Bed-Stuy, Ain't it Fly.

New York city is so loud. It must be the loudest place ever.
My ideas for shows that are coming up immediately are not formed like they should be right now and my brow is starting to collect sweat. It's just that I have been working really hard for other people lately and it hasn't left much time or energy to make stuff. It feels good to work hard and eat and sleep and have fun but I have made some commitments to do some art and so things must start poppin real quick like. My most pressing project is that for the Project1981 show in February. The project I wanted to do included documenting what I saw from each pane of glass within the massive walls of windows. I was hoping for each photo to hang on its corresponding window and to be a subtle comparison between my perspective and the viewers and it would also highlight one month of urban change and natural decay. I do like the comparison between the small changes: puddles on the roof immediately in front of the window verses the large changes: the skyline is always evolving thanks to highrises and dramatic shifts in the clouds. BUT, the show opens at night and so the piece should make sense for people to see it in the dark. Plus, change is a boring subject matter and we might be over it. The project is not specific enough and when I leave things open I usually have a good ol freak out when it comes to the spontaneous part. Roommate Jenny recommends making the piece more interactive. I think giving specific character to one significant or purposely insignificant part of the landscape might be good. Like a puddle. I think it would be really cool to have a subtle physical intervention that corresponded to the photos that happened in the landscape- like if I could install light on the thing that I am paying attention to. I am constantly trying to think of ways to incorporate a throwie but if I wasn't using it to fight evil or do good or something, it might just be plagiarism. When stuff gets hyped up like this show, I freeze. I wish I could do things in a lighter hearted way. I will try.
My real interests these days lie in Ayurveda. My goal is to try to find a way that ayurveda might be applied to a city or a social body. I need a friend who is a Vaidya (Ayurvedic Dr.) to apply the doshas to a city, hopefully Toronto for the Subtle Technologies conference. I asked on craigslist-toronto, but believe it or not, I did not get a response!
In thinking about education lately, I have been daydreaming of the class I would most like to teach. Anarchy 101. Since my recent discovery that I am an anarchist to the bone, I would really like the chance to learn the history of NY anarchist movements and pe0ple. For example, PUTYOURBACKUPAGAINSTTHEMOTHERFUCKINWALL has a ring to it, and I would love to explain it to children. The concept as a class could start as a investigation into the definition, history and the theory of anarchy, and move towards a description/prescription for today's version. The final project would ask kids what anarchy is to them and would let them create some sort of alternative anti-structure, some way to thoughtfully subvert all the systems we are accustomed to accepting. I like the idea of anarchist gardeners and composers. It would be great if the class translated to kids desiring the experience of learning how to maintain themselves minus stores and nail salons and ipods. here in public schools, anarchy might be campfire and growing sprouts and writing. Or that might be what Paul Tyree Francis is doing.