sketchy selections 11

circa 2002

another avian sketch...with a vague yet insistent message

this was part of my notes for my sexuality and modernity art history class and i am trying to place its context, but it could really apply to many things...

does it suggest that art is not about just displaying a finished product, it has to go further?

or was it that a minority group can not be satisfied by it's portrayal in the public eye/media?

or can we not accept what we see as being exactly what we think it is that there are many ways to view the world?

whatever it means, it's a great call to action.

i'm goin' to graceland...

"it feels cool to be in memphis" said one elvis fanatic to another in jim jarmusch's film mystery train centering on 3 stories unfolding amid the desolate surroundings of memphis tennessee.. overall the movie was pretty good but i was completely transfixed by the first story of these two kids from japan who made a pilgrimage to graceland. their very presence there transforms the space into this foreign land where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. the way they perceived this small southern town as this glamorous place filled with rock n' roll history.
i guess that's what graceland is all about...

i am currently very relieved to have my installation proposal done & submitted and with no more deadlines hanging over my head, and time to finally start reading middlesex, which my mother recommended forever ago... also fully immersing myself in the world of veronica mars.

fluffy gooey droopy

here's a peek at my installation proposal
the idea has been lingering in my mind for about a year
and i would love the chance to finally bring it to life.

i'm troubled over the title though...
the thing is i have already used the title that i want to name this one.
i was originally considering this installation for a show last year
and i changed my mind for that installation but kept the title
even though it didn't entirely fit with that project.

i think i just might have to re-use the title.
it's called transhorizon

technically projecting

perhaps it is because i was at a conference all weekend and learning about all the amazing new features of photoshop and illustrator, but this crazy vision of the future seems entirely possible
and i want it now!

the other night dan told me about two wacky kinds of cameras...

1. the tilt shift camera that delightfully distorts perspective and makes everything look fake

2. the adapted scanner camera: amazing detail/breathtaking colors
edit: just changed the link to what dan was actually referring to!

sketchy selections 10: caught faun

circa 2002

i can't help but be drawn to deer.. they are so spindly
yet quite powerful, seem so sweet but can bash your
car in and think nothing of it...

today i told the story of a traffic dancing deer
that i saw dashing across two lanes of traffic
inches away from a speeding bus (and directly ahead of my car) the deer leapt into the air twisted and spun its body around narrowly avoiding the bus and proceeds to bound away as if nothing had happened

dawn told me how all ferrets really do is
steal your shiny things and put them in a corner...

"as the world falls down..."

it's funny to feel both thrilled and saddened
at the same time... but it does get you thinking...

there are times in life when all of a sudden
you are confronted with "the future"
in all its looming vastness
it seems to come out of nowhere
but in truth it was always there...

a recent sagitarian horoscope...
"goodbye doesn't mean forever.
close the chapter on an old situation,
and a new level of freedom & energy takes hold.
a fabulous offering is presented to you before the sun goes down"

my so-called blog

Last night Dan attempted to make his birthday last forever by
keeping me up til 4:30am watching episode after episode of My So-Called Life, not that i was complaining, in fact i was so overjoyed that this show lived up to-and maybe even surpassed-my glorified memories of it.

Angela (the main disgruntled character) can deliver these really profound ideas that are perfectly peppered with "like"s and "whatevers" and usually in the context of boy obsessions or zits... sure she's a typical depressed teenager but i really admire how wholeheartedly she gives herself over to all of her feelings and causes.

