SODAPOP PEOPLE, MUSIC, LIFE, PHOTOGRAPHY Issue #6
Planets Live in Houses
Palo Alto Review
The Most Important Pot You May (Or May Not) Have Heard Of
SODAPOP MAGAZINE June 2014 Issue #6
STAFF Editor In Chief: Edwin Monico Managing Editor: Phil Riggs Executive Editor: Caitie Hanahan Art Director: Claude Leco Creative Director: Daniel Moutray Staff Writers: Andrew Mercado, Mike Maniquiz Staff Photographer: Abraham Cuenca, Daniel Cantagallo, Jessica Monico Graphics: Gian Bautista
Interns Charlie Mirador
COVER Model:: Sookie Instagram: @sookiethesharpei Photo: Jessica Monico Photography and articles belong to their respective photographers/writers and are used by Sodapop Magazine with permission. No reproductions are authorized without permission from Sodapop. Any questions, comments, and/or concerns can be directed to contact@sodapopmagazine.com.
CONTENT Letter From The Editor Sunday Mornings The Most Important Pot You May (Or May Not) Have Heard Of Palo Alto Review Spotlight Photographer: Jan Wasmuth Fleeting Moments Interview: Planets Live in Houses
Letter From The Editor Words straight from the boss
S
odapop Magazine is 6 months old and growing up is insane in the magazine world. My team and I have accomplished more than I would have ever thought
when I started this magazine by myself. Today, I can proudly say we have 5 full time staff members and a few interns. One intern in particular is making an appearance in this issue. I found him on instagram and I was instantly attracted to the naivete in his photography that I had long forgotten. It’s raw and real and it depicts San Francisco, which is a city that I personally have a strange relationship with. So enjoy our new intern Charlie Mirador’s piece on San Francisco. Also on the agenda we have Planets Live in Houses out of Fresno, California who are reminiscent of American Football. Another cool bit is that a dear friend of mine named Kevin Figueroa, who plays in Le Wolves, did the photo shoot. Enjoy the issue. There’s a bunch of cool shit in here, you just gotta read it and tell your friends. Oh, by the way, have you guys ever met a Shar-Pei?
Sunday Mornings Aileen Suarez Aileen lives in Los Angeles, and is 19. She likes to draw, perform, and dance. She is currently majoring in communications. Go see more of Aileen on instagram: aileensuarez_
SM: What do you wear to sleep? On summer nights, I usually sleep in a small t-shirt with some booty shorts or some lace underwear.
SM: What are your favorite types of movies? My favorite movies would be action movies, , such as Batman, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, etc.
SM: How do you feel about Sundays? How do I feel about Sundays? Well, Sundays are usually the days where you recover from the busy week and the crazy weekend you just had. You could either be lazy and sleep in or get up , go work out, be with your family, or do some errands. After that, you can grab yourself a big meal such as a steak and mashed potatoes. After all that then, you can be lazy and careless and play some video games because you deserve it.
The Most Important Pot You May (Or May Not) Have Heard Of By: Mike Maniquiz
Stan Bitters’ studio is busy. On a long
counterpoint to the jazz muzak playing on the
work table beside a shelf of bisque fired speakers. But it all makes sense. A show is pots and glazes are ceramic lanterns and about to happen. birdhouses ready and waiting to be packed away in cardboard boxes. In one corner a
Bitters is busy getting ready for an
worker toils away rolling coils of clay, and on
exhibit, his first in 35 years. It will be at Heath
the wall opposite him hang three tile murals
Ceramics in San Francisco and will run for
in various stages of completion. The floor has a couple of months starting May 31st. The been turned into usable space for laying down show highlights his breadth of work—from ceramic tiles and large-scale medallions.
monumental wall installations to sculptural
Outside, someone is building steel frames
ceramics such as medallions, pots, lanterns
and the high sizzle of welding provides an odd
and birdhouses. These pieces are reminders
of his contribution to California design.
For a number of years now, Bitters has
been riding the resurgent wave of modernist design. He has been featured in the prestigious California Design series and at the Craft and Folk Art Museum as part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 – 1980. It is a validation of his work.
But that is not why I’m here.
I want to figure out something. I want
to know about the Stan Bitters thumb pot, the entry-level piece of every serious Stan Bitters collector, the very first work of his that I owned, and why of all the pieces that this man has produced, I keep coming back to it.
***
To understand Bitters is to start with
Peter Voulkos.
