I am flying to Utah today.... I'm so unbelievably happy about this. So much so, that I'm dedicating this blog post to it. yeah...
(I googled the two images... they make me chuckle)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Hoot Owls and Hot Chocolate
I am flying to Utah today.... I'm so unbelievably happy about this. So much so, that I'm dedicating this blog post to it. yeah...
(I googled the two images... they make me chuckle)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A glorious gift that was given to me, a few years back
My face is wet with the rain
But my heart is warm to the core
For I follow at will again
The road I loved of yore,
And the dim trees beat the dark,
And the swelling ditches moan;
With the joy of the singing, soaring lark
I follow the road alone.
Alone in the living night
Away from the babble of tongues,
Alone with the old delight
Of the night wind in my lungs,
And the wet air on my cheeks
And the warm blood in my veins,
Alone with the joy he knows who seeks
The thresh of the young spring rains,
With the smell of the pelted earth,
The tearful drip of the trees,
Making him dream of the sound of mirth
That comes with the clearing breeze.
‘Tis a rare and wondrous sight
To walk in the wet a while,
And see the slow delight
Of the sun’s first pallid smile,
And watch the meadows breath again
And the far woods turn green,
Drunk with the beauty of wind and rain
And the sun’s warm smile between!
I have made me a vagrant song,
For my heart is warm to the core.
And glad, Ah! Glad that the night is long,
For I follow the road once more,
And the dim trees beat the dark,
And the swelling ditches moan;
With the joy of the singing, soaring lark
I travel the road, alone.
Amary Hare
Thank you.
I love you.
But my heart is warm to the core
For I follow at will again
The road I loved of yore,
And the dim trees beat the dark,
And the swelling ditches moan;
With the joy of the singing, soaring lark
I follow the road alone.
Alone in the living night
Away from the babble of tongues,
Alone with the old delight
Of the night wind in my lungs,
And the wet air on my cheeks
And the warm blood in my veins,
Alone with the joy he knows who seeks
The thresh of the young spring rains,
With the smell of the pelted earth,
The tearful drip of the trees,
Making him dream of the sound of mirth
That comes with the clearing breeze.
‘Tis a rare and wondrous sight
To walk in the wet a while,
And see the slow delight
Of the sun’s first pallid smile,
And watch the meadows breath again
And the far woods turn green,
Drunk with the beauty of wind and rain
And the sun’s warm smile between!
I have made me a vagrant song,
For my heart is warm to the core.
And glad, Ah! Glad that the night is long,
For I follow the road once more,
And the dim trees beat the dark,
And the swelling ditches moan;
With the joy of the singing, soaring lark
I travel the road, alone.
Amary Hare
Thank you.
I love you.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Trip to NYC (Hunter College and NYU Open Studios)
A glorious trip(besides the fact that NYC comes with lots of stress).
I visited both Hunter College and NYU for Open Studios. Hunter College was from 2 to 6 p.m.; NYU 4 to 9:30 p.m.
Hunter was first. The size of the studio spaces (most anyway) are insanely HUGE, both vertically and horizontally. I had a hard time not thinking about the many ways in which the spaces could be used... so much potential. There was lots of talent at Hunter and the grads were super easy to talk to (quite a friendly bunch). Can't believe the amount of MFAer’s, I don't know the exact number. Some of the Hunter folks didn't know the exact number either... lots; I want to say a little over 60 (120 to be exact?) but I'm not too sure. Lots and lots of work. I was most drawn to the grad work that showed a great amount of sensitivity to detail... sensitivity... it is key. There was a huge amount of work, so sensitivity is what got my attention. The whistling wall was grand.
NYU blew my mind, again. I think they inherently get the sensitivity thing... There is a great amount of variety (in terms of content and media), presentation was very well organized, and there's a smaller number of grads... it appears that it works really well. It was also refreshing to see fellow RCADer's (salt of the earth).
good good
I visited both Hunter College and NYU for Open Studios. Hunter College was from 2 to 6 p.m.; NYU 4 to 9:30 p.m.
