@ecofran and Glass-Half-Full Solutions to Environmental Issues

 

When discussing environmental issues and the many ways in which humans are depleting earth’s natural resources, sand usually doesn’t get brought up. It certainly doesn’t seem to be a scarce commodity considering it can be found in deserts and beaches all over the world. We are, however, in a global sand shortage, and Franziska, known as @ecofran on TikTok, found a way to use a grassroots recycling movement to help restore Louisiana’s coastline and address the lack of comprehensive glass recycling in New Orleans. 

Many people are not aware of their recycling rules and this can cause countless recyclable materials to be dumped into landfills. For instance, if a person puts glass in their recycling in New Orleans, the rest of the otherwise eligible recycling will be sent to landfill. In creating a system where people in the surrounding area can send their glass to Glass Half Full NOLA, Franziska has provided greater transparency in the recycling process and an alternative that will also keep more of the other recyclables out of landfills. 

The insight came to her and her partner over a bottle of wine. Without major glass manufacturers to sell the recycled glass back to, there is not much of a profitable reason for companies to do large-scale glass recycling in that area. Knowing the bottle they were using would ultimately make its way to a landfill, they expressed frustration with the current system and the lack of glass recycling in the city. They experienced motivation to improve recycling in the area and came to the conclusion that a glass-to-sand recycling program would simultaneously address two separate issues that New Orleans was facing.

Creating sand out of recycled glass has the potential to completely change the game when it comes to the sand shortage. Normally, restoration would consist of extracting the sand necessary for the coast from the bottom of waterways, which is not only more expensive than using recycled glass but also more harmful to ecosystems that would be disrupted because of these actions. Franziska’s creativity can alter the future of recycling and sand restoration. It could have major impacts on coastlines all over the world and extends far beyond the possibilities for improvement in Louisiana, which is the point of interest for this New Orleans based company.

Sharing the process of building her company from the ground up on social media has the potential to both make people more aware of the environmental impacts of sand exploitation and provide a viable solution that can aid in the effort to combat this issue. Although a lot of the possible steps that can be taken to mitigate the environmental impacts of humans are too big or intimidating for people to take on alone, Glass Half Full NOLA proves that a collective of dedicated people backed by their community can make a real difference, and maybe even inspire others along the way. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@ecofran?lang=en

https://glasshalffullnola.org

Smino: A Solidified Staple of St. Louis

     I have been a long time listener of Smino. Without a doubt, I may say with complete certainty that Smino has greatly influenced me from the day I first was introduced to him.

  Smino is a musical artist from St. Louis, Missouri. 

  Smino a.k.a Christopher Smith Jr. specializes in the eloquent blend of Neo-Soul and Hip-hop. While Smino has, only recently, established himself as a prominent artist, he has been dominating his field for quite some time. It is safe to say that well known for his intriguing and unique sound and voice, there is much more to be said about Smino. In other words, it seems that music is engrained in the Smith family. 

    Smino began exploring the field due to the rich history his father and grandfather shared as musical artists. Smino then began further entrenched with music when he joined his church choir, both as a drummer and singer. To top it off, as Smino was growing up, the musical artist Nelly put St. Louis on the map. 

There is much to be said about Smino. The most important being, the ease in which his voice wholeheartedly draws the listener in. 

Bob Mackie: Can I Hear a Little Commotion for the Dress?

From costumes to red carpets, Bob Mackie has become one of the most influential people in fashion. He has created some of the most iconic garments, whether it be in television or awards ceremonies. His impact has led to everlasting changes in the fashion world.

                                                 

Bob Mackie was born in 1939, the same year that Gone with the Wind, The Women, and The Wizard of Oz were released. Mackie has always been intrigued with films and it is where his passion for design originated. Starting at a young age, he was taken to the movies by his mother and sister, where they would typically watch musicals. A 1951 movie changed Bob Mackie’s life forever. He went to see An American in Paris. In the film, there is a ballet sequence, and he thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Mackie decided that is what he wanted to do in life and tried to figure it out when he saw the name. Irene Sharaff. She was the costume designer for An American in Paris and became Mackie’s idol.

