Announcer artworks is made possible in part by the mpt new initiatives fund founded by irene and edward h. Kaplan. Host hello, im rhea feikin and this is artworks. Our new weekly series introducing you to exciting artists from across the country and across the spectrum of creative expression. This is a new venture for a special pbs arts consortium, and were excited that mpt plays a part. Im kwame kweiarmah your cohost. Today, well meet japaneseborn illustrator and author allen say. Hes written and illustrated dozens of childrens books and hes won some of the highest honors in the field, including the caldecott medal. His stories are deep and personal. Allen say that is the time when i feel most vulnerable. I have no control over it. I have no idea how the viewer, the editor or the world in general, the publisher, is going to react to it. Narrator the twentythird book allen say has both written and illustrated will soon be winging its way to scholastic books. Hes putting a few final touches on the book, but he still has to write it. Allen i really couldnt write the text until i have all the art ready. Narrator he walks us through some of his ideas. Allen my father lives with a 20pound cat named tofu. He calls me his favorite daughter. Im an only child. She comes home. Shes glum shes devastated. Everybody laughed at her. Whos ever heard of a japanese doll with blond hair . The new art teacher cant pronounce my name, daddy. She keeps calling me eureka. Narrator the upcoming book tells the story of his daughter, yuriko, and her occasional sense while growing up a feeling outside mainstream culture. Allen i want an american name. What kind of a name . Michelle. This is where theyre discussing. Narrator that theme of the outsider crops up in many of says books. Another hallmark of an allen say book is the way it taps into his personal story. Autobiographical details and Family History are classic ingredients. Born in yokohama in 1937 says childhood was far from easy. It would be touched by war dislocation, and family turmoil. Allens saving grace was cartooning a passion not shared by his father. Alle it was disgraceful to want to be a cartoonist in those days. For a middle class household to have the first son want to be an artist was a disaster. Especially to my father, who was a very successful businessman, and never got over it. Narrator when the war came, allens mother attempting to protect her children fled with them to a Farming Community not far from hiroshima. Alle we were very near when the bomb dropped. There was this tremendous jolt. And we ran out of the house, it was a very mountainous area of course we couldnt see anything. But we were close enough that one of my cousins used to commute to go to work and she came back that afternoon one of the victims. She survived but it was an awful thing. Narror his parents divorced not long after the war. Allen was sent to live with his grandmother in tokyo so that he could attend a good school. But his grandmother also disapproved of his cartooning. Their relationship strained, she made a surprising arrangement. She let allen, a mere boy, have his own place. Allen i started living alone when i was 12yearsold in this oneroom apartment. I wanted to be a grownup, an adult. So, in order to be an adult,first you buy a newspaper. Narrator and that was how allen say learned thathe renowned cartoonist noro shinpei took on apprentices. Allen he was one of the most famous cartoonists in my day certainly my favorite. His cartoons were very very funny. He was outrageously funny. Narrator the next day allen sought him out. He worked with the master artist and another apprentice every day after school. Noro shinpei would become allen says great teacher or sensei. Allen when i went looking for him, i thought i was simply following the old japanese samurai tradition. At the age of 13 or 14 coming of age, the person will go out and look for a master to serve under. And in order to learn a craft, this is what we used to do in the old days. But when i grew up a little bit, i suddenly realized that wasnt what i was doing. I was trying to effectively replace my father. And i was incredibly lucky he obviously intuited that. Narrator the apprenticeship solidified allens love of art. It paved the way for his career as an illustrator. In 1953, says father came back into his life and took him to the u. S. But noro shinpeis influence on allen whom he nicknamed kiyoi was lasting. Allen always held out hope that he would work again with his sensei. And it seems noro shinpei felt the same, as he told his daughter. Allen just prior to his death she asked him if there was anything left that he wanted to do. Thats when he said, kiyoi, is the treasure of my life that i would like to work on a book with him. Narrator allen says drawing from memory is the collaboration that noro shinpei wished for. Say has combined his artwork personal photos, and examples of his senseis cartooning to make