Superstar Stage Charisma

I saw Prince perform this week. A piece of advice: If you have the chance to see a performer who is commonly described as "dripping with superstar stage charisma" - jump at it.

Personally, I feel I have been 5/6 on my musicians who fit that bill. Personal chronological order:

Steven Tyler - OK, Aerosmith was my favorite band growing up (shhhh, don't tell) and I was standing against the stage - but wow. It was the Nine Lives tour - so even though much of the music was so-so - it was incredible to watch him belt out the songs. (Wins at Face)

Mick Jagger- without a doubt the champion of this list. I have always been a mild Rolling Stones fan, but watching Mick Jagger perform is other-worldly.  I also got to watch this one in a Cameron Crowe-designed setting: an open, dark, construction-demolished luxury suite at Comiskey. (Wins at Overall)

Madonna - My disappointment. Which was surprising, given that Like a Virgin was (seriously) the first vinyl I ever bought with "my own money" - age 9. Let me be clear - the concert was AMAZING, but it was more about the quality of the performance and nostalgia of the music. Madonna just seemed to be pretty "settled" into the music.

Robert Plant - While I didn't get to see him in the Led Zeppelin days - I did get probably his second (and trust me, I understand this is a distant, DISTANT 2nd) best stage stuff: the stripped-down intimacy of he and Alison Krauss. It also helped that this was an outside, free performance. If it came down to voice alone - he would be the champion of this list for me without a single doubt. (Wins at Voice)

Billie Joe Armstrong - I've never seen energy like this performance. Billie Joe ran out at the beginning of the show and put the entire arena crowd on his back and carried them on his frantic journey for the next few hours. He never stopped, never let us rest - he took the whole production over and made sure we felt it. (Wins at Energy)

Prince -I'm still on my Prince high, so this isn't a fair assessment. The thing about these types of performers are it takes months to completely soak in all the residual impact of their performances. Prince was an absolute tease on stage - he played the crowd even better than he played the guitar he rocked most of the show. His timing was impeccable.  Most shows drain me (in a good way) but the Prince show left me full of wonderful energy. (Wins at Timing and Moving)

OK - so looking at this quick evaluation - I appear to define Superstar Stage Charisma with Face, Voice, Energy, Timing and Moving. Yep - that sounds right. I think all of these people (including Madonna, even though I didn't personally feel it in the performance I witnessed) performed beyond expectations early in their career, then had the bar raised, which they performed above again, until the bar was raised to the highest possible level on this planet - and they still vault it with ease. Truly worth every damn penny to witness.

Where I sit on the Oscar Nominated Best Film 10 of 2010

Oh, I'll find this fascinating 20 years from now...
 
My Top Tier - These two operated on so many levels for me: acting, storytelling, visuals and music.
The King's Speech
The Social Network

2nd Tier - I sincerely dug these three - all exceeded my expectations. Stories well-told.
The Fighter
127 Hours
Winter's Bone

3rd Tier - Good, exceptional in pieces, but no long-term seeds planted for me.
The Kids are Alright
True Grit

Just didn't do it for me
Black Swan - To be fair - I'm less than an hour removed from the theater and should let it sit a bit. Natalie Portman's performance was amazing.  But the theme was so heavy and constant.
Inception - The only one I didn't catch in the movie theater - but to be honest I wasn't interested in seeing it at the the theater. This one never got off the ground for me.
Toy Story 3 - really? I enjoyed it, but I guess I'm jaded about what has happened to the whole franchise. The whole story is supposed to be about the authenticity of toys - but the Toy Story toy line has gotten to be, well ... ridiculous, right?

Popular movies (2010) that were not nominated for Best Film that will have an impact on me (that currently come to mind)
Exit Through the Gift Shop
The Town
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 
Kick Ass
Inside Job
The Other Guys

There is no canvas

I have a strange job. I'm one of few people running a full BFA/MFA strategy department.  If I'm wrong about that, please let me know. (Are there many of you out there? Let's grab more beers...) I know about the CCA MBA in design strategy - which I think is a wonderful idea.   (The MFA-MBA discussion is a fun one - I suggest you start following the path here.)  That is for another discussion.

Anyway - as people who have taken my class will tell you, I take this situation pretty darn seriously. What does it mean to teach strategy at an art school?  Again, that is a longer, later conversation.

