VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE 71
AIR DATE 05 24 2019
TRANSCRIPT
OPEN ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Capturing Nature
((SOT))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I've been painting the canyon over 40 years. I wanted to get in a place where nature was completely in control.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
REDress
((SOT))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
REDress is a word that means to put right a wrong, and indigenous women have been facing injustice in North America for hundreds of years.
((Animation Transition))
((Banner))
Soul Companion
((SOT))
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
Just something about this dog. He would look at me. It’s like he could see into my soul.
((Open Animation))
BLOCK A
((PKG)) GRAND CANYON PAINTER
((Banner: Painting Canyons))
((Reporter/Camera: Arturo Martínez))
((Map: Grand Canyon, Arizona))
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I just wanted to throw myself into nature's embrace and let the canyon change me, teach me something. That's why I went to the Grand Canyon and my artwork is an outpouring of that.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I've been painting the canyon over 40 years. I've done hundreds and hundreds of oil paintings and 1000 drawings and sketches like these.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I wanted to get in a place where nature was completely in control, all the way. The Grand Canyon has been the major portion of my life's work. I randomly visited Arizona in the summer of 1969. I moved to the Grand Canyon shortly after that. I went to work for the National Park Service, taking care of their water supply, bringing in big tools and fixing a pipe. It’s not a job I would have chosen, but I wanted to live in the canyon so I did what I had to do.
Deep into the canyon, very long walk. Stayed for 33 years, right there.
We raised three children in the canyon. We did homeschool. It was hard, it was difficult, but we were able to pull it off. It was just us, there was nobody else and for miles around.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
That's what it was like when our kids were growing up down there, sitting on our porch. This is right off our front porch, looking straight out. Here I'm carrying a very big painting out of the canyon. I have it strapped onto a backpack frame. It looks like a desert landscape with nothing growing down there but that's not true. It’s very plush place, lots of water, broad leaf deciduous trees, fish, creeks, springs, giant springs, waterfalls cascading down. But you have to hike and go a long way to get to these places.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
You know, everybody talks about the red rocks in the canyon and I understand that they're beautiful, but this is a tremendous, magnificent combination of nature's display of beauty. These are true colors of the Grand Canyon as well. What in the world, what kind of a story is this rock telling us? It took me about 20 years of living in the canyon, before I finally started noticing these smaller features.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I'm looking for some type of a bench of rock that sticks out a little bit, possibly with a tree, one of these kind of pines bending over the canyon, creating an arch, sort of, that then frames something coming up out of the canyon, and I can capture the whole thing in one view.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
The first step to one of my oil paintings comes through direct observation. I will go back to the site, maybe even spend three days watching, waiting and watching and I mean waiting. Just wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Finally the light emerges, the time of day is correct. The sun makes the difference for everything. You know, it gives that angling light and illuminates certain things and other things fall into shadow and makes things stand out.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
Pay attention to nature and nature will deliver for you.
And if I go up to the canyon and the light is not good, I guarantee you, the sketch pad does not come out of the pack.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
This sketch book has.....I just started it. It's got a few things in it. I was just trying to frame in some thoughts here. At some point, I can come back here again on a better day. The light today, it was just not there. This is why it takes months to get your view, to finally get your painting.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I've drawn, sketched, painted everything. So, yeah, every one of these locations means something to me. I've painted from way over there on the North Rim, on the North Rim over there, on the North Rim over there, and I painted from everywhere around there, all down along this bench, that point over there, and right over there is where I lived, 16 miles hiking from this side on the trail. Mules would come down and that's how we'd get our groceries, some of the times on mule back. Other times, they'd be bringing the helicopter in for some reason, and we’d get it that way.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
The original is six feet high, nine feet long.
((Tourist))
Well, you do some really amazing work.
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
This one over here is probably 50% smaller, reduced than the original, and it's in a private collection down in Phoenix. These are older paintings though. I did all these back in the, mostly in the 90s.
((Tourist))
Ok, cheese.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
I miss it terribly, I really do. It's something that will never not be there, but there's more in this world, and I'm finding it.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
Along about 2003, 2004, 2005 I realized that we had not lived in town in over 30 years. To put it in perspective, Richard Nixon was president of the United States when we moved into the canyon. It was time to go and do something else.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
Sometimes I wonder though, was it more civilized down there in nature than actually here? It was just nature coming at you 24/7, but you move to town and suddenly you realize this is the new paradigm, is the manufactured environment, false environment, where nature has been altered and twisted and forced to do our bidding in some fashion.
((NATS))
((Bruce Aiken, Painter))
But I look at the Grand Canyon now and say, I love you. I will always love you. Thank you for everything you've given me, but I have to go look at something else too.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
REDress
((SOT))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
The color red for me is really a sacred color and it’s really what unites all of us.
BREAK ONE
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK B
((Banner: Art and Culture))
((PKG)) MANGOLIAN MASK MAKER
((Banner: Preserving Art and Culture))
((Reporter/Camera: June Soh))
((Map: Arlington, Virginia))
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
When I create the mask, it takes time. During that time, I am thinking about Buddhist philosophy. It gives me meditation, inspiration, and a peaceful life.
