just making stuff

2011-03-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

(image from Arno Minkkinen lecture via a friend)

New Beginning

2011-01-01T10:15:00.000-05:00

2010-12-24T09:37:00.002-05:00

A good reason to blog...

2010-12-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

Why I haven't lately is both irrelevant and more than a little boring. But i promise you this: if you'll stop whatever you're doing right now and read THIS it will make you happy.

My friend Stephanie Magpie is a very good writer and a most excellent person. And yes she is really like that. Read her blog(s). You could also listen to her music, which is all original and quite lovely.

Maybe have a cup of coffee, tea, or a glass of wine or whisky and of course your favorite cookies of choice and accept this as my Just Making Stuff Christmas gift to you. Really, it's pretty darn good.

Plan of Action

2010-12-10T08:43:00.000-05:00

"To dare every day to be irreverent and bold. To dare to preserve the randomness of mind which in children produces strange and wonderful new thoughts and forms. To continually scramble the familiar and bring the old into new juxtaposition."

—Gordon Webber, novelist

tgMCOCO

2010-12-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

watch?

tiny gallery Mobile Cabinet of Optimisms, Curiosities and Other Possibilities

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)

Just Say No

2010-11-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

for one day...come on, we can do it!

(i'd add friends into the mix: "choose family and friends over frenzy...")

Happy Buy Nothing Day!

via

Buy Nothing Day Nov 26

2010-11-22T08:30:00.000-05:00

Just say no to greed and over-consumption.

More here.

Internets good stuff...

2010-11-07T09:04:00.001-05:00

stumbled across this while researching sources for something else (ie: fell down the innerwebs rabbit hole...)

simply brilliant and reinforces my opinion that you can make great art with nothing but a sharpie...

Well, hullo there strangers...

2010-10-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

i suppose this would be the time where i give my litany of excuses for this rather spectacular lapse in posting. suffice it to say that after tiny gallery the summer spiraled down and out, the usual post-summer physical, mental and emotional wreckage occurred and was subsequently cleaned up and here we are.

we choose to look forward instead of dwelling on the past...

i made a couple of little road trips in the past month and have gotten in to town to see a couple of things and re-charge my batteries. i currently have a couple of projects just recently gone live which i'm pretty excited about: the first is the Other Possibilities blog which is a response to all the bad news we see and hear every day, the second is a placeholder website (coming soon-when i have some focused time- a swanky, colorful and vastly more animated replacement!) that will give you info about the Circus.

at the moment i'm writing the next Circus, the working title (which i think will be the real title) is:

Paradise Gardening: Food for Thought in 4 Acts

finally, i want to point you to my friend michael's blog and his latest project, which to me is art at it's best: simple, sweet, collaborative, engaging and accessible. i couldn't make it to the event but was there a few weeks before visiting him and kim, and we sat in said parking lot and watched the swifts as he described his vision for the event and that alone was a magical evening. the swirling birds in the dusk were beautiful and poignant and hopeful. his conception of presenting the evening as a gift was generous and kind, and i'm glad people came out. shared positive experiences, what could be better than that?

ok then, it's a beautiful indian summer day and i'm going outside to soak it in and work on the woodpile.

Serendipity

2010-08-02T20:31:00.003-04:00

this guy is making art like i want to make.

Dread Scott

capitalism.

every day, more reasons to question it...

tiny gallery walkaround

2010-07-09T22:46:00.001-04:00

watch?

more like a turn-around in one spot...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

tiny "opening" event

2010-07-09T22:39:00.002-04:00

more tiny gallery install...

2010-07-07T16:28:00.000-04:00

tiny gallery: it's happening

2010-07-07T16:24:00.000-04:00

installation photos from this a.m. opening in an hour. 2nd annual celebration of MC's birthday.

tiny gallery people ROCK hard! links to come later...

MB, out...

Scenes from the Circus

2010-06-27T12:10:00.001-04:00

watch?

june 20 world premier at the arbuckle road impromptu alternative theater

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

CELEBRATE!

2010-06-20T09:53:00.003-04:00

for tonight we CIRCUS!!!

HUZZAH!!!

It's Happening...

2010-06-17T00:21:00.004-04:00

(flyer design by Beth at the Ragamuffin Press)

Thanks to an awesome crew of co-conspirators we'll do a show on Sunday. Lot's of work over the past few months coming to fruition, a very good feeling indeed...

Call or email for details.

I took some pictures...

2010-06-06T09:02:00.001-04:00

watch?

Valle Crucis and Boone on adventure Friday

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Something to blog about

2010-06-04T19:27:00.002-04:00

I REALLY like this picture:

(from todays adventuring...)

