the murals are situated, and studied the style, and the chromatic structure of the murals. The second, was the study of the painter, James Wall Finn, he had painted the mural that we are going to replace, around 100 years ago. Looking at some of his work, I noticed a very interesting fact about his work. Finn was a painter with a temperament that corresponds somehow to Italian renaissance, and his compositions are oriented diagonally, which is a strong feature of the European Baroque. This mixture of two very different periods in art, gives to his work a paradoxical touch, and thus making his work more artistic, and more intriguing. The third factor is the architecture of the NYPL building: a heavy, serious, and imposing feeling that radiates from this Roman type of architecture. The mural has to be in harmony with the walls and the structure of the place where it is to be installed.   

Alex: I witnessed you while you were painting parts of this mural and I appreciated how deeply connected you were to the work. Can you talk about that connection, how it feels, and the feelings you draw upon?

Zinni: This is very difficult to put into words, because it has to do with feelings,  with the unconscious, with the instinct. Nevertheless, I can say that it is a very well thought out mural, mostly in terms of the type space that creates, the form it is composed, and the chromatic structure that is "underneath" the clouds.

Alex: Is there an artistic movement or period you feel most connected to or inspired by?

Zinni: There are artistic movements and individual artist that I love, and where my temperament finds the promised land. Baroque art as movement is the most important period in art, and painters like Titian, Caravaggio, Velasquez and Rembrandt are of extraordinary importance. I love in particular El Greco, Goya, Van Gogh  and Cezanne. I love as well the modern period, Romanesque sculpture, primitive art etc.

Alex: I am very interested in the artists connection and relationship to their own body, how do you use your hands, your movements, and gestures to realize your work?

Zinni: This is very interesting question, and it is of crucial importance that the artist understands that in order to create art works, he should connect his body, and his hands to his mind. In fact, too much it is lost from the thought - feelings to the hand. Even when the artist requires mastery, still something is lost in the way from the first impulse to the hand. I must say it is almost impossible that the body can act with the same speed as the thought do, because they have different space. Our body exist in a three dimensional space, whereas thoughts have a bio-electrical ‘space'. But with constant and long training this difference can be improved significantly. In time the the hand get relaxed, the muscles becomes more supple and respond in more efficient way to the moods of the soul.

Nevertheless, the best relationship between the body and the thoughts is seen in the artist that reaches a very high level; a level where the hand has a brain of its own, in other words where the hand has a relative freedom. In this case the awareness of the artist should recognize what the hand creates on her own, spontaneously, in her own rhythm, in her own heartbeat.       

Hands Project is spending the month interviewing friends and artists that are making their own projects in art, film, and photography. This week, I talked to Dr. Tara Abraham, Obstetrician/Gynecologist.

Interview with Dr. Tara Abraham, 

Obstetrician/Gynecologist

Saturday, March 19

Alex:  You are the first thing that receives babies into this world, yes?

Tara: This is true... I am probably the first face that they "see."

Alex: I think that is a very interesting thing that not many people experience.  Just from the sense of touch, how do new born babies feel? 

Tara: Hmm, it’s difficult to say, they're very slippery and soft. They're also a little waxy some times from the vernix.

Alex: Oh wow, please tell what vernix is, I may edit if its incredibly fecund.

Tara: Oh vernix is very PC. It's a cheesy/oily, wax-like substance - its basically skin cells shed from the baby in utero and it coats their skin like lotion. It's usually white.

Alex: Oh nice, so when you deliver them, they give you the return gift of homemade lotion and well hydrated hands?

Tara: Ha! It wouldn't be a bad idea to collect vernix, though not very sanitary.  I'm usually wearing gloves

Alex: So at first, they come out, you are holding them by the body and neck I imagine. Is it true you have to smack them sometimes to get them going?

Tara: No smacking done here.  "Skin-to-skin" is really important for moms and babies for many reasons... so usually as soon as I deliver them (yes, I'm usually supporting the back of their neck), I place them on mom....

Alex: So that's a myth. OK. Tell me about the importance of skin to skin?

Tara: They get the benefit of mom's warmth. It helps with temperature regulation for baby. It’s also thought to help with reducing stress, oxygenation, and transitioning to the "quiet-alert" state.  

Alex: And where is the placenta at this juncture in the process?

Tara: The placenta is usually still attached to the baby... I try to wait until it stops pulsating before disconnecting. (That's called "delayed cord clamping”.)

Alex: Oh gosh, there are so many avenues of questioning here,  I think I have to follow the pulsating placenta... So you mean it is still beating or pulsating with nutrients and energy from the mother while wrapped around the baby at delivery?

Tara: Absolutely.  It's not really wrapped around the baby - it's just attached at the belly button.  Delayed cord clamping is a somewhat more routine practice in the past 2-3 years. There has been research that showed that delayed cord clamping helps with increased blood volume, reduced need for transfusion, lower frequency of iron deficiency anemia in term babies, and decreased rates of intracranial hemorrhage in preterm infants. If there's no reason for me to have baby detached right away, I just keep it attached until it stops pulsating.

Alex: I think for many people this would be a surreal experience, but for you this could be any day of the week, does it seem routine already, or is it still very vibrant?