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
My name is Gankhuyag Natsag. I am making traditional Mongolian ritual Tsam dance masks.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
And I was born in Mongolia. I came to the United States in 2002.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
I made first the Old White Man’s mask in 1997. Then I decided to build 108 pieces of masks.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
It took me 10 years and I completed in 2007 the all ritual 108 Tsam dance masks.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
It was danced in Mongolia since 1811 till 1937. Just before World War II, the Soviet Union came to Mongolia and they made some Red Revolution. That means they destroyed more than 800 temples, including lots of Buddhist objects. A lot of masks were destroyed during that time.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
Then I really wanted to recreate the 108 Tsam (masks). Each mask represents own character and roles.
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
(For) example, the Old White Man is giving people long life, very knowledgeable, (has) wisdom and teaching people. When I wear the mask, when I am dancing, I am trying to tell that story through my movements and dancing.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
While I was making the masks during these 10 years, my family members and some of our friends helped me to create the 108 masks’ costumes including some of the parts.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
My mother was a very famous seamstress and also my father was a very artistic person. I learned from, a lot from them.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
Myself, I studied in art school.
((NATS))
When I make masks, I use papier-mache. Making the mask is not easy. It is a very complicated job. It takes time and sitting and making the mask, I think about the character of that mask peacefully inside.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
I created the Khan Bogd Ensemble, which is a dance-music group. We performed in many places, more than 50 countries in the world, traveling mostly festivals and theaters and museums.
((Photo courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
I would like to introduce Mongolian culture all over the world through my art, through my masks and that's one of my biggest goals.
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
Beside my mask projects, I have a dream project, which is named World Peace Pagoda. I am lucky that they got the land in Mongolia and have started our project. I wish to build in the Washington, DC area (too).
((NATS))
((Gankhuyag Natsag, Mask Maker))
If people are enjoyable and peaceful in themselves, our world will be peaceful. That is based on the Buddhist philosophy. For our needs, for everyone’s needs, because our world is unique, only the home for us.
((Video Courtesy: Gankhuyag Natsag))
((NATS))
((PKG)) REDress
((Banner: REDress))
((Reporter: Julie Taboh))
((Camera: Adam Greenbaum))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
What I do is I put up empty red dresses in public spaces, so that people can connect to the absence of these women, but also to the power and presence of the women through the red dress.
((NATS))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
It’s called the REDress Project or the Redress Project and redress is a word that means to put right a wrong, and indigenous women have been facing injustice in North America for hundreds of years.
((NATS))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
I’ve always been an artist and I’ve always been very creative and I really wanted to use my talents and my gifts to further the voices of a lot of people who are silenced.
((NATS))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
The color red for me is really a sacred color and it’s really what unites all of us. You know, it’s our sacred life blood. It’s like where our vitality comes from and our energy and our power as human beings and, but it’s also, kind of, an illusion to the violence and the loss of that sacred life blood through violence.
((NATS))
((Jaime Black, Visual Artist))
What I think that, you know, the art work and creativity can really do is really hit people in the heart. You know, people who walk by those dresses, they can’t un-see that. You know, that’s going to sit in their memory for a very long time and, I think, it has a really emotional impact on people even before they know, you know, why the dresses are even there for.
((NATS))
TEASE ((VO/NAT))
Coming up…..
((Banner))
Giving Life to Art
((SOT))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I always wanted to know how is the art created? How do I make that character move and become alive? And that was always my passion.
BREAK TWO
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
BLOCK C
((PKG)) FROM PTSD TO COMEDY
((Banner: Path to Recovery))
((VOA Russian))
((Reporter: Anush Avetisyan))
((Camera: Anatolie Casenco))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Monrovia, Maryland))
((NATS))
((Pop-Up Banner: US Army Veteran Michael Carrasquillo served in Iraq and was wounded in Afghanistan in 2005. He was 21 years old))
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
We were doing missions the same way we always do. We do patrols and my team got ambushed, and so, one of my guys got shot first. He was shot twice through the leg, couldn't move, and so, we had to just kind of drag him out of the danger zone under fire, and in the process of doing that, I was shot five times.
((NATS))
Say, Hi.
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
I had multiple fractures, multiple damaged organs. There I also sustained massive amounts of nerve damage. So, I've lost function in certain parts of my body, sensation, feeling. So, it's been something that I've had to learn to live with, you know, throughout these years. But really, I also left, emotionally I left myself there. I never left. You know, I'm a young man. I'm 21 and now I can't use the bathroom without help.
((NATS))
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
I was starting to spiral and there would be weeks that I didn't step outside my house. And, you know, up at 3:00 a.m. patrolling the perimeter of my house, expecting to be attacked. When we went to the matching process, they bring out a couple of different dogs to work with and to experience. Ojai walked up to me, he sniffed me, and then just laid down at my feet, and I was like, oh man, this is my dog, and then it really was. I mean, we've been together ever since that day, and you know, he just, he's happy to just be with me and lay with me. He's not trained to help me fight PTSD, but the ability to, you know, just be there, and be a calming, relaxing spirit. And you know, we go out, I get a little, I get, like, anxiety, just this crowd anxiety, and I know if I can, kind of, back up, he can lay in front of me and just provides that a little bit of support, that barrier that says, like, ‘You're fine, nobody’s, you know, nobody’s got you.’ He knows over 40 commands, so, you know, simple things, to pick up and put things and move things, push things open.