For the Record...

2010-06-03T07:37:00.003-04:00

Best. Book. Ever.

THANK YOU Beth Schaible!

Rooty Toot Toot!

2010-06-03T07:07:00.004-04:00

I've been making stuff. Not any of it bloggable yet but soon I hope. Been sorta lax on getting decent process pictures. Grand visions though, trust me. The inside of my head is not always a scary place...

In other news, our friend Margaret makes beautiful things. She's really nice and would never blow her own horn, but I will. If you want to see her beautiful things you could go to her spanking new website and spend yourself a pleasant little while meandering. That'd be www.margaretcouchcogswell.com It looks something like this:

It Begins

2010-05-25T21:55:00.002-04:00

watch?

The Cacophony Circus, under construction

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Lifelong dream, being realized courtesy of the World Greatest Posse of Co-Conspirators. I have friends that are super talented and humor me beyond any reason. We're building the Cacophony Circus Ultra-Light Theater of Other Possibilities. It is happening and it's gonna be something, a spectacle of DIY art and fun that I can't begin to describe.

Socially and economically accessible, inclusive and socially relevant. A labor of love from us to the world.

I think this is the BEST kind of art/making.

Exploring other possibilities, it's what makes getting out of bed worthwhile...

Fern

2010-05-19T19:01:00.002-04:00

watch?

Ferny's Big Adventure (collaboration with Beth Schaible)

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

From the Outback

2010-05-13T08:01:00.003-04:00

the editor is currently involved in what appears like random displays of seemingly pointless activities. however, i am confident that they will all magically coalesce to a point where the grand scheme self organizes from chaos to comprehension.

or not. but he sure is making a lot of stuff...

A tiny gallery note

2010-04-23T23:04:00.004-04:00

It should be noted that the tiny gallery is a collaboration with the most awesome Ms. Margaret Couch Cogswell who was involved with the making of the thing from it's conception, but was on the road during the night of the rollout. We wanted to get it in the hands of Phil Sanders asap for it's inauguration so did it sans MC. But rest assured Margaret and I have big plans for the little thing. Stay tuned...

tiny gallery at Black Ops Soapbox

2010-04-23T13:12:00.001-04:00

watch?

grand opening

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

You should come to this...

2010-04-18T09:49:00.001-04:00

Something interesting might happen...

(Penland School, next Thursday night...)

What is the Sound of Art Happening?

2010-04-10T11:08:00.001-04:00

watch?

sound sculpture from found and altered parts

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

We Did a Little Show

2010-04-05T22:25:00.004-04:00

Me and Maestro Mark Warren

We opened a show last night with a video/sound collage/spoken word piece. It was pretty good, has some potential with a bit of work. I'll post the video and audio soon.

These were the folks we opened for, give them a listen:

Minorcan

Katie Grace Helow

Nice people, good music. A good night and I thank them for letting me play along.

DIY art: make your own shows...

Support Indie everything that is honest and true.

Rock on.

Back and Forth

2010-04-04T09:57:00.003-04:00

"life is like a game of tennis, you have no choice of how the ball comes to you; it's how you hit it back that counts"

From the Margaret Moth Story

Art and Things...

2010-04-03T09:59:00.002-04:00

"Art is made of things: paints, paper, video projectors, steel, and so on. The things used in making art ground it in a material reality, without which art would simply be an unrealized wish. Even works that claim to be dematerialized need material support to realize themselves. Performance, for instance, may not see itself as composed of things. But the focus of the work needs a material frame to condense all the elements into an event. The space, the performers, and the props (if any) all work to make performance appear as experience. Art uses things to make its presence felt. But art is not itself a thing."

Stumbling onto a lot of interesting reading for some reason. I think the universe is sending me messages.

Read the whole article here. It's a doozy.

Transmission received.

MB, out

Wisdom of the Elders

2010-04-02T22:21:00.006-04:00

"We don’t need to go back to a society that is concentrated on economic growth, that dehumanizes us, that makes us consumers only and is threatening all life on this planet. We need to be thinking about something new."

"...people are beginning to say the only way to survive is by taking care of one another, by recreating our relationships to one another, that we have created a society, over the last period, in particular, where each of us is pursuing self-interest. We have devolved as human beings."

-philosopher and activist Grace Lee Boggs

(stumbled on to this amazing lady via Democracy Now...enter Grace Lee Boggs in the Search DN field and be prepared for some amazing insights. Really inspiring.)

And all this time I thought the way I made stuff was...

2010-04-02T08:02:00.006-04:00

some sort of unique and personal dysfunction, or at least a subconscious rebellion against linear processes...

