In this episode of Art Loft:

Meet Your Makers, a series from The New Tropic featuring Robert Lee.

Lee: Nobody signed up.

We started to attract talent and we retained the talent, the local talent especially by

saying, Hey, why don t you be a part of the movement?

So we got the best poets from the neighborhood

Sheldon: Right.

Lee: to buy into the movement.

Bobby Zokaites uses a vacuum cleaner as a paintbrush.

So if you look at it as a painting and you look at the robot as a tool, then you need

to control your tools.

Right?

That's what painters do.

Musicians combine talent to get a new sound.

That s really rare, you know classical musicians are never encouraged or taught to improvise

and to create music on the spot.

Cowboys celebrate their culture with music and poetry.

The hills get awful quiet when you have to camp alone and it s mighty out to start

a fellow thinking.

You ll almost always awaken when a horseshoe hits a stone or you hear the sound of hobbletunes

a clinkin .

It s all ahead in this episode of Art Loft!

Funding for Art Loft was made possible by:

Friends of Art.

And

Where there is freedom, there is expression.

The Florida Keys and Key West.

[art loft theme music]

Hi, I m Jumaane N Namdi!

And from the studios at South Florida PBS, this is Art Loft!

[art loft theme music]

Welcome back!

I m Jumaane N Namdi.

This week on Art Loft we re exploring truly eclectic stories in the visual, musical, and

poetic arts.

In our first story The New Tropic returns with their Meet Your Makers series.

Now this time they re highlighting Speakfridays with Robert Lee.

I ve been to them; they re really good.

Enjoy!

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[music]

Stuart Sheldon: What began as a rag-tag poetry reading in

the boondocks has grown into a tour de force in the heart of Wynwood that now includes

music, comedy, dance, and live art.

I m Miami-based artist Stuart Sheldon.

Meet Your Makers is honored to welcome Rob Lee

Robert Lee: Hey man!

Sheldon: the Founder and MC of Speakfridays.

Lee: Come on in.

Sheldon: How are you feeling?

Lee: Calm before the storm.

Feeling good.

Sheldon: Yeah?

Lee: Yeah.

Sheldon: Ready to rock and roll?

Lee: Yeah.

Take a look, you know, around.

I mean

Sheldon: Here you are: you re a professional.

You decide you re going to have this open mic thing.

You find this random space.

It s sort of not close to anything.

Seven years there?

Lee: We did it for eight years.

Sheldon: Eight years you did that!

Lee: Eight years.

Sheldon: Like the old spot, out in Kendall, was just,

what was that by day, was that like an office?

Lee: It was an office.

Sheldon: It was an actual office?

Lee: Yeah.

The production was a nightmare because you have to like set up every show, like from

scratch.

Sheldon: And it s a huge labor of love every time

you want to set it up.

Lee: Yep.

Sheldon: But you do it.

How did you persevere?

Why did you start it?

Lee: I ve lived in Miami for so many years.

And there was a big void in, in the culture here in terms of connecting the dots.

My first thought was, The world needs more love, and more, our history and everything,

community.

So I stumbled onto poetry and I liked it, I liked what it did for people who were experiencing

it and people who were presenting.

[performer s monologue]

Lee: So we started doing it, not knowing anything

because I ve never been to an open mic.

Eleven people in the room the first year.

And then after that we introduced other elements that I really enjoy.

[performer s monologue and saxophone playing]

You name it, we had beat boy battles in conjunction with poetry, in conjunction with live music,

everything going on.

We started getting a lot of traction with that, a lot of people started supporting and,

you know, we were packed out in South Miami.

And that was a small space

Sheldon: I was there several times when it was a full

house.

Lee: Yeah.

Sheldon: In those early days you were still trying

to kind of manage the chaos and the quality.

Lee: Sometimes nobody signed up.

We started to attract talent and we retained the talent, the local talent especially by

saying, Hey, why don t you be a part of the movement?

So we got the best poets from the neighborhood

Sheldon: Right.

Lee: to buy into the movement.

Sheldon: Right.

Lee: So they would be there on a consistent basis

with us.

Sheldon: And then music got folded in.

And then the comedy got folded in.

Because you re really curating in real time.

You still have the sign up sheet.