The story often told is this: Bitters walks
into Peter Voulkos’ studio at Otis in 1956 and sees a man, who would later chart the course of American ceramics for years to come, abusing a pile of clay.“Peter was whacking it, punching it, cutting it. I never thought you
could do that. Up until that point, ceramics for inspiration outside the medium of ceramics, me was what I was exposed to in Fresno— in the most American of all art forms: Abstract pretty cups and saucers set on top of doilies.”
Ceramics is always
tied to the past. In Japan, ceramists can trace their lineage to Bizen and Isa, small towns that supplied
Expressionism.
“If in Impressionism the brush stroke is just a means to an end, in Abstract Expressionism the brush stroke is the end in itself.”
ceramics for traditional tea
***
In Abstract Expressionism the artist becomes the subject,
his
expression
content. If Impressionists like Cezanne and Renoir
ceremonies. A young ceramist in California in
emphasized fidelity to image, to recognize
the‘50s, however, cannot do that. He has no
the beauty of nature’s fleeting moment in
roots. He obviously cannot draw connection
light and color, then Abstract Expressionism
to Asian traditions, and whatever progressive emphasizes the vagaries of the artist’s forms of ceramics available at the time were
inner landscape. (Other well-meaning but
brought in by expatriates such as Franz misguided dilettantes call it turmoil.) If in Wildenhain and Otto and Gertrude Natzler. Impressionism the brush stroke is just a Any connection to these schools would
means to an end, in Abstract Expressionism
only be temporal at best and disingenuous the brush stroke is the end in itself. at worst. He has to come into his own as a ceramist.
Peter Voulkos used clay the way
Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock
(“The Natzlers didn’t like Voulkos’ work,” used the canvas. A Voulkos piece may look
Stan said,“even went so far to suggest that he
like a plate (or like something someone gave
go back to doing finely crafted ceramics.”)
up on after a frustrating time at the potter’s wheel) and be called a plate, but it is more
Which explains why Voulkos opted of an expression of a plate. And this is what
instead to find a way for himself, and eventually gets the goat of many: the artist gets to provide a path for others. And he found determine the rules. When this happens,
beauty becomes relative; the beholder has to conventional. Most conventional ceramics go by what the artist defines as art. Or in this
emphasize form as a paramount quality.
case, what the artist feels like defining. The The subject is never a point of discussion, danger here is when abstract art becomes and in exceptional cases when it becomes self-indulgent.
such (Otto and Gertrude Natzler’s work come to mind), it is merely adjunct to the form. To
Much of art then, becomes subject to his credit, Voulkos advanced the medium of
chance. Outcome becomes secondary when clay from mere decoration to fine art. There chance is involved. The process becomes is not denying however that when one looks paramount. Does the artist know how it will
at a Voulkos, one does not see function. One
turn out? Rarely, because intuition, more only gets to see expression. He did away with than logic, is what controls the process—yet function entirely. And there’ s the rub. it’s always never spawned in a vacuum. The artist knows about conventions and being an
How much does utility matter when
iconoclast, goes against these conventions— speaking of ceramic art? Can expression and not for the hell of it, but from a simple creed
utility happen in a single piece? The simple
of offering the audience a new way of seeing, answer is, of course. Even in Voulkos’ work, of maintaining that there are other ways of expression and utility are present, although seeing. Or even venerating. The poet Rainer not in the way you’ d assume. In a Voulkos Maria Rilke, who was Rodin’s secretary, piece, utility and expression are in constant understood that our purpose in life is to see
conflict. This is why when one sees a Voulkos,
as much as we can so that we can carry as
one cannot help but notice the energy
much of this to the next life.
enveloping the piece.
***
This is where Stan Bitters charts a
different course from his teacher. Bitters is
Stan Bitters entered the world of able to find a way to present a harmonious
ceramics when the sculptural and technical
marriage of utility and expression—which
possibilities of clay were still inchoate. As a can be seen in what may just be his most product of the Voulkos school, his work is not important piece: the thumb pot.
artists are in fact wary, if not scared of control.
His thumb pots elevate a simple vessel
They’ re afraid it might lead to work that is
into an artistic statement. While it is still a mannered and bereft of spontaneity. After purposeful thing, still possessing utility, it is
all, didn’t Mallarme advocate to “paint not the
presented as argument. When throwing a thing but the effect which it produces?” pot on a wheel, one is advised to lose one’s self in the process, to let the clay guide the
But control is important. Artists need
hands. Because of this, in the most beautifully
to find a balance. Without control, there
thrown pots, the hand of the potter is never can only be chaos. One can argue however part of the enjoyment of the piece.
that genuine art aspires to the primal, and thus, controlling it only leads to some kind
The opposite is true in Bitters’ thumb
arbitrariness, and hence pretension. While
pot where Bitters literally leaves his imprint
that may be true, let us not forget that the
on the form. In fact it becomes a pattern— best art aspires not to chaos but to control. repetitive but human at the same time. The There will always be that hand, that thumb beauty of Bitters’ thumb pot is in how the process becomes evident to the viewer, and
print if you will, very human and imperfect, to remind us in case we forget.
when process is evident, so too is the creation of art. We get to experience the process, not See more of Stan Bitters as makers but as witnesses.
