Robot says,

The Girl Chewing Gum

2011-04-08T18:11:00.001-04:00

Graham

2010-06-30T20:50:00.002-04:00

6/29/2010

I Love to Sing-a

2010-05-08T11:16:00.001-04:00

Gallery Strollathon

2010-02-23T20:50:00.002-05:00

2.20.2010, 11:30am-6pm

Yun-Fei Ji at James Cohan

Christian Hellmich at Lehmann Maupin

Jessica Jackson Hutchins at Derek Eller

Kim Fisher at John Connelly Presents

Lars Laumann at Foxy Production

Superflex at Peter Blum

The Visible Vagina at David Nolan

Bill Jensen at Cheim & Read

Richard Misrach at PaceWildenstein

Peter Halley at Mary Boone

Wolfgang Tillmans at Andrea Rosen

Robert Adams at Matthew Marks

Gary Simmonds at Metro Pictures

Jacco Olivier at Marianne Boesky

Les Rogers at Leo Koenig

In There, Out Here at Leo Koenig Projekte

Connecticut at D’Amelio Terras

Jamie Isenstein at Andrew Kreps

Ken Price at Matthew Marks

Leonardo Drew at Sikkema, Jenkins & Co.

Rezi van Lankfeld at Friedrich Petzel

Wade Guyton and Stephen Prina at Friedrich Petzel

Sterling Ruby at PaceWildenstein

Robert Grosvenor at Paula Cooper

Inka Essenhigh at 303

Olafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar

Liam Gillick at Casey Kaplan

Banks Violette at Gladstone

Eddie Martinez at ZietherSmith

Anne Collier at Anton Kern

El Anatsui at Jack Shainman

Open Studios

2009-11-15T23:30:00.002-05:00

I am excited to be exhibiting this weekend along with the hundred and something other MFA students at Hunter College during Open Studios. Please come and check out my latest work and that of my peers. It is an excellent time to see the behemoth that is the MFA building and to peruse the bouquet of work found within.

I been gluttonous

2009-07-14T16:06:00.003-04:00

I wanted to listen to a song but couldn't find the right kind of song. My gluttonous binge–of homeless, phone calls, bill paying, waiting, unproductivity, to dos, lacking, leaches, let downs, and disappointment–is in transition to an expulsion of bile and partially digested food from my oral cavity. One such projection is a new commodity.

These internets have very big ears

2009-05-16T20:12:00.003-04:00

I have been so loved. The folks behind the film rendition of Where The Wild Things Are have a blog. It features things that have influenced the movie as well as other things of interest. Among those things is a generous review of Some Things (and a bit about Commodities too). There are a lot of other great things featured on their blog to get you excited about the movie and other things too!

Shaun Kuruneru

2009-03-21T23:01:00.006-04:00

I received a zine from Shawn Kuruneru the other day. It is a great little morsel with 14 exquisite drawings. Mostly figural work, with an acute sensibility for hair.

Searching for answers online

2009-03-07T15:40:00.002-05:00

Why are there so many cops in Crown Heights on Saturdays?
Why are there so many police officers in Crown Heights on Saturdays?
police officers crown heights sabbath
71st Precinct
71st Precinct Saturday patrol
Lubavitch Hasidim
Chabad messianism
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Rastafarian food crown heights
food crown heights

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

2009-03-06T15:23:00.004-05:00

"Conditioned life is just like life in a prison house in this material world...If a prisoner thinks, 'I am in this cell–let me request the warden to change my cell and I will be happy,' that is a mistaken idea. One cannot be happy so long as he is within the prison walls. We are trying to be happy by changing cells–from capitalism to communism. The aim should be to become free from this "ism and that "ism." One has to change from this "ism" of materialism; then he can become happy."
-from Easy Journey To Other Planets

Shephen Shore at FIT

2009-03-03T20:41:00.005-05:00

Above are notes I took during a presentation by Stephen Shore last week. It was the most enjoyable artist lecture I have been to in quite awhile. Stephen was very well spoken, shared a great deal of his thought/working process, and provided a lot of insightful commentary on photography and creativity. On top of it being an entertaining lecture it was also very inspiring. During the lecture and throughout the remainder of the day I was revisiting some past ideas and making plans for new projects.

Responding to a question on originality he said something along the lines of, "If you become too focused on originality you become just as tied to tradition as someone endeavoring to follow it." That is something I have been thinking about a lot on and off for quite some time, though not exactly in light of photography. It is fascinating how frequently people act responsively to actions rather than in accordance to what they would naturally do. I have framed it more frequently in terms of rebelling or acting out spitefully. It is interesting that such a seemingly childish action characterizes so much, from daily interactions with people, to lifestyle choices, to art movements.

Day in review

2009-03-03T01:25:00.004-05:00

x Post about Locks of Pop
x Update Commodities blog
x Mail Tetradrachm
x Ask lots of question at post office
x Assist P
x Buy cereal and soy milk
x Draw Gandhi's Glasses
x Make cookies
x Post Gandhi's Glasses

backbackback

2009-02-08T20:37:00.002-05:00

*commodities* is rollllling again!!!!

Do not watch this

2008-12-09T13:37:00.005-05:00

if you are susceptible to seizures! Seriously.
Brad Troemel, O

Get yours

2008-12-09T11:54:00.003-05:00

British artist, Keith Tyson, is offering 5,000 original downloadable artworks on a first serve basis. His History Paintings are original works generated but some fancy internet magic.

Here is how it's done:
Click this link
Find and click 'Explore'
Then simply click when the painting that suits you comes up on your screen
You will then be prompted to enter your location and can save the file
Finally, print it on A3 glossy photo paper and frame at your discretion

Downloads are limited to one per IP address.

Battle

2008-12-06T11:25:00.003-05:00

I headed out to the Thrilla in Manila draw-a-thon last night between Jason Polan and Jane Mont. It was a lot of fun to see the action, join in the drawing, and meet new people. I even got in a round with Jason in the battle drawing serious.

I also went up against a woman in a spring themed battle. Unfortunately my recently birthed lamb attached to it's mother via the umbilical cord didn't do quite as well as my gummy bears.

Fire demons

2008-11-26T18:37:00.002-05:00

Scaring people is cool. But imagine getting scared by a fire demon. That would be so scary. Look at how freaked out this dude is.

Stars and stripes

2008-11-22T22:46:00.003-05:00

I just realized that my life up until this point has had no meaning. However, without even searching for a purpose I happened upon the little known fact there exist in this great freedom land contacts adorned with the Amurikun flag. Acquiring a pair of those beautiful stars and stripes forever is now going to be the peaches to my otherwise dreary cream.

Warsawwasraw

2008-11-22T12:29:00.001-05:00

should a could a

2008-11-05T11:57:00.007-05:00

I hate craigslist. It's nothing but a bunch of could-a-hads and should-a-beens. You wade through loads filth 'til you find that diamond in the rough, pearl of great price, one in a million and once you do someone already beat you to the punch, jumped the gun, scored the goal. Then, back in the grind after finding the next suitable option, it is always, Well, should I go with this? I mean I could-a-had...

