Filipino artist fights waste by using recycled trash in paintings

When Filipino artist Gilbert Angeles found out that his country was one of the world's biggest contributors of plastic trash in the ocean he felt compelled to take action.

Angeles decided the best way to show how discarded waste could be given a new life in a different medium was to incorporate materials ranging from shredded plastic to old paint and leftover construction wood in his paintings.

Since 2019, he has made over two dozen paintings of this kind.

"I make these artworks to raise awareness so we can fight against the trash in our area, to make us more responsible in how we dispose of our trash, and to make us aware of where our trash goes," said the 49-year-old.

The artist sources the materials from around his Manila neighborhood or through donations from contacts he has made since launching his environmental campaign.

Angeles remembers being spurred on to take up the project after seeing a news report about the Philippines being one of the top contributors of plastic waste.

The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China account for around 60 percent of the world's marine plastic, or 8 million tons annually, according to a 2017 report from the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.

Angeles' artwork has since been shown in galleries, with paintings selling for around $600 to $3,000, depending on the size. Part of the proceeds goes to his environmental group, Green Artz, which encourages artists to use recycled waste in their work.

"I love the fact that it gives us hope," said Linda Pecoraro, general manager of Conrad Hotel, where Angeles' work is being exhibited.

"It's got beautiful colors and recycled plastic, repurposing things that damage our environment and making them beautiful."

-reuters-

Coldplay no-tour plan highlights growing climate awareness

LONDON, United Kingdom—British band Coldplay on Friday won plaudits for shelving a new album tour over environmental concerns, in the latest sign of climate change activism in the music industry.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) praised the move, as the group released its latest album—"Everyday Life"—with only 2 gigs, both in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The performances, staged at sunrise and sunset without an audience, were broadcast free on YouTube.

"It is fantastic to see world famous artists stepping up to protect the planet," said the head of climate change at WWF, Gareth Redmond-King.

"We all have a responsibility to lead by example in the face of this climate and nature crisis—inaction is not an option if we are to preserve our planet for future generations."

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told the BBC they would not tour until they had figured out how concerts could be more "sustainable."

He listed the amount of flying required and the use of items such as plastic water bottles as the band's primary concerns over touring.

Activists say international music tours impact heavily on the environment, with concern about the amount of electricity used to power stadiums to waste generated by concertgoers.

Coldplay played 122 shows around the world across 8 legs as part of the tour for their last album, "A Head Full of Dreams."

Martin said if the band do eventually hit the road for the new release, they hope the tour could be entirely carbon neutral.

The band is set to perform another one-off concert next Monday at London's Natural History Museum, with the proceeds donated to an environmental charity.

CLEANING UP THEIR ACTS

Coldplay's decision is the latest example of bands and the wider entertainment industry responding to growing concern about the climate crisis.

US teenage sensation Billie Eilish revealed last month that she had tried to make her world tour "as green as possible" with the help of a non-profit consultancy.

The singer told chat-show host Jimmy Fallon she had banned plastic straws and urged fans to bring their own refillable water bottles and to utilize recycling bins at venues.

On her next world tour starting in March, every site will feature an "eco-village" where concert-goers can learn about environmentalism, she said.

Meanwhile, The 1975, another British band, which this year collaborated with Swedish climate change icon Greta Thunberg, are also trying to move towards carbon-neutral touring.

It pledged in September to plant a tree for every ticket sold ahead of their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

Teenage activist Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions involved. In September, she traveled to a UN climate conference in New York by boat. She is currently sailing back to Europe.

In Britain, live music events account for 405,000 tons of greenhouse emissions, according to the campaign group Global Citizen, which stages its own zero-waste festivals.

Powerful Thinking, a think-tank focused on the festival industry, estimates the events generate some 23,500 tons of waste each year in the country.

This has led dozens of Britain's biggest festivals to try to clean up their acts, initiating everything from bans on single-use plastic to using renewable energy sources.

The UK Music umbrella group representing the industry said 3.9 million people attended festivals in Britain in 2016.

Glastonbury Festival, staged every June on a farm in western England, is partnering with charities such as Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid to improve its sustainability.

Organizers even deployed portable toilets that utilize technology to convert urine into electricity at this year's festival.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sting cancels Manila leg of 'My Songs' tour over 'scheduling conflict'

MANILA — Rock legend Sting's Manila concert set on Oct. 2 has been cancelled, Ovation Productions announced Saturday, citing a "scheduling conflict."

"We regretfully announce that Sting’s concert scheduled for October 2, 2019 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum is unfortunately canceled due to scheduling conflicts," the company said.

Ovation Productions was one of the producers of the show, along with Cherrytree Music Company and Live Nation.

