Friday, December 29, 2006
Sachiko's Subtle Technologies
Sachiko is curating/organizing this thing. She came over to do business and eat a silly meal cooked by me. She is going to be deported because her work visa is expiring. She is a scientist and she works all day on experiments on cells, testing different virus situations and she uses an ultraviolet microscope. And she likes art, she makes it and lives it. But now she has to move away for a while or get another job in the US that will sponsor her visa. It is very sad that someone who contributes so much to a scientific, social, and artistic community can have run out of time on this big stupid continent. Sachiko still has hope that she will find a new situation before April but is unsure of what this situation will entail. NY likes Sachiko and vice versa. She has more family here than most americans who have migrated here. I am pissed. I will be applying to be a part of Subtle Technologies this year. I encourage anyone who might come upon this to apply. It seems like a great opportunity to explore Toronto. Also, if the show became a big deal in NY it could get more coverage and Sachiko might get a little spotlight that could lead her into the arms of a NY company who will sign off on the visa.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Alan
Today, the worst day ever as of 8:30 am, has made a wild and unexpected turnaround. I rushed to the post office after school today to pick up a mysterious package. I figured that someone whom I owe money to figured out a way to get my attention and was sending me a 3-d bill or something. But no. Alas, it was a christmas present from the long lost alan from singapore. I had totally forgotten to be obsessed with my first NY roommate and his country as I had been when he first went home, two Septembers ago. Alan loves seriousness and paintings. He did things right. He woke up with the sun and painted. He napped several times a day and cooked three three course meals per day for himself. He took tiny dainty notes on all the pretentious bullshit he read about the French Bourgeouise and corrected me when I made up words or misspelled them. He was filled with hope and sinicism. He played basketball on Sundays and together we ran a tight ship. Or whatever. His greatness is, well, the greatest.
Then, as I barely survived the walk home as I opened the present while crossing Fulton St., my phone rang, and it was a nice lady named Carol from the Brooklyn Arts Council. She wants to interview me for a teaching job there. Excellent!
And finally, just as I knew things couldn't possibly improve, I checked the mail, only to find A PACKAGE from thee Sara Blaylock with cards for our show in SF in January at blankspace gallery. This will be my first show in a gallery. Or indoors. I don't need walls or some heated padded white joint to hock my work. Gimme a hot glue gun. I'll show you gallery. But this will be such a warm art tree hug straight from the hippie vault, I am very excited.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Art de Funct
Last night at Lars and Christines' dinner party I met a fellow named Michael Rakowitz whom Christine became friends with as she was writing a story for CBSonline. It was good news all around to encounter a grounded, sensitive, and courageous artist who has been well received on many levels. Today I went to visit his store/art piece which was the reinvigoration of his father's Iraqi import/export business. His work reflects an awareness of its context, which I am particularly fond of. It is my obsession that this type of work can often only exist as an obsolete gesture, however, much of his work is made to have a function. It makes me want to jump up and down.In listening to an interview with Rikrit Tirivanja at the Walker this morning and last week seeing Vito Acconci speak, there is a general progression towards utility in many conceptual artist's work. Or maybe I am just seeing it now because it is what I am concerned with in my own work. Vito moved from poetry to performance to 'installing of himself in a room' to architecture and it makes perfect sense. And Rikrit accidentally wound up serving curry in a gallery when he was meant to fill the space of the gallery up as if it was his apartment; he ended up asking himself whether his apartment was comprised of objects with the potential to be used or with objects that facilitated doing and being.
My last big-ish installation was in Chicago as part of the School of the Art Institute's symposium called 'Negotiated Localities'. As a part of the RiderProject several times over, Michele Gambetta (curator) asked me to participate in an exhibition in Chicago that would involve a team of SAIC students, a truck, a panel discussion, and a nice hotel room with a budget for supplies. I answered: "hell yes."
I made a piece called "everybody's ideas"-- a floor for the bottom of the raw Rider truck and a small library. The piece consisted of faux faux wood floor planks: brown paper laminated, varnished, and cut into plank size panels. On the paper was printed the initial proposals from each participant in the show. I was thinking a lot about the path an idea takes as it develops into a physical thing.I think this exploration arose from my general dissatisfaction with my installation of the Infinite Museum in Peekskill this year. (A truly ambitious idea, it was understood by many as a gallery to show the work of 'forgotten' people of Peekskill. The humor within the main idea of the piece were completely lost by everyone including the curators and those involved from the HVCCA's side. )
The planks were installed on the floor of the truck with white molding creating a frame for the floor. The planks were layed out so that there was a bit of a winding path to the back of the truck so there was a visible relationship between the new and old floors. The 'path' made by my planks reminded some of the yellow brick road of the Wizard of Oz, which was fortunate since the show was titled "Emerald City". Also on the floor was a tiny wood shelf with four books filled with the proposals of each artist in the show. I handwrote each one and traced images from some proposals.
The reason I made this component was to create an access point into each piece and each artist. I wanted the ability for the piece to become a tool. However, I wrote such small text and created such an invisible reference library that it ended up as an obsolete gesture. Nobody used it. I don't know if I have the courage or the confidence in my work to make something that people use. I talked about the problem of the futility of my work in my lecture at SAIC which can be viewed here.
Library of the Streets
There is a library system in NY that has branches in every neighborhood and that uses a catalogue based on fate and/or chance to locate the book you are looking for/need.
It is the library of the streets.
Today I happened upon a women's studies/ bible study/photo branch at 362 Grand Ave. in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
I would like to create a position and apply for it as Librarian of the Streets. I am not qualified though I am very enthusiastic about the position. In a way, this is the infinite library or possibly the infinite bookstore that the Infinite Museum has needed in order to become a force in our capitalist society. I did not take any of the books, though I did alphabetize them by author. If you read this and see a branch of the library system on the street, please email images to me so the library can expand. I will let everyone know if I get the position as Librarian of the Streets.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
compost pile
this is my compost pile. i love it as much as i love my website. which means kind of. but i spend a lot of time with both in spurts. this compost pile has been going for 1.5 years. it is worm compost and it makes great soil for tomatoes because there is lots of coffee grounds in it.
Hiromi is Safe at Home
Through the modern science of time travel, Hiromi arrived in Tokyo 1 hour after she left NYC. Somehow she managed to send me a postcard through it all. Goodbye Hiromi. You made NY look good. Or maybe you made it look bad because you looked so good in it. We (I) will miss you!!
Wildcat Academy
This is where I teach.I teach fashion though I have very little interest in the topic. However, I felt that I struck gold when I realized that fashion might be the way into the hearts of self conscious/identity obsessed teenagers with no experience expressing themselves. There really is no hierarchy in creativity. If I can get some people to play with materials and to wonder about how things work, I have achieved the same success I would have in a sculpture class. So I have been buying fashion magazines and seeing the very obvious relationships between art and fashion. Both industries are pretty disgusting but the theory, craft and history of both are equally dense. Often, the most productive part of the classes for me are the photo opportunities. I think I will begin to post the goings on. The big and impermeable exterior of the students upon first encounter is contrary to the fragility and openness that comes out as they experiment with new techniques and materials. I really enjoy capturing that vulnerability-- when they actually act their age. Some of them have kids. Many of them are as old as me and all of them are larger in scale. Sometimes its hard to get their attention or to deplete their barriers. I have found that it is less about words or lesson plans and more about persistence. When I enter a class, I know what I am going to do and even if no one else wants to do it at first, my discipline and the radiation of my own appreciation of the experience and the ability to create something beautiful usually (not always) can quietly transform the classroom into a creative space. And then somedays I have to get on the table and throw a tantrum because, afterall, I am not much different than them in many ways.