I need strobes.

Intense

2008-11-03T22:29:00.001-05:00

Keeping 'em coming

2008-10-18T08:29:00.004-04:00

Virgin Mary In Grilled Cheese Apparition Simulacrum, 2008
Ink on Paper, 5.75x4.75"

Reputed to be a blessing, bringing fortune and luck this holy sandwich features the Virgin Mary Mother of God. After taking a bite, sandwich maker, Diane saw the Virgin Mary staring up at her. Fourteen years later, the sandwich still has not gone moldy. Miraculously, nothing was done to preserve it, or rather, no human intervention has preserved it. It was simply placed in a regular plastic case with cotton. Not a hoax.

Up for bid is an original drawing of this divine manifestation of the Virgin Mary with mystical power by artist, Erik Dalzen. The drawing is still in pristine condition. It has not deteriorated or anything. Artist believes to have been blessed since drawing it. Winning bidder will receive the actual physical drawing, blessings may follow. India ink on Strathmore acid free 70 lb drawing paper. The drawing measures 5.75x4.75 inches. Unique. Signed and dated on the back.

Commodities

2008-10-16T10:47:00.002-04:00

I have just launched a new project entitled Commodities. The project is made up of photographs and drawings. The individual pieces will be exhibited for short periods of time on eBay, while the project itself will continue into perpetuity. To celebrate the launch there are four pieces up right now.

I have also started an accompanying blog where you can read the project statement, follow the exhibition schedule, and keep track of the project progression, thecommodities.blogspot.com.

Andrea Modica Treadwell Signed 1st Ed 1996, 2008
Digital Chromogenic Print, 1/10, 8x12"

chef

2008-10-11T11:09:00.005-04:00

I have been making lots of food lately:

Blueberry flax pancakes (sans blueberries, plus banana)
RAW Keylime pie
Avocado/banana smoothies
Jam House Smash up (Mashed sweet potatoes, plantains, potatoes, and garlic)
Potato broccoli soup
Tomato curry
Mac hates cheese
Plantain & Sweet potato soup
Portabella plantain stir fry over red quinoa

Sunday drawings

2008-09-14T15:57:00.004-04:00

from Sundays not unlike today.

two kernels

2008-09-12T15:14:00.003-04:00

Today for lunch I had a pot of popcorn and a piece of corn on the cob. It would be better described as corn off the cob because I cut it all off before I ate it. The weird thing is that while eating the popcorn I dropped one kernel on the ground and following that I did the same thing with the corn. One kernel of each. Crazy.

I did some drawings yesterday. I will be following up with several more today.

Besides being productive, another thing that has made me happy, is riding my bike around. It is so fast. I have cut my commute time in half. I don't have to spend money on a metro card, or crowd into subways, or wait on stalled trains. I rode across the Manhattan bridge two days ago. It was my first time commuting into the City. It made all my errands there so much more exciting and quick. I was all over the place. I returned home via the Williamsburg bridge. That was pretty swell too.

Amidst my errands was a stop at the photo lab. I got the images from a couple of weeks ago processed. The feeling of dropping off film and waiting in anticipation is so great. Digital has nothing on that. I am hoping to make prints early next week from both the 4x5s and digital files. With those in hand in addition to the new drawings I will be getting all set for the unveiling...

Working

2008-08-29T23:30:00.004-04:00

Blogging was getting me down and so I quit. When I say blogging, I am mainly referring to reading blogs, since my own blog has never leached too much of my time. Megs Again got me hooked on Reader and the list of blogs I was following would continually grow. I would have to check it repeatedly throughout the day just so I could keep the number of unread blogs at a minimum. I sought out blogs as a way follow art, establish some sense of community with other photographers, and keep in touch with friends. More than anything though blogging kept me from doing my own work or using my time well. I am happy to report that I have 316 unread blogs. These last couple of weeks have been great to refocus on personal projects, ride my bike, and enjoy C.

Today for instance, I have spent most of the day photographing and did some drawing too. I transformed my living room into a studio. It is amazing what a window and a roll of seamless can do, but there was more transforming done, much more. I have several new projects in the works. It is such an odd feeling to begin a new project. It can seem so brilliant to myself but it is hard to determine how others will receive it. I am usually taciturn in terms of sharing a project during it's inception. As such, I end up debating myself whether there is any merit to my efforts. That has hindered many a project but I am trying to get beyond that. My current focus is production. I don't want to have cycles where I make work and then stop. I want to be continually pushing ideas and developing projects. Taking my time back from the computer has been wonderful.

2008-06-16T12:25:00.004-04:00

I would like to see Moyra Davey's work in person. I can only find a few of her images online, but I like them a lot. This is my favorite.

Untitled (Glad), 1999

It turns out she is going to be in a group show, Mildred's Lane, at Alexander Gray Associates opening in two days. She also recently released a book, Long Life Cool White, that I am interested in seeing.

Matt Leines

2008-06-09T13:06:00.003-04:00

Matt Leines is really good. I don't know if he has a web site proper but you can see some of his work here, here, here, here (followed by some clicking).

If you think spending money is cool, you can do some of that, here, getting yourself a nifty zine full of his drawings.

On print and in line

2008-06-06T15:59:00.005-04:00

I am please to have had some work featured in a couple of publications somewhat recently. The first is Taco Bell Drawing Club Volume III. It actually came out a few months ago. It features the work of members of The Taco Bell Drawing Club. I have several drawings included in it. Here are some spreads:

Guess which ones are mine.

More recently released, was Issue Two of Crafty Magazine. I have a photograph and collage in it. See them here.
Thanks Jason and Eirian.

New number

2008-06-05T16:14:00.003-04:00

Blogging has been dead for awhile or rather my blog has been dead for awhile now. I am back though. In the mean time I got married in Utah, went on a honey moon to San Francisco, helped Carrie move with me back to New York, rented an apartment in Brooklyn, got some free furniture off the curb and from some friends of friends, got published, made some delicious vegan treats, and purchased a new cell phone with a new number. If you would like that number send me an email.

Updated

2008-04-23T10:24:00.004-04:00

William Lamson has updated his web site.
Still from Actions, 9/32

Exquisite pain

2008-04-06T23:23:00.005-04:00

I just finished reading Exquisite pain, by Sophie Calle. It is a remarkable book. It blends photography, literature, and graphic design in unique and evocative way. All the distinct elements flow together in a symphonic sort of beauty and pain. It is a story of intense personal anguish and the mingling of other's stories to bring about recovery. The effects of the dissonant elements can be summed up in the appropriate title, Exquisite pain. Everything from the letter press cover, the odd book dimensions, the red, and the flow of pictures and text convey a sense of charm and appeal that is tinged with suffering, defeat, loss, and a strange sort of comfort throughout it all.

The book follows Calle's 92 day countdown to the end of a love affair and the three months following, sharing her story of suffering. Additionally, she accustomed to inquiring of others, "When did you suffer most?" Those accounts are coupled with Calle's throughout the days of her recovery.

