Simon Griffee
Department of graphic design, art direction, and photography.
March 2019
Cat and Flowers, Cyclades Islands, Ancient Greece, AC Odyssey, 2019
Rrrrrraaaaabbbiiiinnnnhhhhhoooooooo!
Drew at Quinn’s, Beacon, New York, 2019
Regarding #sprayandpray, I once heard a story that affected me greatly. It went something like this:
In the beginning of a pottery class the teacher announced she was making two groups: One was to be graded only on the quantity of the pots produced. The other exclusively on the quality of a single pot.
On the last day of class, after one year, a curious thing happened. The pots of highest quality were all made by the group that was to be graded on quantity.
While the ”quantity” group was making lots of work and learning from their mistakes, the ”quality” group had discussed perfection endlessly and focused on a single pot the entire time, which in the end was not very good.
I used to be afraid of negative reactions to things I made, and was firmly in the ”quality” group, dwelling and waiting to be able to make the ”perfect” thing. After some time I realized that ”talented” people were actually people who worked hard on something they were interested in and spent a lot of time making different versions of things.
Later one may have the experience to make only one thing and do it very well, but not without first spending time making a lot of things. I consider myself an amateur who has been lucky to work with and learn from a few masters, including some sporting white beards, but I don’t believe in prayer — I believe in better chance!
River Light
A piece of a song I am working on set to today’s setting sun on the Hudson River. 🎸 🌊 Video, composition, bass & electric guitar: Simon Griffee. ☀️ ⛵️ Thanks to Rafa and Fender for the stratocaster, Amber for the cable and jam, Chris for the iPhone, and Apple for Garageband. 🎶
Arciuli Migrations Poster, 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 7pm the Italian Academy Presents:
EMANUELE ARCIULI
Solo piano.
Part of Carnegie Hall’s
Migrations: The Making of America Festival
John Corigliano
Fantasy on an Ostinato
Nino Rota
8 Preludes
Chick Corea
Children’s Songs
Curtis Cacioppo
Armed and Dangerous
Missy Mazzoli
Isabelle Eberhardt Dreams of Pianos
Frederic Rzewski
Down by the Riverside & Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues
Free Admission
First-come, first-seated. Doors open at 6:30 PM
http://italianacademy.columbia.edu
In the Teatro of The Italian Academy, Columbia University
1161 Amsterdam Avenue (south of 118th Street) New York City