Lee: Yep

Sheldon: Now you have some acts you know that are going

to drop some power.

[performer s monologue]

Lee: The talent kept coming and the talent saw

the vision.

Sheldon: Yeah.

Lee: I wanted to do something like this in the

community and build it out.

Now we get not only aspiring artists, but we get, you know, guys from out of town that

are in town for a show.

[performer s monologue and applause]

Lee: Since we moved here things have grown exponentially,

like I mentioned before.

And part of that is, you know, we were on Comedy Central a month ago on Kevin Hart s

show.

And we re doing some more work with Kevin Hart and his team.

Sheldon: Speak seems to be to me much bigger than you

or me.

It s kind of a mission, that s my interpretation.

Tell me if I m right and if it is, what does that mission feel like to you?

Lee: We try to keep everybody included.

The show s really not about the artistry so much or me as a host so much or any, the

show is about everybody else that s here.

The platform gives everybody an opportunity to build bridges.

So people can come and feel safe and heard.

All of us, not just me.

I can't do this by myself, we have a great team behind all this.

It takes a village

Sheldon: Yeah.

Lee: you know, to make this go.

And so we try and inspire people to come listen and really express themselves.

That s really our mission is to bring people together.

We love people, we love art, we love the community.

You know, it s like, be the change you want to see because we re living it, you know.

I believe in that.

Sheldon: I love the motto: can I speak?

[audience replies enthusiastically]

[lee singing and monologuing]

[music]

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Almost ten years ago, sculptor Bobby Zokaites embarked on a project that challenges our

ideas about using technology in creative expression.

Watch as this man struggles with the control over his amazing creation.

Now I know Ed Clarke paints with a push broom, but Bobby is taking this to another level.

Check out Arizona PBS in Phoenix as they bring us this amazing story.

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[music]

I couldn't handle the implications when I was 20 because I associated it with my identity

and I had given that that capability of creating that identity to a robot.

My name is Bobby Zokaites.

I'm a sculptor.

I've been living in Arizona for the last six years.

What we're doing here is we are using a Roomba vacuum cleaner to create a painting.

And so this is a project I came up with in 2005 and really solidified in 2006.

So now it's a decade later and we're re-examining sort of the implications of what it means

that a commercially available product create a painting.

So this is an original generation Roomba vacuum cleaner without its vacuum system -- totally

took all that out.

And what I've done is created this paintbrush where we got a foam brush and a reservoir

so it really acts like those, like, giant magic markers.

So the first iteration I'd gotten a small grant to buy a couple of Roombas, buy a canvas.

And I set it up hit go and there was like this moment where I was like I knew I had

made gold, right?

Like I knew it I had this like euphoric thing going on like is pretty unexplainable.

This was 10 years ago, so I mean there are a lot of things happened that year.

But as far as my art production, I realized that all of a sudden this was not empowering

me anymore.

Now because I look at art from the perspective of a sculptor or a public artist -- meaning

like I'm making your product -- all of a sudden it s a manufacturing capability like manufacturing

process as opposed to a process of identity.

And so now I can look at it as a complete new media work with a performance and a finished

product and it's all nice and neat little art package.

Whereas 10 years ago.

Like it was, I mean, I don't let my twin brother speak for me.

And I m not going to let a robot speak for me.

[laughs]

So if you look at it as a painting and you look at the robot as a tool, then you need

to control your tools.

Right?

That's what painters do.

They have a significant understanding of the brush.

Normally it's, I mean it's intuitive how they how they do it by hand, but here you've got

to be able to control the robot which is the brush.

And so like while they do it they whack it or like that you can see a fence set up.

And really getting that control back from the robot, that's the challenge.

And so the decisions like color and size of size of the paint brush and that sort of stuff

are, like, very important decisions for me as an artist to make because it allows me

to control the painting.

If we re going to call the finished product the painting, then we do have a successful

example of a Turing test.

The Turing test is to put a human in one room and a computer in another room and ask them

questions until you figure out which one s the computer and which one s human.

Now if you ask the Roomba to paint a landscape you're not going to get a landscape but this

robot will create an original work of art every time you set it on the canvas and hit

go.

And again if you don't show somebody the robot, right, and you show them just the painting

they're going to think somebody painted that.

