Category Archives: DUENDE

anything and everything about DUENDE and the art production team.

Accepting Talent Submissions!!

Posted on by daniela

 

Some creative directors start putting together a show & think “I need a flute player & a ballerina” and then go on a talent hunt to find someone to fit the bill. My creative directing style is far less contrived….and possibly totally backwards.

I look for DUENDE, and DUENDE is universal. When I plan a show, I pool talent resources by seeking out artists, dancers & musicians that move me. If you give me the DUENDE goosebumps I will rework my entire show to make sure you fit into it. I don’t mold my talent to suite my production. My productions are an evolving entity shaped by the DUENDE of the talent that agrees to participate.

Having said that, its difficult for me to put together a list of the specific skills or genres I’m looking at. I am more interested in the spirit & feel of potential acts.

So….our show’s theme is about Making Love….making love to yourself, making love to the world.  We will be exploring the concept of seeing the beauty in the dark parts of the human experience, learning to gently embrace and fall in love with our inner turmoil. We understand that what we resist persists, and that darkness cannot live in the light. So in this production, we are exposing our darkness to the light, in order to transcend our limitations. We learn to love ourselves…our whole selves….love ourselves enough to embrace total honesty & transparency.

You know what happens when you truly fall in love with your whole being? You start to see the world that way too. suddenly you are free of your shit, and your consciousness expands to wanting to see the world as whole…and perfect, even in its complexities…and you fall in love with it, make love to it, thereby healing it as well.

This show will be about the concept of making love, in every possible context. Making love to music, to nature, to lovers, to enemies…maybe especially.  We celebrate our oneness…our shared human experience in all its decadence.

Before the eyes of our Creator, whatever that might be, we are naked. This show will have some tasteful nudity in its most innocent and spiritual representation. You don’t have to be nude to be part of this production, however, if you are inclined to, it can be accommodated.

If this is a production that resonates with your muse, please introduce yourself. I don’t care what your talent is per se as long as you are EXCEPTIONAL performing it.  Don’t waste my time with mundane no-message drivel. If you are a soulful artist, one that wants to make a positive change in the world…I want to meet you.

Please send me a link to your website, youtube videos whatever you have to show me. Tell me a bit about yourself and your work.  We always book seasoned tenured talent, but if you are just starting out, don’t be shy. Gifted is gifted, and if you can hold your own, there is room for you. We all need a break, and DUENDE Art Productions is happy to give new talent a chance. We always give you lots of pics & video on disc for you to use in your portfolio as well, and if you do a great job, I’ll be an awesome reference.

daniela@duendeartproductions.com

Submission deadline: yesterday. hurry up, I have a show to create!

photo by www.marypics.com

NEW SHOW: Dec 21, 2012 Reserve The Date

Posted on by daniela

 

photo by MARiA GAGLiARDi taken at our show DUENDE

“Make Love”

I live and breathe our live art productions, and after doing 2 full scale productions in one year, we all needed a BIG break. Glenn started a new collection of music, Maria shot a wicked nude collection being released soon, and I published 2 books & nursed myself through a traumatic brain injury that has left me permanently disabled. I never once thought my art days were over, but I certainly expected my show days to be done.

Recently I’ve been getting the DUENDE itch, and one day admittedly listening to Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 on repeat as I physiotherapized myself, I kept getting image flashes of me on stage again but with my cane (I was dancing with it lol). I saw really sexy models (like at all my shows) and a wicked stage production. It was SO intense. Then I shrugged it off, but it kept haunting me.

This morning Maria & I did a catch-up text session.

MARiA GAGLiARDi is fashion obsessed and one of our pet names for her is fashion police. Being a photographer for so many years gives her a unique analytical perspective of fashion. She has also done a lot of her own styling for many of her shoots/productions/videos- being the control freak perfectionist that she is. (something her & I have very much in common.)

When Maria told me she was currently creating a fashion line, I thought “Of course you are, its about time.”

