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Unveiling the Inner Artist: InterArts Cabinet of Curiosity

Mateja Markovic

Mateja Markovic is a rock guitarist from Belgrade, Serbia. He first got acquainted with the medium of music in Middle School, by playing the trombone. After some time singing with a number of peer-based bands, he taught himself how to play guitar, and has been playing since, even recording a couple of songs. The guitar style that Markovic utilizes is largely derived from the distorted melodic chord progressions and scale utilization derived from the styles of EVH, Slash, and Dave Murray, to name a few . Some of his biggest inspirations are singers such as Axl Rose, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker and Dave Coverdale.

During his time in high school, Mateja has also been a part of numerous theatrical and music theatre productions, as well as locally organized bands and student-organized musical groups.

Presently, Mateja is dedicated to studying Mechanical Engineering and Trinity College in Hartford, CT. He does, however stay very active in the music community.

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Trinity College moves to the new campus
By Mateja Markovic
While only the mighty picture of the new Seabury, Northam, and Jarvis Halls was presented as the topic, the real historical meaning cannot be understood from the picture alone. The photo was obtained from an article found in the Watkinson library dating back to January of 1964. This piece was published and saved in the archives of the Trinity College Alumni Magazine, authored by Trinity’s very own Dr. Glen Weaber. The detailed article includes every tiny snippet of information about the complete moving process of Trinity College, dating back to the mid-1800s. While the picture’s obvious strong impressions will be used to channel those ranges of emotions which Hartford residents and all Bantams must have felt during those stressful years, it is important to know that the article titled Trinity College moves to the new Campus indeed provides all the necessary context regarding the turbulent years prior to, and after the move.
Approaching Trinity’s 50th anniversary, the school was under the brilliant leadership of President Abner Jackson, who stood out compared to his previous leaders. Unlike his predecessors, Jackson approached his position with a unique motivation and a desire for genuine change for the better. Not only did he embody this mission while in office, Jackson took active steps to try to secure the college’s financial future. For example- he worked on motivating Professors to work at Trinity by offering extra benefits. While the salary at the time was about $3000 dollars a year (on the low end among sister schools), couldn't be raised much higher due to Trinity's lack of funds, Jackson took the initiative to offer cheap housing alternatives to faculty members that were on campus. This made Trinity competitive with some of the Ivies who offered their employees almost double the salary. The tuition at this time was about $2000 a year.
Unfortunately for him and the Trustees, the mission seemed next to impossible. The annual struggle to make ends meet seemed relentless, with almost futile efforts to make up for the deficits. Aside from being tasked with filling holes in the budget, President Jackson was also occupied with trying to entice more professors to join the College, with offers of housing and additional financial perils, as mentioned above. With the academic year 1872-73, things looked very poor for Trinity. According to the calculations, the College was to accumulate a loss so high that it would’ve been unlikely for the institution to bounce back- if it wasn’t for the biggest deal in Hartford history, that is.
Around the same time, political negotiations of an unprecedented medium were stirring- The state of Connecticut needed a Capital. When Hartford was finally settled on as the new Capital of the state, the gov’t was desperate to acquire the most desirable location in town to build a new Connecticut Capitol building- Trinity’s campus. However, the students and the administrators were ready to defend their position- they didn’t want to give up their land. Even the alumni weighed in, effectively preventing any possibility of a transaction. Eventually, the price that was offered was so high that Trinity had to take it. The sum was to be used towards the construction of a brand new campus, two miles from the original location- on Zion Hill. Trinity College sold their land for approximately $600 000 - which would be anywhere from $16 to $20 million when adjusted for inflation (sources differ).
This move, at least on paper, looked beneficial for every side. However, it was much different in reality. For Trinity, the complicated process of planning the new campus and the sudden death of President Jackson resulted in only about half of the planned structures being executed, and they were much different than originally conceived. The motivation of the officials to drive up the prices of real-estate in Zion area with moving Trinity there resulted in less gain than anticipated. Connecticut did get a new capitol building, with construction casting the county into further debt.
However, the picture of finished Long Walk buildings above serves as a beautiful reminder of Trinity’s incredible persistence. In a way, I would say that those buildings serve as a symbol of perseverance of both the students and the administrators of this institution.
Sources:
The Watkins Collection- Weaver, Glenn PhD, Trinity College Alumni Magazine. January, 1964.
“Inflation Rate between 1875-2021: Inflation Calculator.” $600,000 In 1875 → 2021.
The Inflation Calculator, westegg.com/inflation/.
Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat Guitar
By Mateja Markovic
There is rarely a bigger guitar god and an icon of a certain spectrum than Eddie Van Halen. Having been internationally renowned as an inventor, songwriter, lyricist, and a silent frontman of his own band, it is safe to say that EVH serves as an inspiration to generations of young innovators, guitar masters and even instrument manufacturers. Frankenstrat- the very first guitar he recorded an album on, presents one of the greatest sources of artistic motivation for me- and here's why:

When Eddie got really efficient with his playing (in his mid teens), the style of this master was growing exponentially, resulting in his equipment’s inability to keep up with his playing. At that time, there were only really several types of guitars that were made strictly for specific musical purposes. In short, it was very difficult to play another genre on a guitar that wasn’t meant for it. EVH had a style that landed in between every known genre of music, and therefore wanted more out of his equipment. There was only one constraint: He couldn’t afford a new guitar. This is the part that inspires me the most: Eddie Van Halen found a discarded Stratocaster body that had a flaw on it, and got to work. Fender Stratocaster guitars were known for having the fastest playing guitar necks in the industry. My personal assumption was that the guitar he had beforehand couldn’t facilitate his iconic “tapping” technique, so he was in need of something more operable- a guitar with a thinner neck and a lower action. However, there was an issue with Stratocasters- they have single coil magnetic pickups. These are ideal when playing light jazz, blues or funky, but produce a different sound under amp-induced distortion. When the impulses are distorted in order to obtain that classic rock sound, single coil pickups give insane amounts of feedback and a rather shallow sound. On the contrary, HUMBUCKERS- double coil pickups- give off that warm sound under distortion. Think about Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Slash of Guns N Roses or Agnus Young from AC/DC. The entire rock world is on humbuckers. Given the aforementioned, EVH got a cheap humbucker which created an awful noise, because it was made in an unstable plastic housing. In a desperate attempt to improve the quality, Van Halen burned the humbucker pickup in boiling water, and took it out just in time to get that amazing EVH sound that we now know. Next, he wired the guitar completely by himself, and put a little capacitor inside that was meant to defuse the raw impulse. The legendary striped paint job also followed. With that, the (in)famous Frankenstrat was born- A guitar that defined one of the most unique sounds of 20th century. The famous instrument is now displayed as a part of the Smithsonian Museum Collection.

The inspiring part here is the fact that EVH refused to conform to the limitations of his equipment. He didn’t waste time copying anybody. Instead, Eddie followed his own style, adjusting everything he could to his style instead of the other way around. The Frankenstrat is a definitive representation of this innovation- for me, it stands for the very ideals that I think Art should be about.
Sources
Interview with Eddie Van Halen: Is Rock N Roll all about reinvention? YouTube, September 2017.
Sarah Rothbard | February 14, 2015. “Necessity Is the Source of Eddie Van Halen's Inventions.” Zócalo Public Square, 7 Oct. 2020.
The Olive Tree: Gift for Summer
By Mateja Markovic
For my second contribution to the Inter Arts Cabinet of Curiosity, I opted to manufacture a gift for Summer. While I was initially going to handcraft a piece of jewelry, in my conversation with another member of the seminar, I decided to write a poem instead. From what I could gather, Summer enjoys reading poetry, and the gift would draw a great parallel to my songwriting skills.

The starting idea that I went into writing this poem with was that I knew some of us were having a hard time . Aside from our personal situations, the workload circulation at this time in the semester is a large source of stress . With multiple midterms happening in the same week, assignments that don’t seem to end and the constant pressure from some mentors who prioritize our results over our mental health, I thought that we could all use some words of encouragement. A poem that encourages, to be precise.

This morning in class, I found myself thinking just what I normally do: “Oh dear God, twenty more minutes, I wish it could be over right this instant.” From there, my mind raced on a tangent. How often we just want time to pass, but don’t think twice about the fact that we are never going to get it back again? Like, this very instance: You are never going back to it again. We, as human beings, should appreciate our minutes on this Earth more than we currently do.

