In the last 15 days, I finished a challenging video project, my wife had a child, Solomon Branch. And then we sat around with friends and family process our new life as a family of 4. Not sure why my creative endeavors always ride close to our big life moments. My first child Ezra was conceived in the middle of a grant project I was working on. I plowed ahead right up to his birth and then right back on the truck a week after he arrived. This is the life my children have inherited. A world of projects where I need them to stare straight into the camera, laugh repeatedly, say a word repeatedly, pour one glass of water into another, put on several pairs of odd eyeglasses, blow up balloons and let ice cream run down their arms.
I ran across Jesus' blog through my friend Jamin. I thought it was going to be sorta pathetic at first, but there are some fun thoughts in there. You're big kids sort it out yourself. And might I mention that performance art that isn't Performance Art is highly admirable.
An then for discussion there is Madonna...(not the Mother of God)
My professor invited me this semester to loosen up, not edit myself so much. Make the stuff I am drawn to make and let the chips fall. I have never been able to do this in photography, painting sure, but not photography. It is usually an art of cool calculation. I arrange a situation as a sort of providential inspiration directs and put together the parts in my mind. There might be a short shift along the way in process, but for the most part the idea becomes flesh.
When I started employing an approach of less editing of myself (I am too much of a control freak/perfectionist to totally release) it was exciting to think of putting together these books stripped of titles because I wanted to see language move from the title of my works which always is so important to implanting text inside the image. The interesting thing about text is that it is amazingly powerful and though I don't think it is more powerful than the image it somehow brings us closer to a definition. Images do this all the time too, yet it is easier for people to talk about the meaning of words because we speak in words. Maybe this is why images that change our thinking are so powerful in that we can't necessarily verbalize what they have done to us so we tend to think feelings at the point. The painting made me feel...thus and such.
I don't know where I am going with this. I am just reflecting on the reality that images and language combined are terribly potent.
On the note of death being both natural and unnatural, I would recommend The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. The album Psalterie & Redux, a free download on their website, was given to me by my pal Matt for my birthday a few weeks ago. It is great Seattle music as it fits the rain, hills, and autumn. And when I say fits; its tone is melodic, dour, melancholic, and emotive which is autumn in my book. I would recommend reading Perry Wright's album commentary, also on the download, after you listen to the album 5-8 times. He is a sharp, opinionated, and emotional guy which helps me understand why the music sifts its way perfectly into the November air.
When I started employing an approach of less editing of myself (I am too much of a control freak/perfectionist to totally release) it was exciting to think of putting together these books stripped of titles because I wanted to see language move from the title of my works which always is so important to implanting text inside the image. The interesting thing about text is that it is amazingly powerful and though I don't think it is more powerful than the image it somehow brings us closer to a definition. Images do this all the time too, yet it is easier for people to talk about the meaning of words because we speak in words. Maybe this is why images that change our thinking are so powerful in that we can't necessarily verbalize what they have done to us so we tend to think feelings at the point. The painting made me feel...thus and such.
I don't know where I am going with this. I am just reflecting on the reality that images and language combined are terribly potent.
On the note of death being both natural and unnatural, I would recommend The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers. The album Psalterie & Redux, a free download on their website, was given to me by my pal Matt for my birthday a few weeks ago. It is great Seattle music as it fits the rain, hills, and autumn. And when I say fits; its tone is melodic, dour, melancholic, and emotive which is autumn in my book. I would recommend reading Perry Wright's album commentary, also on the download, after you listen to the album 5-8 times. He is a sharp, opinionated, and emotional guy which helps me understand why the music sifts its way perfectly into the November air.
Another caboose is composed of these tracing combos of old 50's children's book illustrations for science experiments. My original idea was to combine one of the drawings with one of the book photos (post below) to compose a juxtaposition between the text and the mismatched illustrations illuminating ideas about human nature. Both the photos and the drawings have that sense of removal; things excluded or hidden. I think I enjoy that, but it is a strange reoccurence in my work. Hiding. Taking things away, withdrawling information to get at new information. Because of this there seem to be these place of absence or isolated reflection points. A fat to be later chewed.
It took about a month to settle into my dept. and now I am making some work. There are about 4 different trains I am traveling on which is great and hopefully there will be more as I go along. Maybe it is better to say there about 4 cars on my train and hopefully more. So one of the idea cars is removing book titles. I find myself wandering libraries selecting books that look beautiful in there agedness and sometimes for their titles. So in these stacks I am tacking poignant children's book titles and eliminating all of the other titles in Photoshop. On side note, cloning book fabric is tedious.
I also have some drawings/tracings that I will stick up in the next few days. Another car. More images can be viewed on my flickr page.
Michael Kaufmann was kind enough to invite Gala and I to do 'sidebar' art reviews for the Asthmatic Kitty site. It is great to be involved in the creative culture that is so alive in that community of musicians, artists, and thinkers. So poke around that site if you are interested. Gala is especially regular with this assignment as this is her first autumn not being in an educational facility since pre-school!