Somehow – 3-4 texts w/in 5 min later, we have a show….as usual. lol

I haven’t even seen her collection yet….but I know Maria, it’ll be sexy sexy sexy and somehow peace related because Maria is all about love & peace & her work always somehow reflects that.

Then the words “Make Love Not War” came to mind…perfect….but you know, I don’t want war anywhere near the human consciousness anymore. I don’t want it to exist, so I ‘ll just stop observing it. Instead of Make Love Not War….how about just “Make Love.” Can’t get sexier than THAT!

The date: Friday December 21, 2012  -We figure, if its the end of the world at least we’ll die doing something uber cool with people we love. If its the dawn of a new era, what a classy way to ring it in! If its a day as usual, at least we made it decadent!

The gossip I know so far:

I will be painting live

I am creating the whole show around Maria’s fashion & photography/video so there will be multi-media elements

The theme of the show will be related in making love to the world.

It will be uber sexy-there likely will be a classy hint of nudity possibly. At my shows, that tends to happen.

It will be a party, if you love to dance, you’ll love this.

It will be a dinner theater production with afterparty. its a FULL night out!

Glenn is hunting for an AWESOME DJ to be our spin master for the night

I want dancers/models besides the clothes models …if I had my way, it would be burlesque…but will see how it goes…

Here’s some images from past shows, so you get an idea of what we are about:

 

 

 

 

Babylon The Great Is Fallen, Explained

Posted on by daniela

photo by MARiA GAGLiARDi

Babylon The Great Is Fallen

Written, Recorded & Co-Produced By Daniela Aum

Co-produced & Mixed by: Glenn Aum

My first single is ready to be released & I am a bit nervous. If I could just write ‘why doesn’t he love me’ songs like normal people, I wouldn’t be this panicked. Because of the nature of my song & the lyrics, my meanings & intentions could easily be twisted to mean something its not, so I decided to preempt any controversy by having the discussion about “what I mean” by this song in advance.

Its a bit complicated.

I have been going through a crisis. I am consumed by recent world events. I see humanity in a horrid bondage and I see the end of a neocon plutocracy-it has to be. Tsarion predicted this would happen exactly now. I am absolutely besides myself totally being consumed by this lately.

I have also been dedicating most of my psychic & occultist energy to this as well.

This song was written as it was being recorded -was a spur-of-the moment inspiration that came on Feb 14, 2012 on the heals of the most recent massacre in Syria & the revolt in Greece when Athens was set ablaze. Both weighed very heavily on my consciousness as is the genocide in Palestine & the bullying of Iran….you notice I say bullying “of” Iran not “by” Iran.

I was home alone, in an altered state & meditating on this subject. I dedicated the song to the cause and asked to be guided. I got the basic beat down when I accidentally found bomb side effects on my effects player as I was looking for the sound of crickets.

It sounded awesome in the mix and it got me thinking of the whole global situation and realized it was perfect.

I wanted to include a holy verse from any holy book on peace to juxtapose with the sound of the bombs. I want my song to be about peace & victory. I wanted this song to be a magic spell of freedom of the masses, of peace, of victory. As I searched google, I found a quote from the Holy Koran that touched me very deeply.

Chapter 2 Verse 136: Say Ye: “We believe in God & the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that is given to all the Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between one and another of them, and we bow to God”

Doesn’t get more peaceful than that! That’s what I love about Islam, it respects the prophets of all religions. I also love how in this quote, the Koran includes “us” among the prophets. We are all capable of open communion with God, as deep and abiding as the way the prophets communed with God. This is a very empowering quote, and in this time in history, humanity needs to be empowered. Its no accident that its the Arab Spring that started the global enlightenment.

I decided to add a quote from The Holy Koran as a nod of respect to my brothers & sisters of The Arab Spring and to my brothers and sisters here in the west that are suffering extreme prejudice from an ignorant and undeserved islamaphobia.