Then this, which makes me hopeful and optimistic on this sunny morning:

(read the post here... which pretty much sums up EXACTLY how I muddle about, albeit without the quality or success of results Mr. Lynch achieves...)

I'd suggest reading the whole "Dear Artist" series...good stuff.

Fluid/Form

2010-03-29T18:33:00.001-04:00

watch?

the Master of Plaster

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Breakout...

2010-03-26T22:32:00.006-04:00

It's been a tough end of winter.

I'm going out on a limb here and posting my plans for collaborations and events, some of which are already in the works. Most of these are past the concept phase and are actively being pursued. I've done a lot of writing and this week some construction, some rehearsals, some organizational stuff, some tangible action with physical results will happen. And i figure by presenting my list to the world maybe it'll help motivate me during those times when one can get bogged down.

I've gotten to the point where I want to pour my energy into things that are meaningful to me, interesting and stimulating, and fun. That's the test I'm applying these days to most everything. I need 2 out of 3 of those things to be consistently fulfilled; life is too short to settle for less. So, away we go! Collaborators and co-conspirators are welcome to join in. Just leave a comment and I'll be in touch in short order.

That's enough of an intro, it's time to get to work...

The Just Making Stuff Grand Plan for Disruption of Business as Usual 2010

Sound Jesters: Sound Gestures- live performance piece with Mark Warren. Spoken word, sound collage and video projection. I'll do the writing, spoken word and video parts, Maestro Mark will do the sound mix, audio collage and mashup. If I have the right rig I'll record and post here after the performance. We're scheduled to do that April 4.

Einsteins Hair: Sonic Experiments- another project with Mark Warren. We plan to wear labcoats and goggles, and are build and perform a bunch of hacked up circuit bent noise/music machines and contraptions. Hardhats and earplugs might be a good idea. We'll perform this sometime before mid May, assuming no injuries or major conflagrations.

The Cacophony Circus- My Grand Dream and quite possibly my Life's Work coming to fruition. A puppet theater will be the centerpiece of the Circus. In addition there'll be sound installations, live music, video, projections, live poetry and readings, sound sculpture live painting, you name it. Whatever I can put together that fits into an hour. I intend all the pieces to have a message or a moral to the story, which of course will be pulled from my personal life view, philosophies and pontifications. All with intent of rousing the rabble from our social and cultural somnambulance. I want to try to dry run at least one or two of the puppet performances before may, the Grand Premier of the Circus will be June 19th at the Arbuckle Road Alternative Theater. With luck this will turn into a full blown five alarm chaos of illuminating and entertaining bedazzlement. It will almost certainly be comprised of a cast of thousands. Ok, maybe not thousands, but at least tens...

The People's Gallery a portable "gallery" of sorts co-conceived with the incredible Margaret Couch Cogswell, our working title has changed to The Tiny Gallery. It will be 5 feet by 5 feet square, completely portable, we'll curate tiny shows in it and just put it up anywhere. It will break down and fit in my van or Margaret's truck and we're designing it so it will go up in 15 minutes or so with no tools. Believe it or not, no cardboard, cause we wanted it to be somewhat weather resistant and reusable. The walls will be made from salvaged hollow core doors, put together with hinges. the roof will be clear corrugated panels (i guess we'll have to buy them cause i can't find them anywhere junk or salvage...) but i figure we'll have less than $100 in the whole thing. the first show in it will be July the 8th, a no sale showing preceded by a big vat of sangria, all taking place in a highly visible public area. Construction begins (and will complete!) next week, curating begins early june, the installation will be one night only on July the 8th. We're offering the constructed gallery to Phil Sanders to beta test with his spring concentration class, an event unto itself.

ReFashioning: A celebration of re-use, renewal and re-distribution of forgotten resources (with Lisa Blackburn and John Hartom) a day long event that consists of a clothing drive and creative textile altering workshop. At 6 pm the doors close and we'll break down the workshop, flip the space, reopen at 8, there'll be a party, the Circus, a speaker on the topic of the need and value of local social services, maybe some poetry reading, live music and a fashion show of the stuff that was made during the day. There'll also be an multi-media installation focusing on themes of sharing and redistribution of existing resources, alternative economies, and the question of "what is enough?" Admission to the night event will be one can of fresh canned goods, and at the end of the evening all food and clothing will be donated to a local shelter group. Yet another cash-free non-commercial event. It'll happen in mid/late October. and will be sizeable. We're working on getting an empty storefront donated for our use for that event (my idea being that if it's successful it opens up the possibility of a semi permanent space for The Just Making Stuff Center for the Disruption of Business as Usual Alternative Economy and Life Skills Incubator Institute and the Archaic Computer Salvage Company storefront)

And of course there'll be all kinds of little side things going on, especially video pieces. I just finished one I'm pretty proud of and will get that posted soon.