                                             

Mackie loved the entertainment industry, but he had little interest in fashion. Immediately after finishing school, he began working. He got a job working at Paramount Studios working under Edith Head. He was given free rein by Head for the flamboyant designs for things like musicals and showgirls. After working with Head, he went to work for Jean Louis, where he drew Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress. Louis loved fashion and glamour, which is clear in his designs and seems to have influenced Mackie’s designs.
                                                                       

In September 1967, The Carol Burnett Show premiered. Mackie had already had a few television jobs, including the tv movie Alice Through the Looking Glass, which earned Mackie an Emmy award. But this show would be the one to put him on the map. His sense of humor and willingness to commit to a joke helped him create of the best sight gags seen on television. There was a parody sketch based on Gone with the Wind, that had Carol Burnett playing Scarlett O’Hara-type character. Burnett enters wearing a dress draped with curtains and a curtain-rod coming out of her shoulders, and says, “I saw it in the window and just had to have it.” The original idea for the dress just had curtains hanging off of Burnett, but Mackie did not think that was funny enough. He called the prop department on the show and requested the materials and began building the new dress, which is now in the Smithsonian.

                                                                       

One of things Bob Mackie is most known for is being Cher’s designer and close friend. When they first met, Mackie was intrigued by Cher. She was unusual for the time. Most girls were blonde, had had beehives or flipped their hair out, but Cher had straight, black hair and wore fur vests and big belts. Mackie began designing for Cher, and he could experiment and try pretty much anything. She had a body that looked good and allowed for him to try slinky clothes and bizarre cut-outs. Cher has had some of the most iconic red carpet looks ever, thanks to Bob Mackie. For the 1986 Academy Awards, Cher was presenting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and told Mackie that for the event she did not want to wear a gown, she wanted to wear an outfit. She had been busy doing movies and plays the last few years and had not been seen in her typical outfits. Mackie was originally unsure of Cher’s idea to create a costume and a giant headdress, but he was convinced and designed the iconic garment, and it became Cher’s little revenge for not being nominated for Mask that year. Cher was one of the most photographed people that night, and her picture was in every newspaper the next morning.

                                                                        

If you are interested in seeing some more of Bob Mackie's designs, you can look here:

https://variety.com/lists/chers-10-best-outfits-bob-mackie/

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-pictures/bob-mackie-sketches-cher-broadway-841423/

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Photos-Preview-20-Iconic-Designs-from-THE-ART-OF-BOB-MACKIE--Available-Now-20211214

Karen Lynch – Imaginative Reality

 

I, like most of you guys, spend lots of time mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. On one of my many days of endless scrolling, I ran across an account that was full of collages. Not the kind you make in first grade to describe your personality, but beautiful works of art that spoke to me on a metaphysical level. After some digging, I discovered the artist – Karen Lynch. Karen lives in South Australia and is new to the art world, only beginning her journey in 2013. 

Karen’s creative process is creative in and of itself – she defines herself as an old-school cut and paste artist. Over time, she has curated a library of material to pull from. Before starting any new project, she filters through her paper scraps – all of which are organized by color and object – and puts together a plan to work from. Karen is inspired by surrealist art and 20th c architecture. Most of her work depicts new worlds, all created from old magazines, books, catalogs. It sounds contradictory but, she considers herself a retro-futuristic artist, Karen enjoys taking the past and making it anew. 

In the past, Karen has worked closely with music producers to create album covers, finding creative harmony between two genres of art and music. 

In reading Csikszentmihalyi’s Chapter from his book “Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention”, I found connections to Karen’s art. Csikszentmihalyi described common contradictory character traits of creative individuals, like being smart and naive, playful but disciplined, rooted in between imagination and reality. Karen’s artwork itself fits particularly well into the trait rooted in both imagination and reality. As you can see, the majority of her work takes common objects or people and places them in outlandish landscapes: thus, an imaginative reality is formed. 

I hope you have enjoyed discovering this creative mind with me, and that you can support her by following her Instagram and checking out her artwork!

This is a link to her page where you can find a short bio and see her work. 

Here is her Instagram

 

The Eclectic Fashion of Clara Perlmutter

Clara Perlmutter, a 23 year old New Yorker who's known as @ TinyJewishGirl on TikTok and Instagram, has always had a unique sense of fashion. While under the pandemic lockdown during 2020, she started posting videos on TikTok as a reason to get dressed out of her pajamas. Her outfit choices are making waves on the social media app, where her style choices are met with a polarizing mix of support from people who praise her for expressing herself through her fashion, and hate from people who are put off by her over-the-top style and makeup. If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it's that she’s pushing the boundaries of fashion and style. 