But, I do look to art for my inspiration.  I have to tell you, I recently found something that keeps rolling around in my head: Fuck the canvas.

I think the canvas gets WAY too much credit. Furthermore, many people who are making decisions about how companies and people interact and communicate continue to place too much weight on the idea of a canvas.

First, I should give credit to those that are thinking in terms of canvas - that is a good first step. Because at least you are paying attention to the important idea - there is no audience. You have to make something interesting enough to draw people in - you don't get to blast away at us anymore. (Dan Gillmor and his brilliance also coming later - dang, I have many blog posts to write.)

Canvases for paintings were originally developed in the Renaissance. The word originates from cannabis because hemp was the original material of choice (not because of common stereotypes about artists.)  This history seems to be one of those fascinating invention opportunities where all the shipping→sailing→sails→canvas going in/out of Italy during the 1500s led to uncommon resource availability to the Italian Renaissance painting peeps.

Canvas is wonderful for painting because it is durable, uniform, controlled and very un-present. It continues to be the preferred medium for most painting, I think.

Canvases allow the artist to control as much of the statement as possible and to predict what will happen when they create.  The artist is in the 99th-percentile in deciding what is going to be pushed out to people.

That is how communications used to work. But those days are over. And we are creating something new right this moment. It is time to drop the idea of control over the canvas.

I prefer to think of sculpture, especially pieces like the Zimbabwe stone sculpture I recently had the pleasure of experiencing for a couple of hours. [Seriously, if you are flying out of ATL - it is worth getting there earlier just for this exhibit - despite the ridiculously shameful lighting.] The work is moving, but highly dependent on the stone - its color, shape, texture, size.  While the artist still maintains most of the control - there is still an understanding that you are working with the stone.  You have to find the appropriate stone to get your message.  There is an awareness in stone-hunting that is not available to canvas-buying. 



The material is more powerful and flexible - but the artist has to raise her/his awareness of that core material which evokes the mind, heart and gut of the person interacting with the piece. (This idea is one of the reasons I'm so excited about Koji Takei teaching a creativity class with us.) Communications is remarkably malleable and diverse today, but it demands more respect than ever. It requires more participation and awareness from the creators and participants. No longer do we go pick-up a canvas to splash our grand message - we now thoughtfully craft an appropriate interaction with material and people.

Just a test of the Droid Blogger app

And a bit of sad commentary on me doing this while this scene is outside my bus window...

Why I'll be rooting for the Packers!

GO PACKERSand the 5 reasons why.

1. While my first cultural allegiance is Cajun, my next is my Dutch heritage. We always choose the most cheese-based option.  Spurred by my brother's insight, I'll be making some of my mom/Ginger Rankin's Pimento Cheese today:

1 lbs. mellow longhorn colby cheese
1 4 ounce bottle pimento
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 (ice tea spoons) sweet relish
mayonnaise
4 hard boiled eggs.


Let cheese come to room temp. and grate.
Add the chopped eggs and pimento.
Add sugar, relish and mix in enough mayonnaise to taste.

I also have some Wisconsin Gouda + apples for the game munchies.



2. I worked at Lambeau Field in the fall of 2002.  This experience was almost nothing like my Wrigley experience, despite the fact that it was still "Serving food in the luxury boxes" (but that is for a later post.)  However, I'll never forget walking through the tunnel and putting my foot on Lambeau Field - it is definitely one of the major temples in American Sports (that is not a metaphor - it IS a religion.)  I met some lovely Packer fans though the experience - and I'm hoping they are enjoying today immensely.

3. While I truly believe in the glorious pain and suffering that I went through to finally make it to last year's crowning moment (YES, I AM ENJOYING THESE FINAL FEW HOURS OF NEW ORLEANS SUPER BOWL CHAMPS!),  I kind of like the idea of little Milo getting it on his first SB.



4.As I mentioned on Twitter, this Super Bowl features a great recasting for the Warriors Three in Brett Keisel, Troy Polamalu and Clay Matthews.



And while two are Steelers and Keisel's beard makes even me and my beard cower - I give the most props to Matthews. Because ... Clay's uncle, BRUCE MATTHEWS IS A ROCK. 

5. In the most important category - It is Green Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1.  GO PACK!