Reading the various accounts incited in me a desire to write out my own story of exquisite pain. It is something I have written about before, on several different occasions, but once again I felt the need to write out my memories. Though I wouldn't mind to include what I wrote in the book, I still feel some hesitancy to include it on a blog so I have included a more ambiguous account that I wrote several years ago.

Wait
I wanted the stars to fall. I wanted the roads to burn. I wanted the night’s light to wax red. I wanted the world to wait.
But they didn’t, and they didn’t, and it didn’t, and it wouldn’t. The cars rolled by, the sun arose, the telephones rang, but you never got up.

Flesh slugs feast your eyes on this,

2008-04-06T19:04:00.003-04:00

The best cartoon there ever was and the entire thing can be found on youtube.

See?

2008-03-30T01:37:00.004-04:00

2008

New updated

2008-03-11T10:52:00.007-04:00

Sometimes there comes an actor, artist, song, or movie that is so incredible that everyone falls in love. I am speaking of Patrick Swayze, that actor that made the whole world cry, in Ghost, at the penny part. There is a beautiful new body of work, Nine Portraits of Patrick Swayze, by some of my favorite artists, New Catalogue, featuring none other than the man behind the ghost. Furthermore, the New Catalogue web site has been significantly updated with new work in Tiger Afternoon as well as several new bodies of work, many of which are not photographic. So if you still haven't checked out their work go have a look and if you have seen it, it is high time you check back.

A. Hitler and D. Eckart: Obersalzberg to Hoher Goll No. 1

Sitting in Kitchen

Note - I did not feature any of the Patrick Swayze work here. It should be enjoyed as a whole, so go to the web site and click the appropriate tab.
For more on New Catalogue.

De grassa

2008-03-10T12:14:00.006-04:00

I found myself surprised the other night. I walked in to my building, went to pick up my mail, and there was this big yellow envelope sitting near all the post boxes. I took a peak at the label and sure enough it was for me. Wow! I sure wasn't expecting anything. I looked at the return label and it hit me. I had completely forgotten. I ran up to my apartment, that's five flights mind you, and cut that letter open like a pig. But rather, these were the entrails I pulled out,

Stray Dog, Palm Beach, Aruba, 2007

Friend and sometimes boss, Ofer Wolberger, has been giving away prints through his blog. He sends a print to the person that emails him coinciding with the number print he is currently giving away. In my case it was the third print being given away and I was the third person to email him. It is an interesting twist on how to give away the prints. I wonder what is going to happen when he gets up into the 50s or so, will the images ever be given away?

The Awesome Best

2008-03-08T21:44:00.007-05:00

William Lamson's work hit me like a jackknife into a swimming pool. It is so good. I had previously seen a few examples of his images from Me In America but I had never seen any of his video work. I happened upon his website and there is so much great work. I can't link directly to any of my favorite pieces, cause his website is flash, but they include Me In America, Vital Capacity and William Tell (in New Work), and Animal (in Video Animation). Check out those pieces and explore everything else on his site.

San Clemente, California, from Me In America

I often get bored by video work, or maybe I just haven't been exposed to enough, but Lamson's work is really enjoyable. The only other video work I have liked this much is William Wegmen's early work. You can check out an earlier posting on that, here. What I like about the two is that they create fairly short pieces that keep you engaged in the work and they often incorporate humor. I think of humor as sort of an easter egg in art, it can be a nice little bonus to the viewing experience.

Video still from Vital Capacity

Ala Pucha

2008-03-03T09:49:00.002-05:00

I miss this.

2008-02-18T00:44:00.006-05:00

Crop Circle, 2008

++--

2008-01-21T20:54:00.002-05:00

Previously on Robot Says

The Abominable Snowman, 2007

and new today...

See Monster, 2007

The Shreik of the Mutilated

2008-01-16T20:19:00.001-05:00

Probably the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. I have been watching this about five times a day for the last couple of days.

Father, Mother, Child

2008-01-14T22:16:00.002-05:00

2007

Self Less Portraits

2008-01-13T19:58:00.002-05:00

These next couple of images fit into a body of work I am just beginning or more an idea I am beginning to toy with. I don't know if it will ever turn into a full body of work. Any, its tentative name is Self Less Portraits. Let me know what you think.

Abacate, 2007

Magenta, 2007

Does anyone know how I place an image caption directly under my images? I have seen it done on other peoples blogs.

Art works

2008-01-09T20:35:00.001-05:00

I have aquired some art work recently that I am happy about. The least recent was the Brian Ulrich print from 20x200.

More recently are some drawings by Jason Polan. This first from his Drawing Project. It is a great project where he gives away a drawing each day to the first person to email him after the days drawing is posted on the project blog. After many tries and one mistaken win I had a real win. Drawing #38, Line Plant. I also came by a couple other drawings and other goodies by Jason, two of which are featured below.

I am excited for the day that I get all these puppies framed and up on my walls. I hope to amass museums worth of prints, drawing, paintings, and what have you. Being broke though sure isn't making that easier. However!!, anyone interested in trading photographs or anything else hit me up. I love trading.

Hiatus no more

2008-01-08T23:46:00.002-05:00

So after my brief hiatus I am back with news, pictures, other news, and some other stuff.

The first mindblower...I am engaged! Hooray! I purposed on New Years Eve after a surprise, romantic, candlelit, vegan dinner. After dessert I pulled the old slide across the floor on your knees bit and presented the ring. She said yes. More news on that will follow in the coming months. Please email me your address if you would like to receive an invitation.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I plan on showing more work here on the blog ranging from outtakes to new work to work in progress. Expect a lot of that in the following days/weeks. I am excited about this featured piece because it is my first triptych. I have had a bit of an obsession with diptychs and triptychs but have never really had a good application for them in my work, until this piece that is.

Courtyard, 415 E 73rd St New York, New York, 2007

I eat so much garbage

2007-12-14T01:35:00.003-05:00

These

2007-12-12T21:50:00.001-05:00

I made some new friends today. Better than that though I became an official member of the Taco Bell Drawing Club, New York Chapter. See:

It was fun drawing, people watching, and hanging out with new people. I borrowed my picture away or else I would have put it up here, just know it was real cool. Jason Polan is sort of the leader, though I don't know if he has an official title. He has a lot of cool projects underway.

I also wandered over to check out the Fall '07 Hey Hot Shot opening, which I failed to get into. I met Carlo Van de Roer, one of the winners and had a good talk with him about conceptual photography. There is talk of some kind of photo club, which would be really great, but it will have to wait until after the holidays.

Over all it was nice to get out and talk with people about art and the different things that they are doing. It is reassuring to hear that other people, who are doing good things, are also faced with rejection, lack of responses and other disinterest. Better than though was to know that success does come, often in unexpected ways. I am still waiting for more of that. It is also good to have more awesome stuff to look forward to.