Today I proposed a new program idea for Wildcat. I am tired of how things work (or don't work) there. I want to create a place for myself if I have to be there. As pictured above, there are huge windows in the hallways and cafeteria of the school space (3 floors of an old mint)
. What I plan to do is to choose one artist for each group of windows. Of my friends and acquaintances, (a possible list: Ernest Concepcion, Chitra Ganesh, Jennifer Sullivan, Aaron Zimmerman, Nick Herro, Richard Zimmerman, Carey Maxon) I plan to ask those that are doing thoughtful 2-d work (with strong ideas that will translate to teenagers) to design a one day workshop with a group of students where the students can try out a process the artist has developed for their work. In addition, the artists will contribute a large-scale drawing on the group of windows with temporary window paint/markers that investigates and acknowledges the landscape and simultaneously shows the artist's version of what they are seeing. I called Johnny, the Dean of the School, to propose this to him today and he is going to check with the landlord of the bldg to see if it would be acceptable. What would be really exciting is if I could propose this to Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation. Perhaps the artists could be compensated for the classtime and materials could be payed for. Also, a reception or publication would be really good.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
From my mom.
Thanks for the link to your blog. Below are the questions and comments that arise-
From experience, I would encourage you to write as much as you can daily to document and
the experience you are having. Your experience may not stay as raw and devestating and interesting and painful and joyful as it is right now. You can draw from what you are doing for the rest of your life. Or it can be forgotten. Save all this stuff as your very own bible.
I can see you as a teacher, working day in and day out and being worn out by the downward attitudes that are the accepted norm. Then I can see you taking out your journal and remembering the stuff that you have questioned and seen, and you can continue to bring the freshness you are experiencing now right back to you. See what I am trying to say. This all will change, even out a bit.
Your friends and family would love to have better accessories, especially made by someone who is so smart and is such a treasure. Money is nothing but energy. Maybe it would be good to look into different ways of looking at money. No one could pay what one of your pieces are worth. They are priceless. Your heart and soul are in everything you do. But you could allow someone to have a part of you. To give them what you have come here to give and in return, they help you to continue to give those things and make your art AVAILABLE. Being availible is good. Prices can be negiotiated for someone who NEEDS to have a part of your heart and soul in their living room. I swear I am not just a fan because you are my daughter. I am a fan of your amazing creativity.
You are missing the apartment in Grayslake.
I continue to be curious about how drawn you are to Iceland and Greenland. How do you feel there? Please elaborate.
The joke art studio looks like it was made of popsicle sticks. What is even funnier is the cross on the front. It looks like something you may have built yourself.
How was the pancake party?
Love you sweetie.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Organization of my dreams.
http://www.anothercupdevelopment.org/about#AboutCUP
oh my god oh my god oh my god
oh my god oh my god oh my god
I ruin everything.
This is Hakim Bey speaking about the book I just quoted below, and i have just made it into a handwritten tri-fold brochure to put on people's windshields below their wipers. I think Hakim (yes, it's his pen name) would spit in my bed if he knew I was doing this...
Hakim Bey: Well, I think there are a lot of people who are desperately seeking someone to tell them what to do, always a human factor, and somehow one way or another even though the pseudonym was meant to keep an ego trip or star factor out of this, it backfired. It worked the opposite of the way I thought it was going to work. The anti-copyright worked the opposite way I thought it would work too. I thought we would publish one edition of the book and after that people who were interested in it would go out and copy it themselves. But instead it makes people buy the book, like they're getting something from the book. Like they can copy parts of it out then and put parts of it in their zines or send it in letters to their friends. The book has sold a great deal more than I ever expected and the reason I don't make public appearances is because I don't like this whole star aspect of writing books on this kind of extropean, anarchist, cyberpunk, or all these kind of strains I'm pulling together. I don't want to be a star in any of these circles. That wasn't my intention at all. My intention was very much an anarchist one. Looking for ways to revivify anarchist theory, some contacts with Oriental spirituality on one hand and, on the other, European philosophy that had been so ignored in the Anglo-Saxon English speaking world. The point of the thing was to do it yourself, and not to fetishize the book or the author of the book. And not to make the book in any respect a substitute for one's own autonomy. The book was an experiment in my own autonomy, an exploration of my autonomy and my thoughts on autonomy and I hoped it would inspire people to do likewise, not become fans of the book. So after a few, to me, very unsatisfactory public appearances I finally decided, "This needs to be nipped in the bud". This is not what it's about. This tape may be the cause of more of these problems, but as I said it was Bill's idea, not my idea. I enjoyed working with Bill. He's really, really, good at this. It's an extremely tasteful job. I hope, so tasteful that people will find it boring. That this will give a bit of distance, what Brecht called alienation, which is so necessary to not get sucked into these authorial worlds. The author as authority is a deadly trap, at least in this endeavor. Actually the best response the book got was to be burnt in an art event in New York. I thought that was an appropriate response.
Hakim Bey: Well, I think there are a lot of people who are desperately seeking someone to tell them what to do, always a human factor, and somehow one way or another even though the pseudonym was meant to keep an ego trip or star factor out of this, it backfired. It worked the opposite of the way I thought it was going to work. The anti-copyright worked the opposite way I thought it would work too. I thought we would publish one edition of the book and after that people who were interested in it would go out and copy it themselves. But instead it makes people buy the book, like they're getting something from the book. Like they can copy parts of it out then and put parts of it in their zines or send it in letters to their friends. The book has sold a great deal more than I ever expected and the reason I don't make public appearances is because I don't like this whole star aspect of writing books on this kind of extropean, anarchist, cyberpunk, or all these kind of strains I'm pulling together. I don't want to be a star in any of these circles. That wasn't my intention at all. My intention was very much an anarchist one. Looking for ways to revivify anarchist theory, some contacts with Oriental spirituality on one hand and, on the other, European philosophy that had been so ignored in the Anglo-Saxon English speaking world. The point of the thing was to do it yourself, and not to fetishize the book or the author of the book. And not to make the book in any respect a substitute for one's own autonomy. The book was an experiment in my own autonomy, an exploration of my autonomy and my thoughts on autonomy and I hoped it would inspire people to do likewise, not become fans of the book. So after a few, to me, very unsatisfactory public appearances I finally decided, "This needs to be nipped in the bud". This is not what it's about. This tape may be the cause of more of these problems, but as I said it was Bill's idea, not my idea. I enjoyed working with Bill. He's really, really, good at this. It's an extremely tasteful job. I hope, so tasteful that people will find it boring. That this will give a bit of distance, what Brecht called alienation, which is so necessary to not get sucked into these authorial worlds. The author as authority is a deadly trap, at least in this endeavor. Actually the best response the book got was to be burnt in an art event in New York. I thought that was an appropriate response.
