From the silly to the sappy, the philosophical to the practical, every
once in a while an artist makes a statement that becomes memorable. Here
is the best of what was said in the Datebook pages of the Daily Pilot in
2001.
ON ART
"Every show has a certain amount of dressing."
-- John Slauson, prop carpenter, on the special effects used for the
March production of "The Lonesome West" at South Coast Repertory. Effects
for the Martin McDonagh comedy included an oven that blew open when shot
with a gun and a melted set of plastic Virgin Marys.
"It's amazing how creative you can get when you're starving."
-- Scot Bruce, Elvis impersonator, on why he chose to make a living
playing the King. In August, Bruce played an Elvis tribute concert at
Muldoon's Irish Pub in Newport Beach.
"The music is like the taste of a grapefruit."
-- Konstantin Rassadin, founder and artistic director of the St.
Petersburg State Ice Ballet, on Sergei Prokoviev's score for
"Cinderella." The ice ballet performed the fairy tale at Orange Coast
College in March.
"My playing is very close to the way we use language. The rhythms of
English, and I'm playing the language of the rhythms I'm hearing."
-- Stefon Harris, jazz musician, on his style. Harris played at the
Orange County Performing Arts Center in April.
"I feel there's a lot of things sometimes I cannot use my voice or
speech to talk about. But my music will explain it. My instrument is kind
of like my equipment to get in more contact [with] the world."
-- Karen Han, who plays the Chinese erhu (a violin-like instrument),
on her music. Han performed Tan Dun's selections from "Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon" at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in October.
"The orchestra becomes my instrument. It becomes the sound of the
score, and I'm basically playing the orchestra."
-- Brian Tyler, film composer and Corona del Mar High School grad, on
what he uses to create his music. Tyler wrote the scores for "Panic" and
"Plan B."
"You can't force it to do something against its nature. Sometimes you
find you're in the middle of a piece and you find you can't force it to
do what you want it to."
-- Edna Kuhta, Newport Beach jewelry artist, on working with silver.
Kuhta's jewelry was displayed at the Boudreau-Ruiz Gallery earlier this
year.
"I think that sometimes museums and people involved in the arts field
underestimate the intelligence of the average person, whatever average
means."
-- Howard Ben Tre, artist, on wanting people to find their own way to