Bitters’ best work contains shibui, a
Japanese aesthetic that strikes a balance between simplicity with complexity. As a result, one never tires of a shibui object but rather finds new layers that cause beauty to grow over the years.
Such is the characteristic of his best
work. Energy is subdued and controlled. Some
Portraits of Teenage Unrest in Gia Coppola’s
Palo Alto By: Andrew Mercado
There is not one family in the film
on the transition of high school into adult life.
industry with the sheer amount of talent Teddy’s problem is similar, but his point of that the Coppola family has. Francis Ford, view focuses less on the suffering and more Sofia, and Roman have shown their skills as
on the contemplative.
directors, screenwriters, and producers. The
The impetus for the story occurs
new addition, Gia Coppola, only further proves around a party in which Teddy, April, and that this well does not look to be running dry Teddy’s friend, Fred, meet. This event sets in any time soon.
motion the conflicts for the entirety of the
movie. A love interest is established between
Palo Alto is the story of high school
seniors with various forms of pressure and April and Teddy, and Fred is the intangible problems specific to a fledgling teen in a force that brings them together as they modern
upper-middle
class
community, take an intermission and go to a nearby
but they also face problems of society more park to hang out for a bit. From then on far-reaching.
April
(Emma
Roberts)
and unfortunate circumstances of alcohol, drugs,
Teddy (Jack Kilmer) are the focal points, and amorous confusion and the loss of control the characters around them shape their that occurs as a result split them apart. Teddy experiences. April faces pressures of sex and finds himself reeling in rage and eventually academia. Questions of maturity and inclusion
causes an accident. He gets sentenced to
pelt her throughout the film. A guidance community service. In various situations, counselor at one point causes her anxiety to Teddy shows himself to possess a beautiful skyrocket as she realizes the ugliness of the mind. His drawings are reflective of the very obsessions and standards around her. Mr B., moment in which he inhabits, while also April’s soccer coach, played by James Franco, projecting his compassion for the moment or initially seems supportive and kind, but his
person at hand. There is a bit of April’s plight
esoteric intentions are dubious. He eventually in Teddy, but he also searches for a degree proves himself to be a sexual predator, of meaning through artistic expression and preying on the undeveloped emotions of
his observations of society around him.
April to get her to sleep with him. Many of her
April’s point of view is one of suffering. Both
pratfalls are related to an inexperienced base categories of issues are equally provoking, in the real world; much of the story resides and raise questions in their own right.
I think the one aspect – unifying and One scene sees him come up with an idea
central to the themes of the movie – that to cut down a tree with a chainsaw, with the make this such a good film is the fact that all help of Teddy, all the while showing a sense of of these issues are very genuinely portrayed. deliberate carelessness. Anyone else’s needs Everything feels honest and real. These are not accounted for, and anything he does problems are very common, yet also very with someone is usually his idea. One gets significant. The skewed portrayal of sex, the
the sense that he is disturbed, and can get
objectification of women, the pressures to do
violent. His actions are, at times, despicable, as
well and get into a good college, the need to his behavior with a girl from school, Emily, can stand out, the dangerous boredom, the risks attest to. He knows he can take advantage of created by dumb youth, the entitlement, the her sexually because of her promiscuity; there loneliness and isolation of the victims that see are various moments in which he demeans the injustices and unfortunate circumstances
her. Fred’s character reveals an identity crisis
transpire before them with no help or that, at times, reflects the sentiments of understanding from either side. As I have said many of the other characters as well. This can before, these are circumstances that many be summed up in one phrase: “I’m not bob.” I of us can understand, but it the movie does
found myself saying this over and over again
not flinch in its portrayal. One character that
in my head over the course of a few days.
represents much of the frustration and many His crisis becomes chilling, highlighting the of the faults described is Teddy’s friend, Fred.
essence of the all of the characters’ search,
Fred is aimless, erratic, and volatile. and revealing quite a bit of insight. Emily’s
His whims carry him to the edge of disaster,
character also proved very well done and
emotionally
necessary as part of the supporting cast.
and
physically.