I wish i wrote this.
CHAOS: THE BROADSHEETS OF ONTOLOGICAL ANARCHISM
by Hakim BeyWEIRD DANCING IN ALL-NIGHT computer-banking lobbies. Unauthorized pyrotechnic displays. Land-art, earth-works as bizarre alien artifacts strewn in State Parks. Burglarize houses but instead of stealing, leave Poetic-Terrorist objects. Kidnap someone & make them happy. Pick someone at random & convince them they're the heir to an enormous, useless & amazing fortune--say 5000 square miles of Antarctica, or an aging circus elephant, or an orphanage in Bombay, or a collection of alchemical mss. Later they will come to realize that for a few moments they believed in something extraordinary, & will perhaps be driven as a result to seek out some more intense mode of existence.
indescribably embarrassing to mention art and spirit in same sentence...
A thought about making a home out of words. The book I carry with me everywhere feels like home. Philosophy is a longing for a true lost home. The new home is permanent homelessness. If utopia means 'no place' it makes good sense that utopia has been such a popular idea to explore. And this lookin for housin' seems similar to a quest for god that ends up in religion or spirituality. And anarchists love spirit. And they love selective homelessness.
Out of curiosity, I had to look at the dictionary.com meaning of anarchy:
Out of curiosity, I had to look at the dictionary.com meaning of anarchy:
| 1. | a state of society without government or law. |
| 2. | political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy. |
| 3. | a theory that regards the absence of all direct or coercive government as a political ideal and that proposes the cooperative and voluntary association of individuals and groups as the principal mode of organized society. |
| 4. | confusion; chaos; disorder: Intellectual and moral anarchy followed his loss of faith. |
Confessional Culture: UNP
A very good song:
http://bemydemon.org/choons/Beach%20House/Beach%20House%20(2006)/01%20Saltwater.mp3
Unitednationsplaza
is an art school as an exhibition and an exhibition as a free university.
Poser.
"Structured as a seminar/residency program in the city of Berlin, it will involve collaboration with approximately 60 artists, writers, theorists and a wide range of audiences for a period of one year. In the tradition of Free Universities, most of its events will be open to all those interested to take part.unitednationsplaza is organized by Anton Vidokle in collaboration with Liam Gillick, Boris Groys, Martha Rosler, Walid Raad, Jalal Toufic, Nikolaus Hirsch, Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Tirdad Zolghadr."
Not a new practice of mine, I 'accidentally' bought a ticket to the inaugural weekend for unp. I arrived in Berlin on Friday morning and left on Monday morning of the same weekend. My experience at the conference was confusing and uncomfortable at moments but I am glad to have witnessed whatever it was.
UNP is in a white 3/4 floor building- an awkward appendage added last minute to the back of a grocery store in eastern Berlin among the towering monsters of buildings that stand up to represent the look and feel of communist mass housing. It looks like Moscow.
And there we were, sitting on white boxes and bleachers, a stadium of homogenous semi-European art groupies. I sat behind Liam Gillick once and eventually adapted myself to his comb over. I like Liam Gillick. He is charismatic and humorous. I think his success has come from his ability to communicate his ideas in a light hearted, sometimes condescending way. This way, we are lured into the jibberish and included in large metaphors (Construcción de Uno) all the while knowing that we are participating in his dialogue. He is a professional art cowboy.
NOTES TAKEN AT UNP
We are post-
studio
After studio,
They drink?
Post-utopian
After nowhere,
They drink?
This came out of a conversation I had with Liz, who I met on the airplane going to Berlin who was also attending unp. She said all the artists involved in unp were post studio sociopath alcoholics. She might have used different adjectives.
I found the lack of organization and structure of the 'meetings' or 'panels' as nothing was very prompt and there was not enough space to accomodate the audience. I found myself thinking that if this THING had been held at THE WHITNEY it would have gotten somewhere by now.
On Saturday I started to jot things down. Liam Gillick was talking about his Construction of One project.
I liked the ideas he spoke about a 'local' sized group working together to complete a product- in his example, a car. He spoke of a class of middle men, creating discourse about what is going on that has been placed in the process to extend the timeframe of the 'project'.
I was interested in the ideas he had about the function or disfunction of the artist. That we are architects of our own construction which is our own culture and sociological systems.
FAILURE (of current 'culture producers')
articulacy- problem. artist is assumed to be articulate.
dependency on system to have meaning.
trial of teachers
assumption of human spirit
Dominant culture
Flaneur/Wanderer vs. President of the Academy
"to produce is a passion, to consume is a taste"
I thought we would confront the idea and commodification of failure. Instead there were lots of examples given of modes of being an artist and how they are all quite fragile, temporary and highly problematic.
I loved the poetry of talking about failure in or near a location that keeps its head down with a sense of guilty failure. And in a sense, what we were doing was failing as it was going. But perhaps it was not as glorious a failure as it could have been if there were bigger chances taken.
When I get unbored with these topics I will type up Diedrich Diedrichson's more coherent argument.
More radical=More death
http://bemydemon.org/choons
Unitednationsplaza
is an art school as an exhibition and an exhibition as a free university.
Poser.
"Structured as a seminar/residency program in the city of Berlin, it will involve collaboration with approximately 60 artists, writers, theorists and a wide range of audiences for a period of one year. In the tradition of Free Universities, most of its events will be open to all those interested to take part.unitednationsplaza is organized by Anton Vidokle in collaboration with Liam Gillick, Boris Groys, Martha Rosler, Walid Raad, Jalal Toufic, Nikolaus Hirsch, Natascha Sadr Haghighian and Tirdad Zolghadr."
Not a new practice of mine, I 'accidentally' bought a ticket to the inaugural weekend for unp. I arrived in Berlin on Friday morning and left on Monday morning of the same weekend. My experience at the conference was confusing and uncomfortable at moments but I am glad to have witnessed whatever it was.
UNP is in a white 3/4 floor building- an awkward appendage added last minute to the back of a grocery store in eastern Berlin among the towering monsters of buildings that stand up to represent the look and feel of communist mass housing. It looks like Moscow.
And there we were, sitting on white boxes and bleachers, a stadium of homogenous semi-European art groupies. I sat behind Liam Gillick once and eventually adapted myself to his comb over. I like Liam Gillick. He is charismatic and humorous. I think his success has come from his ability to communicate his ideas in a light hearted, sometimes condescending way. This way, we are lured into the jibberish and included in large metaphors (Construcción de Uno) all the while knowing that we are participating in his dialogue. He is a professional art cowboy.
NOTES TAKEN AT UNPWe are post-
studio
After studio,
They drink?
Post-utopian
After nowhere,
They drink?
This came out of a conversation I had with Liz, who I met on the airplane going to Berlin who was also attending unp. She said all the artists involved in unp were post studio sociopath alcoholics. She might have used different adjectives.
I found the lack of organization and structure of the 'meetings' or 'panels' as nothing was very prompt and there was not enough space to accomodate the audience. I found myself thinking that if this THING had been held at THE WHITNEY it would have gotten somewhere by now.
On Saturday I started to jot things down. Liam Gillick was talking about his Construction of One project.
I liked the ideas he spoke about a 'local' sized group working together to complete a product- in his example, a car. He spoke of a class of middle men, creating discourse about what is going on that has been placed in the process to extend the timeframe of the 'project'.