Hunter was first. The size of the studio spaces (most anyway) are insanely HUGE, both vertically and horizontally. I had a hard time not thinking about the many ways in which the spaces could be used... so much potential. There was lots of talent at Hunter and the grads were super easy to talk to (quite a friendly bunch). Can't believe the amount of MFAer’s, I don't know the exact number. Some of the Hunter folks didn't know the exact number either... lots; I want to say a little over 60 (120 to be exact?) but I'm not too sure. Lots and lots of work. I was most drawn to the grad work that showed a great amount of sensitivity to detail... sensitivity... it is key. There was a huge amount of work, so sensitivity is what got my attention. The whistling wall was grand.
NYU blew my mind, again. I think they inherently get the sensitivity thing... There is a great amount of variety (in terms of content and media), presentation was very well organized, and there's a smaller number of grads... it appears that it works really well. It was also refreshing to see fellow RCADer's (salt of the earth).
good good
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Beautiful weekend
This weekend was amazing... I love my friends so much.
Urs Fischers show, at the New Museum, was ammmaaaazzzzziiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggg!!!
He's a new favorite.
Urs Fischers show, at the New Museum, was ammmaaaazzzzziiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnggggggggg!!!
He's a new favorite.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
According to curators Jeffery Deitch and Dan Friedman, all artistic representations of places, even natural landscapes, inevitably have conceptual overtones that are based on social constructs. "Even the generations of artists who strove to depict absolute truth in their renderings of nature tended to spiritulize it, romanticize, or intellectualize it." Artists today are even more prone to see places through the lens of culture because (like the rest of us) the places they experience most of the time are far removed from wilderness. "The Post-Modern artist now confronts a Post-Natural nature," Deitch and Friedman wrote.
As the twenty-first century unfolds, humans (generalized) are increasingly removed from the natural world. Natural sites are bulldozed to make way for development; we visit the outdoors in the designed environments of parks and playgrounds; we learn about wilderness through the filter of television, video, and film; genetics are turning animals and plants into constructs of human desires; and we obtain our food already processed and packaged. Artists are responding to the artificial environments made by designers, corporate developers, genetic engineers, computer programmers, museum curators, and others for a variety of social and economic purposes. (Themes of Contemporary Art, p.g. 167)
thankyouthankyouthankyou
Liz Craft
As the twenty-first century unfolds, humans (generalized) are increasingly removed from the natural world. Natural sites are bulldozed to make way for development; we visit the outdoors in the designed environments of parks and playgrounds; we learn about wilderness through the filter of television, video, and film; genetics are turning animals and plants into constructs of human desires; and we obtain our food already processed and packaged. Artists are responding to the artificial environments made by designers, corporate developers, genetic engineers, computer programmers, museum curators, and others for a variety of social and economic purposes. (Themes of Contemporary Art, p.g. 167)
thankyouthankyouthankyou
Liz Craft
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
M.A. exercise
Marilyn Arsem's visit was grand. I had a lovely breakfast with Marilyn, Lani, and Jamie. After breakfast, we headed straight to the VARC. Marilyn started the visit off by having us do an exercise. Normally she does this in three days (with her class) but our time was limited to 3 hours... I think it was pretty successful even with the small amount of time. The exercise is as follows:
Step 1.
Think of a place that you've always wanted to go but have never been. Go to that place. When there, try to pay as close attention to your surroundings as possible; listen very closely, look very closely, touch, smell, taste, etc... (depending on the amount of time you have) spend as much time there as you can.
Once we got back from the place, we were given a note book and pen/pencil. We were asked to close our eyes and retrace our steps by playing the experience back in our minds. Then we were asked to think about the place that had the most energy and write down our response to these questions:
Q. What were you most attracted to?
A. The abandoned buildings. They are incredible! I found a whole slew of materials and spaces to work in/from. I wish I would have explored them earlier.
