Browsing"ARTner"

Will & Whit the musical

May 8, 2013 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, My Favourite Collaborations Ever, Will & Whit
Will & Whit
My primary Artner, Laura Lee Gulledge’s new graphic novel is officially OUT! Hooray!  Want to buy a copy of the book? Click here! Or if you are in NYC you could come to the Launch Party May 15th 7-8:30 @ Housing Works. (130 Crosby Street) We’ll be giving away door prizes and debuting a couple songs from the musical, I wrote lyrics to– performed LIVE!
Here’s the official book trailer, featuring music by my favouirte band, Paper Bird. And here’s an amazing motion comic by Nathan Luppino!
As we develop the book for stage we are adding new information to the Tumblr website for both the book AND the musical, so please follow us if you’d like to join us on the ride.
And finally, here are three behind-the-scenes video shorts, featuring music by Lance Brenner.  Time-lapse stippling.  *  One page start to finish.  *  On “Happy accidents.”  (You can also look inside the book here.)

 

Genius Flash Mob Valentine’s Day Music Video from 2009

Dear Genius Friends,

There are so many reasons why this ranks up there as one of my favourite collaborations EVER. Adding culture jamming along with amazing ARTners is sm(art). Also the pie in the picture to the left is of a real pie.  I have really talented amazing ARTners.

With a director Kristi Hall, Producer/Designer Michael Kravit, Costumes by Kae Burke, Dress by Alisha Trimble, Apple Geniuses Designers and Social Change Agents: Madelena Mak, Derrick Mead, Scarlet Maressa Rivera, Noah Davis, Geoff, Welland, Alex, Kerry Truth-Boops, Kate Gibson  Musicians: Eben Lillie, Aaron Goldsmith, Karl Scholz, Mickey Western and Mason Brown and Cinematography by Justin Lange of Magic Hat Productions, Stills by Sabrina Asch, Casey Noel… Interactive by Tom Leger.  Whew…it is an all star collaborator Cast. No Wonder I am so HOT FOR GENIUSES!  (((FULL AMAZING LIST OF COLLABORATORS, with proper titles HERE)))

Sing Along!? Plan your own creative musical flash mob intervention?!  

Love,

Larken

Watch the video by clicking on the image:

November 4th, 2008

Voting on Flatbush Ave on November 4th, 2008 took 5 hours and was worth every second. Here is a lovely short film made by Clark Clark memorializing the day:

November 4, 2008 from clark clark on Vimeo.

Family Whistle

Jun 21, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, Family, Songbird Radio

This is an assignment focused on my Dad. He & my Mom were the most steady care takers of Crackers, my 23 year old parrot. The week prior to her death she was doing our Family Whistle. You know the one that your parents do when they are looking for you in the store.

TWEET TWEET!

Love,

Larken

ARTner Website Ideas

Jun 14, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner

Some ideas for the CREATIVE ARTNERSHIP WEB PORTAL

 

Love, 

Larken

Time Chart Week One Actual vs Ideal Time Chart

Jun 12, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, Uncategorized

FOR A SIDE BY SIDE EXPANDED VIEW CLICK ON BOTH BELOW:

WEEK ONE:  TIME CHART ONE     vs      WEEK TWO:  FUN PIE

 <3 Larken

OFF THE GRID BICYCLE POWERED STAGES

Dear (p)Artner,

As you probably know by now, I am obsessed with Bicycles. I think that they are the absolute best way to get around. In 2009 I co-Founded, Band of Bicycles with Rock the Bike to bring off-the-grid-human powered stages to Central Park Earth Day.  Now I co-host Bike Salon Radio Show, which encourages women to be fully mobile via bicycle in the Bay Area I roll with Berkeley based, Rock the Bike, frequently.

We had an awesome time last weekend on the 4th Annual Maker’s Faire Social Ride from Dolores Park to the San Mateo Maker’s Faire where Rock the Bike hosted a pedal powered stage with amazing line ups of music throughout the Maker Faire.

I have always been interested in melding interdiciplinary performance that is in line with my values. I was having a full on bikegasm as I sang from the branches of el arbol in a steel hoop at the Maker’s Faire.

el Arbol is a tall bike that powers speakers in it’s trunk and has an aerial rig it is totally amazing! I am interested in growing in my abilities as a bike touring aerial songstress and this summer and inspiring others to sing from their he(art)s as we soar from new heights and invest in sustainable futures.

There will be human powered stages at 4 festivals (SF Bicycle Music Festival, Trinity Tribal Stomp, Arcata Music Festival, Gaia Festival) this summer where I can stretch my wings and I am looking for p(ARTNERS)!

My needs:

* An awesome wireless mic with an in ear monitor and transmitter

* A multi-channel mobile sound recorder with awesome mics

* Bicycle Touring Equipment

So excited to make this dream a reality!

<3 <3 <3 Larken

 

Guardian Angel Music

May 24, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: Altaer, ARTner, Songbird Radio, Uncategorized

Dear p(ARTNERS) in Songbird Radio.

I wanted to tell you about my Guardian Angel! When I was about 5 months old, my biological father, singer and songwriter, Billy Masters passed away. He played that guitar really well and traveled all around the world with the Christian Music Sensation, The Archers.

His music publishing company was left to me and is called Guardian Angel Music! I feel that I really do have a guardian angel and that singing and songwriting is my calling.
Thank you for singing with me!