I was interested in the ideas he had about the function or disfunction of the artist. That we are architects of our own construction which is our own culture and sociological systems.
FAILURE (of current 'culture producers')
articulacy- problem. artist is assumed to be articulate.
dependency on system to have meaning.
trial of teachers
assumption of human spirit
Dominant culture
Flaneur/Wanderer vs. President of the Academy
"to produce is a passion, to consume is a taste"
I thought we would confront the idea and commodification of failure. Instead there were lots of examples given of modes of being an artist and how they are all quite fragile, temporary and highly problematic.
I loved the poetry of talking about failure in or near a location that keeps its head down with a sense of guilty failure. And in a sense, what we were doing was failing as it was going. But perhaps it was not as glorious a failure as it could have been if there were bigger chances taken.
When I get unbored with these topics I will type up Diedrich Diedrichson's more coherent argument.
More radical=More death
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Dissolving language
TO:
Night!
Good night hiromi! Thank you for coming!
Don't forget: SVA BFA opening this monday, dec. 11th. 6-9PM @ 30West17th St. Please come & have fun! Vincent.
Sup? im at yoga studio so i couldnt answer...
Tis ok i understand. Rest up pup
Yes
Veg
Wowee!
Yay! Would you rather drink wine or liquor or beer or juice? Trying to decide what to buy...
No sweat drink slowly and dont burn your mouth.
Thx 4 invite on mon i will def come! Japancake party at my apt 2nite at 7 if you feel like a lil bkln!
Later is lovely.
I know youre yogaing- just saying hi! Thx 4 yesterdays msg and i look 4ward to sat!
Head count! Coming over tonight for exclamatory japancakes?!
Night night doll!
This one is v quiet. Does your party include dancing or goodness?
The party is tres neato. Coming?
7?
Not too long
Art sale party thingy! Nice music and people and its open until 10.
Going to art fair at 540 w 21 st now
Ok!
How special do i have to be? It can be hard to be special on call but with a wk to prepare anything is possible! Who is having a party and what books should i read to prepare? Ha jk lol bff asap
My phone isnt getting reception @ hm so long msg... Want to have oknmayaki pty sun at my house at 7? Want tn go to bkln msm today?
Yess sir.
Good morning carol! The trains have many delays today but i am almost there!
Of course. Sharing is caring little one! Sleep tight.
You didn't get your cootie shot did you?
I will be over at 645 unless i hear otherwise from you!
My phone blows no reception. Come over for tea before you teach today! (do you?)
Im just hangin out at home. In da basement.
Night!
Good night hiromi! Thank you for coming!
Don't forget: SVA BFA opening this monday, dec. 11th. 6-9PM @ 30West17th St. Please come & have fun! Vincent.
Sup? im at yoga studio so i couldnt answer...
Tis ok i understand. Rest up pup
Yes
Veg
Wowee!
Yay! Would you rather drink wine or liquor or beer or juice? Trying to decide what to buy...
No sweat drink slowly and dont burn your mouth.
Thx 4 invite on mon i will def come! Japancake party at my apt 2nite at 7 if you feel like a lil bkln!
Later is lovely.
I know youre yogaing- just saying hi! Thx 4 yesterdays msg and i look 4ward to sat!
Head count! Coming over tonight for exclamatory japancakes?!
Night night doll!
This one is v quiet. Does your party include dancing or goodness?
The party is tres neato. Coming?
7?
Not too long
Art sale party thingy! Nice music and people and its open until 10.
Going to art fair at 540 w 21 st now
Ok!
How special do i have to be? It can be hard to be special on call but with a wk to prepare anything is possible! Who is having a party and what books should i read to prepare? Ha jk lol bff asap
My phone isnt getting reception @ hm so long msg... Want to have oknmayaki pty sun at my house at 7? Want tn go to bkln msm today?
Yess sir.
Good morning carol! The trains have many delays today but i am almost there!
Of course. Sharing is caring little one! Sleep tight.
You didn't get your cootie shot did you?
I will be over at 645 unless i hear otherwise from you!
My phone blows no reception. Come over for tea before you teach today! (do you?)
Im just hangin out at home. In da basement.
Le Text Message
INBOX
Zak: Good ok sorry for the scare.
Hiromi: I thank u 4 having a nice party! u always rock! sweet dreams. Cu in the near future!
Richard: Message cannot be displayed.
Alison Levy: Sorry cant make it tonight. I need chill time for week
Jenny: Is Andrew coming?
Jenny: Where r u
Sylvia: Ill bring mimosa fixins!
Sylvia: Im coming on the later side w a friend! Cant wait- have been thinking about pancakes all wknd! What can I bring
Chrissy: Wish i could give an emphatic yes but am having afternoon tea and will let you know asap
Normal: i.AlsoSposed2eatChipsWitLager@6.so*maybe*i.ShowUPlater?izOkay?normal
Christine Maxon: I will be there
Andrew: I~ll be there.
Lance: Ya, i'll be there!
Anne: With gusto!
Andrew: Much dancing. 345 eldridge 2nd floor.
Andrew: How is your party? This is too crowded.
Jenny Ng: Got party pooped. Home now. I am old. Have fun.
Hiromi: Ok cya good night
Hiromi: I see. I cant b there shortly. Cu 2mrw! what time can i go yr place?
Hiromi: Just get back home. How long will u be there?
Hiromi: What's that about? im in brklyn museum
Vince: Don't forget: SVA BFA opening this monday, dec. 11th. 6-9PM @ 30West17th St. Please come & have fun! Vincent.
Richard: Merry ultra merry Christmas party! This thursday 12.14. At our holy home on franklin ave. Come enjoy!
Alison Levy: im at lee art and craft store. Its cool. abl
Anne: You have to be only half special as chad will make up rest. Joint belated bday party at keith and chads. Yes?
900080004221: FREE_VZW_MSG: Messages sent to non-VZW customers with graphics/tones/ formatting and/or 160+ characters are sent as only plain text with only the first 160 characters
Anne: Hi. Yay for dinner next sat! Any interest in beingspecial guest at a party after?
Alison Levy: I need to chill. Im good watching film. Call of anytime
49734: Your SMS.ac friendly broadcast: kristy says (Reply!) Hello Stop? Reply STOP BCST
Hiromi: Ok! i ll get some okonomiyaki staff. As 4 2night. I think i can b there. Still waitin a call from a friend. Cu
Anne: Hey. Will you be around on new years?
Jenny: Thanks for letting me use your compooper. I owe you! Xo. Night.
Ernest: Nuh uh. Bt i thnk my filipino blood cld kick ds cootie's ass
Ernest: Aw man! Jst gt ur msg aftr work. I would lov 2 hav tea but m going hme now. Feel lyke m gettin d cooties.
Alison Levy: That you do.
Lance: shucks Delux! that would have been sad.
Ernest: Wachadoin!?
Zak: Good ok sorry for the scare.
Hiromi: I thank u 4 having a nice party! u always rock! sweet dreams. Cu in the near future!
Richard: Message cannot be displayed.
Alison Levy: Sorry cant make it tonight. I need chill time for week
Jenny: Is Andrew coming?