The rest of the song comes from the book of Revelations because I believe we are living this now.

Rev 18:2 “Babylon The Great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird” That’s just a fact, no explanation necessary on that one.

But then this where the magic spell comes in:

Rev 18:4 “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers in her sins and that ye receive none of her plagues.”

Psalm 30:5: Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

The word peace was the command that stops the bombs. Peace is our ultimate victory, and it will come. Freedom Come. I can feel it.

So Be It.

http://www.myspace.com/579532804

7 Years To Song

Posted on by daniela

I am married to musician/producer Glenn Aum of TripleEye Music

Being an artist, marrying a musician was a compatible choice, but having different creative mediums kept our talents very seperate. Still, you learn a few things when your hubby spends 3/4 of his day in front of a mixing board.

We were finally able to marry our talents when we started DUENDE Art Productions

Glenn took care of the music, I took care of the creative direction.

During that time I was creating promo videos, commercials & inspirational shorts for our dinner theatre production. Before this, music was merely an inspiration to rock out to while I painted. Suddenly music became a tool, a medium to be used to compliment or bring the visuals I was creating to life.

No one could produce the ‘feel’ of what I was looking for, so I had to learn to do it myself. Hubby taught me the basics & I eagerly began to arrange my own beats & hubby happily mixed them quite amused at how groovy my little beats were.

1 minute jingles aren’t that intimidating & I was happy with that.

Now, a few years later, with a lot more time on my hands & an upgraded in-home recording studio, I am going wild!

So far, I have written & recorded 2 full length songs that hubby just needs to final mix.

My stuff def has a ‘vibe’ to it, I’d describe it as “Mystic Fusion” -kind of creepy yet VERY groovy. I can’t wait to release it!!

The DUENDE SoundTrack

Posted on by daniela

photo by Adam Ibbotson

I’m not a conceptual painter.

I’m a big cyst on my pineal glad that has me on a perma-DMT trip kind of natural mystic that gets possessed by the DUENDE that takes me over and spills out onto the canvas. Half the time I end up tossing brushes aside & my body becomes the channel through which the DUENDE manifests colour.

That’s why people like watching me paint live-its like watching a voodoo possession–dynamic & passionate.

One of the most important parts of my ‘process’ is music. I can’t just listen to anything-it has to have the DUENDE. It almost doesn’t matter the subject matter of the song-if the artist was inspired by The DUENDE at the time they wrote it, I can totally surf that wave-and I hear it & transcribe it in colour.

Some songs do it to me more than others, and in my best art orgasm moments I go into a Theta brainwave state (if you are a creative, learn about theta brainwaves-trust me) and I keep in the zone by playing the same song that got me there on repeat. I have listened to some songs on repeat for a month straight-seriously. But usually its limited to an art experience in front of a canvass.

One song that really gets my DUENDE going is Pet by Perfect Circle, and considering the political times we’re in, its no wonder.

Another song that does it to me is No One Knows by Queen’s Of The Stone Age because once I candyflipped & was painting to this song on repeat-was a total art euphoric possession & one of the best highs of my life. Now when I paint to this song, I totally get a flashback of that feeling/state & its like an open portal to a good art experience.

I haven’t touched a canvas since Oct 2010. Nursing a brain injury, I couldn’t bear DUENDE music for a while. For months I lay in the dark listening to instrumental ethnic fusion music on low and would try to imagine myself painting to it. Every time I tried, I felt stabbing pains in my head in direct conflict with the colour spirits within begging to be unleashed.

My Dr begged me to paint, doodle anything-he said it would be my best cognitive therapy but I didn’t. I would stare at a blank sheet & cry. Not because I couldn’t (i could feel it) but because my body just wouldn’t.

This morning I was startled awake at 3am & couldn’t get back to sleep. Killing time on FB someone had posted a Youtube Video of Adele’s Rolling In The Deep. That flicked the switch & having no canvas, I was pulled to the freezer (a flat white surface) -I played the song on repeat & painted with air. The only physical colour was in my 3rd eye. That experience was a private moment for me alone.