His
crisis
is
imminently existential and, in some cases, medical. That being said, he tends to steal
As one of the most tortured characters
in the film, Emily (Zoe Levin) incites some
scenes with his unpredictable behavior. Fred helpless tragic feelings within. She desperately is also extremely egotistical, displaying a need
wants to connect with a boy, any boy. Her
to feel entitled to things in every opportunity. perception is such that she knows how boys Fred wants the sense of feeling the rush of
are, how society treats women as sexual
danger and fun in order to help him feel alive.
objects, and how she can get to men through
sex. But her actions backfire, and she is of them learn from their mistakes and the only further thrown into a pit of despair and
growing world around them, and some of
destruction as she is subjected to various acts
them wallow in their grief, crushed under the
through the commands of Fred. Many people weight of it all. Needless to say, the movie is stop seeing her as an actual human being, more than enjoyable. but her underlying being is badly damaged and yearning for help. Emily, as well as the aforementioned characters of Palo Alto, though from affluent families, are relatable to a point.
Though this movie is enjoyable due to its
performances, direction, and cinematography (some the shots are astoundingly beautiful, both metaphorically and aesthetically) the plot itself is not entirely intact. The problems of each character are shown independently, and not always resolved or dealt with. They are sometimes presented as a fact – objectively – and kind of float around without being properly addressed. Though these problems exist, they do not detract too much from the overall quality of the film.
Gia Coppola does something in this
framework that is very admirable. She has created a point of view from various characters in high school that is sympathetic to all of their plights, even the ones that yield despicable behavior. Their struggle is shown to be arduous, eliciting reactive moments from the audience at fitting intervals. Some
Final Verdict:
8/10
SPOTLIGHT PHOTOGRAPHER
JAN WASMUTH Jan is a 34 years old, iving in Wiesbaden, Germany. He’s currently working as a desktop publisher and studying Graphic Design. He started photography 4 years ago with Lomography and since 2013 he’s been taking pictures of people and reporting. He mostly uses analogue film cameras for models and a digital camera for documentation and reporting.
Check out more of Jan click here
FLEETING
MO
OMENTS
“Fleeting Moments”- are 2 words I like to keep in mind while I’m out and about shooting or just simply “living out loud” with my camera on me. Although these moments will always continue to surpass me, noticed or not. The ones that I am fortunate to capture, I hold dearly. In a city that’s changing rapidly, with people and places being replaced and polished- I find it important to document my surroundings. Shot between 2010-2014, these photographs are a few of my “fleeting moments”.
Charlie Mirador- San Francisco CA Visit Charlies instagram: @mmrrdrr_art
Interview: Planets Live in Houses Instrumental bands have a lot to account for in their music, one could say more than a traditional band. The lack of a singer leaves a void that must be filled in some way or another. Planets Live in Houses is a band that possesses more than enough nuances and sophisticated melodies to qualify as an act to keep an eye on. Not strictly math rock or post rock, they learn to experiment in ways that causes the very description of them to be rendered genre-blurring. Their recent self-titled EP conveys an astounding display of narrative maturity, as each song tends to follow in mood and composition, from the melancholy to the contemplative to the elated. Instrumental bands of this caliber remind us – in some sense – what music is truly about. It is that inscrutable, intangible feeling of connection and melding with a sound as one makes a connection with a feeling, like a drop of water that casts ripples into you. This is what I listen for, and this is what I hear when I listen to this band.
By:Andrew Mercado Photography: Kevin Figueroa going to sound like Toe. Also, I listen to a lot of math rock. I really, I mean, people keep labeling us as math rock, which I think is weird, ‘cause there is maybe like one or two parts that are legitimately like weird time signature stuff. We made the decision to not take that route. We just had to make a conscious decision because, I mean, you just get pigeonholed so quickly, you know, as a math rock band. If you ever want to write a song, you know, a pretty pop song in 4/4, all your math rock fans are going to disown you. Like,
Andrew: So what are some of your musical influences? Mike: You know, it might sound funny, but originally when I started recording for the album, I really expected us to sound more like Toe. You know the band Toe? Andrew: No, I don’t, actually. Mike: Well, they are one of my favorites. They have these crazy time signatures. And it’s really hard to make up for a singer when you are an instrumental band, but I think they do that. I was playing some of the stuff we have and somebody said, “You guys totally sound like Toe.” And when we recorded I had Sahab, our producer, mic the drums like a jazz kit, just super light like three mics around the drums. As a result, the album has kind of a smaller sound. So I guess that was my biggest thing at the time is I thought we were
if you start off math rock, you kind of have to end math rock. Andrew: Yeah, and as an artist you kind of have to evolve your identity over time. Mike. Yeah. That’s why I felt it was going to be a lot harder for us to evolve. Our new material we are working on is actually a lot more like math rock. Like, at this point it’s not going to be like, “Hey they are releasing another math rock album.” It’s going to be like, “Hey, they have cool math parts in there.” Andrew: I like the tricky time signatures that
mix it up from time to time. I noticed that in this current album you don’t have a lot of that, but I like the melodies that loop and bring the music together. It kind of flows from song to song. Mike: Yeah. Certain bands, I mean a lot of them that tried to change and it just went horribly because they are just past their prime. The Deftones were a huge influence for me and I listened to them when I was in like 5th grade. And it was like they consecutively made something new. They went through so many pressures, but they managed to stay relevant, and they just put out another album and I think it’s amazing.