From me archives

2007-12-07T15:21:00.002-05:00

Holiday Flowers, 2006

The Majestic Richard Misrach

2007-12-01T22:56:00.001-05:00

Artist lectures have always been a real treat for me. I love hearing about other people's work and any thoughts they have on it whether it is specific commentary about their work or unrelated tangents that their thoughts may often follow. I was very excited when I heard that Richard Misrach would be speaking about his latest work and book On the Beach. I marked the day down in my calendar and showed up an hour early the day of to make sure I got a good seat.

I have to say though, I wish I wouldn't have gone. This isn't to say that the presentation was bad, he was unpleasant, the work wasn't good or anything like that. What happened was the magician revealed his trick or more specifically his source of inspiration. That tied his work irrevocably to one specific event, and the accompanying imagery of it.

His work is beautiful depictions of, most frequently, solitary individuals interacting with nature in the mass oceanic expanse. The individuals are so small, that even in the massive 16x20" book, they become difficult to distinguish from the surrounding water. The seascape is gorgeous but tinged with uncertainty. The people depicted could either be enjoying a swim or struggling for air. The first time I picked up the book as I leafed through the pages I had a chill run over me. Feeling of frailty and helplessness are definitely prevalent in an element so immense, powerful, and foreign. That said the uncertainty and the chill were my own.

I respect Richard's candidacy during his presentation, or at least the idea of being candid. He talked of having employed digital manipulation for the first time, he shared notes from his journal, and he said what inspired the shots. In this instance knowing his source of inspiration has taken away the subtleties of the foreboding connotations, while not offering insights that the pictures alone didn't have. The images now carry the weight tragedy and horror. The body of work has become iconic of the events preceding it and I will no longer see the one without seeing the other.

Photocrappy

2007-11-30T03:17:00.003-05:00

Photography has got me down a bit these days. I am frustrated with all the post production work involved in taking a picture.

I prefer to shoot transparencies on a 4x5 for a couple of reasons. Principally, because it is slow. I like having to previsualize an image, to have an idea, and then to set about to make it happen. I like to work meticulously and deliberately, making each shot worth the five dollars it costs to make. I love the quality of the materials. I love holding a transparency and seeing it's luminous translation of an idea to a palpable object and seeing the way glows on a light table. That, unfortunately,is where my excitement peaks, that moment when I pick up my transparencies from the lab, lay them on the light table, and relish in the glow. From there unpleasantries abound.

To do anything with a transparency you have to scan it and either you buy a many thousands of dollars scanner, computer, etcetera and do it yourself or you spend hundreds of dollars turning emulsion into pixels. Not only is scanning costly it also quickly amasses gigabytes and by thus requires mass storage space plus mass back up storage space. You then have to run it through the whatsits and whizzles of the computer world, on your expensive, hot rodded computer to get it to be print ready. Then finding a printer, deciding on a framing method, size, quantity, etcetera, etcetera, and on top of that find a venue to show the final product. Ugghh, the magic wears thin.

I guess most of this revolves around having money, which I lack. I end up doing most everything myself on equipment borrowed or by providing services on trade. With the remaining bits I research excessively to get the best bang for my buck. I suppose if you have money you can pay the bones to get a beautiful scan made, a large print produced and framed, and own the equipment to do and store everything in between. If only...

My loves for the medium still greatly out weigh my frustrations so I will continue to photograph and struggle to get those images up on a wall. I am however, beginning to dabble in other media. I have been drawing, planning sculptures, and thinking of painting. I want quicker turn around times. It is a misconception that photography is fast. A painting is fast once you finish it you never have to think about it again. While the gallery wall eludes me I plan to show more work on screen, here and on my website of works or series in progress, individual shots, or works in other media.

Like this,

The Abominable Snowman, 2007

So until I strike it rich, any tips on scanning, printing, and framing with no money and no equipment will be graciously accepted. Any advice on exhibiting is also welcome. So stay tuned as I begin to pull more work from the hard drives, dvds, portfolios, and elsewhere (if I ever get them scanned) for your viewing pleasure.

More on lying

2007-11-28T15:26:00.001-05:00

I think the difference between a lie and a story is that a story utilizes the trappings and appearance of truth for the interest of the listener as well as of the teller. A story has in it neither gain nor loss. But a lie is a device for profit or escape. I suppose if that definition is strictly held to, then a writer of stories is a liar––if he is financially fortunate.

-John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Emmett's Bloody Nose

2007-11-18T23:17:00.001-05:00

by Sally Mann makes me want to do nothing but photograph portraits of people with bloody noses.

I have spent the last several minutes thinking about how I could do that. Self-inflicted? Volunteers?

Collective

2007-11-18T21:57:00.001-05:00

Throwing away the notion of a photograph as a single moment in time photographers Ken Kitano and Doug Keyes photograph hundreds of frames to formulate one collective image.

Ken Kitano, in his project our face, photographs many people of similar age or occupation then exposes the multitude of negatives, individually onto one sheet of paper. The end result is a collective portrait.

Doug Keyes, in Collective Memories, photographs every page of a book with the images then layered forming one image and a collective rendering of a book's worth of knowledge.

Wang Qingsong

2007-11-18T00:40:00.001-05:00

Wang Qinqsong has great photographs related to Americanization/modernization of China.

Aspiring Hot Shot

2007-11-07T21:15:00.001-05:00

Last night I entered the Jen Bekman, Hey, Hot Shot competition. To my surprised I was featured on the Hot Shot Blog today. Thanks Niki. Check out the preview there and if you are in New York make sure you stop by the gallery, check out the Beth Dow show, and vote for me.

A Joachim Schmid Experience

2007-11-07T20:56:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago on one of my aimless browsing trips at Strand Bookstore I came across, Joachim Schmid: Photoworks 1982-2007. I was captivated with the book and with Joachim Scmid. I began formulating a review of it in my head to later blog about. However, in the meantime I stumbled across 5B4 and saw Jeff beat me to it. I was discouraged and decided not to write anything about it, but my experience today changed my mind. And seeing as how Jeff already wrote background on Schmid's books I can skip to the good stuff. So if you aren't familiar with Schmid's work or haven't read the blog at 5B4 go read it before you finish here.

In brief what I thought of Joachim Schmid: Photoworks 1982-2007.: It functions as a great introduction to Schmid's work. There are great reproductions and a good sampling of images from his various projects. It also has a number of essays which shed further light on the work. It is a definite read for those who aren't familiar with Schmid. However, reading about his fascination with artist books and the number of different works he has put out made me want to own those rather than a second generation compilation. It's like a greatest hits album, who wants to own one when you already have the bands entire collection. Well I didn't own any of Schmid's books but Photoworks made me want to.

Sadly, I have not been able to find Very Miscellaneous which is one of my favorite projects. Today though I picked up a copy of Belo Horizonte, Praça Rui Barbosa and Tausend Himmel. Both books are intimate little collections. They are in size about 4"x5.5" The photographs fill the entire page, front and back, and there are artist statements at the end of each. I have been increasingly interested in books of this type that are simple, inexpensive, and accessible to a large audience. Schmid has been quite prolific in producing works that fit that description.