Q. What was most interesting?
A. The relationship between the buildings and the foliage. It's as if they are intertwined. The buildings are deteriorating and the foliage is breaking it's way through the brick, asphalt, rubble, windows, stairs, doors, etc... In some sections the relationship between foliage and building is very charged; as if they are dancing with one another. (cheesy I know)
Q. What was most surprising?
A. The buildings appear so intimidating. I've always wanted to explore them but they are a tid bit creepy. I was surprised to find that they weren't as intimidating, up close, as I thought they would be. In fact, they are super fascinating. There is so much history, so much character, so much random shit in and around those buildings. One thing I found really interesting was that there were rooms that had huge mounds of shredded paper; that's it... shredded paper. weird shit. I could literally spend hours and hours exploring these buildings... too bad they make me feel a little uneasy. They're less intimidating but they're still intimidating.
Q.What did you resist?
A. Going into the Building
Q. What did you overlook?
A. Lots
After we wrote our questions down. Marilyn asked us to think about this place that had the most energy and go back to it. She asked us to stay there and wait; not allowed to leave the place until something happens that changes you. once the change happened we had to answer the following questions:
Q. What happened?
A. I walked into the abandoned building (with a respirator). I was fucking scared; to the point that I was shaking pretty violently. I was scared because of 1)Asbestos 2)scared a person could be in the building that could hurt me 3)scared I would get arrested for going into the building 4)scared of life in the building (building alive?)found all sorts of stuff 5)scared the ceiling would fall on me or the floor would cave in and I would fall (it's a pretty damn old building).
Q. How did you know it happened?
A. Because I saw it with my eyes, felt it with my hands and feet, heard it with my ears, smelled it with my nose, etc... discovered secrets? at least it felt that way. This place is a place with a sad history. It feels that way. I have proof that it happened.
Q. Was it possible to wait and be open to it or did you make it happen?
A. I kinda had to make myself make it happen on account of I was scared.
Q. How do you understand to what it is that you're able to be open?
A. It is effortless, or I've been given permission.
Q. What does that reveal about you?
A. I need permission to be open or perhaps a little coaxing; a nudge if you will. On the other hand there are things I am open to without permission because they are effortless. I don't think about it. It just happens. & Safety... I'm open if I feel safe.
After we answered these questions, Marilyn asked us to return to this place with a gift. The gift can be whatever you want... kind of a way of thanks for the "change" that was received from this place. questions followed:
Q. Describe what you gave.
A. I decided that I would return the proof that I collected from the building (files and a porcelain piece of a drinking fountain) because I felt uneasy about keeping it. I decided to wash the porcelain piece and return it. Then I gathered, what I considered to be, compelling foliage from all corners of the buildings exterior. I gathered my gift and nestled it into a spot where the wall has crumbled to exposed brick.
Q. How do you feel about your gift? was it sufficient and appropriate?
A. I wish I could have worked on it a bit longer. It's sufficient for the amount of time that I had.
Q. How was it received?
A. I'm not sure. There is so much sadness... not sure if it was as well received as I would have liked... still feel a bit uneasy.
Q. What do you think your gift would reveal to others?
A. Not quite sure at this point. I like to bring the positive to the negative?
Followed with a conversation about how we create our own experiences. Our beliefs are projected onto our experiences. What does this say about you? You create your day. (super simplified... I'm not coming that close to describing Marilyn's genius)
I will say that you learn a lot about yourself from this exercise. It's amazing to think about how significant one choice or decision can be.
