Friday, December 16, 2011

The Re-Rite Of Spring



Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite Of Spring" is a great piece of classical music. The original composition, when it was first played for a live audience, was a ballet and it upset quite a few people. The main reason these people were upset is because they thought that the music was not fitting at all for a ballet. Eventually, Stravinsky had to flee the theater for the fear that people would try to kill him for his composition and ballet.
Today, there are many much crazier remixes and mash-ups of songs that include Stravinsky's work in them, such as Jake Burdick's Dubstep remix of the song. He uses very recognizable chorus parts from the original song, throws in some synthesized voice sound bits, and distorts the sound by adding in a healthy amount of bass. This song by Burdick will probably never compare to the original works by Stravinsky, however they are made for a more modern audience to enjoy.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Alternative Art by Sharpwriter


Art that is recognizable yet very different is fun to look at. One of my favorite artists that makes fun twists on art goes by the handle "Sharpwriter", and his work is very prominent on the popular website http://www.deviantart.com/. Some of the most interesting images created by Sharpwriter are the paintings of important figures in the U.S. history that have a unique twist on them. My favorite piece is his deviation of George Washington crossing the Delaware. The original picture can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg. The deviation by Sharpwriter has much more action in it, being that George Washington is crossing swords with a tiger in the Delaware river during a massive storm. This is really just an interpretation of the struggle between Washington and his troops dealing with their many enemies, including weather, the Hessians at Trenton, and the low morale of troops that Washington had with him. 
There are many more pieces of art, such as Abraham Lincoln riding a Grizzly Bear, created by Sharpwriter that can be found on his page on Deviant Art at http://sharpwriter.deviantart.com/