Tag: ART

S_V_H Final image of Into My Arms

Published on by Scott Von Holzen3 Comments
Into My Arms ≈ L46.5″xH39″xD6.5“

Into My Arms is done. I started this project on July 13th and finished it on the 30th. That is still longer than my goal of completing a work in two weeks. That goal was more of an idea to increase this art production, which it has, than the plan.

I have now completed eight of these smaller, small artworks. The goal was to create a group of smaller artworks that would allow me to stack and pack enough to apply to galleries and art centers out of this local area. Now that I have the numbers I need for a show, I am going to switch to professionalizing my bio, and the creation of an Artist Statement. Then next up would be to create a Exhibit Statement, update my CV (resume), write a brief description of this art, a document explaining why this art deserves an exhibition, a artist statement, make site image improvements on my .com website, and maybe spend a small amount of time on building my next project.

Into My Arms music box with audio playback.

I found this interesting and something that has not been an issue for years. With this artwork video I had a YouTube copyright claim (no harm done) on the audio by the music owners for 46 seconds of my cover music. That surprised me for audio under a minute. I am also applying for a cover license (paying for 25 music boxes) for the one and only one Into My Arms Music Box. That license will be for 58 seconds of the music. I have the choice to follow up on this with YouTube, but why bother? Instead, I downloaded the video from YouTube (much smaller size than what I uploaded) to use here on the blog, by passing YouTube. In reality, my videos over the 14 years I have been blogging, all link to YouTube. I am sure YouTube likes that to capture more views of other videos from more popular content creators. I will leave the YouTube video as is, because neither the YouTube, the owners, nor I care. For me it all about documentation of this artists long and winding artistic Journey, Don’t Stop believin’, “It goes on and on and on and on.”

Scott Von Holzen

(updated August 1st)

I needed to post the YouTube version of this video because some email users were having access issues with the embed video.
30 seconds of the cover music for the music box Into My Arms.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Image three of Into My Arms

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

Into My Arms is moving along. Here I am showing the later progress of this project that was started on July 13th if the creation of the cover music. Today’s writing is July 25th and the visual is complete. Up next is the building and installing of the stereo system.

Into My Arms on July 22nd

Here are two quick images of the progress being made on Into My Arms. The visual artwork is done. The difference in these images is that the latter one has all what I simply call “incidentals” put in place. Beyond my circle notes and their stems the only other consistent notational symbols that I apply to these artworks are incidentals, example being sharps or flats, beams or flags for single notes, and dots. Those symbols and any other symbols I may add to an artwork have only one purpose, and that is to add interest to the artwork. They are there to support visually the up and down motion of the sample of the artist’s cover music.

On July 24th, I finished the visual part of this project.
Stereo system pieces

I have already built the music boxes, installed the speakers, and assembled the removable system support board for the stereo system.

I know this type of information feels unnecessary, but the main purpose of the bog site remains what it has been for the last fourteen years: to document the progress of this art. So it does.

The backside of the artwork Into My Arms.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Into my arms first image

Published on by Scott Von Holzen
Into My Arms first image

Into My Arms is a small song with big lyrics and a beautiful chorus. I first heard this music on my streaming service, Spotify. I was fortunate then to find several YouTube versions of Nick Cave’s Into My Arms. For me, one version, performed inside to a smaller audience, caught my attention. The video, Live in Copenhagen, is an example of why I choose this music. On a later search, looking for more color options of the artist, I found another video of Into my Arms performed outside to a larger audience. In that video, the song seems lost in the noise while the audience feels distracted. I found this performance rather boring, and weak. I am glad I did not find it first.

Nick Cave live in Copenhagen singing Into My Arms. This music’s deeply personal lyrics speak to the “..believe in love, and…. that you do too,” so elegantly performed. The audience participation shows it all.
Into My Arms in a large open venue. This version loses all the music’s intimacy and connection.
Advance draft, IntoMyArms_0714.

For this project I had issues trying to repeat the technique used in my last work, Love Theme, to not paint the canvases a single solid color. The issue was that my background color options come from Nick Cave’s black hair and his dressing in dark colors. After several wasted attempts in choosing a mix of colors dominated by black, I ended up using only black and gray colors. These neutral colors made it all but impossible (for now) to replicate the background look I wanted. Of course, for contrast and interest, I will lighten my pallet when adding the music that sits in front of the background. My thinking for the music, after lots of delay, I will start with a much lighter gray background and then randomly work in brighter colors.

Scott Von Holzen