Mix and Match With Mashups

0 CommentsFriday • June 10, 2011 • by Imei

After the last artwalk in the historic Old Rainier Brewery building, I took some time to think about what I liked about curated artwalks and art events in general. One element I enjoy is how clever organizers and museum curators combine disperate elements in a single gallery space. My personal preference is to mix and match with a kind of physical mashup. In honor of that aesthetic, here are a few artistic and life hacking mashups for your artistic life.

Old And Young, East And West

There are some mashups music-wise that you just need to experience live to fully appreciate. The Charles Lloyd Quartet is one of them. They recently played at the Bellevue Jazz Festival to a sold-out crowd.

Unfortunately, no picture taking from the audience was allowed, but even pictures do not do this quartet credit. Imagine for a moment the legendary Charles Lloyd as a wandering shaman of jazz, floating around the stage while healing the audience with the soulful tunes and storytelling notes. Occasionally, Lloyd picked up shakers, rattled the piano and gave it back to young virtuoso Jason Moran, and delighted two lengthy drum therapy sessions between tabla player Zakir Hussain and Eric Harlund on drums.

From an excerpt of Charles Lloyd: “Music is a healing force. It has the ability to transcend boundaries, it can touch the heart directly, it can speak to a depth of the spirit where no words are needed. It is a most powerful form of communication and expression of beauty.”

Lash Out With These Fluffy Ones

Eyes are very alluring. But on stage, artists must learn the tricks of the trade to help the audience in the furthest reach of the room to see the expression of the eyes. While I am wholeheartedly against the Westernization of the typical shape of the asian eye, I welcome the use of temporary false eyelashes, eye lash extensions, and mascara.

I even like mascara on men. Yes, I have gotten used of walking into the MAC store and seeing the guys at the counter wearing black mascara. It just reminds me of the boy bands of the 1990′s *sigh*.

My new-to-me product is Revlon’s CustomEyes in waterpoof blackest black (noir intense), with lash separators on a chubby brush, and two dial-up settings: length and drama, and length and definition. I know some of you girly-girls only buy your mascara from a department store, but the way I go through mascara, I’d be broke for something you put on and take off every day. I bought two of these mascaras as a BOGO deal through a drug store, and you can probably get a similar deal by buying online in conjunction with your other purchases; otherwise, it retails for about $5 each.

Of course, I read someone else’s negative review of this product. For entertainment, read her rant about the same product. I personally didn’t find it clumpy at all. But I do agree that the dials might not make a difference; however, I didn’t pay anything extra for them.

Making It White Again

I have a confession to make. I threw out a perfectly good electric toothbrush because the outside casing had oxidized. Every time I touched the plastic, I had an icky feeling. Eventually, it sat in its charging stand, unused. My dentist noticed I developed a tiny amount of gum recession from over-brushing, and inquired about it. I had to tell him that I had started to use a regular toothbrush again, and maybe, just maybe, I was under a little stress. He knew that I liked to brush my teeth up to five times a day, so he suggested I get a new electric toothbrush that had a different finish on the plastic part so I wouldn’t have the same oxidation problem. I tossed the old one out, and bought a new one.

But what happens if the item that oxidizes on you is something a bit more expensive, and not old at all? I bought a pair of high end, couture-brand eyeglasses, and after the second year of wear, I noticed that the white plastic on the inside of the nosepiece had begun to oxidize. Yuck! It wasn’t an option to buy metal finished lenses, as they would have been too heavy for my prescription. Want to know what you can do about oxidizing plastic?

From the cleaning website howtocleanstuff.net, you need to determine what kind of job you have on your hands. Here is one sample from the site on how to clean ABS plastic:

Peroxide Method (for ABS plastic)
You Will Need:
Hydrogen peroxide
Oxy laundry booster
Sunshine or UV light
Water
Bucket or large bowl
Rubber gloves
Goggles
Steps to Whiten the Plastic:
Begin by protecting yourself with rubber gloves and goggles.
Fill the bucket with hydrogen peroxide.
Add ¼ teaspoon of Oxy laundry booster for each gallon of peroxide.
Place the yellowed plastic pieces into the solution and allow them to soak.
The soaking time will vary with most pieces whitening in 2-6 hours. The mixture will last for up to four days before it needs to be replaced. Retr0Bright has also developed a way to make this into a gel that can be spread onto the plastic. This is especially helpful for larger items.
Set the items under a UV light or out in the sunshine.
When the item has reached the desired whiteness, remove and rinse thoroughly to remove any remaining cleaning products.
If necessary, wash with dish detergent and water.

Umm, did you note the need for UV light or sunshine? If you live in a high northern hemisphere city like Seattle, that’s a problem. Finding natural sunlight in Seattle has been like trying to snap a picture of my cat yawning; it’s hit and miss. And, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a cheap UV lamp on hand either. However, my optician at Optix in West Seattle offered to loan me his spare UV lamp to try this technique out. Instead of soaking the entire set of eyeglasses, however, I am going to only allow the small section of oxidized plastic to be treated with the peroxide mixture. I’ll let you know how it turns out when we conduct our little experiment at home. If it works, pop off those old plastic keys from your white Macbook, and whiten those plastic storage boxes filled with your favorite things.

BTW, if you like these mashup blog posts, please leave a comment. Be sure to put in your two cents on what you’d like to see here.