A boy's got to have a project...

So that's it for now. Rock on.

MB, out.

How To Cure The Plague

2010-03-08T21:54:00.001-05:00

watch?

Chinese herbs save another life...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Dear Winter:

2010-03-02T18:40:00.001-05:00

watch?

march snow

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Another question worth contemplating...

2010-02-28T11:14:00.005-05:00

referencing a joseph campbell story...

(subquestion: and why even a ladder?)

(ed note: not necessarily posing these to you dear readers, but to myself...i would not be so presumptuous as to be the asker...)

Current question of ponderification...

2010-02-27T14:04:00.004-05:00

Sometimes these things get stuck in my mind, like some kind of whacked-out punk/zen koan...

Answering this is clearly and concisely could be a key that would unlock a whole lot of other questions...

Maybe it's the mother of all questions.

A week or so past the threshold...

2010-02-20T21:48:00.004-05:00

And a really nice person gave me a little surprise!

I got this card full of good advice:

along with a big batch of yummy cookies:

so far 50 is showing some promise...

Thanks Terry!

Ancient TV Wisdom

2010-02-18T07:45:00.002-05:00

Oxymoron I know, but I take it where I find it...

Farmer: "you don't seem to worried"
Caine: "if i worry, will the future change?"

Grown Up Biz Cards

2010-02-13T16:41:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of and generously gifted by the Ragamuffin Press

Letterpressed and everything!

Beth makes beautiful things, you should get yourself some. And she has a sweet blog too. And she's going places (literally and metaphorically). I'm going to miss her and look forward to her return and stories from far flung adventures in the spring.

Thank you for everything, Deer Friend.

Birthday Book

2010-02-06T20:43:00.002-05:00

watch?

50th birthday gift book

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Yeah, I know it's L-O-N-G but I wanted all who give pages to see how it all came together. And for those of you that are far-flung across the country and the world, I want to do a book show and tell tour and thank you personally, so don't be surprised if I show up on your doorstep one day!

(I get choked up every time I pick the thing up...you GUYS! I still can't believe it. Best. Present. Ever.)

A simple statement of great inspiration

2010-02-05T15:12:00.002-05:00

Beth linked to this article (Jan 28) and i've read it several times. Since then, I started reading a bit about Mr. Jensen who is quite an interesting fellow. I think he's on to something, and his ideas resonate with me. I get all excited about his concept of decolonization. But the statement that is sticking with me the strongest is this:

"The dividing line is between those that do something and those that do nothing. Do something."

That alone is reason to get out of bed in the morning and get busy...

Beth's right: read the whole article.

50

2010-02-05T14:47:00.006-05:00

My wife and friends made me a book; it defies words...66 people from all over the US and at least 3 Euro countries contributed pages- every one a separate piece of art. All lovingly compiled and assembled by Kate, Frank, Beth, and Margaret. It is priceless, and I am humbled and touched beyond my ability to express.

I am a fortunate man.

Thank you all! This gift means a great deal to me and I will treasure it always.

On to the NEXT 50, HUZZAH!

Early afternoon, Groundhog Day

2010-02-03T06:46:00.003-05:00

The lack of shadows does not make me necessarily optimistic...

Shameless Self Promotion

2010-02-02T11:45:00.002-05:00

watch?

digital collaboratory promo

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

I'm teaching at Penland School for a week this Spring. The awesome Beth Schaible will be assisting. I feel certain there'll be some cardboard, sharpies and rusted wire involved. You should come join us. Info here.

Evolution

2010-01-30T23:03:00.015-05:00

Remember this? (the interactive Sound of Creation sculpture I built for the SAS show)

(original installation week of Jan 4)

The last time I took some photos of it, it had become this:

(week of Jan 20)

Let me just say I consider this an unqualified success and can't wait to build another one! And I want to thank and credit everyone who passed thru St. Andrew's-Sewanee School and collaborated on the piece- it couldn't have happened without your efforts!

Shoestringing!

2010-01-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

Catch all the news over at the Shoestring Road Trip blog...

Preparing for Departure...

2010-01-17T15:26:00.002-05:00

I am quite sure this is not what Mr. Ford had in mind back in the day when he built these boats, but too bad for him they are circus-worthy vessels when effectively re-purposed...

