September 14, 2008
Beautiful Girl
Terria died on Wednesday of this week.
She had a big impact that Elizabeth and I will not soon forget.
She was a beautiful girl.
September 12, 2008
Top 15 Criteria That Define Interactive or New Media Art
Top 15 Criteria That Define Interactive or New Media Art
My favorite:
15. It doesn't work
(via kottke.org)
September 4, 2008
I love fact Checking Articles
AP: Attacks, Praise Stretch Truth At GOP Convention.
I listened to some of the speeches from the RNC on my way home from work today and was totally outraged at most of the claims. Dispassionate fact checking always hits the spot.
September 1, 2008
Dave is a Consummate Reviewer
Last time (second of two visits) we sat in this little hallway near the men's room. My girlfriend saw a man's penis in front of a urinal. I saw a man cranking out a hot one in the stall.
I think he would have given Andy Rooney (RIP) a run for his money. Dave's beard is way cooler than Andy's eyebrows.
August 14, 2008
No Time To Be Creative
This is the most creative thing I've done in the past 2 weeks. It is an illustration drawn for a coworker of a massage technique that bruised the shit out of my neck.
My poor cat is having a really hard time since her surgery and I've been taking care of her full-time.
August 5, 2008
Nick Cave: Before and After
Before and After #41: Nick Cave
I just finished reading a biography on Nick Cave and this before and after is a great illustration of what he was like in his younger years, rebellious for the sake of rebellion, he lived to piss people off
The second photo reminds me of a neglected bass guitar I saw at Goodwill this weekend. It was dark green, beat up and rotten, with "Eat Shit" carelessly written in black, thin marker with adolescent handwriting skills.
August 1, 2008
The Big Picture
Large Hadron Collider nearly ready - The Big Picture - Boston.com
I've subscribed to this site since it started and it has never ceased to excite me.
July 30, 2008
My First Earthquake
I experienced my first earthquake yesterday, a 5.4. It was pretty scary and totally exciting. My expectations have been formed by what I've seen in movies but the actual event was very different. It was as if my apartment building was dropped into a large body of water. First there was a huge, but eerily silent vibration as if a big giant tripped and fell in our upstairs neighbor's apartment, and then the swaying back and forth like floating in a wave pool. Both E and I ran into the center of the apt and stood under the hallway doors while staring at each other with wide eyes. My first thought was "what the hell just hit our building?". We quickly figured out that we were having an earthquake and then I was suddenly worried that I had no shoes on and my toes were going to get cut off.
The apt. silently swayed for about 10 seconds after the initial shake in a very smooth, aquatic nature. Looking out our open windows really heightened the effect as the view was going back and forth. I remember seeing a women out on the sidewalk with a stroller cruising along as if nothing had happened. It made me second guess my understanding of what just happened for a millisecond, "wait, maybe something did hit us!".
Afterwards, I called my mom because I'm perpetually dead in a ditch somewhere if she hasn't heard from me even after a hard rain. I waited maybe five minutes to call her. By the time she picked up and I told her the news she had turned on the local news in Ohio which already had a story about it. Pretty damn fast.
Later, at work in Santa Monica, I witnessed part of a power grid explode, taking all the electricity in the area with it. I've seen individual transformers blow on telephone poles but this was like something out of a movie. First there was an extremely loud electrocution noise, but on steroids, when I looked over at the grid I saw huge flames shooting into the air with the power of a rocket. Maybe 15 to 20 feet up. That lasted only a few seconds. Then an enormous, beige mushroom cloud, pushed sideways by the wind, came over the street. I got to go home early.
It was a very non-relaxing day to say the least.
July 29, 2008
A Day of Work
Had my first day of working in my studio. I know every artist goes this but it's always humbling and worrisome when the thing in your head turns out to be a turd in the studio. I didn't have quite that experience but using a little hyperbole helps to place it a little more clearly (whatever that means).
I started to experiment with the synthetic tar more, and believe me, it really looked like shit, literally and figuratively. It's not a hugh deal as I realize there is a long way to go when working towards a new vision but things become hard when you get to a point when you feel like you have no idea which way to go. Like you have no sense of what's good vs. what's not.
It's a bit unnerving at times but something I'm sure comes and goes.
The image above shows my doodle/blotter sketch while I was trying some airbrushing on a tar piece. Needless to say, it didn't work out the way I wanted (or else I would have shown it). I ended up gessoing over what I had done. I have some paper ready for next week. We'll see how things go. I have some thoughts.
July 25, 2008
Ready to Work
I Photoshopped the the wall in there for now. I really can't wait to build it but I wanna get some stuff started. I don't actually need it yet anyway. Soon though.
I'm also going to build a new table as this one is on it's last leg (none intended). I built it in 1999 and the middle is starting to sag like an old horse. My friend Sally has a sweet table that I'm going to emulate.
I have a couple of starter drawings on the table that were begun before the move. I found that I really like synthetic tar. It has a lot of the thick qualities I've been looking for. It's pretty fecal looking also, which is good and bad. I'll post some in-progress work soon.