When she started posting on TikTok, people questioned whether her videos were satirical or not because her outfits are so outrageous and nonsensical. But Perlmutter asks, “who says it has to make sense? It’s bright, it’s visually appealing, it’s eclectic, and I find that fun.” She climbed to fame largely due to attention from hateful or confused comments from people describing her outfits as horrible, but now has over 700,000 followers on TikTok. She was recently featured in Paper Magazine and encourages other people to find their own unique personal style, and to start by wearing things that “would make your childhood self happy.” Perlmutter knows that her outfits are an acquired taste and will openly call them “insane,” but continues producing videos to show off her stylistic process.

In describing her creative process, Perlmutter has said that she starts with a piece that she wants to style, and looks through her wardrobe for matching colors and contrasting fabrics and patterns to create depth in the look. She has a vast wardrobe of second-hand items that she has collected from friends and resale shops, filled with vintage pieces, designer labels, and smaller brands. Some of her most unique–and divisive–pieces include a headband and harness set made out of Barbie doll heads, and a pair of gold “micro-shorts.” She often opts for a dramatic, colorful makeup look to complete the outfit. She says that one of her style influences is her mother, who also has a unique fashion collection. 

Under the Four C Model of Creativity, Clara Perlmutter is a little-c creative, as an ordinary person using creativity to develop and display her not-so-ordinary fashion. What started as a reason to stay occupied during the pandemic, is now a way to encourage others out of their style comfort zones and pursue fun through fashion. 

https://www.papermag.com/tinyjewishgirl-2656446430.html?rebelltitem=13#rebelltitem13

https://www.tiktok.com/@tinyjewishgirl

https://www.instagram.com/tinyjewishgirl/

Hans Zimmer: Behind All The Noise

 11 time Oscar Nominee, 2 time Emmy Nominee, and 11 time BAFTA Nominee. With over 250 award nominations through his career, the 65 year old German composer Hans Zimmer, has become one of today’s most accomplished and innovative movie composer.

Born in 1957 in West Germany, Zimmer entered the movie industry at the age of 28. His first major project was a film titled My Beautiful Launderette which released in 1985. It wasn’t long before his talent and innovative style brought him global attention. Three years after the release of My Beautiful Launderette Zimmer’s score was featured in the Oscar winner for 1988’s best picture, Rain Man. Zimmer received his first nomination for Best Score for his work on the film, and was quick to work on another Oscar winner, writing the score for Driving Miss Daisy which won the Oscar for Best Picture the following year in 1989.

Zimmer is presently listed as the composer on IMDB for 224 films, with two of them being produced presently. Zimmer’s resume of work speaks for itself as to the extraordinary abilities of Zimmer to not only compose beautiful work but also push the boundaries of what is possible in film. Some of his more notable scores are: Gladiator (2000), The Lion King (1994), Dune (2021), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Man of Steel (2013), and all films in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Even more impressive, Zimmer has composed many films with frequent collaborative partner and director Christopher Nolan. The pair have collaborated on the films Inception (2010), Dunkirk (2017), Interstellar (2014), The Prestige (2006), and all installments of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.  

So how does one person compose not one but hundreds of projects from film to TV specials to shorts to live concerts? Well in an video from Rolling Stone in 2013 regarding his creative process in writing the score for Man of Steel, Zimmer said “You don’t really want to be observed at your greatest failures, and you have to invite failure if you want to go and experiment, and if you want to try and do something original, you have to have a certain amount of privacy to have the courage to fail.” Zimmer went on to say that composing for him was a type of “experimentation” where he wanted to push to see how far he can push boundaries to discover something new. He sees failures as a part of the creative process.  Zimmer recognizes the inevitability of imperfection and embraces it as a means of improving and refining his craft, ultimately allowing him to be even more creative as he constantly tries to improve and develop new ideas, tunes, and “brand new ways to play an instrument.”

Zimmer’s timeless scores are even further matched by his hilarious and sincere  way of describing his work. In a Vanity Fair YouTube interview, Zimmer discussed his career. While discussing his work on Lion King he said, “my daughter at the time was 6 years old, and I had never been able to take her a premier of any of my movies. And I thought “dad wants to show off”, and that’s why I took the movie.” He immediately followed that statement, “suddenly I realized that the heart of the story is a child losing his father. And my father died when I was very young. And suddenly the fuzzy animal movie became actually very serious and very profound for me. And so yea I wrote a requiem for my dad.” Zimmer brings his entire world and personality into his work. Brining the humor, joy, and energy he embodies into his works like Pirates of the Caribbean, while also bringing his serious, emotional, and grounded life experience into movies such as Gladiator and Lion King.