The Good Ship Agnes is out of mothballs and ready for another voyage (the last being a trip to the Big Apple in the winter of '06 I think it was...) By sundown tomorrow she'll be porting in the Cumberland Plateau, delivering the crew to an action packed week at St. Andrews-Sewanee School. Keep it tuned right here for reports from the field.

A most honorable endeavor...

2010-01-14T21:35:00.002-05:00

This is quite beautiful, the kind of work I aspire to.

Takes my breath away.

Worthwhile reading here.

I make stuff: Breakfast Burrito

2010-01-10T15:36:00.002-05:00

apprx. 1030am EST...

In other odd news, I just took a walk in the brilliant yet cold sunlight and saw about a dozen bluebirds sitting on the rail in the sun. An unusual occurrence at the end of the coldest week here in 10 years, but one I'll take as a sign..

Quote du jour...

2010-01-09T07:29:00.001-05:00

"Maybe not struggling is really the ticket to a certain kind of beauty." - Jo Jackson

Inspiration

2010-01-08T22:59:00.009-05:00

I just watched this. You should too. Neflix has it on streaming, it's so rich, inspiring and motivating that I'll spring for the dvd some day soon i'm sure.

Trailer below, website here.

Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.

Just making stuff. oh YEAH!

Threads in my universe unexpectedly starting to intersect and come together...it's a little startling and a lot amazing. Serendipity, synchronicity, epiphany...rare feelings that have descended on me from various directions one right after the other of late. Color me lucky for the moment...

SAC/SAS Day 2

2010-01-04T23:16:00.001-05:00

watch?

Day two of the SAS show install

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Day 1, Project 1

2010-01-01T09:15:00.003-05:00

Going mobile.

Old and New

2009-12-27T08:43:00.010-05:00

Years, I mean... the old one about to round up, the new one in sight.

This little spot would lead one to believe there has been an extended period of inactivity of late. Not so true, in fact the absence of posts is directly related to a diverse explosion of energies in a multitude of directions. Which I have to say pretty much had very little to do with the holiday season. First I've been getting ready for a show and teaching gig, the biggest thing I've done to date as I am putting together and curating a show of about 20 artists scattered all over the country and internationally, and then teaching for a week, finishing up with a one day community workshop. And this is the place where I get to say it could not be possible or doable without the help and support of my very special friends and the worlds greatest co-conspirators Beth and Margaret. Somehow these very smart, talented and beautiful ladies find the time, patience and energy to help me on this project and for that I am grateful. More info on this show soon, watch this space...

So for the show part of that I built a new piece, the first in a good while. It's an installation piece of sonic and interactive sculpture, the biggest thing like that I've ever made. No photos of the installation until after it's installed, but here's a quick glimpse at the triptych panel components in evolution...though lacking in detail about the electronics as i re-made them several times, having now been exposed to the physics of harmonics and feedback...I am an experiential learner, which is highly inefficient...

And of course there's been the dayjob, which has been surprisingly busy and severely interrupted by significant weather events. We almost never get stuck, even living remotely and at the top of the mountain but a heavy snowstorm followed by ice pretty much kept us close to the woodstove. So a lot of my time has been spent digging out and moving snow, clearing and repairing the road down to a point where we could reach the hardtop, followed by a redux that involved an ice storm, and clearing limbs and trees. Lots of cold, wet grueling manual labor, but oddly satisfying as it was direct and purposeful. Of course that resulted in several nights of coming in and being so cold stiff and sore that blogging or much of anything else didn't appeal, followed by mornings of creakiness which limited me to drinking coffee and catching my breath for the next assault on the snow, ice, stone and mud. And tree limbs. This of course is the appropriate time to give a shout of thanks out to my friend Frank who came over and spent the whole afternoon of Christmas Eve outside with me doggedly working the road until dark, at which point we had cleared a path and he was able to drive all the way up to the house, HUZZAH! We celebrated by consuming roasted meats and fermented beverages near the wood stove. Couldn't have done it without him.

So today there is bright sun, a little breeze, it's still too cold to walk. That will come later. Lucy the wonderdog has been very patient this past week but now she can see the ground and gets pretty excited. Today will be spent slowly I hope. I do have a gate to repair in some quick and dirty fashion, but I think I'll give the chainsaw and tractor a rest.

I hope all of you at the other end of the ether are doing well and having great hollydaze- Here's looking to new adventures in the coming year!

I like David Byrne...

2009-12-17T07:49:00.003-05:00

That's right, the former leader of the Talking Heads.

He's a superior artist, thinker and writer, routinely bridging various media.