The October 2 concert was supposed to be part of the Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter's ongoing tour called "Sting: My Songs."

Tickets went on sale last July 3, with prices ranging from P2,640 to P20,595. Ovation Productions said the process for refunds would be posted on its pages "soon."

Sting last performed in Manila in 2012 as part of his “Back to Bass” world tour.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Rapper Nicki Minaj to perform in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—US rapper Nicki Minaj will perform in Saudi Arabia this month, organizers said, triggering a storm on social media as the ultra-conservative kingdom loosens decades-old restrictions on entertainment.

Minaj, known for her profanity-laced lyrics and raunchy music videos, will perform in the western city of Jeddah on July 18, organizers of the ongoing Jeddah Season cultural festival announced on Twitter on Tuesday.

The headline act, to be televised on MTV, will also feature British musician Liam Payne and American DJ Steve Aoki, local media reported.

"She (Minaj) is going to be actively on her social media, she'll be posting right from the stage in Jeddah and at her hotel in Jeddah," Robert Quirke, an event organizer, was quoted as saying by the Arab News daily. 

"Everyone is going to know that Nicki Minaj has landed in Saudi Arabia."

The performance in the kingdom, which forbids alcohol and has a strict social code, comes as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pursues a sweeping liberalization drive that has led to new cinemas, concerts and sporting extravaganzas.

The news was widely welcomed in a country where two-thirds of the population is under 30, with one Twitter user posting a picture of Minaj and writing: "My dream has come true." 

But it also triggered outrage from conservative quarters.

"She is going to go and shake her backside and all her songs are about sex... and then everyone tells me to wear the abaya. What the hell!" one woman said in a video posted on Twitter.

Saudi Arabia is boosting entertainment that allows citizens to have fun, in what some see as an attempt to blunt public frustration over an economic downturn and high youth unemployment.

The kingdom's General Entertainment Authority said it plans to pump $64 billion into the sector in the coming decade.

The reform also stems partly from an economic motive to boost domestic spending on entertainment as the kingdom has reeled from low oil prices.

Saudis currently splurge billions of dollars annually to see films and visit amusement parks in neighboring tourist hubs like Dubai and Bahrain.

While Saudi Arabia is yet to offer tourist visas, the country has fast-tracked electronic permits for international visitors to attend such festivals to further boost revenue.

But such acts have fuelled controversy in a country still steeped in conservatism.

In June last year, Saudi Arabia sacked the head of its entertainment authority, following an online backlash against a circus featuring women wearing skin tight leotards.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Artist sketches under the sea among fish and coral reefs

PUNTA PERDIZ, Cuba - Some artists like to go on a countryside retreat to foster their creative process.

For Cuba's Sandor Gonzalez, there is no better place to sketch than several meters below the surface of the sea, surrounded by iridescent Caribbean fish and fantastical coral forms.

The 42-year-old is renown at home and abroad for his predominantly black-and-white, haunting images of imaginary cityscapes, inspired by a trip to Europe and reflecting the aggressiveness of modern, urban life.

Then 6 years ago, he went scuba diving in Cuba and found his inspiration in the complete opposite: the tranquility found below water where all forms are natural and not man-made, all sounds are muffled and the light ripples softly.

While Gonzalez had heard of a biologist painting underwater in Spain, he decided to experiment for himself until he found a way of sketching with charcoal or oil paints, which unlike pastels or watercolor would not dissolve.

The Cuban learnt to then soak the canvasses for at least an hour and rinse them to get rid of the salt and any organic matter, before hanging them out to dry.

"This started off as a hobby, as a passion," he told Reuters at Punta Perdiz, his favorite dive spot, sheltered in the Bay of Pigs, where in 1961 US-backed Cuban exiles landed in a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.

"But now I really need to come here, immerse myself and create below water because there is a peace there that you simply cannot find on dry land."

To do so, he gets fully kitted out in scuba diving gear including an oxygen tank and yellow flippers, and swims out 60 meters (197 feet) to his easel fixed in the seabed around 6 meters (20 feet) below the surface.

With him, he carries his canvas, and other equipment like a spatula for the oil paints weighed down with some lead to avoid it floating to the surface if he lets go.

The artist said he does not plan beforehand, instead allowing inspiration to strike as he enters a meditative state in the crystalline water. But inevitably his submarine work is more about nature than the cityscape series he continues to develop on land.

Being reliant on a tank limits the time underwater, but Gonzalez is quick and for this interview sketched in 30 minutes a flying whale, dragging a house behind it in a sky dotted with clouds. Palm trees grow off the creature's back.

"I really did not expect to see somebody under water, painting!" exclaimed Canadian tourist Mike Festeryga, who saw Gonzalez while diving along the seabed.