would turn to him from time to time and say something like, “Here’s your big fuck-off rock and roll riff.” I was trying to be a dick, but I kept playing it and people thought it was pretty cool and I started to think it was pretty cool too. There was no logical way to do that. We just slowed the song down randomly and decided, “Hey, we are going to throw this big fuck-off rock and roll riff at you.” Andrew: I like left turns like that. I always keep my eye out for those. Mike: Yeah, I’m a big fan of that. My big thing is just dynamics in general. ‘Cause, I mean, like I said we are an instrumental band and a lot of people can’t get into instrumental bands. They need a singer to focus on or something. So we are almost pressed to be more, you know, more than a standard band can do in a song. Andrew: Yeah. So, in a song, like, how do you come up with ideas to make it live up to that standard? You guys just sit around and spitball or how do ideas come about? Mike: Usually, one of us will have something that we kind of just wrote up on our own. I will come up with a riff, or Jonathan will come up with two or three riffs and we work on it together. Then we kind of base our songs around that. Other bands will start from the chorus or the hook, but we mix it up.
There’s not a lot of bands that I can say I listened to in 5th grade that are currently putting out good stuff. Andrew: Even though your EP has a consistent flow to it, there are some random parts that come out that took me by surprise. There’s a part in the song “Wolf Computer” that was this fuzzy sounding guitar that sounded like 60s hard rock/metal. Mike: Oh (laughs). I first wrote that as a joke. I started with Brian or John on guitar. And he had another band called Blind Bison. I
Andrew: I know what you mean. Sometimes when I work on anything creative, anything as innocuous as a pool table cover can spark something for me. Like something that doesn’t initially mean anything. Mike: Exactly. But I mean some of the songs do come from something super personal. The song called “Heather” is about one of my last girlfriends. Andrew: That’s a good way to vent it out, man. I really like the somberness of that song. The notes really brought out those feelings.
Mike: Yeah. Andrew: Cool. I got a question for you that might be a little weird, but I’m interested to see what you say. What influences do you have outside of music that you utilize? Mike: Hm. Um, I’m really big into art. I mean, just like paintings and drawings. I like the really old 1800s line drawings and stuff. I like this guy called Aubrey Beardsley. And we have actually used a lot of his art for our t-shirts and cds. He was this amazing artist and he was gay at a time when it was illegal to be gay. Where we got a lot of art from was he illustrated Oscar Wilde’s Salome. Andrew: Oh, awesome. Mike: Yeah, and it was just these amazing illustrations and you know Oscar Wilde was put on trial and imprisoned for being gay. The artist had some sort of debilitating disease and was sentenced to die in his early twenties. That is a huge influence on me. Like, if I knew I was going to die in five more years, what would I draw, how would I spend my time, what would I do? And that’s what he did. He drew. Later on he started drawing weird stuff like dicks and boobs and chicks farting on each other. (Laughs) This was near the end when he was ready to die. And like nobody ever knew if it was him just messing around or if it had a more significant meaning to him. Andrew: (Laughs) That’s cool, man. I’m intrigued. I’m actually going to look that guy up now. So kind of a weird question to close on, but I guess it just worked out that way. How do you guys get along as a band? Do you have good chemistry? Do you guys feed off of each other? Mike: Well, we are a pretty solid group. We have the same vision for this band. We have the same drive. I like where we are right now. Andrew: Glad to hear it. Thank you for your time, man. This was fun. Mike: Yeah, thanks. This is actually one of the more interesting reviews I have been on. If you want to check out the new direction the band is taking, check out their Facebook page.
Also, check out their new self-titled EP on Bandcamp.