"I sense that in the long run there is a greater value for humanity in empowering folks to make and create than there is in teaching them the canon, the great works and the masterpieces. In my opinion, it’s more important that someone learn to make music, to draw, photograph, write or create in any form than it is for them to understand and appreciate Picasso, Warhol or Bill Shakespeare — to say nothing of opry. In the long term it doesn’t matter if students become writers, artists or musicians — though a few might. It's more important that they are able to understand the process of creation, experimentation and discovery — which can then be applied to anything they do, as those processes, deep down, are all similar. It’s an investment in fluorescence."

So much more eloquent than me...I just say "THAT you make stuff is more important than WHAT you make..." I really should try to articulate my opinions better...

Read Mr. Byrne's post in its entirety here.

Sumi Shadow

2009-12-13T00:39:00.001-05:00

watch?

When there was sun...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Standard View (3 of 5)

2009-12-12T21:48:00.002-05:00

It was cold today. (Boodie and Lucy rotated out to cool off...)

I Make Stuff: Insomnia Biscuits

2009-12-11T06:43:00.003-05:00

Sculpture Garden: The Whole Story

2009-12-05T17:24:00.001-05:00

watch?

it rained this week...

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

I am not a ceramic artist...

2009-11-28T22:52:00.002-05:00

watch?

Today is the day I make peace with my failure* as a ceramic artist. I'm converting my studio from a clay workshop into something else which I haven't quite defined yet, let's just say a multi-media production shop (which will include everything from cardboard to digital media). So I took the last sculptures I made (they've been sitting in the studio staring at me for almost 3 years) and made a little sculpture garden. These are all unfired; they will give way to the elements sooner than later, which I'll probably record.

Things change.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

(* by conventional art and craft standards...)

Our Lady of the Wall

2009-11-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

watch?

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

I apparently have become enamored of the crosspost as a distribution tool...

2009-11-21T09:15:00.004-05:00

My friend Beth would never toot her own horn, so I'll do it for her...

Beth is part of the JustSeeds Collective. (not yet member but was invited earlier this year to show work on their website). They just did a sweet interview with her. You can read it here.

If you don't know Beth, it's a good introduction to what she's doing and what and how she thinks.

I'm really lucky to know and work with her. Also proud as can be that she's getting recognition for her work. You can read more about Beth and her work on her lovely website.

I don't think I have many aspirations...

2009-11-13T07:50:00.002-05:00

But then i see something like this...

(via Wooster)

...and then I think "I'm not getting any younger and I need to quit wasting my time..."

Building alternative worlds and sharing them seems like a perfectly reasonable and meaningful vocation...

A Case of Bad Bear-havior...

2009-11-09T07:39:00.002-05:00

The bear visited again Friday night. He made quite a mess, a straight trail from the woodpile all the way back to where the ridge climbs sharply....clean up, aisle 4...

So that began a largely outside weekend in the weirdly awesome fall weather. Chores, repairs, etc. I took some video to work up as a sample for another project. Which I planned to work on but the sudden death of my old iMac (RIP) which is what i use for video editing put a cramp in that. Tense negotiations with the Apple Mothership regarding the replacement of a known faulty logic board (yes, out of warranty, but it's only 5 years old and perfectly fine, will you not stand behind your product? I love you Apple, but you're sadly adopting some PC-like business practices...) are in progress. Meanwhile, i began to get the MBP set up to do video editing assuming bean counters will win out over humanitarians and ethical business practices, such is the corporate environment of the world we live in.

I've lately become interested in communication in general. I find myself drawn to crisp, clean, brief examples (clarity is refreshing), quite lovely for the space around it. Whether it be digital, video, or print the ability to convey a story, idea, or image concisely (but with some subtlety and nuance) is a fine art. Current examples: Karl, Beth, Robert.

I love a good story, fact or fiction. I aspire to be a good story-teller, but not sure I possess that particular skill, maybe too much noise inside of me. But one can try, maybe brevity is a matter of refinement. I recently read an article about how everyone uses all the tools of communication to try to be heard above the din of everyone using all the tools of communication. So I'm toying with the idea of detaching, understating, and walking lighter...I find being sufficiently animated takes too much energy. I'm leaning towards giving quiet and calm a test run. I suspect the result will be similar, but the quality of the exercise improved.

fall

2009-11-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

watch?

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Colors

2009-10-31T09:44:00.001-04:00

watch if you wanna

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Fluttered down like a leaf...

2009-10-30T07:55:00.003-04:00

(click to read)

I think this is brilliant.

Color in the breeze...

2009-10-30T07:36:00.002-04:00

More of this to come soon...

Ok, this is the most astonishing multi-media website ever...