And, in other exciting news, they are making a sequel to the Dark Crystal!

trans-horizon

at the moment i am attempting to digitally represent my installation proposal for this Conversions show. i took a few pictures of a space in the gallery that was the most inviting to be invaded by soft hanging sculpture, and now i am airbrushing and layering my ideas & forms into the space. after i have photoshopped my sculptures into the space, i will introduce some human life into the scenario. i need to represent how the installation receives its viewers...they are the catalyst that brings the installation to life...they have to navigate through the space i've invaded...

the idea is that the forms will float slightly above waist height, creating a faux horizon in the room. i want the viewer placed right at that horizon level, so that they can see above & below it equally. i want the installation to create a distorted perspective, to transverse the horizon...

for once, hype=reality

this weekend i think i managed to
praise & curse the snow in equal amounts...
and true it kept some important people
from coming to our valentines party,
but for myself & those that came, it added a lil' something..

not much art happened this weekend,
it was more about copious amounts of
chocolate and rose petals,
dancing/scaring our guests away,
watching the wonderful veronica mars,
and celebrating the birth of my man.

damn, i am so gonna be late for work...

sketchy selections 9: ink blossom

circa 2004

ink blossom came about when my lovely printer decided to
deposit a random splotch of ink on this hawaiian flower photo
not to be outdone by a printer with an attitude problem,
i grabbed my pen & ink and embellished the splotch until
it blossomed out into this sketchy linear layer that seemed to
accentuate/activate the power of this dying tropical flower.


in other news...today i braved the crazy virginian highways
to scope out the Ellipse Arts Center for an installation proposal
i'm cooking up...it's a nice space w/ much potential.

reverse praise

interesting article about how many critics who praise brokeback mountain are actually forcing the gay-ness of the story back into the closet. it's frightening to think of praise as negatively affecting something, taking away while it gives. but at least people are talkin'

perhaps it was the late hour of the night but reading about the "hoax" surrounding author JT Leroy was quite confusing... i have never read the books but apparently the world was lead to believe they were written by a young man with a crazy past...it turns out the author is a fictional character created by an older woman. So, in my confusion i went to amazon and read some reviews of Leroy's books and found these scathing denouncements from people who felt tricked.... in some ways i want to say that the book isn't total crap just cause it wasn't written by who you thought it was (i'm not even sure if the book is classified as fiction or non) but the more i looked into the story the wierder it got... like some other woman posing as the young, gender confused Leroy and then perhaps the most baffling is that the "real" author of the books will not admit that Leroy is made up, and there is even a blog written by "Leroy" with strange testimonials from random celebrities stating that Leroy is in fact a real person...

anyone who's read any JT Leroy care to weigh in?

sketchy selections 8: hung up

circa 2005

somewhere along the line
i became obsessed with hanging things
sculptures and bodies mostly...

but always hung in such a way
to leave you guessing...

is the figure willingly suspended,
content to give over to the ties that bind him,
or has he been ensnared against his will?

or are the rope-like elements
an extension of the body itself,
some sort of cocoon-ish device
to preserve the body in
suspended animation?

sketchy selections 7

circa 2001

these lovely ladies were
born during a exceptionally
boring history class.

maybe it was
all the times we saw
charlie's angels
at the campus theater...

these scantily-clad
superheroines
ran rampant, kicking and flipping
their way through the few
half-hearted history notes
in my notebook

what did they care about
the russian revolution?
they had a mission to perform
and to look good doing it.

hang him on my wall

saw the warhol show at the corcoran
thru my brand new glasses
and liked what i saw.

there was an appropriate balance
of fame, death and pure color...
even some glittery shadow studies
loved his penmanship and gold leaf laying
in some of his commercial work
and drooled over drawings and dolly p.

then i just read this article about the
Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board,
a committee with the final say in
the authenticity of any Warhol piece.
which just brings up the age-old issue
of Warhol's mass-production techniques...

but i think he would love the idea
of this elite, mysterious group that
has the final say in what makes a "Warhol"
the name that became a product
and haunts the halls of art history
making us question everything.

come & see!

As it turns out, i'm in the Abstract Art show at MOCA DC.
i was waiting to be accepted to a non-juried show...
but i delivered two pieces to the gallery tonight
and they "practically hung themselves."

So if you are ambling around Georgetown Friday night,
do drop in at the MOCA DC gallery tucked back in Canal Square.
There's an opening from 6-9pm.

As an added bonus, i found out a fellow 52 O Street artist,
Micheline Klagsbrun Frank has a few pieces in the show as well.