Jenny: Where r u
Sylvia: Ill bring mimosa fixins!
Sylvia: Im coming on the later side w a friend! Cant wait- have been thinking about pancakes all wknd! What can I bring
Chrissy: Wish i could give an emphatic yes but am having afternoon tea and will let you know asap
Normal: i.AlsoSposed2eatChipsWitLager@6.so*maybe*i.ShowUPlater?izOkay?normal
Christine Maxon: I will be there
Andrew: I~ll be there.
Lance: Ya, i'll be there!
Anne: With gusto!
Andrew: Much dancing. 345 eldridge 2nd floor.
Andrew: How is your party? This is too crowded.
Jenny Ng: Got party pooped. Home now. I am old. Have fun.
Hiromi: Ok cya good night
Hiromi: I see. I cant b there shortly. Cu 2mrw! what time can i go yr place?
Hiromi: Just get back home. How long will u be there?
Hiromi: What's that about? im in brklyn museum
Vince: Don't forget: SVA BFA opening this monday, dec. 11th. 6-9PM @ 30West17th St. Please come & have fun! Vincent.
Richard: Merry ultra merry Christmas party! This thursday 12.14. At our holy home on franklin ave. Come enjoy!
Alison Levy: im at lee art and craft store. Its cool. abl
Anne: You have to be only half special as chad will make up rest. Joint belated bday party at keith and chads. Yes?
900080004221: FREE_VZW_MSG: Messages sent to non-VZW customers with graphics/tones/ formatting and/or 160+ characters are sent as only plain text with only the first 160 characters
Anne: Hi. Yay for dinner next sat! Any interest in beingspecial guest at a party after?
Alison Levy: I need to chill. Im good watching film. Call of anytime
49734: Your SMS.ac friendly broadcast: kristy says (Reply!) Hello Stop? Reply STOP BCST
Hiromi: Ok! i ll get some okonomiyaki staff. As 4 2night. I think i can b there. Still waitin a call from a friend. Cu
Anne: Hey. Will you be around on new years?
Jenny: Thanks for letting me use your compooper. I owe you! Xo. Night.
Ernest: Nuh uh. Bt i thnk my filipino blood cld kick ds cootie's ass
Ernest: Aw man! Jst gt ur msg aftr work. I would lov 2 hav tea but m going hme now. Feel lyke m gettin d cooties.
Alison Levy: That you do.
Lance: shucks Delux! that would have been sad.
Ernest: Wachadoin!?
BEUYSNDAHOOD
This evening at my house there will be japancakes or okinamiyaki in the name of Sunday, Hiromi, Floor, and self-conscious attempts at socializing.
The weather has turned warm again and it is very confusing. Confusion is what I experienced last night when I attended a party/event at Jules de Balincourt's new art party space on Starr St. near Knickerbocker in Bushwick. A fellow I met there made fun of the faux naivety of the event and the host. He also had issued a complaint that some of the music was a little of the same silly artificial accidental quality. But here in Brooklyn we are tired of what is always of the art school! Right? When I leave town I find that I appreciate all the silly little attempts at making something great that we are all guilty of some days. From within the frenzy of puffy paint and b.o. ripped up t-shirts and yoga whining it is a little suffocating and redundant. If at all possible I am actively trying to step back and understand the sincere and ironic attempts as heartfelt and indicative of people trying hard not to watch tv and slowly dissolving oprah's empire. Oprah is skinny and she hates hip hop. Take her down.
DJ Donut really tore it up last night? Thanks, Sprinkles and Glaze! Maybe she should have a talk show too. She already has a job at CityArts. Next step, network television. She is skinny but in a good way because its from eating pudding pie and pancakes every day. And she doesnt make embarrassing public scenes running marathons and junk.
I ran into the guy that runs 3rd Ward today and he was walking a dog he named Indy. Something about his air along with slightly mod looking glasses and grey green color scheme alludes to a strange sort of Williamsburg royalty. He is a nice guy. Hands down.
I received a wonderful gift this morning, I was granted the yahoo email account 'beuysndahood'. In general I feel a strong desire not to give gifts that are futile objects for the sake of gifts. But a thoughtful gift on the National Day of Humanity (named so by Reagan) via email that takes up no space in my 7' x 10' room was really something. I think its my favorite gift I've been given in recent history. I like the idea of www gifts. The gift of infinite correspondence and participitation in a dimension that is as interesting as the one that stores our fridge and toilet.
The weather has turned warm again and it is very confusing. Confusion is what I experienced last night when I attended a party/event at Jules de Balincourt's new art party space on Starr St. near Knickerbocker in Bushwick. A fellow I met there made fun of the faux naivety of the event and the host. He also had issued a complaint that some of the music was a little of the same silly artificial accidental quality. But here in Brooklyn we are tired of what is always of the art school! Right? When I leave town I find that I appreciate all the silly little attempts at making something great that we are all guilty of some days. From within the frenzy of puffy paint and b.o. ripped up t-shirts and yoga whining it is a little suffocating and redundant. If at all possible I am actively trying to step back and understand the sincere and ironic attempts as heartfelt and indicative of people trying hard not to watch tv and slowly dissolving oprah's empire. Oprah is skinny and she hates hip hop. Take her down.
DJ Donut really tore it up last night? Thanks, Sprinkles and Glaze! Maybe she should have a talk show too. She already has a job at CityArts. Next step, network television. She is skinny but in a good way because its from eating pudding pie and pancakes every day. And she doesnt make embarrassing public scenes running marathons and junk.
I ran into the guy that runs 3rd Ward today and he was walking a dog he named Indy. Something about his air along with slightly mod looking glasses and grey green color scheme alludes to a strange sort of Williamsburg royalty. He is a nice guy. Hands down.
I received a wonderful gift this morning, I was granted the yahoo email account 'beuysndahood'. In general I feel a strong desire not to give gifts that are futile objects for the sake of gifts. But a thoughtful gift on the National Day of Humanity (named so by Reagan) via email that takes up no space in my 7' x 10' room was really something. I think its my favorite gift I've been given in recent history. I like the idea of www gifts. The gift of infinite correspondence and participitation in a dimension that is as interesting as the one that stores our fridge and toilet.
Friday, December 8, 2006
Teaching Statement
I wrote this earlier this week to apply for a job at the Brooklyn Museum.
One day at a catered reception for the fashion program at Wildcat Academy (high school) in the Bronx, a student picked up a piece of spinach from the mixed greens on her plate and asked me if it grew from a tree. When I told her it came from the ground, she swore off spinach. There is not enough wondering about why things are the way we experience them. I teach art with the hope that students will adopt the ability to wonder about what they experience and to seek the answers with a set of skills that art-making provides including confidence, diligence, and discipline.
I think I am involved in the wrong type of situations to teach what I want to teach. Or else I have wedged myself mentally into the wrong spot. I can't think of craft projects that I am interested in because I hate clay and I hate beads. I need training. I have a lot of ideas about how teaching works but I haven't seen the ideas in action. Most of my projects don't work. Failure is inevitable in ambitious art but what I am meant to teach is supposed to be cute crafts. Failure isn't cute. And without ever getting to know any kids, it is hard to get them involved in ambitious projects. I think it might be best for me to organize situations that enable interesting things to happen. I don't know if I have the follow through to plan and see them through. Or the skills. I am not a craftsperson and I don't care about completeness. I need the same lessons I am trying to teach. Damn.