2009-10-22T19:37:00.004-04:00

And the music ain't bad either.

Nor is the story if you take time to read it.

Made the blog entry I was thinking about doing pale by comparison...

Orba Squara

(ed. note: I just wiki'd the guy, apparently he's talented, clever and somewhat hot/trendy out in the world but hey, I live up in the woods so I'm just stumbling across him. whatever, it's still a nice thing to see...)

Color, Outside My Window

2009-10-17T17:24:00.005-04:00

JMS world headquarters, 5:20pm

10.17.09

The aforementioned guitar clip and other simple pleasures...

2009-10-17T16:53:00.004-04:00

(a clip from Willie Nelson's Honeysuckle Rose...)

Other highly under-rated simple pleasures for the first winter-like afternoon (in no particular order)

-a good mindless novel
-mid-afternoon nap
-late afternoon coffee
-a walk in the cold grey waning light
-hot shower pre-dinner

-post-shower irish whisky (neat, pre-dinner)
-chili that has been slow cooking all day for supper with a hunk of most excellent sourdough bread
-local apples for dessert
-more mindless reading
-sleeping under old heavy quilts just out of the chest that smell all cedar-y
-woodstove fires keeping everything cozy

Eclectica

2009-10-15T08:29:00.004-04:00

Fall...

morning, at work

evening, at home

night, at supper

coming soon: one of the best acoustic guitar solos ever...

Conversion Van

2009-10-11T12:15:00.008-04:00

Adam and Justin hacked Thor's old Econoline to make the Core Student Limo for the Friday night show...

watch if you wanna

I did the soundtrack (2mins 50secs to get the whole audio experience...)

It all rocked a little bit...

Transmissions temporarily interrupted...

2009-10-08T09:11:00.003-04:00

due to the plague, which amplifies symptoms of COMS (cranky old man syndrome) and has the bonus effect of making me more illiterate than normal...

but you really should check this out.

Found Art

2009-10-04T21:40:00.005-04:00

If I could make and patina something like this, I think I'd be pretty pleased...

(found and photographed scrap metal, unaltered, gallery ready as is...)

Newz...

2009-10-03T22:42:00.007-04:00

Shooze: these boots are made for workin'

Scanner/printer: the better to show you stuff, like this:

Morgan's new zine! You could get one too, just write her and ask and be nice and send a little $ 'cause it's cheap art, not FREE art. But trust me, it's darn GOOD art! And less expensive and more satisfying than a trendy coffee from a multinational corporate coffee place...You could get back issues from her too so you'd have the continuing story, and she would really like it if you got #2 from this distro: (remember distros from the earlier post???)

Stranger Danger Distro (I linked right to the page so it's all easy peasy for you, I'm helpful like that...her's is the next to last zine on this page)

Of course I have much more to say and show but it's late and I have to work tomorrow at the day job, so I'll save it all for the next edition.

Support your local (and blog network) DIY alternative artists and makers, it will make you and them very happy!

Painting

2009-09-30T22:19:00.006-04:00

bits of paintings i did tonight to use in another project

'cause everything is more than one thing...

and your link for SEAA this evening: Rachael is making sweet paper dolls, with bonus: biographies! Fun and reasonable. You could adopt a whole tribe of these interesting characters.

Best. Mug. Ever.

2009-09-30T07:58:00.006-04:00

One of the great joys in life is morning coffee. Even better when it's from a supremely sweet mug (and I'm no pottery snob, most any vehicle to carry the liquid will do, but really, one of these mugs elevates the experience)

Mine is quite similar to the one on the left (i'd take a picture of it, but don't have my cable handy and I'm too lazy to go find it).

Given to me as a generous thank you gift by Courtney of Courtney Martin Pottery. She probably has more, you could ask her. I bet it works well for tea, too...

The aforementioned links begin

2009-09-29T21:23:00.002-04:00

Typically I'm prone to over-reaching on a lot of stuff I make. In the past year I've done several big productions that involved a good many people, or solo projects that required an enormous amount of work. Over the same time I've reached the conclusion that while the efforts generally end up being gratifying (assuming the come off ok and don't suck badly), in the middle and right after them I find them to be pretty demanding and the fun gets lost in the details. So I've become fairly conscious of scale. Now I think the pendulum is swinging the other way and I'm deliberately trying to make things (including posts) smaller and lighter. All that to say I'm tossing off my big planned "back with a vengeance" elaborate posting of people and places and links on the subject of socially and economically accessible art and will instead drop in a post with a link or two and not a lot of editorializing. Which I suspect anyone that is reading this post will find hard to believe, but I can do it and one has to start somehow...