The state-run dive center at Punta Perdiz, on Cuba's southern coast, some 172 km (107 miles) from Havana, said his work was an extra draw for tourists.

"For tourists, it's really a novelty," said Hector Hernandez, who has been working as a dive instructor in the area for more than 28 years.

Gonzalez, who makes a living selling work at his studio in Havana for a median price of $1,000 per canvas, exhibits some of his submarine work in the Punta Perdiz dive center.

He is now hoping to get state permission to sell the work and develop the area as a center for underwater art.

"I would like for a department of submarine painting to be created," he said. "I don't think anything like that exists yet anywhere in the world."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Jonas Brothers reunite, will release first new music in years

NEW YORK - The Jonas Brothers are getting the band back together -- and will release their first single in 6 years, the heartthrob trio announced Thursday.

"We're baaaccckkkk..." the band tweeted.

The Grammy-nominated boy band is set to drop their new song "Sucker" Friday at midnight, their label said, after splitting nearly 6 years ago, citing a "deep rift in the band."

The brothers -- Joe, 29, Kevin, 31, and Nick, 26 -- teased their reunion in a "Carpool Karaoke" spot for The Late Late Show with James Corden.

"It's nice to be able to finally tell somebody," Nick said in a promo for the segment. "We've kept this a secret now for almost 7, 8 months. This is basically our first performance back."

"Sucker" will be the first release from the trio since June 2013's "First Time."

Releasing their first album in 2006, the brothers skyrocketed to global celebrity and found massive commercial success in part thanks to their appearances on the Disney Channel network.

The brothers, who hail from New Jersey, were from a devout Christian family, and in the early stages of their careers their wholesome image included wearing purity rings that promote chastity until marriage.

Following their band's break-up both Nick and Joe pursued other musical projects while Kevin appeared in reality television shows and founded a real estate company.

In December 2018, Nick wed Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra in a lavish ceremony dubbed India's "wedding of the year."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Back from therapy, Kanye announces 2 albums

NEW YORK, United States - Kanye West, the once-omnipresent rap superstar who vanished a year and a half ago amid a purported mental breakdown, on Thursday re-emerged to announce not one but two albums.


The 40-year-old rapper and fashion designer who has likened himself to Michelangelo tweeted that he will release a seven-track album on June 1 and another album a week later with his protege Kid Cudi.

West, who returned to Twitter earlier this week nearly a year after deleting his account, said little about the new albums. But he wrote that his collaboration with Kid Cudi will be called "Kids See Ghost."

The husband of socialite Kim Kardashian in 2016 cut short a tour after increasingly erratic behavior on stage, including alleging that rap mogul Jay-Z was out to kill him and throwing his support behind now-president Donald Trump, a rarity for an African American celebrity.

His associates said he went into therapy for a breakdown and he has made few appearances since -- other than showing up shortly after the 2016 election to meet the then president-elect at his Trump Tower residence.

Once known for his introspection, West became become increasingly boastful in his lyricism, interviews and social media postings although he has consistently won high marks for his musical skills.

His last album, 2016's "The Life of Pablo," broke from the traditional recording model by initially coming out only through streaming, with West tinkering with it even after its "release."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ed Sheeran searches for new lines in movie 'Songwriter'

BERLIN - British singer Ed Sheeran said on Friday that the hardest part of songwriting was coming up with lines that had never been written before as a new documentary detailing his creative process premiered at Berlin's international film festival.

The movie "Songwriter" was directed by Sheeran's cousin, Murray Cummings, and follows the Grammy winner as he travels around the United States and England writing songs on his laptop, jamming in a garden and recording in the studio.

The intimate portrait of Sheeran, who was the most-streamed artist on music service Spotify globally in 2017, includes footage of him belting out songs while crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, returning to high school to see his music teacher and talking to his father about his songs.

"I think the most difficult thing to do with writing a song is finding a phrase that you haven't heard before because there's always a song that's going to be like: 'I love you baby like crazy, I miss you maybe'," Sheeran told a news conference.

He said he had learned not to push himself if he was struggling to write and did not believe writer's block existed.

"What I do when I can't write a song is I just put the guitar down and go and do something else for about a couple of weeks and then come back and then I'll be able to write a song," the 27-year-old said.

"So the way that my mind is now is, I will be able to write songs forever - they probably will start being about pretty mundane things because my life is getting more and more calm."

Sheeran said he liked the documentary because it showed a song being written from start to finish, rather than just an album being recorded.

"I like that Murray found a niche that hasn't really been done before. It's quite difficult to find something that hasn't been done in a music movie," Sheeran said.