By now, I had a very clear vision for the piece.

Now I was thinking how to connect it to Summer. I haven’t gotten acquainted with her on a deep and personal level yet, but I do have a very good idea of the kind of person that she is, from some of our interactions and mostly: Art projects. When you evaluate someone’s art, you get to know them in a specific way. You see a part of them- a very intimate one at that.

In my experience, I concluded, Summer is like an Olive Tree. A very calm, kind individual, who wishes nothing but good for the people around her. Never have I gotten even a spot of aggressive mojo coming from her. This kind of person is a very rare one to encounter, but I am personally very thankful that they exist, having befriended a few of them in my lifetime. Hence, the name of the poem was born. The Olive Tree is also known in the Eastern European culture as a symbol of peace and mutual understanding.

The main body of the following text just flowed out. I did very little editing between the first draft and the final version- mostly structural editing I would say. In a way, the poem was a synthesis between my personal experiences, the thoughts that I sometimes have, and the usual doubts of probably everybody. Most people will, at one point or another relate to this piece. I was initially going to keep writing, but have since decided to keep the poem the way it is now. It does a sufficient job of saying everything I wanted it to.
Long Lost Words
By Mateja Markovic

Every opportunity I get to write music- I take it. Therefore, it would be quite silly if I chose any other project format for the “Something out of nothing” object. Let me commence by acknowledging the sheer magnitude of this challenge. To create something out of nothing- literally goes against the laws of Physics. Yet, to scientists’ heavy disapproval, Artists make things out of nothing each day. Of course, we say that only ﬁguratively- art does come from somewhere very special.

Each individual has memories and feelings unique to themselves. We have each spent our lives forging new connections between our neurons, developing them into speciﬁc patterns. Art comes from those unique synapse connections.

Those who know me well will recall that I couldn’t be caught dead playing slow songs that aren’t heavy on the instrumentals. One might even say that I rarely pick up my acoustic guitar these days. However, I feel like this song required my special attention- and therefore a special treatment. This is because this very song is a piece of who I am- a piece that goes back further than my existence. I will explain in a second…

This song is originally a text written by one of the greatest poets in Belgrade. She was a very accomplished theatre actor back in the day, and then went on to have a 30 year career in education before retiring and dedicating the rest of her time writing poetry and prose. That very poet, Darinka Markovic, happens to be my grandmother.

It's important to remember that Darinka was in the process of raising two kids when her husband was called away for war. She was forced to escape from her home city and start over somewhere where she had no job and initially- nowhere to live. My grandma probably has one of the hardest life stories I have ever heard. However, here’s the kicker- she’s also the happiest person that I ever met.

I like to think that I inherited her ability to sail through hardships and still be able to enjoy life like she does, but only time will tell. Upon examining her poetry, one will ﬁnd such a range of words- words and phrases that have never been grouped together, but that cause such strong emotion that the reader just might erupt in tears. I truly believe that she is one of the greatest, and most unique poets ever to exist.

This particular poem has a special place in my heart. Nothing says so explicitly, but I believe it is dedicated to my grandfather who died shortly before I was born. When I received the original manuscript, the poem was unpublished and unnamed. I made some big adaptations so the text would ﬁt in the music, and assigned the chorus to what I thought was the strongest phrase in the piece. However, I did my best to preserve 90% of the original wording.

Musically, it is pretty simple. Starting and ending with four chords, the only thing that I needed to add before the song gained depth was a little bit of solo guitar. The rest of it- wrote itself around the lyrics.
“Long Lost Words”
My tears are ﬂowing like rivers
The sea sends us shade
Inside me, I’m searching for love
How do I continue without it?

(Chorus)
I give myself to the deceptive sleep
While the thunder rattles in the storm
And the sea is swinging me side to side
even more
Until I fall asleep.

On the cloud, the moon is sailing
Not worrying about destiny
Be brave, my darling
And patient, in your loneliness

(Chorus)
I give myself to the deceptive sleep
While the thunder rattles in the storm
And the sea is swinging me side to side
even more
Until I fall asleep.

Why can’t I just see you?
I’ve forgotten how much I want you
Your invisible ﬁngers are whispering
About our love

text: Darinka Markovic
adapted and arranged by: Mateja Markovic

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Mateja Markovic artist bio pic