“In everything Ive done, there’s always something which I would just like to tweak a little bit. So really I am still hunting down the great tune that I have never written. It’s somewhere out there, and that’s what makes me get up in the morning.” Zimmer’s creative limits no no bounds. Though out his career he has utilized electronic sampling and scoring as well as full orchestras. He’s also tried to use every instrument in the orchestra, featuring piano, brass sections, electric guitar, and even church organ at times. Yet despite this creative exploration, Zimmer is still composing, still breaking boundaries, and still chasing that “great tune”.

Sources: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001877/awards, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001877/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm#composer, https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/hans-zimmer-interview-2020, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/man-of-steel-composer-hans-zimmer-offers-glimpse-of-creative-process-169815/, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGs_NT4iL2c&ab_channel=VanityFair

Jason Brown: No Quads? No Problem!

   

Photo Credit: Getty/Xavier Laine

 Figure skating is a vast world of emotional expression, technical skill, and mental fortitude. From ballet movements to acrobatics, figure skating is a sport that combines artistry and gymnastics, but on ice!

    I'd like to introduce you to one of my favorite figure skaters, Jason Brown: a 27 year old man born in Los Angeles, California, and a nine-time Grand Prix medalist who represents the United States. His creative products are his career and performances throughout the years, from shows to competitions. In men's figure skating, quadruple jumps (jumps where the skater must rotate in the air four times) have become a nearly mandatory ability in order to win a medal. This high expectation can be problematic for a lot of men from making it to the top. However, Jason deviates from this technical standard and does not perform with quad jumps. Instead, he uses his phenomenal artistry and audience engagement to claim victory.

    So how DOES Jason Brown perform well enough to break the quad ceiling? The answer may sound cheesy, but it comes from his heart. His creative process entails listening to the music, having an emotion, interpreting it and putting it into the choreography. While he does have a choreographer, it is clear that much of what Jason does on ice is improve and original. He also learns from his past failures, as any creative would, to improve his future performances. As a professional athlete, he has put in countless hours of practice to improve his physical and mental fitness. 

Photo Credit: Ben Margot/AP

    When thinking about a creative process and product, it is important to note the person behind the magic. Jason has a very bubbly and joyful personality and loves to perform in front of a crowd, which is rare since many people naturally get stage fright and their nerves prevent them from doing their best. Not only that, but he also engages a lot with children, charities, and volunteering. Thus, it seems only natural that this ray of sunshine would want to show his inner beauty during his performances. When he was interviewed by the Olympic channel after his performance in the Beijing 2022 Olympics, he said, "I think a big part of what I love about the sport is how much joy it brings me. And I just love to skate. I love being out in front of a crowd. I love working every single day to better myself." What Jason Brown has within him is artistic passion, which drives him to create and interpret his program music to result in his creative product. While it is not unique to have passion, Jason's ability to improvise and create amazing performances is so grand that judges recognized this in him, and can be considered a form of divergent thinking (or in this case, performing).

Lastly, every skater has to be mindful of the critiques and feedback they get from both the crowd and the judge's calculations. Jason's creative work is brilliant in that he rides the energy of the crowds and often gets them to sing or clap along to his music. Furthermore, he has gained a favorable reputation over the years, so the minute you hear his name being announced you know that you are in for a fantastic show. I mean come on, look at that smile!

Photo Credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Here are some of his performances in case you would like to see for yourself:

https://youtu.be/kt4YE_1lXVo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUR5iWcKpD4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzaecs1ylGo

Sources:

https://figureskatersonline.com/news/2021/12/21/jason-brown-i-hope-by-doing-what-i-love-and-by-doing-me-i-wind-up-on-my-second-olympic-team/

https://olympics.com/en/news/jason-brown-full-interview-worlds-figure-skating-champs-2021

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/highland-park/sports/ct-hpn-jason-brown-figure-skating-championships-tl-0105-20180105-story.html

https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/jason-brown-figure-skating-2022-olympics-48712963

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1922258-jason-brown-bringing-youth-charisma-to-us-olympic-mens-figure-skating-team

https://whatscreativeluc.blogspot.com/2022/02/jason-brown-no-quads-no-problem.html