a poignant tribute to their deep and lasting relationship. Allen and that is my way of honoring his wish. Rhea allen says next book, hoppers room, details his early years in the states, while the favorite daughter will be released the summer of 2013. Kwame up next, minnesotabased artisan christopher poor invites us to his shop where he handcrafts medieval and renaissance replica weapons. He researches lost old world techniques to fashion authentic suits of armor, and shields and swords. Its fascinating and museums and hollywood have come knocking. Christopher poor when i was six i got a full suit of japanese armor for my birthday, which was Pretty Amazing actually, you know . Youre 6yearsold and you open that package and theres a 17th century suit of armor that you get to run around in like a little maniac. Well, a lot of kids play with cardboard shields and wooden swords, i just never stopped. Im chris poor and im an armorer. Arms and armor is a business i started in about 1980, and what it has become is a place where you can get the most accurate historical copy of just about any piece of arms and armor in the last thousand years. Early on, we made contacts with several museums in europe. We did things with the wallace collection which is a museum in london. We actually were doing some things for royal armories. In this country, weve done everything from the title weapons for ernest scared stupid, right on through to the latest Kate Blanchett elizabeth movie where we did all the high end rapiers. Weve got stuff on display in the chicago Art Institute. We do work here in minneapolis with the Art Institute where we come in with original pieces and show replicas. The globe theater in london. So you can travel the world and you will spot our things. This is an elbow, this will go right here and when you close your arm, it thats about the movement you get and these fins will close the gap. When its extended you still have protection. We try to replicate the original techniques as much as possible. A lot of the tools that existed 500 years ago today exist in miniature. The only people who use a lot of those tools anymore would be silversmiths. So, the hammers weigh four ounces or five ounces. I need the three pound version. Youve seen quite a few tools, i would say 80 of those weve made. Thats partially why we get such good results because were trying to stay faithful to their techniques. Now you have the whole unit, which you can move this way, can pivot that way and the whole thing will sit right there. We try to capture the essence, the spirit and the feel of the original. And partially its made easier for us because we have a lot of originals. Its a lot easier when youve got a 16th century original to look at and as you can see theres a lot of similarities. The difference being i made this last week, and somebody made this in about 1570. Wherever possible we will handle the original. For example, if were going to put a new sword in our catalogue if possible ill go to the museum where that sword is. What i want to be able to do is take the original and take ours and set them down side by side and not really be able to tell the difference. This is a suit of armor were building for a private individual its based on a german one from about 1510. If you add up every little element yeah, theres probably close to a hundred pieces of metal in an armor like this. This is definitely an artistic endeavor; its really freeform sculpture. When youre doing a suit of armor, really what are you doing but creating a hollow, lifesize sculpture in more or less the form of a human being. We start out with flat pieces of steel and we hammer it out, and shape it, and fit it and polish it, and do all of the work. What were working on here is a custom sword hilt. We have a picture. We go from that picture to figuring out the shape. We take bars of steel like this, and with many, many hours, filing, hammering, welding we turn these into Something Like this. And were matching it exactly to a historical original. And when we put a grip which is the handle you actually hang on to, youve got a finished sword. Gregory bentson it takes about as much time to think about the project as it does to actually do it. Id say in a nutshell, yeah, thats the process. Craig johnson okay, now were going to heat treat the head. Were going to place it on the fire, get it hot, and then use the process of quenching the steel to create a piece that is going to be hard durable, and springy. Chris by viking age, in 700, a sword is supposed to be able to bend into an arc and snap back. So by the 7th century, people have figured out how to heat treat steel effectively so that youll get a spring instead of a paper clip. Craig looks pretty good. You can tell when your heat treat is relatively successful because youll get this shiny gray, or kind of a flag gray, i guess, but the scale comes right off. That means its gotten hard. Chris part of why im doing