16 Beavers try to figure out the Spirit of Revolution
So, I finally attended an event at 16 Beaver. When I was in Berlin, 16 Beaver seemed to be a strong force in NYC, but from within I had no idea. It can be very hard to judge what is interesting from within the mix of the city.
In the financial district, 16 Beaver feels like an island. I think that this is a great haven for ideas and solid attempts at big grass roots projects.
This evenings discussion was about anarchy and feminism. This was an ambitious subject to approach and it was done so through Eve, an active anarchist in the 60's and 70's in NYC. With many side tracks, the discussion focused on a common denominator desire for change. 4 different people who were active in the early anarchist movement attended and gave different perspectives on the fundamentals of 60's revolutionary thought. I enjoyed Ben Morea's deliberate and sensitive reflections describing his struggles as an anarchist. His first statement was that as anarchists, his group had sought out a revolutionary spirit in every part of living that relied on spirituality and violence to feed and maintain the vision and mobility. He connected all aspects of his experience of the anarchist culture: lsd, violence, disorganized religion, 'voting with your feet', proactivity, etc etc to create a sense of the all encompassing nature of anarchy as it was. I liked hearing about the ideas of interpersonal creativity that bravely re-manages the division of labor within a culture. Ben talked about the deterioration of gender roles in relationships and how he wanted to erase the dependence on those identities within male/female interactions.
Eve mentioned her lack of historical knowledge, and I thought it was brave and lazy at the same time. I am always concerned with what seems to be an obsession with knowledge and a fear of opinion. Eve proposed that one doesnt need to read the nyt to know he/she is being oppressed. I agree and think it is vital to be very present in all of ones experiences. Sometimes that means that you don't know whats going on in the Middle East. I think that is healthy sometimes.
While we were on the topic of genders, Eve mentioned gave this formula:
masculine=live truth
feminine=seek truth
A man in the group brought up the Marxist division of labor which necessitates a society's division into roles that must be played correctly for the society to function. He also brought up his distaste with psychoanalytical terminology mixed with politics.
The most interesting question that was raised by several individuals was the connection between anarchy and spiritualism. The interconnectedness of the two was referred to often but never explained.
The whole experience was not terribly progressive but incredibly promising and fun. I was inspired to be around all these different people who were trying to dream about how to live better and who were going to great lengths to figure it out. For the first time in a while I felt like I fit in somewhere.
In the financial district, 16 Beaver feels like an island. I think that this is a great haven for ideas and solid attempts at big grass roots projects.
This evenings discussion was about anarchy and feminism. This was an ambitious subject to approach and it was done so through Eve, an active anarchist in the 60's and 70's in NYC. With many side tracks, the discussion focused on a common denominator desire for change. 4 different people who were active in the early anarchist movement attended and gave different perspectives on the fundamentals of 60's revolutionary thought. I enjoyed Ben Morea's deliberate and sensitive reflections describing his struggles as an anarchist. His first statement was that as anarchists, his group had sought out a revolutionary spirit in every part of living that relied on spirituality and violence to feed and maintain the vision and mobility. He connected all aspects of his experience of the anarchist culture: lsd, violence, disorganized religion, 'voting with your feet', proactivity, etc etc to create a sense of the all encompassing nature of anarchy as it was. I liked hearing about the ideas of interpersonal creativity that bravely re-manages the division of labor within a culture. Ben talked about the deterioration of gender roles in relationships and how he wanted to erase the dependence on those identities within male/female interactions.
Eve mentioned her lack of historical knowledge, and I thought it was brave and lazy at the same time. I am always concerned with what seems to be an obsession with knowledge and a fear of opinion. Eve proposed that one doesnt need to read the nyt to know he/she is being oppressed. I agree and think it is vital to be very present in all of ones experiences. Sometimes that means that you don't know whats going on in the Middle East. I think that is healthy sometimes.
While we were on the topic of genders, Eve mentioned gave this formula:
masculine=live truth
feminine=seek truth
A man in the group brought up the Marxist division of labor which necessitates a society's division into roles that must be played correctly for the society to function. He also brought up his distaste with psychoanalytical terminology mixed with politics.
The most interesting question that was raised by several individuals was the connection between anarchy and spiritualism. The interconnectedness of the two was referred to often but never explained.
The whole experience was not terribly progressive but incredibly promising and fun. I was inspired to be around all these different people who were trying to dream about how to live better and who were going to great lengths to figure it out. For the first time in a while I felt like I fit in somewhere.
Anarchy
The other night I was at Aurora and Arnoud's new house in Harlem. Dominique and I used to work for them at Healthy Specials, a really fancy creative organic catering company that they started. We all looked at our astrocartography on astro.com. Aurora's mom is an astrologer and so Aurora often knows about whats going on up in the air and what it has to do with you, down here. Astrocartography maps out the locations and paths of planets in relation to when and where you were born. Based on this, they draw conclusion about what type of experiences you will encounter in different places. It turns out I work best in Greenland or Iceland. I could have told you that.
In New York it emphasized my struggle and search to be autonomous from other systems and my development of my own personal anarchy. Once Mark told me I was an anarchist and we all thought it was funny. Can anarchists look good in pink? And know it? Tonight at 16 Beaver there is a talk called 'Lower East Side Anarchists and Women's Liberation' that I might attend if I can leave the house. Which I might not.
Last night I slept for 11 hours.
In New York it emphasized my struggle and search to be autonomous from other systems and my development of my own personal anarchy. Once Mark told me I was an anarchist and we all thought it was funny. Can anarchists look good in pink? And know it? Tonight at 16 Beaver there is a talk called 'Lower East Side Anarchists and Women's Liberation' that I might attend if I can leave the house. Which I might not.
Last night I slept for 11 hours.
Mercury in Retrograde
I wonder if the mercury is in Retrograde or whatever. When that happens it seems like communication falls apart and everything is always cancelled or being rescheduled. When I woke up I was supposed to go to Harlem to meet JoAnn Berman, a fashion designer who has run around the NY hip hop scene since the 80's. She had to cancel to go on an emergency honeymoon, which is absolutely understandable. I was bummed I couldnt show her my saranwrap hat.
Then, school was cancelled. So I did yoga for a long time. Focusing on the body for a while when everything else seems unstable is very helpful to me.
I also started to try to find a teacher to start an alternative graffiti class at a middle school in Canarsie. I interviewed a great guy on Thursday morning who got the cake right away because he is amazing. And he didn't mind my super silly art ideas like LED throwies or Christian Marclay's wheat pasting up of blank music sheets all over some dang city. And it seems he attended the school he will be teaching at. He also had really bright bright bluish greenish eyes. He is good.
At night on Tuesday I went to 3rd ward, where j (jason, jeremy?) gave DJ Donut and I a tour all over the space. It seems that if I make something for the space to be installed semi permanently, I can use the art castle to play and make stuff for a few months. Wow! Very intimidating to be in such a large space with so much potential. I really like it there. It will be a great winter clubhouse. The only problem I have is that I make small and delicate work usually. This is an artist's art space and it needs to function for the artists as far as i am concerned. I would like to build some sort of labyrinthine library system but havent figured out anything else about it yet. I might wait until I go to Materials for the Arts on Monday to see what I see.