Questions to think about after the exercise:
Q. How do you think about your actions in the world?
Q. What are your obligations to yourself?
Q. What are your obligations to others?
Q. What are you afraid of happening in or to your work?
Q. What will you not allow in your work?
Q. How do you measure success. How do you know what is successful in your work and what is not?
Degree of self reflection
Think about three parts of exercise
Tell you about the type of rules you give yourself
Conversation from yourself
You can't escape yourself
Try this exercise with yourself or a group of people... We read our answers back to each other. It was interesting to hear about the decisions that my fellow grad mates were making. I learned a lot from hearing about their experiences as well. Each of our experiences were quite different... although I wonder what would have happened if we had three days to do this as opposed the three hours... good shit.
Step 1.
Think of a place that you've always wanted to go but have never been. Go to that place. When there, try to pay as close attention to your surroundings as possible; listen very closely, look very closely, touch, smell, taste, etc... (depending on the amount of time you have) spend as much time there as you can.
Once we got back from the place, we were given a note book and pen/pencil. We were asked to close our eyes and retrace our steps by playing the experience back in our minds. Then we were asked to think about the place that had the most energy and write down our response to these questions:
Q. What were you most attracted to?
A. The abandoned buildings. They are incredible! I found a whole slew of materials and spaces to work in/from. I wish I would have explored them earlier.
Q. What was most interesting?
A. The relationship between the buildings and the foliage. It's as if they are intertwined. The buildings are deteriorating and the foliage is breaking it's way through the brick, asphalt, rubble, windows, stairs, doors, etc... In some sections the relationship between foliage and building is very charged; as if they are dancing with one another. (cheesy I know)
Q. What was most surprising?
A. The buildings appear so intimidating. I've always wanted to explore them but they are a tid bit creepy. I was surprised to find that they weren't as intimidating, up close, as I thought they would be. In fact, they are super fascinating. There is so much history, so much character, so much random shit in and around those buildings. One thing I found really interesting was that there were rooms that had huge mounds of shredded paper; that's it... shredded paper. weird shit. I could literally spend hours and hours exploring these buildings... too bad they make me feel a little uneasy. They're less intimidating but they're still intimidating.
Q.What did you resist?
A. Going into the Building
Q. What did you overlook?
A. Lots
After we wrote our questions down. Marilyn asked us to think about this place that had the most energy and go back to it. She asked us to stay there and wait; not allowed to leave the place until something happens that changes you. once the change happened we had to answer the following questions:
Q. What happened?
A. I walked into the abandoned building (with a respirator). I was fucking scared; to the point that I was shaking pretty violently. I was scared because of 1)Asbestos 2)scared a person could be in the building that could hurt me 3)scared I would get arrested for going into the building 4)scared of life in the building (building alive?)found all sorts of stuff 5)scared the ceiling would fall on me or the floor would cave in and I would fall (it's a pretty damn old building).
Q. How did you know it happened?
A. Because I saw it with my eyes, felt it with my hands and feet, heard it with my ears, smelled it with my nose, etc... discovered secrets? at least it felt that way. This place is a place with a sad history. It feels that way. I have proof that it happened.
Q. Was it possible to wait and be open to it or did you make it happen?
A. I kinda had to make myself make it happen on account of I was scared.
Q. How do you understand to what it is that you're able to be open?
A. It is effortless, or I've been given permission.
Q. What does that reveal about you?
A. I need permission to be open or perhaps a little coaxing; a nudge if you will. On the other hand there are things I am open to without permission because they are effortless. I don't think about it. It just happens. & Safety... I'm open if I feel safe.
After we answered these questions, Marilyn asked us to return to this place with a gift. The gift can be whatever you want... kind of a way of thanks for the "change" that was received from this place. questions followed:
Q. Describe what you gave.
A. I decided that I would return the proof that I collected from the building (files and a porcelain piece of a drinking fountain) because I felt uneasy about keeping it. I decided to wash the porcelain piece and return it. Then I gathered, what I considered to be, compelling foliage from all corners of the buildings exterior. I gathered my gift and nestled it into a spot where the wall has crumbled to exposed brick.