Tara: It’s pretty amazing - and the reason I went into this profession! It's the only area of medicine that you are involved in one of the happiest times of their life.

Alex: What similarities and differences have you seen in the emotional energy levels and experiences of the mother during child birth?

Tara: It runs the gamut...from extreme pain... to joy... to exhaustion... and somewhere in there - a mix of all three.

Alex: It must be very useful and appreciated by the mothers that you too are a mother, and have been through the experience, does that come up?

Tara: It is a pretty intimate experience (between parents... mom and dads... moms and moms...).  I think being a mother really changed my entire practice. 

Alex: How so?

Tara: First off - its easier to explain what they would feel. It certainly helps with empathy through out the pregnancy as well.

Alex: Ok so baby is screaming, the mother of the mother is crying, the lights are bright, you are covered in vernix. Are you smiling under your mask, or are you covered in sweat, how exhausting is the process for you?

Tara: I try to make sure the lights aren't too bright... I'm happy and exhausted-Especially if I'm in the room the entire time coaching/pushing with my patient. It's a fine line when you're the doctor. You want to make sure that the parents have privacy with their newborn. But then as a new mother - I remember how thankful I was for my obstetrician.

Alex: Does the baby ever look at you, like really look at you, with a look of recognition or bewilderment?

Tara: No… they can't see much of anything at first. They usually settle down after being on mom for a bit (skin to skin) and look around... they cant see much other than big shapes, I imagine.

Alex: I’m sure people are very thankful for you, do you ever bump into the mothers and children later on?

Tara: I do! It's the best feeling - seeing my patients outside of work! I also see them for their postpartum visit... I ask that they bring the baby if possible.

Alex: that sounds very fulfilling.  

Tara: Obstetrics is exhausting... unpredictable... but entirely fulfilling. 

Alex: I have one last question that has been circulating around my group of guy friends: Once my hands sculpture is cast, could it be used to catch a new born baby being born, like a catcher's mitt, out of the womb?

Tara: That would be... not advisable.

Hands Project is spending the month interviewing friends and artists that are making their own projects in art, film, and photography. This week, I talked to Naiara, a filmmaker in Brooklyn.  Her hands are featured in the opening of my video.

Interview with Naiara Eizaguirre-Paulos, Filmmaker

‘RESIDENT ALIEN’

http://www.naiaraeizaguirre.com

Alex: Where are you from?

Naiara: Basque Country

Alex: So Spain?

Naiara: (Laughs) … no, the Basque Country.

Alex: How did you end up in Brooklyn, New York?

Naiara: Because I reached the height of my journalism career in San Sebastian , Spain.  I was working as a journalist and teaching young journalists, but I still felt that there was more for me to do, for my own work.

Alex: so you got on a plane?

Naiara: No, not exactly, I did research on interesting programs, and I found the New School program, in documentary media studies. I find that documentary film studies filled something that was missing in my career.  Documentary film demands that you spend time with the subject and nurse out the details. Journalism lives and dies each morning and night. The story ends at the end of each day, and there isn’t the time to develop the story. 

Alex: Great, so you applied to the New School for Documentary Film Studies and were accepted?

Naiara: Yes I quit my job, (that was the best, after 7 years going to the same office, the feeling was fantastic). Actually I didn’t quit, I asked for two years sabbatical.

Alex: So when you arrived in New York , you started your program immediately?

Naiara: Yes I think I arrived on a Wednesday and the program began on a Friday.

Alex: And then did you dive immediately into a documentary film project?

Naiara: Yes the program is very intense and demanding.

Alex: I’m familiar with the project that you shot during this program, ‘Resident Alien’, what is that about and how were you attracted to the subject?

Naiara: Its about a refugee from gang violence in Honduras. He escaped to the US when he was 15 years old, he crossed the border through Mexico as an undocumented kid, and now he’s fighting against being deported, and trying to get his visa. You know when i came to the US in 2014, I read in the news that 60,000 kids were crossing border alone.

Alex: 60,000 kids!

Naiara: Yes, thats insane! When I read that in the news, I thought that kids should not be crossing the border and risking their lives, they should be playing outside, like I did. If you are an adult and you are trying to find a better life, I can understand that, but kids being forced to cross the border alone, traveling with murderers, crossing the dessert, riding the beast (the cross border train) at 15? shouldn’t be happening, come on!?

Alex: You’ve had quite a good response to the documentary, yes?

Naiara: Yes, being honest, immigration is a hot topic, and I knew that it was both a news story, and something that would be in the news for awhile, so it was more than a news story, with a greater life cycle.

Alex: Where has it shown?

Naiara: The world premiere was in DOC NYC film festival, the largest documentary film festival in the US. It was screened in Frontline Club London and Georgia as part of a Refugee Film Program held by Cinema For Peace.

Alex: So does it make you want to stay in the U.S.? Are you a Brooklynite now?

Naiara: Yes! (laughter) There are great opportunities here that you don’t find in Spain. people invest in talent, and i’m aware that they are investing money for the sake of money, but at least this society is open to investing in talent, in creativity, and you don’t need to be the son of someone, or have a huge recognizable career.

Alex: So you‘ve found that your work can breathe here and is appreciated?

Naiara: Yes, definitely. That’s why I want to stay.