Love,

Larken

Launch of Songbird Radio

Hello M-Audio,

I am interested in a creative p(artner) collaboration with you towards Songbird Radio in pursuit of expanding creative ARTnership using our voices together to inspire people worldwide! Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to be the first ever girl to dangle from a tall bike and sing original songs from an aerial hoop at the Bay Area Maker Faire! This month I will also perform an original number at the Oakland Metro for a monthly variety show that attracts 500 people! I plan to sing and use aerial again in this piece and I need your help to make my performances more awesome.  I have the dream of getting everyone in the audience to sing and record and loop the content we are making together while performing aerial and singing!

Okay so how did I get here wanting to help people everywhere sing from their he(art)s?

My name is Lauren Larken I am a Songbird. I own a 22 year old parrot that I adopted when I was 8 years old. I grew up in theatre and attended a performing arts boarding school in high school, USC for theatre school and between April 1, 2007 and April 1, 2008 I wrote, collaborated, performed, recorded and published a song everyday for a year. It was a LEAP YEAR so you can find all 366 songs at 365Songbird.com

During the Song of the Day project I was living at a performance collective called The House of YES and pursuing my MFA in an interdiciplinary program in it’s first year that combined computer music, interactive programming, radio, film, television, theatre and art at Brooklyn College. I am always surrounded by amazing people and that year I collaborated with hundreds making song of the days.

House of YES is the kind of place where you go to sleep not knowing what you are going to wear and a gorgeous Kayti Bunny hippity hops home wearing a swarovski encrusted shimmering body suit the night before your concert that fits perfectly and Kae Burke of Make Fun studio sews up some sparely fabric.  A couple of nights before I had had a dream about a Golden Birdcage (but told no one) and the proprietris of the house, Anya Sapozhinikova whips it right up. All of us in the community were singing, feeling amazing and I was about to Graduate with my MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts!

The song of the day project itself was conceived in an attempt to overcome my fear of song writing. I considered myself mostly a vocalist and didn’t realize how powerful the body is as an instrument. One of my professors, David Grubbs, told me to just start with the voice and hence the song of the day project was born!  Tom Leger, a friend heard my ambition and work and gifted me a M-Audio KeyStudio and my ability to make music sound cooler became exponential. I became a composer and a song writer! Or when my talented dj, beat making, key board and percussionist friends came over they could really rock it out on the M-Audio KeyStudio.

A week after the Song-of-the-Day Project ended we had a celebratory concert at the House of YES featuring the crowd pleasing hits from each month. Amazing hilarious performances ensued including conceptually rich acts from the:  MTAService Specialists, Impersonations of my Mom, Dennis Collective and Winkle Naughty Hilarious Themed Sing Alongs, Sappy Duets with Justin Lange and a Golden Birdcage, my perch, suspended from the ceiling.

Two weeks later I was in Denmark and England presenting my Thesis and something very strange happened. For a year we had safely hosted dozens of circus skill shares and events with fire performances but an electrical fire sparked in the kitchen and quickly filled a giant puppet head and destroyed all of our belongings and killed my orange kitty, DJ Pilgrim.

SONG OF THE DAY CONCERT:  APRIL 6TH, 2008

SAME ROOM and OUTSIDE, APRIL 22ND, 2008


 

This M-Audio KeyStudio keyboard was sitting on my desk during the fire.

For the past 4 years we have been re-building our lives and The House of YES performance collective has evolved into a professional thteatre space that houses: Make Fun (a diy puppet and costume lab), a recording studio, and The Sky Box theatre a 50 foot ceilined aerial dance and movement theatre that hosts workshops, classes and almost nightly performances.  I’d like to become a featured artist and use M-Audio equipment in my daily new show: Songbird Radio, This is Real Life! Each week we feature episodes of Bike Salon, ARTnership, Creative Alarm Clock & Missions with OCCUPY BEAUTY. This show is in response to people’s desire to sing from their he(art), attract and invest in sustainable lifestyles through everyday choices.

In exchange for the use of cutting edge M-Audio equipment I can offer: a tax write off, custom M-Audio jingles, and product reviews and tutorials.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience! The SF Bicycle Music Festival is June 23rd and I’d like to churn out some new beats to bump from my bike speaker!

Love,

Larken

OUR BIGGEST FEARS

May 23, 2012 by     No Comments    Posted under: ARTner, Uncategorized

 

Dearest ARTner,

My biggest fears off the top of my head:

10. Undergoing an Abortion or Miscarriage. (I don’t even know if I ever want to have a baby, and I am in no fear of becoming pregnant anytime soon so no worries on this one.)

9. Doing everything right and still something very bad happening. Ie: right before the house fire of House of YES I bought a $200 screen door and kitty door to improve the quality of my kittie’s life and ensure his safety but neither thing helped it survive the fire.

Or the idea that no matter what we do, no matter how many organic veggies we plant or how safe our cosmetics are that we are doomed!

8. Always putting other people’s needs first.

7. Being homeless

6.  Being unable to overcome my addiction to coffee, sugar and wheat

5. Being stuck somewhere far from home because my bike gets stolen or broken.

4.  Not being productive

3. Killing myself with Stress.

2. Loosing my eyesight or hearing or forgetting how to sing.

But the #1 Greatest Fear of the Week

was that after my my bird will flew away for the second time that it wouldn’t come home—but it did!

….so I didn’t want to, but I clipped it’s wings…

<3,

Larken