I was a bit curious why of all the songs on the planet, it would be THAT one that woke me from hibernation. I’m not even experiencing what the lyrics are discussing, but then upon further reflection I realize it does, maybe not romantically thank god, but certainly in life. I have been fucked by a very corrupt system, i have been giving my all to the world and got nothing but pain & poverty in return. I look around and everyone I love is struggling too…and every stranger is struggling and its all so fucking unnecessary.

I’m angry, I’m bitter & I want justice. I feel betrayed by god-by life for dragging this shit out. I’m burning in this anguish & honestly, its this inner angst that has kicked my recovery in overdrive. I’m feeling Kill Bill-ish in an art sense and Rolling In The Deep is the theme song for now it seems.

Through my recovery The DUENDE nursed my inner flame. Refined by anger & fueled by injustice-it now tells me, its time to paint. Time to Roll In The Deep

looking for musical acts to perform Nuit Blanche at the lower Ossington theater…

Posted on by glenn

This year at Nuit Blanche Daniela will be showcasing her artwork at the lower Ossington theater in Toronto (just off of Queen West). Daniela will also be painting live throughout the evening while she paints the energy of the crowd and the multiple musical acts that will be showcasing their music throughout the evening. We want to do something totally different for Nuit Blanche, not only will we be combining the amazing world of music and art, this year’s Nuit Blanche crowd will have the opportunity to witness something new as Daniela paints live throughout the evening. People can enjoy the music while they admire many of Daniela’s works of art and they can watch Daniela work her magic while she intuitively paints the energy of our wonderful city, the culture, the music, the people and of course our party! Whenever Daniela paints live the audience is ecstatic! — people love to watch Daniela paint!… As you might imagine, in order for us to make this night a success we must find a few musical acts to perform that evening…

Our first idea was to have multiple DJs spinning beats throughout the evening. Sticking to more of a lounge/trance vibe than a dance club vibe. We have to keep the party going for 12 hours and because we do not want to make things too confusing with 12 different DJs we would have a few DJs play 2-4, one hour sets. This kind of party will have people coming and going throughout the evening and it is very unlikely that any one group will stay longer than 1-3 hours at a time as they will move on to other exhibits throughout Toronto. The opportunity to play multiple times throughout the evening will give artists a chance to showcase their music to a wider audience! We are definitely still looking for this type of DJ for the evening but at this point we have decided that we are also willing to consider other musical acts and musical stylings for the evening as well.

Daniela is a refined artist with a discerning taste which means that we must be very selective with our choice of musical acts for the evening. It is very unlikely that we will find 12 different musical acts  for the evening and this is why we would like each artist to perform multiple sets. Interested DJs and musicians should forward their bio and demo to – glenn@duendeartproductions.com.

Nuit Blance is a very busy night for Toronto with people coming from all over the country and the world. We are looking for artists to perform without payment but we are not willing to sacrifice quality. We are looking for talented artists who are looking to showcase their music and gain exposure.

This is an excellent opportunity for up-and-coming talent to showcase their music to a large number of people!

Daniela on Painting

Posted on by daniela

My paintings are usually only as good as the music i listen to as i paint them. Music is the foundation of almost every piece. Something happens to me when i listen to certain music…not all music, only certain music. its like something takes me over…like the strongest most compelling drug, i am possessed when I paint. my body shivers, i breathe deeper and suddenly an inner stirring begins to take momentum…like a tornado pulling up into my body…the pressure builds and suddenly it HAS to come out. its at that point that i’m thrust to the canvass and the colours spill out of me like a waterfall. I jokingly call these creative moments “colour pukes” or “art orgasms” because that is exactly how it feels when you are fearlessly vulnerable enough to let this spirit pass through you.

when the duende flows

when the duende flows