Belo Horizonte, Praça Rui Barbosa is a wonderful little book, I am biased of course given my affinity for the humble folk of Brasil. It features found portraits of humble Brazilians. The images were originally taken by street photographers for the customers to be used on id cards and government documents. After prints are given to the customers the negatives are discarded. Schmid spent time in Brasil and made the habit of collecting the discarded negatives before they were swept away by street cleaning crews.

Tausend Himmel features photographs of helicopter noise. Schmid suffered from hyperacusis and as a type of therapy turned the irritating sound of the helicopters into something positive by photographing it.

If finding those two books today wasn't enough having a person Joachim Schmid type experience sure topped things off. After purchasing the books, doing some errands, and visiting some galleries I began heading for home. When en route I happened upon some negatives on the ground! It was a-a-a-amazing (writing amazing like that is one of my current favorite things). I saw them. My heart skipped a couple-o-beats. I lunged for them like a chubby boy for sweet, sweet candy and when I arose I was just as happy. There was a lady on the corner and I was surprised that she hadn't beat me to them. She wasn't interested. I was glowing from there on home. And for your viewing pleasure, here is one of the shots:

One final note, the previous post, The Institute for the Reprocessing of Used Photographs, also happens to be one of Joachim Schmid's projects. I published it below uncredited to give readers a feel of what it may have been like to have come across that ad in a newspaper, where it originally appeared. The project was hugely successful and served as source material for several of his following projects, quite the genius hoax if you ask me.

New Catalogue

2007-11-06T14:29:00.001-05:00

New Catalogue is a group made up by photographers Luke Batten and Jonathan Sadler. Their work is a-a-a-awesome.

Using a methodology that both parallels and gently ridicules the concept of stock photo agencies, New Catalogue has created a series of original editions that tap into popular culture while expanding on traditional photographic genres. - from their website

They printed a small run book in 2005 with Nazraeli Press (only 500 copies), titled Big Ten Co-Eds, Preppy Girls, and The Lost Cheerleaders. The book is beautifully made, large (11x14"), with 30 four color illustrations. In addition there is virtually no text apart from the titles, the images literally fill the pages. The book includes three series: Lost Cheerleaders, Preppy Girls With BB Gun (shown above), Big Ten Co-Eds With Ski Mask (shown below).

On first glance at Big Ten Co-Eds with Ski Masks you might think the Zapatistas have infiltrated ivy league campuses but I assure you this isn't the case. The images show college age girls in ski masks alone in campus settings. The images have a somber and satirical feel. Such characteristics can be found throughout their other series as well in subtler degrees.

Amazingly enough you can still find copies of this book. The deluxe edition from Nazraeli includes a print and is limited to 50 copies, it is $500 (find it under limited editions). Online Nazraeli only has the deluxe edition listed but contact them and you might be able to get the normal $65 edition. Otherwise you can find it at photoeye.

They have a divers selection of projects on their website, all of which are quite excellent. They include (in addition to the aforementioned selections from the book): Ivy League - Yale (pictured above), Ivy League - Princeton, Boy Recording Ambient Sounds For His Independent Film (first image in entry), A. Hitler and D. Eckart: Obersalzberg to Hoher Goll, and Tiger Afternoon.

Von Cornhole strikes!!

2007-11-02T13:12:00.001-04:00

You thought the Situationalists had some good graffiti. These are all within a couple of block of my house:

Believe in Jesus

a negative x a negative = a positive

there are three angels
me you & us

i wouldn't want to start a counter revolution

camera

This is the train to Pokipe

Cinema is dead

History repeats itself

Crewed up!

Huge Nike

Are you bored?

Dirt

Anthony loves Marisa

Pyramid scheme

Who likes gold?

Spring break

Lovers in motion

College rulez!

Lemon

You go girl!

It's about time I was blown away

2007-10-30T22:13:00.001-04:00

So it has been too long since I was really excited about a record. It is with great pleasure that I announce that xbxrx - Wars has put an end to said streak. They tread some new ground on this record, changing the vocals up a bit, a lot compared to their last album Sixth in Sixes. The vocals are not completely dissimilar to their earlier work though such as that featured on Love Songs for the Blind. Regardless, the record has multiple listenability to it and I have been gladly going back for more. You can here one song off of Wars here and a couple of song off Sounds, their latest and first instrumental release. You can buy Sounds, in its fairly limited (500) vinyl format at important records, but you better hurry cause they are almost out. You can buy Wars and other things at polyvinylrecords.

Well aint that swell

2007-10-30T20:58:00.002-04:00

I really like this photograph.

I really like lot of Brian Ulrich's photographs. I came across his work a couple of months ago while working on my common spaces series. I was researching other who had done related things. Brian's work has since served as a source of inspiration and admiration.

Beyond his photographic work his blog has served as great resource to finding other great photographers. He has extensive lists of links to photographers, artists, and blogs that demonstrate a lot of great talent of both emerging and established artists working today.

So after enjoying his work, his site, and everything linked to it for sometime I decided to thank him and plug my own work in an email. Some time went by and I thought big surprise another person doesn't respond to an email. Last night, however, my eyes eagerly devoured his response and it wasn't any form letter response mind you, it was thoughtful, addressed my questions, and ever offered some feedback about my work. So if anyone needed a testament that the art world isn't just a bunch of aholes, let this be a witness to you. Brian Ulrich is a great photographer and a swell guy. Check out his work, take advantage of his blog, and enjoy.

The Institute for the Reprocessing of Used Photographs

2007-10-29T10:25:00.001-04:00

First General Collection of Used Photographs

Year in and year out an unimaginable number of photographs are produced worldwide. Virtually every day each of us enlarges this gigantic mountain of photographs, without giving the consequences a second thought. But while photography seems a harmless leisure pursuit, the chemicals contained in all photographs pose enormous dangers to our health. What‘s more, photographs in such quantities increase visual pollution and undermine our thinking power—to say nothing of the moral dangers they pose for our children.
In these conditions it would be best if we stopped making photographs altogether—but in many cases this is hardly possible. Therefore, it is essential to professionally dispose of all photographs once they are no longer needed. Experts from East and West have warned us for decades about the impending, catastrophic consequences of the photo boom, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears among those responsible in industry and politics. Today billions of used photographs are stored improperly in homes and businesses, waiting for desperately needed recycling facilities.
The Institute for the Reprocessing of Used Photographs, privately founded in 1990, offers a clear path out of this seemingly inescapable situation. The Institute maintains all facilities necessary to professionally reprocess photos of all kinds—or, in hopeless cases, dispose of them ecologically. We collect used, abandoned and unfashionable photographs in black and white or color, including instant photographs, photo booth strips, entire photo albums, contact sheets, test strips, negatives and slides, as well as damaged and shredded items, in both small and large quantities.
Remember, used photographs do not belong in the household garbage—they need special disposal. Many photographs can serve a new and useful purpose after reprocessing. For the sake of our environment, send your used photographs to the Institute for the Reprocessing of Used Photographs.
Participation in this recycling program is guaranteed free of charge!