this is because i was well enough educated to find out what it was all about and appreciate it. We dont just to teach the history of swords and the history of armor. Thats pretty limited. What we try to do is teach history using these as hooks as props and if we can bring them into a wider world through this portal, through this entry point of loving swords or armor, well, thats a great thing. Rhea to see more of christopher poors work visit his website, armor. Com his work is also featured in our area on the ship gods speed, at jamestown settlement, and at the folgers shakespeare library. Next, we meet photographer scott baxter, whose found inspiration in the american frontier in arizona. For almost a decade, baxter has photographed over 100 cattle ranchers and their ancestral ranches. Hes helped to document the vanishing traditions of americas legendary west. Rider yah, yah, yah. [ whistles ] [ cattle mooing ] scott baxter some of these ranches were photographing arent going to be around because development is gonna find its way in and theres a lot of ranches i know that theres no one coming up behind them, so theyll most likely be sold. And i just thought what if photographically i could at least try to record some of these families that have been around here since 1912 or earlier. And thats it kind of started that way. I didnt really plan to do anything with it i just wanted to see if i could accomplish it. We call it 100 years, 100 ranchers, and basically the criteria is the family has been ranching in arizona continuously since 1912 or earlier. Henry amado my ancestors came here from valencia, spain, in the 1840s, and they were coming to tucson by covered wagon. This is the amado family my greatgrandfather. About 1852 is when they setup the ranch at alamo bonito, in what is called amado. Scott this family is a very historic family. It goes back a long way. And a beautiful ranch, too in one of my santa cruz countys probably one of my Favorite Places to be in the whole state. Photographs should be really easy for you to look at. You know, it doesnt mean it has to be pollyannaish, or, you know, beautiful or anything. Just has to be easy. If its easy, its good. If i push too hard if i really try too hard to push a photograph it just doesnt work out for me. I kind of let the photograph come to me. Theres not a set process. I want to get this side, too because its got your brand on the horses shoulder. You know, aside from scouting a little bit the day before, and knowing i wanted to use the big sycamore tree, theres not i dont have a list of what im going to do i just kind of walk in and. Its kind of the way ive always worked i just kind of wing it. It kind of works for me. Doesnt work for everybody but it does for me. Perfect, guys. The last one with the camera for now at least. Henry i was standing there, last evening by the tree, between two horses with my son and grandson on each side of me. [voice cracking] very proud. Scott it just gives you an idea, its a small shot. Now, you gotta kind of look at it. You want to show that pride. I mean, theyre very as a group, theyre very proud of their heritage, and very proud of what they do. So thats where were at. Were going to shoot a few more with this camera. With the portraits you just kind of you know, you kinda take a little more time and kinda get your frame up the way you want it and then you read your light and shoot it. 56, 125. Henry i think its a wonderful thing that scott came up with this idea. Scott this is actually very nice where were at now. Its recorded history. I dont think theyre really looking for recognition but i think they like the fact theres going to be a record of this somewhere for their kids. I treated this in a lot of ways just like it could have been shot you know, 100 years ago. I bring a digital with me, but thats to shoot stuff for them. Were shooting straight black and white, no lights so its basically camera, film, and a tripod and that forces me to really think about composition because i dont have a lot of tricks in my bag, and it kind of makes you think a bit more as a photographer. Henry i dont know of any rancher that doesnt work hard. They have to. No, i dont have to do this. Ive always been a very successful cpa and with my son as my partner, the business is still going, and maybe thats why i can afford to be,here, because if hes there, i dont have to be at the office. But i enjoy being here, and at my age, i deserve to be here. I think its love of the ranch love of the land. Scott the brandings can be kind of exciting. You got two guys roping and dragging calves, and youve got three or four cowboys throwing cows on the ground. Sometimes with the action stuff, i dont really have time to do too much but just kind of hang in there. You dont want to be the cause of somebody getting hurt. You dont want to be the cause of livestock getting injured. And certainly dont want to get hurt yourself. So you stay dialed into the