I think they are better paintings than I can make by myself.

And I think it's a better painting than a lot of people can make by themselves.

And so, if art is about human expression then they re not, then this is a joke.

But if it s art about society like everybody's got smartphones right the expression of society,

like, then why can't a robot make a work of art?

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Okay: you ve got classical, jazz.

Mix that together.

What do you get?

The 442 s.

This is a musical group based out of St. Louis that is bad and bougie.

Join us as the Nine Network of Public Media drops in during their awesome rehearsal.

Check it out!

[art loft theme music]

[music]

Bjorn Ranheim: The hardest thing about categorizing this

music, everybody likes categories.

You know you go to iTunes and you got your classical favorites, your top 40 favorites,

your R& B favorites.

The 442 s are so hard to categorize because we delve into so many different areas of inspiration.

And so we have not been able to find an easy moniker to kind of codify what we are.

And that s tricky and it s also freeing.

It s hard when you re trying to explain to people what you do and who you are, but

you just tell them come in and hear us.

Just listen to it and that will explain it.

Adam Maness: Then name The 442 s comes from the

standard tuning of A is 442 hertz and that is what the oboist in the symphony plays to

tune the orchestra before each concert.

And that s kind of where we got the name.

(442 s playing and chatter)

Well, I m kind of the utility man in the group.

I do a little of everything.

I do guitar and accordion, and some percussion, some glockenspiel.

I do all those things.

I m kind of running around on each tune and I also compose most of the music.

(Music)

Shawn Weil: Adam writes so well for all of us and each

time we come to the rehearsal he s brought a new element of things that he s wanted

to try and see and we ll discuss it and we ll talk about it.

And he ll have us come over to his place individually sometimes in between rehearsals

and says, Well, what sits well, what works, does this work, is this good, what can you

do here?

(Music)

Each opportunity that we have to kind of stretch ourselves as musicians kind of goes into the

sauce, you know it adds a complexity to us as musicians.

Whatever genre we are playing.

Bjorn Ranheim: For Sean and I being a part of a symphony,

you know you are there and you re playing the notes and you re following the direction

of the conductor and you re creating music in a way put it s not you impetus, you re

not the one who s calling the artistic shots.

And when you have a group like this, we are that artistic impetus, we are the ones who

are making the decisions and the voices.

And we can change things.

And I think for me that s the most fun element of the 442 s, just getting a chance to play

completely outside my comfort zone and outside the box.

And one thing that s nice about the 442 s is that not only do we have through composed

pieces that we are all playing together what is written on the page, but we also have times

where we re improvising as well.

And so for Sean and I think and I from the symphony that s really rare, you know classical

musicians are never encouraged or taught to improvise and to create music on the spot

and for us I think it s a challenge, it s a thrill, it is nerve wracking, it s scary

but it s so fun ultimately.

(Music)

Syd Rodway: Its uncharted waters for me, but Bjorn and

Sean have a very strong pop sensibility and they understand the feel of Jazz, so it was

really quite easy.

Um, that made my job so much easier, because they have an inherent feel for groove.

And they understand other styles.

I mean Shawn knows more about Pop Jazz music and you name it than most people that I ve

ever met.

And Bjorn is very open to Pop music and he s quite funky as you hear on some of the songs.

(Music)

Adam Maness: Because it s kind of everybody s second

pursuit we get to be very picky about what we do and where we play and how we re presented

and I think that s a huge advantage for us and I think everybody that comes to our

concerts can feel that we re very happy with the situation you know that we re playing

in right there.

We don t have to do anything we don t want to.

(Music)

Shawn Weil: We start with what Adam writes and it s

a great product and we want to preform it in the most convincing way and really take

it to where it needs to be.

Which is something that we kind of get together ahead of time and then we ll go in and just

let it fly in our concerts and a lot of times things will happen in a show that never could

of really happened in a rehearsal just because of the energy that we get from the audience.

Bjorn Ranheim: I view this as another form of chamber music

and I m very very busy outside of Powell Hall uh, filling myself up with other things

and other experiences and I think we can all say that this group is another facet of our

life where we can pour ourselves into something completely different,

Shawn Weil: And I think the more we do things, the more

we push this and the further we can see this goes, the more we realize that s all part

of the same big sonic realm of what it is we all do.

