 Talking about warehouse concerts, Stephen King and a Jukebox dress Do you believe in coincidences? When similar occurrences or synchronicities happen, most people respond with a "Oh, what a small world!" But this is a big world. I think things sync up for a reason. The dots are always connecting. And like Sherlock Holmes, I'm fascinated by these clues the universe is sending me and what they are leading me to. My weekly dose of suggestions is about all the creative occurrences that I experienced this past week. Music: Blonde on the Tracks by Emma Swift I discovered Emma Swift's music on Substack and quickly fell in love with her brilliant covers of Bob Dylan songs. One of my favorites is "I Contain Multitudes." She shared info about her upcoming tour. One of her stops was in Kansas City and it just so happened that I was going to be in town that weekend visiting a friend. So I didn't think twice and I bought two tickets to her Kansas City show. There's just one catch about this particular kind of concert: you don't know where the band will be playing until the day of the show. A music adventure awaits!  me and friend before the show - documenting how good our hair looks before heading out in the humidity The concert took place in a warehouse district filled with antique shops, a haunted house, a craft cafe and a restaurant supply store. My friend and I entered one of the old warehouse buildings and rode a creaky, old freight elevator to the third floor that was lined with grand pianos. The host guided us to a corner of a dimly lit audio repair shop. About twenty guests packed into the small shop that was filled with conversation and humidity. Guests fanned themselves with concert flyers as beads of condensation glittered off beer bottles and soda cans, waiting for the concert to start. Emma and guitar player, Rick, played Dylan tracks including I Contain Multitudes as well as songs off her upcoming album, Resurrection Game. The performance was cosmic and it made that tiny space feel so expansive, like a neon dawn setting across a dark desert sky. It's now one of my Top Five most memorable concert experiences. Emma Swift is currently on tour and if she is stopping in your town, don't miss it! Go meet and support cool people in real life.  Emma Swift (right) Rick guitar player (left) Movie: The Life of Chuck Is art the real meaning of life? Let's rewind a few days before my Kansas City trip when I impulsively decided to go to the movies. I chose the film, The Life of Chuck, which is based on a short story by Stephen King. Unlike most films based on Stephen King stories, this one doesn’t contain scary clowns or pets rising from the dead. (Thank God!) It's like a blend of Stand By Me mixed with Armageddon. The film is about life, death and makes you wonder if the meaning of one's human experience is to create art. In one of the first scenes, a teacher stands at the front of a classroom while disruptive young students ignore him reciting Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. Do I contradict myself? There's that phrase again from that Bob Dylan song. I contain multitudes. The main character, Chuck, possesses a lot of creative enthusiasm around dancing. At a young age, Chuck is told that art is not a conventional way of life. I hold back tears. I certainly can't explain the cosmic force that takes place when I create art. It’s like an uncontrollable urge of creativity where sparks just cannot be contained. One must channel their art and unearth it into reality. Why must one's multitudes be persuaded to end and to pursue something more “safe”? How does one explain the creative force that impels someone to write a novel, play a song, dance the merengue, tell a joke, paint a picture? And how do we explain that force that creates community and audiences based around art and music? I stop overthinking about this phrase, I contain multitudes, and think about what I need to pack for my trip instead. I highly recommend this movie. (Here I go crying while watching the trailer again) Misc: The Nerman Museum of Contemporary ArtWhile in Kansas City, my friend and I did some local wandering and went to a museum featuring an exhibition by one of my favorite fashion designers. This was a curated exhibit with the art of Katherine Bernhardt and fashion designs of Jeremy Scott. As a designer myself, I'm always fascinated by the art of tailoring and how one can manipulate fabrics into design.  Jukebox Dress by Jeremy Scott The expansiveness of ideas the designer, Jeremy Scott, translates from fabric to reality is a mind-blowing experience. There is so much playfulness in all his pieces. From a black dress made out of windshield wipers to beaded children's blankets to 1950s Bel Air headlights to a dress that looks like a jukebox, it made me think about the possibilities one person can create for so many. Before we left the museum, we popped into the last exhibit,The Salon of Possible Futures by Amy Kligman. It was an interactive display set up like a living room with lots of drawers containing zines, seed packets and buttons and colorful wallpaper. I look to my left towards the display and there was that phrase again, I Contain Multitudes, on what appeared to be a framed piece of handmade paper.  You might be thinking, "Big Whoop!" or "So What?" I’m not sure the reason for these synchronicities. Maybe it’s a reminder that all my creative multitudes are not meant to be decayed or discarded but to be shared with the world without an ounce of hesitation. I am large. I can’t fit into a box and my creativity is not meant to be stowed away. Here is a video collage I made a while ago of the foundational multitudes that influenced me when I was young. What are some of your creative multitudes? Are you sharing them with the world? Comments are closed.
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