"I'm not so interested in art per se.

2007-10-26T01:04:00.001-04:00

It's only one occupation, and it hasn't been my whole life, far from it. You see, I've decided that art is a habit-forming drug. It's only one occupation, and it hasn't been my whole life, far from it. You see I've decided that art is a habit-forming drug. That's all it is, for the artist, for the collector, for anybody connected with it. Art has absolutely no existence as veracity, as truth. People always speak of it with this great, religious reverence, but why should it be so revered? It's a drug, that's all. The more I go on the more I'm convinced of it... I'm afraid I'm an agnostic in art. I just don't believe in it with all the mystical trimmings. As a drug it's probably very useful for a number of people, very sedative, but as religion it's not even as good as God."

-Marcel Duchamp

Website question

2007-10-24T12:39:00.000-04:00

While working on my website I tried to figure out how to organize the images in the simplest way. What I wanted to do was have one html page, for the projects, that would cycle through the images when you clicked the 'next' or 'previous' buttons. In other words, the only content that would changing would be the image and not the entire html page. I couldn't figure out how to do that so in the end I made one html page for each image. I didn't even think that what I wanted to do was possible but I lo have seen it in action. Nina Berman does it on her site. I think it is done with javascript but I don't know any more than that. Help please.

Action Pointapping

2007-10-24T01:32:00.002-04:00

How I wish, I wish...

2007-10-18T23:42:00.001-04:00

that I would have bought this picture.

BAM!

2007-10-11T22:05:00.001-04:00

It has recently come to my attention that The Darjeeling Limited was, hun ha, limited in its release. I feel somewhat obliged under such circumstances to provide a review of said film. "That was so stupid!" How's that? Well that is what the lady next to me had to say about it at the film's conclusion. I disagree. Take Wes Anderson's staple ingredients; dysfunctional family relations, tainted love, self-referential cameo appearances, great cinematography, meditations on death and a smoking soundtrack, mix 'em all together set it in India and BAM! you have the Darjeeling Limited.

The DL scores in the upper end of Wes Anderson's movies. The characters are well portrayed. There is a pretty good dynamic between the brothers, played by Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, and Jason Schwartzman. My appreciation for Owen Wilson has declined a bit after the various poor roles that he has played (and I haven't even watched most of them). However, the spot he dug out of my heart in Bottle Rocket allows me to give him plenty of second, third, and fourth chances. I really liked Adrien Brody, and thought him a good addition to the old Wes Anderson repertoire. Jason Scwartzman is great. Waris Ahluwalia is great. Kumar is great and so many others.

These days everyone's a DJ and let me tell you if Wes Anderson were DJing even I would be going out. His movies and soundtracks maintain a mutually elevating relationship that few other films employ so masterfully. His movies and soundtracks do to one another what a book based movie does to the your personal imagery from that book, but in a good way. The DL is no exception here. It features a beautiful soundtrack that is integrated wonderfully into the film.

Coupled with the movie's release is a short film titled, Hotel Chevalier, that is a prelude to DL. Get this, it's free to download through iTunes. You might have to access it through the website though so click the link above. Hopefully, you can get a taste of what you're missing to last you until it's eventual release in your respective locations.

One more friendly gesture from me to my unfortunate peeps in Utah, who have been deprived this masterpiece, is that there is a free screening of DL in SLC on Oct. 23. Look for the link on the DL web site to RSVP to reserve yourself a spot or two.

DIY website

2007-10-10T17:42:00.001-04:00

At last! I have finally completed my website! C-c-c-c-check it out-t-t-t-t, here. There could be some bugs or things to work out so if you encounter any please let me know or if you have any other feedback to offer that is also welcome.

I thought I would go through the steps to building it in case anyone needs tips on making their own. If you don't care about reading about how to build a website stop reading two sentences ago.

1 - I designed the layout of the main menu and project gallery in illustrator on a page 1024x768. The layout included the text that would be used to make the buttons. The normal state is the black lettering you see for each option. The rollover state is the text with the blue outline.

2 - I copied those various elements into photoshop/imageready where I created buttons, using slices. I exported a full web page with image ready, but in the end trashed it all and only kept the buttons (two gifs to create a rollover state). The imageready page was messy and would have been harder to make future corrections.

3 - Based off of my original design I created the website from scratch in dreamweaver. Dreamweaver is super easy if you know a little about html. I only used tables, rollover states, and a few other minor tools to build everything. You can download a free 30 day trial of dreaweaver if you don't have it.

I also looked at a lot of web sites to figure out some of the not so obvious things that you wouldn't think about, like key wording meta data. You can download someone's webpage (html only) and look at how they built it, simply right click on the page and select 'save page as'. From there you can open the page with dreamweaver or textedit to view the code.

4 - For hosting and a domain name I used doteasy. It is only 25 bones a year, can't find cheaper than that.

Other tidbits -
Make jpegs about 100kb. In photoshop view files at actual pixel size that you plan to show then when you choose the compression quality reduce it as much as you can before you begin to notice visible pixelation.
You can use Google Analytics to track visitors.
The doteasy email seems a bit annoying so I forward all my emails to my already existing gmail account. That way I don't have to worry about maxing out storage space or dealing with another program.

That is basically it. In all it will only cost you $25 and you get to learn all sort of new stuff. Like I said you can download free trials of any of the programs I listed if you don't already have them. My instructions are pretty minimal, but it might help start you in the right direction. If you want more information about anything please call or email.

Reasons to love...

2007-09-26T09:51:00.001-04:00

...New York - because I received four cameras for f-f-f-free, including a Hasselblad and a Rolleiflex!!

...freelancing - because I have so much free time.

...free time - because I am taking so many pictures.

...dreamweaver - because with it's help my web site is nearly completed and all these new pictures will soon be available for everyone's viewing pleasure.

...walls of death - because I got elbowed in the ribs, or punched in the ribs, of head butted in the ribs, or something.

Don't say I never did anything for you.

2007-08-22T12:39:00.001-04:00

Spaced.

All in a week

2007-08-21T23:09:00.002-04:00

I was punched in the face. There is something romantic about that phrase. Black eyes. Swollen lips. Gashing wounds. Character enhancers, if you will. Conversation starters too. When I say I have been punched in the face what I really mean is that I chipped my tooth. I suppose you could chip your tooth from being punched in the face but that is not my case. I never thought a chipped tooth was one of those things that just happened, but it did. I have no accompanying story to it. It just happened.

Some other conversation starters for the week include: my aching eye balls, fever, and a hernia. I have the flu. I have experienced a fever throughout last couple of days with accompanying heat flashes and cold chills. In addition, my body has been so achy. The remainders of this bodily ache are my aching eye balls. In all the flus I have had I do not remember a ache such as this, another unexplainable.

Out of all these bodily ailments though the worst would have to be the hernia. I have been reading up about them online and they are incurable the only options are do nothing or surgery. I am not sure that is what I have, but it is not looking so good. I have a lump. It is not too big, but it is a lump. It would appear that my intestines are ichin' to come out of my stomach, for what reason? I know not. Or maybe it's just a spider bite.