(Music)

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Next week on Art Loft.

[music]

I feel like it s definitely a huge part of my life, it s just become, like this

comfortable, energetic, like adrenaline roller coaster that I love riding.

[art loft theme music]

Every year cowboy poets descend upon the town of Elko, Nevada for what else a national

cowboy poetry gathering.

So round up the kids, round up the family and check out as Reno s KNPB gives us the

scoop on this unique tradition that blends the spoken word with music and real interesting

stories.

Take a look!

Yee-haw! [laughter]

[art loft theme music]

[music]

Adrian Traditions being carried on here at the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering are something

that can t be duplicated anywhere else.

Hal Cannon You know, I think people come here and they sort of revel in the idea that

there still is a life on the land and that that life bears fruit that is poetic and musical

and it s just very real.

Randy Rieman I made my living horseback for over 30 years and I still do.

It s a privilege to be able to share those things that I get to experience in real time

that someone else may only know by the spoken word at a performance.

So, I feel like the material deserves to be handled with care and I really want to do

that skillfully.

Hal Cannon The heritage in this community is ranching and a lot of the great singers

and cowboy poets who are at this event are from this area, they re from buckaroo culture.

Adrian If you think about it, if it weren t for Elko there s a lot of cowboys out there

that don t come to Elko or don t go to gatherings that probably write music, poetry

that we don t know about and this gives the world a chance to hear the unsung cowboys.

The hills get awful quiet when you have to camp alone and it s mighty out to start

a fellow thinking.

You ll almost always awaken when a horseshoe hits a stone or you hear the sound of hobbletunes

a clinkin .

Hal Cannon When we started this event we really made most of our decisions based

on what we thought would attract cowboys and ranch people.

It s really because of the cowboy poets who I ve met who I thought were courageous

and decided to make a stand and say their own poems and write their own songs.

It helps a fellow see himself through other people s eyes and when he does his pride

takes quite a fall.

Because when you re all alone and thinking, friend, you come to realize that you re

a mighty common fellow after all.

[unintelligible]

Randy Rieman There s been a growth over the years that has I think improved the quality

of work.

It hasn't lessened the value of the classics but it has certainly increased the quality

of the contemporary stuff.

[singing]

Randy Rieman I know a lot ranch kids who are great cowboys or good horsemen

and they re immersed in the culture but not in the arts that emerged from the work.

So, it s great to find young people who not only go out and get a job done but they

have embraced the art form that really is unique and specific to the cowboy culture.

Hal Cannon We re all in this to have an art form live and survive and thrive.

Adrian That s another part of the tradition to Elko that is so important is we get to

pass it on to the younger kids.

They are the next generation after me and that s kind of a staggering thought for

me.

[singing]

Randy Rieman It s expanded over the years to be more than just performance oriented.

It isn t just storytelling, poetry and song.

Other things have come in that have made it richer.

[music]

Randy Rieman It s dispelled a lot mythology with people who don t rub shoulders with

the cowboy culture or the ranching culture or the farming culture.

We have a tendency to isolate and separate and so a lot folks who don t know sickem

about cow can come here and hear the perspective of someone who that has been a centerpiece

of their life.

Adrian I think cowboys, we are a dying breed and we need to be able to have the authority

to speak in a way that people will listen.

Randy Rieman It s an honorable profession that has diminished in numbers and it s

great to see a stronghold of that culture here being celebrated both by rural dwellers

and urban dwellers.

Hal Cannon I think people value this.

You know, they come and they re nurtured by it.

Being around these other artist give me heart to go on, to keep creating, to keep performing,

to keep writing new poetry to stay engaged.

[singing and applause]

[art loft theme music]

Thanks for joining us on Art Loft.

You can always connect with on social media at Artloftsfl.

And watch us anytime on the PBS app by selecting WPBT2 as your local station.

For Art Loft I m Jumaane N Namdi aka Cool J. Now remember, art imitates life so

do what, I said do what?

Live a beautiful life.

Peace!

[art loft theme music]

Funding for Art Loft was made possible by:

Friends of Art.

And

Where there is freedom, there is expression.

The Florida Keys and Key West.