Also this week, I visited Carey Maxon's studio in Long Island City. It was a cold bikeride there. She has a studio in a building right off of Jackson Ave. The lofts are very nice with big windows and complete with a coffee shop in the basement. Carey is prolific and thoughtful. She interviewed me once. Project1981 will have a show in her studio in February. I don't know what I will make for it. What I can tell you is that there are some frickinnice views from her windows.
Then, school was cancelled. So I did yoga for a long time. Focusing on the body for a while when everything else seems unstable is very helpful to me.
I also started to try to find a teacher to start an alternative graffiti class at a middle school in Canarsie. I interviewed a great guy on Thursday morning who got the cake right away because he is amazing. And he didn't mind my super silly art ideas like LED throwies or Christian Marclay's wheat pasting up of blank music sheets all over some dang city. And it seems he attended the school he will be teaching at. He also had really bright bright bluish greenish eyes. He is good.
At night on Tuesday I went to 3rd ward, where j (jason, jeremy?) gave DJ Donut and I a tour all over the space. It seems that if I make something for the space to be installed semi permanently, I can use the art castle to play and make stuff for a few months. Wow! Very intimidating to be in such a large space with so much potential. I really like it there. It will be a great winter clubhouse. The only problem I have is that I make small and delicate work usually. This is an artist's art space and it needs to function for the artists as far as i am concerned. I would like to build some sort of labyrinthine library system but havent figured out anything else about it yet. I might wait until I go to Materials for the Arts on Monday to see what I see.
Also this week, I visited Carey Maxon's studio in Long Island City. It was a cold bikeride there. She has a studio in a building right off of Jackson Ave. The lofts are very nice with big windows and complete with a coffee shop in the basement. Carey is prolific and thoughtful. She interviewed me once. Project1981 will have a show in her studio in February. I don't know what I will make for it. What I can tell you is that there are some frickinnice views from her windows.
Homes
I have been trying to work on a project I started when I was in Chicago a few weeks ago. I took a picture of 6 if the houses I grew up in. We moved a lot and now, every few months I feel like I would like a big change like that. It is good to move and to clean underneath things.
My project now is to take them all apart and build one big mansion out of all of them, or a series of them. I have been making some collages and drawings of them. Too big to scan and show yet and I have yet to photograph them. The problem is that I am very slow. Process is so important to me. And with this, I tend to get a little lost in thought as I look at all my homes. I got stuck on a bungee barbie memory looking at the apt shown on the upper left. that balcony was right off of my bedroom and i threw a lot of stuff out of the window. I also recorded my first radio show from that room.
My project now is to take them all apart and build one big mansion out of all of them, or a series of them. I have been making some collages and drawings of them. Too big to scan and show yet and I have yet to photograph them. The problem is that I am very slow. Process is so important to me. And with this, I tend to get a little lost in thought as I look at all my homes. I got stuck on a bungee barbie memory looking at the apt shown on the upper left. that balcony was right off of my bedroom and i threw a lot of stuff out of the window. I also recorded my first radio show from that room.
Anne
On Monday morning, I met up with Anne at Heights Cafe on Flatbush Ave for coffee at 8am. It was very nice to talk with Anne. She has been busy trying to get her doctorate in english analysis from Columbia University starting this fall. I have been trying to get my doctorate in finishing a lot of art projects at the last minute and being a hermit. So, I haven't been able to spend quality time with dear dear Anne. But Anne is like home and we are able to have really progressive conversations that are both exploratory and filled with wondering as well as completely banal and filled with boyfriend details. Ha ha just kidding we never talk about that.
When I got home I tried to make a mold of my head out of saran wrap and packing tape like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/EI982B3OAHEP286TOK/
Then I made it into a Victorian/Equestrian/Baseball cap type thing by tailoring it a bit and adding some feathers, ribbon, and wood pieces. I thought my fashion class might make hats this week. Sadly, class got cancelled on Tuesday so we couldn't do this project.
In the afternoon I was very caffeinated and unable to focus. After hours of stalemate, I went to have tea with Hiromi at Roebling Tea in Williamsburg. I rode my bike and it started to get pretty cold. Hiromi always surprises me with her stories. She told me about being assaulted by Korean people for being a female smoker on her trips there. Supposedly it has changed now, but a few years ago when she visited she said she would smoke outside and have 20 people surround her and threaten her and scream at her for smoking in public and being a woman doing so. She thought they were going to hit her so she would not protest, only put down her cigarette and look down until they went away. I am glad she still smokes. Dammnit. Then she told me about some scary Korean plastic surgery kicks. Many Asian women travel to Korea to get calve implants to make their legs longer and disfunctional. Korea is the cheapest and most uh.. 'progressive' of all plastic surgery kingdoms.
When I got home I tried to make a mold of my head out of saran wrap and packing tape like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/EI982B3OAHEP286TOK/
Then I made it into a Victorian/Equestrian/Baseball cap type thing by tailoring it a bit and adding some feathers, ribbon, and wood pieces. I thought my fashion class might make hats this week. Sadly, class got cancelled on Tuesday so we couldn't do this project.
In the afternoon I was very caffeinated and unable to focus. After hours of stalemate, I went to have tea with Hiromi at Roebling Tea in Williamsburg. I rode my bike and it started to get pretty cold. Hiromi always surprises me with her stories. She told me about being assaulted by Korean people for being a female smoker on her trips there. Supposedly it has changed now, but a few years ago when she visited she said she would smoke outside and have 20 people surround her and threaten her and scream at her for smoking in public and being a woman doing so. She thought they were going to hit her so she would not protest, only put down her cigarette and look down until they went away. I am glad she still smokes. Dammnit. Then she told me about some scary Korean plastic surgery kicks. Many Asian women travel to Korea to get calve implants to make their legs longer and disfunctional. Korea is the cheapest and most uh.. 'progressive' of all plastic surgery kingdoms.
yoga anonymous
Speaking of accessories, next I ventured to the east village to visit Emily Conradson (she's not one but she is a great collector of them). We ate really an amazing dinner that she cooked. I was ecstatic to eat her tofu and kale and aroma-ecstaticized holy sweetness squash. Emily is one good cook. The girl knows how to live. We went to her friend Jeremy's house down the street later on and I learned about all sorts of weird stuff, like rekka (or something like that) which is a fancy type of massage/bodywork. Emily hangs out with people who are into bodies because she is into bodies. We went to a yoga class at noon on Sunday that was a mix of Forrest Yoga and Anusara at Lila Yoga on 2nd Ave. I have been very unproductive these days. Going to a class in the middle of the day meant that I couldn't dive into any of my projects in the morning, and I didn't in the evening either. I am happy to hear that Ryan Saylor writes in his blog that:
* Inefficiency substituted for efficiency is beautiful.
* Efficiency substituted for inefficiency is beautiful.