((NATS))
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
Ojai, get. He's very careful with it, like he knows not to break something, and he'll hold it until I get it. And even when I put my hand out, he shouldn’t just let it go. I should say, ‘Give, give.’ And he just gives it to me.
((NATS))
((Jenny Carrasquillo, Wife))
He stays with me like another member of the family. It’s not like, oh, people say, ‘Oh, it’s a dog. Oh, a service dog.’ It’s just, I see like, another kid. You know what I mean, like, he’s just….. I think the main thing that I appreciate about having him is, you know, the support that he provides Mike, and also physically and emotionally, because he’s just always there for him.
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
I got to a point in my recovery that I felt good physically. I felt good emotionally, knowing I have his support that I can go out into public. And I learned about there was a program for veterans that taught them how to do standup comedy. And I've always been a fan of comedy. I've always been a fan of, you know, watching standup specials and watching comedy movies. Never thought that that would be something I could do or perform, especially after being injured. And so, just having him, we'd been together almost two years at that point and it just gives me this sense of, like, I can do it, I can take on that challenge.
((NATS))
((Courtesy: Armed Services Arts Partnership))
((Announcer, Improv Club))
He served in the US Army for six years, deployed once to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. And a few fun facts for you. He was shot five times, died twice. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your last comic for the evening, Michael Carrasquillo!
((Michael Carrasquillo, Veteran))
So, you know what’s great about being a disabled vet? Nothing! What is wrong with you? Why would you even think something like that? That’s just mean! Thank you, guys!
((NATS))
((PKG)) PIA -- GUY GILCHRIST
((Banner: “I drew that too”))
((People in America))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
Hi, Rowlf! Rowlf the dog here, and welcome to Dogs in America.
Rowlf.
What?
It's, it’s, it’s, it’s People in America. People, not dogs.
Well, I think that's a huge mistake.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I always wanted to know, how is the art created? How do I make that character move and become alive? And that was always my passion.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
Here are some of the stories I've told for you. Tom and Jerry, Pink Panther, Bugs Bunny and Wiley Coyote, and all of the Looney Tunes guys. I'm one of the guys that made up the Muppet Babies. And then, there are these four weird turtles that, kind of, live in a sewer and eat pizza. Yeah, and drawing them for, like, I don't know, longer than you've been alive.
My job is making you smile. How cool is that?
My name is Guy Gilchrist and I'm Jim Henson's cartoonist, and lots and lots and lots of other stuff.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I always say, I didn't go to school, I went to work. Completely became absorbed in anything that would show me how the art was created, whether it's music, telling a story, drawing pictures. I found out that there was a place called the Museum of Cartoon Art, and they were about to do the Muppet Show comic strip, and Jim and his folks had turned everyone down. They were about to lose the development deal on having the biggest comic strip of all time. So, I just kept mailing more and more jokes in, for a year, and finally the phone rang and it was Jerry Juhl, head writer of The Muppets, and he gave me the job.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
The Muppets are all of us and all of these characters really have such forceful personalities. You know, every color, every size, every sort of person in the world, we're all a family, and we may squabble, but together we can do anything. Because you know what? We’re all a little weird. And you know what? That's super cool!
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I'm a total old school guy. We have like a thousand pencils, brushes, inks, paints, dyes, acrylics, gouaches, every kind of thing that you could ever think of, the same sort of stuff that people have been doing artwork with forever. And that's what I use.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
My favorite cartoon or comic is the one I'm drawing for you right now. It's the only one that matters and that's my favorite thing.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
I started with nothing except an incredible mom who showed me how to draw and this want and this desire to do what I've been able to do. I have this ability to give you something and then what I get in return, it's love. Because you know what? A smile sometimes can honestly change someone's entire world.
((NATS))
((Guy Gilchrist, Cartoonist, Author, Storyteller, Animator of “Muppets” Comics))
Making people smile, making people happy is what makes me happy. And honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for making me the luckiest man in the world.
((NATS))
NEXT WEEK ((VO/NAT))
((Banner))
Next Week: Old Time Music
((SOT))
((NATS))
((Alvie Dooms, Retired Truck Driver, Musician))
When I was a kid growing up, we had no money. So, whatever we had, we made. If it was music instruments, toys or whatever you had, you made it. That’s why I repair instruments, I guess. I can, I can about fix anything that needs to be, that’s fixable you know. and most anything are, you know, if you can set your head to it.
((NATS))
((Alvie Dooms, Retired Truck Driver, Musician))
My name’s Alvie Dooms. In a few days, I’ll be 89 years old and this is my wife over here on the end, Debbie Dooms, very fine lady.
((Debbie Dooms, Wife of Alvie Dooms))
That’s enough.
((Alvie Dooms, Retired Truck Driver, Musician))
Takes good care of me.
CLOSING ((ANIM))
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BREAK
BUMP IN ((ANIM))
SHOW ENDS