Q. How do you feel about your gift? was it sufficient and appropriate?
A. I wish I could have worked on it a bit longer. It's sufficient for the amount of time that I had.
Q. How was it received?
A. I'm not sure. There is so much sadness... not sure if it was as well received as I would have liked... still feel a bit uneasy.
Q. What do you think your gift would reveal to others?
A. Not quite sure at this point. I like to bring the positive to the negative?
Followed with a conversation about how we create our own experiences. Our beliefs are projected onto our experiences. What does this say about you? You create your day. (super simplified... I'm not coming that close to describing Marilyn's genius)
I will say that you learn a lot about yourself from this exercise. It's amazing to think about how significant one choice or decision can be.
Questions to think about after the exercise:
Q. How do you think about your actions in the world?
Q. What are your obligations to yourself?
Q. What are your obligations to others?
Q. What are you afraid of happening in or to your work?
Q. What will you not allow in your work?
Q. How do you measure success. How do you know what is successful in your work and what is not?
Degree of self reflection
Think about three parts of exercise
Tell you about the type of rules you give yourself
Conversation from yourself
You can't escape yourself
Try this exercise with yourself or a group of people... We read our answers back to each other. It was interesting to hear about the decisions that my fellow grad mates were making. I learned a lot from hearing about their experiences as well. Each of our experiences were quite different... although I wonder what would have happened if we had three days to do this as opposed the three hours... good shit.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Visiting Artist #5
Marilyn Arsem
I am having breakfast with Marilyn Arsem Tomorrow... this should be quite fun. Here is some info:
Marilyn Arsem has been creating live events since 1975, from solo gallery performances to large-scale, site-specific works. Arsem has presented work at festivals, conferences, alternative spaces, galleries, museums and universities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
Most recently she has focused on creating site-specific performances, often in the context of festivals. These works are not planned in advance, but made in response to a location that is selected on arrival.
She is a member (and founder) of Mobius, Inc., A Boston-based collaborative of interdisciplinary artists. As a full-time faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, she heads the Performance Area and is a Graduate Advisor.
I am having breakfast with Marilyn Arsem Tomorrow... this should be quite fun. Here is some info:
Marilyn Arsem has been creating live events since 1975, from solo gallery performances to large-scale, site-specific works. Arsem has presented work at festivals, conferences, alternative spaces, galleries, museums and universities in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
Most recently she has focused on creating site-specific performances, often in the context of festivals. These works are not planned in advance, but made in response to a location that is selected on arrival.
She is a member (and founder) of Mobius, Inc., A Boston-based collaborative of interdisciplinary artists. As a full-time faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, she heads the Performance Area and is a Graduate Advisor.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Albany, NY
I went to Albany, NY to visit a friend of a friend and see a group art show in an old abandoned church... it was pretty epic, to say the least.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Being Mendieta
silhouette series:
I've admired this body of work for quite some time. I feel a sort of visceral connection to it; the way in which it references the body, earth, ritual, ancient religious icons (i.e. the goddess). In some instances, the imprint of the body has an indistinguishable sex, which I think is wonderful! Mendieta mainly speaks of the female experience, in this work (at least that's one layer), of which masculinity plays a large role... I admire her vision and energy as an artist. As such, I wanted to see what it feels like to be in this position; being so close to the earth and leaving my imprint... one that is short lived, where it's existence will continue in the form of documentation. Where will this action take me?
I've admired this body of work for quite some time. I feel a sort of visceral connection to it; the way in which it references the body, earth, ritual, ancient religious icons (i.e. the goddess). In some instances, the imprint of the body has an indistinguishable sex, which I think is wonderful! Mendieta mainly speaks of the female experience, in this work (at least that's one layer), of which masculinity plays a large role... I admire her vision and energy as an artist. As such, I wanted to see what it feels like to be in this position; being so close to the earth and leaving my imprint... one that is short lived, where it's existence will continue in the form of documentation. Where will this action take me?
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