Sheeran, who said he planned to make a film next year in which he would play something other than himself, listed "Goodfellas", "Cool Runnings" and "Love Actually" as his favorite movies.

Cummings told Reuters the documentary would give fans an insight into Sheeran off-stage.

"When he's on his own he's kind of very like relaxed and chilled and stuff. So I think they're going to see that's what he's like because this film just kind of shows what I see every day," Cummings said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Fans bid Cynthia Alexander good luck and farewell

Fans crammed into Conspiracy Bar in Quezon City on Saturday to hear and witness the final set of Cynthia Alexander. The songwriter—whose intense prose-poetry set in unusual melodies has earned followers from the music, art, and literary communities—is set to leave the Philippines this Wednesday, and to migrate to Seattle, USA, with her family.

But it’s not farewell she insists.

“Its not goodbye, goodbye Philippines; Pilipino tayo,” she said. “We are such a sentimental lot. And like I’ve been telling my audience, I’ll be back next year. Because this is my home.”

This is not the first time she’ll be living in Seattle. Two years ago, she stayed there for a six months; to her memory, nobody noticed. But last week, after a Yahoo article headlined that she’s leaving the country due to lack of support, followers of the Filipino music scene were abuzz with concern for the state of OPM.

Alexander agrees that the climate for the local music scene is becoming more discouraging. Piracy is rampant and remains the No. 1 enemy of the music industry. And yet, but the watchdogs set up to protect local artists hardly seem to be putting up a fight.

Worse yet, unthinking policies are actually keeping independent artists like Cynthia from promoting herself.

“You know the OMB, the optical media board – it’s a government office, right? I myself can’t even print my own CDs. I have to get a license to print myself. So when I go to the CD duplicator ‘I’m sorry ma’am I can’t print you anymore dahil hinahabol kami ng OMB dahil wala ka raw license. License to what? Ma’am wala kang license to print your own music.’ I think there’s something wrong there. The OMB was created to combat piracy. But you think we pirate ourselves? We’re just small fish trying to survive.”

At first she tried her luck with a major music label she opts not to name. She brought 30 songs for their first meeting and while she was told they sounded fresh, she was instructed to come back the week after with something that sounded like Alanis Morisette.

“I was heartbroken,” she recalls. “It’s just the way it is. I suppose that opened my eyes.”

To prove that she can be original and marketable, she managed to sign with another label. But after the release of her first album, Insomnia and Other Lullabyes, in 1996, she felt she was not getting the support needed to get her music out. After six months she signed a release from them and was told her she’ll never have a second album.

And so Alexander decided to just do it herself.

“I’ve written without anyone’s dictation. I didn’t study music. But I did the best with the tools that I have and I think that’s the message. I make do with what I have, which is a very Filipino thing. In the most difficult situation, to build something out of very meager tools, resources and you’re able to come up with something.”

The result was Rippingyarns. Released in 2000, it won the nine major awards including Best Album and Best Producer in the Katha Music Awards. She has released two albums since then, Comet’s Tail (2005) and Walk Down the Road (2009), and has gained a solid and loyal fan base.

She believes if Filipino independent music got the same attention as the Pinoy indie films, then maybe it would have a fighting chance again.

“You know, it’s hard. You think about artistry: is it just the production of work. Because we are people! We have to eat. When it becomes sustainable—that which you produce is giving you enough back so you can eat and raise your family then I think maybe somehow there is progress.”

Until then she will explore other options for the time being. Alexander acquired an artist visa to the US.

“I write music here and I write music there. So when the album comes out, of course I’ll release it here. I can’t rip the Philippines off my heart. Taga-dito ako.” —With interview by Juan Carlo Gotinga.

source: interaksyon.com

Todd Marinovich My Art Business is BOOMING!!

Former Oakland Raiders quarterback Todd Marinovich has finally found success off the field ... as an artist ... and dude tells TMZ he's been blowin' up ever since his work was featured on an ESPN documentary this weekend.

Todd -- who battled serious drug addiction during and after he fizzled out of the NFL back in 1993 -- has been painting and sculpting non-stop ... telling us, "I've been sober for over three years ... the art is my main therapy."

Some of Todd's work was featured in the new ESPN documentary, "The Marinovich Project" ... and T.M. says the exposure is having an insane impact on his business, "Orders are pouring in for the prints."

Todd tells us the main piece of art featured in the doc is called, "The Alchemist" ... which is based on himself. "It's the most sought after print," Todd explains ... "I'm only making 100 of them and I'm almost sold out."

As for Todd's famously over-bearing father Marv -- Todd tells us, "He hasn't bought any of my art pieces yet ... but I've given him a few."

source: TMZ