I have a crazy work ethic. Because I have been focused on art and survival a lot, I feel like I have to be driven in one of these directions at all times. It can he hard to turn off. I wonder if it is exclusive to NY that there is a feeling of being what you do. Last night I was busy doing nothing. In fact I think I sat very still for almost 2 hours thinking. Afterwards, I read just a few sentences at the beginning of the FIRST SECTION of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant. I found it to be very appropriate to read:
"There is no possibility of thinking of anything at all in the world, or even out of it, which can be regarded as good without qualification, except a good will... A good will is good not because of what it effects or accomplishes, nor because of its fitness to attain some proposed end; it is good only through its willing, i.e., it is good in itself."
PHEW! In a constant search for reassurance in a desert filled only with duplicitous backstabbing internet advice, Immanuel Kant (!?) provides the warm moral hug I need to put me to sleep.
* Inefficiency substituted for efficiency is beautiful.
* Efficiency substituted for inefficiency is beautiful.
I have a crazy work ethic. Because I have been focused on art and survival a lot, I feel like I have to be driven in one of these directions at all times. It can he hard to turn off. I wonder if it is exclusive to NY that there is a feeling of being what you do. Last night I was busy doing nothing. In fact I think I sat very still for almost 2 hours thinking. Afterwards, I read just a few sentences at the beginning of the FIRST SECTION of Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant. I found it to be very appropriate to read:
"There is no possibility of thinking of anything at all in the world, or even out of it, which can be regarded as good without qualification, except a good will... A good will is good not because of what it effects or accomplishes, nor because of its fitness to attain some proposed end; it is good only through its willing, i.e., it is good in itself."
PHEW! In a constant search for reassurance in a desert filled only with duplicitous backstabbing internet advice, Immanuel Kant (!?) provides the warm moral hug I need to put me to sleep.
This first day of firsts
LAST SATURDAY, NEW SCHOOL
So today I attempt to begin yet another attempt at making and maintaining a blog. I'll see if it works. My head has been moving very quickly for two days and I haven't had the followthrough to direct it into any art or anything, so perhaps this might be able to filter some of the crap out. This was an interesting week filled with all sorts of strange events. It all starts on Saturday, when I started teaching a new class at a middle school on the corner of 127 St and Amsterdam Ave in Harlem. The class is for students in 8th grade who almost passed their state math exam. I was excited to go to a new school. I haven't been teaching very much and I quickly feel obsolete and directionless without plenty of work and contact with somebody who I can have intense or dynamic interactions with. Kayita, the site coordinator, is really devoted to the kids and to the school and it shows. She seems to have a good relationship with all the students and to have a genuine desire to see their happiness. It is a unique trait as far as what I have seen in many public school after school or extracurricular coordinators. The school is in an area that seems to be undergoing violent changes. Lots of old buildings with new windows (stickers still on) and with new high rents (I assume).
One thing that hasnt changed is TRIPLE CANDIE, a hilarious and challenging art space right around the corner from the school @ 461 W. 126th St. I spoke to Peter Nesbett, one of the directors of the gallery about developing some sort of relationship between my art class and the gallery. None of the teachers or kids I met at the school had ever had the guts to go in and check the place out. The show was really funny. The whole show was a big cheap trick played by Triple Candie on art. They created a fake forgotten artist persona who's work was mocking the very popular, partially destructed, kind of beautiful, sorta lazy, haphazardly poetic, specifically pathetic aesthetic (which i like and am guilty of occasionally). The gallery has 6 or 7 little islands of piles of office junk, construction crap, boxes, building detritus, etc., and then Peter sits in the back of the gallery and hollers from his desk: There is info about the show right here to read! After the list of this fictitious artist's detailed geneology of his work and life, there is a little note alerting us that this was just a joke. Obviously they worded it differently. The experience was good. I wonder if someone separate from artmaking and culture vulturing would think it was funny?
I have been thinking a lot about the ability or inability of most art to interest a guy on his way to the deli. A few weeks ago I approached this problem in a little talk I gave at SAIC. Soon I will put a video up that will link here.
I do trust that there is some outward spiraling of art and culture from the inside, out. But I feel clueless as to how to be a functioning part of society. And a responsible one. I have the same conversation with someone every day where we decide that globalization will reverse somehow and communities will become localized and artists will have a job to do with their problemsolving skills and creative thinking. But until then should I make puffypaint accessories for my cat because it feels good? I think not. But could I make art that sells? I think I know how but cannot bring myself to. I always know that I could push anything I make just a little further to make it into something more digestable but thus far have not taken the initiative to go that far. But if I did sell stuff than I could at least take part in commerce. Or I could put it on my resume. And have more friends with better accessories.
So today I attempt to begin yet another attempt at making and maintaining a blog. I'll see if it works. My head has been moving very quickly for two days and I haven't had the followthrough to direct it into any art or anything, so perhaps this might be able to filter some of the crap out. This was an interesting week filled with all sorts of strange events. It all starts on Saturday, when I started teaching a new class at a middle school on the corner of 127 St and Amsterdam Ave in Harlem. The class is for students in 8th grade who almost passed their state math exam. I was excited to go to a new school. I haven't been teaching very much and I quickly feel obsolete and directionless without plenty of work and contact with somebody who I can have intense or dynamic interactions with. Kayita, the site coordinator, is really devoted to the kids and to the school and it shows. She seems to have a good relationship with all the students and to have a genuine desire to see their happiness. It is a unique trait as far as what I have seen in many public school after school or extracurricular coordinators. The school is in an area that seems to be undergoing violent changes. Lots of old buildings with new windows (stickers still on) and with new high rents (I assume).
One thing that hasnt changed is TRIPLE CANDIE, a hilarious and challenging art space right around the corner from the school @ 461 W. 126th St. I spoke to Peter Nesbett, one of the directors of the gallery about developing some sort of relationship between my art class and the gallery. None of the teachers or kids I met at the school had ever had the guts to go in and check the place out. The show was really funny. The whole show was a big cheap trick played by Triple Candie on art. They created a fake forgotten artist persona who's work was mocking the very popular, partially destructed, kind of beautiful, sorta lazy, haphazardly poetic, specifically pathetic aesthetic (which i like and am guilty of occasionally). The gallery has 6 or 7 little islands of piles of office junk, construction crap, boxes, building detritus, etc., and then Peter sits in the back of the gallery and hollers from his desk: There is info about the show right here to read! After the list of this fictitious artist's detailed geneology of his work and life, there is a little note alerting us that this was just a joke. Obviously they worded it differently. The experience was good. I wonder if someone separate from artmaking and culture vulturing would think it was funny?
I have been thinking a lot about the ability or inability of most art to interest a guy on his way to the deli. A few weeks ago I approached this problem in a little talk I gave at SAIC. Soon I will put a video up that will link here.
I do trust that there is some outward spiraling of art and culture from the inside, out. But I feel clueless as to how to be a functioning part of society. And a responsible one. I have the same conversation with someone every day where we decide that globalization will reverse somehow and communities will become localized and artists will have a job to do with their problemsolving skills and creative thinking. But until then should I make puffypaint accessories for my cat because it feels good? I think not. But could I make art that sells? I think I know how but cannot bring myself to. I always know that I could push anything I make just a little further to make it into something more digestable but thus far have not taken the initiative to go that far. But if I did sell stuff than I could at least take part in commerce. Or I could put it on my resume. And have more friends with better accessories.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