Today's discoveries

2007-08-11T23:32:00.001-04:00

Today has been chuck full of new discoveries. The first was a form of shredding like you've never know shredded before. It was yoing at the New York State Yo-Yo Contest. In my earlier years I dabled a bit in yoing myself. I could shred a bit. I even blew some minds, but my mind was officially blow today by some crazy cats. National champions from Italy, Czech Republic, Brazil, and the US were in attendance among others. Yoing is evolving faster than single celled organisms in a cesspool of their own filth and if you haven't seen it recently you haven't seen it at all. Here is a little sampling of the quality of shred I am talking,

That is Paul Han the 2006 US Nation Champion (he was there today).

Other discoveries: The Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Yto Barrada, Valérie Belin, Anne Collier, Gregory Crewdson, Anne Hardy, and John Stezaker. These are all photographers with whom I have enjoyed a pleasant first acquaintance, with their work that is, not them personally. I am going to look into them more in the near future, and perhaps blog about them after. But for now, if you are into photography, you can start looking into them too and we can talk.

The next discovery was a, "great buy! 99¢," it even says so right on the can. I was yearning for a cool beverage, something like a nice cold pinã colada, when I saw Arizona Grapeade. What really drew me to it was the big can for a little price. I gave it a shot. I continue to give it a shot as I type. Pause...

I am going to call the last discovery a future discovery because it hasn't really happened yet. As I was purchasing my soda the cashier was reading The Full Metal Alchemist! Talk about omens, I sort of think that my craving for a drink happened just so that I would walk into that store at that moment to discover that cashier reading that graphic novel. I mean as far a discoveries go grapeade in and of itself isn't much to blog about but grapeade leading to a new form of Full Metal Alchemist pleasure now that is something. A few weeks ago I was so thoroughly excited about The Full Metal Alchemist that I was going to blog about it. The blog was going to be about my two favorite things about New York. The first was going to be FMA and the second would have been Hot Fuzz. The blog would have been pretty funny because it was to be framed as my two favorite things about NY even though those two things don't have anything to do with NY except that that is where I found them. So anyway, back to the present, I axed the cashier about the graphic novel in comparison to the anime. He said they are quite different and don't compare well. The novel was adapted a lot to work as an anime. I am very pleased with this information because now I am going to have hours more of entertainment from the written series which is 16+volumes. So to any other fans, I will see you in the soft chairs at the bookstore.

So fast

2007-07-21T16:33:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I move so fast it amazes me. Like today, I was eating some delicious pizza, roasted vegetable pizza, and wanted to pour myself some water from a jug into my drinking glass, the one with the cat's corn hole. I was eating this pizza plateless, and so with nowhere to place the half eaten slice I utilized my mouth as a third hand to simply hold the pizza, no eating whatsoever. I proceeded to pour the water but the pizza was too hot. I opened my mouth, the pizza fell, I stopped pouring the water, put the jug down, and caught the pizza right side up, spilling only a few drops of water.

So big deal right, but get this one, a couple weeks ago I was working on a photo shoot in an abandoned school. I was moving a v-flat (a big piece of foam board about 6'x12') and I hit an uncovered fluorescent light fixture. The bulb dropped, I managed the v-flat so good, freed a hand, and caught the bulb without a moment to spare before it shattered on the ground, releasing what would have been toxic fumes onto the crowded set.

Vervet Monkeys

2007-07-09T04:21:00.002-04:00

You ever seen a vervet monkey? I have. I can tell you this, if you leave any windows open they will poop on your stuff. Ask Levan or me.

"Why don't you tell me about it," you say.

So there are these bunk beds, right? Only without a top mattress, just the wooden slats. The monkeys you see, curious as cats, hungry as rats, they will hop, climb, and squeeze into any place they can. These places include, our rooms! In the rooms the monkeys did unseen things and left unwelcome evidence of their stay.

On my bunk bed, on the top, the slats, I left three ripe bananas in a clear plastic bag. Previously, the bananas had been in my backpack but not wanting them to overripe or stink up my bag I put them on the slats.

That evening on returning to my room I noticed an odd, poopy, boogery thing on my book, Bluebeard by K.V. I also noticed my bag of bananas was missing. On the floor, under the adjacent bed, I found the bag, full of holes with the bananas mushed inside. It was a violent battle. The monkey must have struggled with the plastic to relinquish the captive fruits. Technology 1, monkey 0. Either the monkey gave up its struggle or was scared off before it could overcome the plastic devil because all three banana were still contained therein. A poopy book and some vandalized bananas, that is what the monkey left me.

This was all discovered after having laughed at Levan's story.

Levan likes tea, so much so that he kept a bag of sugar in his room. The sugar sweetens his tea any and everytime he needs his fix. The monkeys like to poop. They do it any and everywhere they happen to be. Which in this case was, sure enough, Levan's room. Upon entering the room they hung out for a while on the slats above his bed, perhaps grooming each other or eating stolen food. During this time they pooped on his bed. You see, from up above, on the top bunk, their droppings fell through the openings between the boards to arrive softly on his blankets below. If this was not enough, out of shame, custom, or sheer humor they covered these chocolaty-looking morsels in sugar, mounds of sugar! They emptied Levan's bag of sugar over the gifts they had left behind.

Think of coming across that, curious mounds or granular, white sand. Further inspection, how exactly that occurred I wish I knew, revealed so much more burried beneath. Prodding, poking, lifting, smelling, I really don't know. I laughed at his misforture though. However, I too discovered my own misfortue later. Some might call it karma.

Super Powers

2007-06-11T23:18:00.001-04:00

To this date I have discovered that I possess two super powers. The first I discovered at the young age of four, it is the power to jump through glass with minimal injury. I happened across this power one fine day in preschool. In those days we enjoyed daily recess/snack time outside Mrs C's house in the backyard. The back door of the house was a sliding glass door followed by three steps to the patio. Danny, my classmate, was a cool cat. He would jump the steps every time we went outside. I envied Danny. So on this particular fine day, out in the backyard, I returned to the house to use the bathroom. On my way back outside I decided it was high time I jumped those steps. From the bathroom to the back door was a straight shot across the dinning room. I mustered up all the speed I could and jumped. To my utter surprise someone had closed the door and I had just created an new exit through the plate glass. I sailed through the door, easily clearing the steps, and landing in a cacophonous chorus of broken glass. Talk about knocking it up a notch. I didn't cry or sustain any serious cuts. To this day it remains the coolest thing I have ever done.
My second super power is limited psychic abilities. I have suspected this power for some time, but it is in recent months that I am coming to a realization of its actuality. The first recognizably psychic instance was at the library. I had just checked out a book and as I was on my way out the library my pace flinched as I was about to cross the thieving detectors. I knew the alarm was going to sound. Sure enough the did.
Tonight was another experience. I better preface this story with some facts first: Fact, my grandmother and grandfather collected coins. Fact, all quarters pressed between 1932-1964 were silver. Fact, my grandparents taught be that bit about the quarters. Now the story: so I was in the laundromat with three loads of clothes in three machines. I inserted ten quarters into the first machine and the cycle began. I proceeded to the second machine and inserted about six quarters and as I lifted my hand with three more quarters my thoughts conjured up fleeting impressions of a silver quarter. I looked at the quarters in my hand and there in the middle of the two other quarters was a 1964 silver quarter. I am unable to control my psychic abilities. Thus far the instances have been somewhat similar, halting normal behavior with knowledge of what is about to happen or a heightened sense of what is happening. However, I hope to develop these powers in some sort of super heroic or super villainous fashion depending on the application that is more suiting to this somewhat odd combination of powers, jumping through glass and psychic instincts, that is.

some new

2007-05-27T21:39:00.002-04:00

Here are the humble beginning of a new project I have in mind. I shot them about a month ago, but probably won't continue the series for a little while cause I don't have a studio to use.