frame but you certainly kind of have to have a few things going on in your head at the same time and keep yourself cognizant of whats going on around you. This one is a bit more this is like the old style. The old western . Scott yeah. Ive not had a bad experience. And ive got a story for every single ranch that ive been in. Thats perfect right there. Hold that. You know, the photographs are kind of the icing on the cake, but the real thing is i just. Thank you, sir. Thats it. You know, they are a great group of people. Ive just been honored to have the opportunity to meet them and spend some time with them. Theyre all hard working. Theyre just hard working people who just like they love what they do. And they really love the land. Thats the thing that ive kind of come away with they really love this land and they really want to take care of it. Rhea baxter has released a book of his 100 years, 100 ranchers project. For more information visit 100years100ranchers. Com. Kwame now, our next artists work couldnt be more opposite boldly challenging traditional genres of music, dance and performance. Baltimorebased shodekeh is a professional beatbox artist and vocal percussionist with a dynamic, improvisational style. His performances are simply compelling. Shodekeh [beatboxing] ive always been into the qualities of sounds. I used to do a lot of sound emulations from cartoons from movies. The transition from vocal mimicry of sounds to creating music happened when i was in high school. I was already a heavy, avid listener of a lot of hiphop and all forms of music actually. A lot of rock n roll, more jazz. Thats when i started to tune my ear and my vocal abilities to try and create more music with it. And then in my freshman year of college i started to explore more musical options with what i had available with my voice and i joined an a Cappella Group. When that happened i had opportunities to compose as a vocal percussionist. So, instead of just always backing up mcs or battling djs which is a whole nother form of composition within itself i was given a new challenge; i had to capture something emotional this time, because we didnt just do one specific style or genre of music with the a Cappella Group that i was in, we did a wide variety of genres. And that was a very important moment in transitioning to my career as a musician. [beatboxing] i think ive always wanted to work within varying genres of music, and i didnt realize it until these opportunities sort of came to me. Like for example i was our musical accompanist for this poetry event called slam side, and it was my job to accompany the other musicians and the other spokenword artists. And there was one fateful day, january 2006 Vincent Thomas a professor of modern dance here at towson university, was in the audience. He approached me about having me come in and play music for a dance class. I thought he meant for like a week or two, or maybe two weeks, but he meant for the entire semester actually. So when that happened, a whole new world just opened up to me. [beatboxing] i was at the point, willing and able, to take it to anywhere just to see where i stood as a musician, if i could match wits with these different forms whether it was in dance or even the visual arts, doing musical interpretations of still work, and trying to find ways to have music as a tool to bring the artwork to life those sorts of challenges. And also to, not just to challenge myself, but to challenge the people within these genres who arent used to these sorts of experiences to kind of challenge their notions or preconceived ideas of what a beatboxer is supposed to do or not supposed to do because there are some people who didnt like that i was beatboxing for ballet. But i kinda didnt care because i was there not just to challenge myself but to challenge them, too. [beatboxing] i know ill always want to work as an accompanist for dance. Its not even a performance, its like praying for selfimprovement not just for myself, but for the professor, the students. Its a very unique experience that kinda goes beyond any description through words. [beatboxing] i just want to keep myself inspired, keep others inspired keep myself from burning out doing a lot of work for little to nothing. Fundraising is an art form i want to master. Im working on that. [ laughs ] rhea shodekehs work goes beyond the dance studio and has included performances with a cappella singers, poets and symphonies across the country. His new Facebook Music page is at www. Facebook. Com shodekeh. And now heres a look at some arts events around our town. And that wraps it up for this edition of artworks. Visit mpt. Org artworks where youll find feature videos and upcoming arts events. Im rhea feikin. Please join us next week. Im kwame kweiarmah. Announcer artworks is made possible in part by the mpt new initiatives fund founded by irene and edward h. Kaplan. Er
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