Blender

Television

Better things

2007-05-26T22:52:00.001-04:00

Often when people hear the name William Wegman they say, "who's that?" To which the other person might very well reply, "you know the silly guy that dresses dogs up like people." From there you still might get someone who simply shrugs but if you are lucky they will say , "oh yeah. That guy." That guy indeed! For a long time I too knew him only as the guy that dressed up dogs but in recent times I have come to learn of the many faces of William Wegman and I tell you I like 'em. He follows along in the Duchampian vein of things. I wish I had a vein of things, but I just ate five pieces of delicious Texas french toast and I am afraid that all I have is a full tummy. They do things better in Texas, I hear. That is why their bread is so much thicker. I also had some peanut better on my Texas french toast. I didn't used to do that. It's only since living with Johndysachelpage that I started doing that. In other news, I have been thinking about eating glass lately or glass eating as it is commonly know. Which takes me right back to another reason why I like William Wegman. You see, he has all sorts of short video segments that are quite fantastic and in one such video his dog eats glass and if a man can do it and a dog can do it then I figure, surely this guy could do it. This guy being my own ayfice. Wegman also has a bunch of paintings that begin from postcards that are really great. Such as this one:

And following are three video clips. They are not my favorite but they will give you a taste of his work, however the last clip does have the aforementioned glass eating dog.

His work can be bitingly ironic to light heartily humorous. to painfully anxious. So if you are into that you should try and find some of this work that I speak of.

Horrible Walnuts

2007-05-01T11:52:00.001-04:00

So I was eating some walnuts. With one particular nut I proceeded to bite it into tiny slivers using my front teeth. A strange thing happened. My mouth was crowded with these little slivers, but principally the area between my front teeth and my top lip, as though that was the location I chose to store my chew, tobacco that is, but my tobacco was these nuts. From this point on I was unable to swallow. The nuts seemed sticky and were difficult to move in my mouth. Not only that but there began to be a strange, subtle stinging or burning sensations along my lips and gums. To my horror these nut slivers began to scurry and craw around in my mouth. They were, in fact, tiny cockroaches. I was unable to spit them out. The stinging sensations were coming from many of them that were biting onto my skin and gums and attaching themselves. Between the cockroaches scuttling about and attaching themselves to my flesh it was nearly impossible to move them or spit them out. I began to panic and to pull at the horrible insects with my hands and to scrape at them them my nails. No matter how hard I tried and how many I cleared out there were still a few that survived, hiding themselves in the crevices of my teeth and throat. It was a horrific insectual infection and I think I went to the doctor to clear up the remaining ones.

Ultra

2007-04-26T02:01:00.001-04:00

Ultra America USA had it's first last Saturday. Before the show I would get so nervous sometimes. I thought I was going to freeze up and not remember any words or get all jell-o-ied in me knees or something. The show wasn't too frightening at all as it turned out. I felt nervous right before we went to play but once we began it wasn't bad at all. Now that is all I can think about, the band that is. I just want to practice, write more songs, and play more. The other thing I only think about is the camera I just bought. It is a Toyo 4x5 and it is mine. Too bad I can't use it yet though because I have to get a tripod and I don't have any money.

The Locust

2007-04-10T16:02:00.002-04:00

I like to see The Locust play. I haven't photographed a show in a long time. It felt pretty good to use a DSLR again. It is quite the contrast to using a large format camera. It is such a different feel but it was a good variation from what I have been concentrating on lately.

bfa show

2007-04-02T21:26:00.002-04:00

This show is the product of most of my time over the last several weeks and a lot of time in the last couple of months. Most everything is now coming together and the end is soon coming, that end being this show. All I have left now is assembling images and doing some more finishing work on poster design/space preparation and a few other things. I also received a crucial help invitation from WB, who is going to be a huge help in these last days.

Polaroids

2007-04-02T03:11:00.002-04:00

Here is some photers from my recent trip to Cool New York. Thems were with a Minolta Instant Pro, a new addition to my camera library. It is a pretty sweet polariod camera with such features as multiple exposures, times exposures, etc.

Can you stop telling me what you didn't do.

2007-03-26T18:56:00.002-04:00

Didn't ask more
didn't change her mind
didn't exchange the clothes
didn't buy a book
didn't eat much lunch
didn't walk too far
I met with him and the job will be waiting

Ana Mendieta

2007-03-19T01:14:00.001-04:00

Excerpt from 'Art and Politics' (18 Feb 1982):

I think that we all know that there are two cultures within this culture. One is the culture in which the ruling class, the reactionary class, pushes to paralyze the social development of man in an effort to have all society identify with, and serve their own interests. They banalize, mix, distort, and simplify life. They have no use for anything pure or real. They call this stylizing. In this way, they create a product, a style, which dominates mass communications, and now also the arts, in all of its manifestations. They call this cosmopolitan and international style. Believe me, friends, imperialism is not a problem of extension, but of reproduction. This is an old technique, it was not invented here. It was used in ancient times by the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans. And so, authentic cultural traditions and manifestations in the arts denounce the falsehood of the civilizing mission of the ruling class. So, to mention what I said in my opening remarks, that to me art is a matter of vocation, must seem ridiculous to the bourgeois. The risk that real culture is running today is that if the cultural institutions are governed by people who are part of the ruling class, then art can become invisible because they will refuse to assimilate it.

- Ana Mendieta

An example of her work from the series Silueta works in Iowa and Oxaca Mexico

UFOHHH!!!

2007-03-16T15:52:00.002-04:00

Part of series (2006).

Taco Free

2007-03-13T03:39:00.001-04:00

Today was marked with disappointment when I chose to eat on campus. My The Taco Bell Experience was ultra sucks. I axed for a double decker minus the outer beans plus the nacho cheese, minus the inner meat plus some inner bean. Then thems motha effas make the double decker completely normal. They didn't change anything. So I called the customer service line to report my dissatisfaction and to make it up to me they are going to send me some The Taco Bell coupons. The process is quite simple: call, complain, and get free stuff. Technically you don't even need to have purchased anything, just get the store number off of any location and include that in your complaint and free food, sick food but free.

p.s. welcome to Robot says.