Ok. first up, I've always been interested in zines as a great example of a DIY art form. The most basic of self publishing (include in that chapbooks, which to me seem to be a bit more involved and more expensive on the average and thus less accessible). So I've made some friends in the zine world (the recently mentioned Morgan Inez Smith, who by the way continues her run of exceptional offerings with her newest one, which has one of THE funniest and most accurate quotes I've ever read about the human condition, and which I'll blog separately once I get my new scanner) and as a result have become interested in the phenomenon of the "distro" which is a labor of love if there ever was one. So a distro is a clearinghouse for zines, a one stop place to find many titles, and the good distros review and interview and catalogue everything in detail. It's a lot of work for the possibility of moving an item that is in the range of a couple of dollars, and the few people I've contacted are SERIOUS about it and do it well. Impressive. Making a zine is one thing, running a distro a completely different thing, and apparently many distro owner/operators do both. Doubly impressive.

The first one I want to mention (my current personal favorite) is Learning To Leave A Paper Trail. The website alone is a piece of art. And this thing is maintained and operated by ONE person, who keeps it current and answers emails quickly, packages and ships orders fast. She also does EVERYTHING else which is quite a long list (you can read about it here. And even more amazing, at the moment she's doing it while she's in the process of moving! A true DIY'er doing it on a shoestring and in an incredibly professional manner. I should be so good at my job.

So that's it for tonight. I'm signing off, then I'm going to watch Robert Croma's latest and end the day with his jewel-like scenes in my head. You could do the same. Mr. Croma is my favorite video artist and has been very encouraging and supportive in my endeavors to become one myself, for which I am eternally grateful. It's safe to say that he along with Jan McLaughlin of the FauxPress have taught me more about digital media than all other sources combined over the last few years and I owe them a debt of gratitude. One day I hope to make them proud. They are both darn nice folks, and I had the great pleasure of meeting Jan and spending a delightful evening with her early in the spring when I went to NYC to recharge my batteries.

And you, dear reader(s) have just received a 3 for 1 link extravaganza, courtesy of my tendency to run on...

PSA #247: On Affordable Art

2009-09-29T07:46:00.003-04:00

I firmly believe art and craft should be socially and economically accessible. That would actually benefit makers and viewers/users. So I've been delving into the arena of alternative and DIY art and handcrafted stuff lately, both as a maker and consumer.

There's lot of talented people out there making a lot of intellectually stimulating, fun, provocative, thoughtful, beautiful and whimsical stuff. Good for them. Good for US. Contemplating jumping into the pool...do I have the chops? We'll see.

In bit I'm gonna give you guys some links to look at and some contact info. Consider this a teaser. And also a placeholder as I'm temporarily disabled from scanning stuff that would make this posting much more interesting and colorful. Add to that the fact that I have to dash off to the day job, after walking the wonderdog on this first really fall morning. Yes, fall is most definitely here in the hills, and early too. Very cool and breezy this morning, and the leaves coming off the trees before the color really set in. An early winter, maybe. The thought of which has prompted a flurry of wood gathering/splitting/stacking.

Stay tuned. The follow-up to this post will be worth waiting for.

Eyes blinking like a mole...

2009-09-20T10:00:00.004-04:00

I had an unexpected note from a teacher/mentor friend the other day, she being confined to her sofa for 8 weeks following one of those bizarre mishaps that can only happen in real life (broken leg from a dog walking incident). I have great regard for this person and her partner as artists and people, so it was nice to hear from her. She had come across a couple of my videos and was sending a "hi, how are you?" note. In the body of my reply, I wrote something that startled me to read: "I think I'm just emerging from the dark side of the moon..."

Which I am chagrined to say feels pretty accurate. The thing that bakes my noodle is that I'm not really sure how I got there to start with, or quite what to do now that I'm sort of peeking around the other side. At the moment (quiet, morning coffee, grey day and steady rain) I'm thinking it's a result of various combinations of speed, trajectory, circumstance and a collection of uncertainties. It definitely wasn't intentional, and for the most part, not desirable.

Not being certain or secure of my place in space is a fairly common feeling for me and I'm used to it. I've never been quite sure how to resolve that, or what to do with it. Now I have inklings (nothing more, yet) that maybe there's something there to work with, a point of departure if you will. I have a random set of skills and a wide range of interests and surely there's some connections to be made between them which will lead to some organic assemblage that makes some kind of sense. In turn maybe that will result in some illumination, definition, and clarity. For the moment whatever light there is causes me to blink in confusion, and wish for a cool pair of Wayfarers to wear.

For a while, I've been pondering questions of speed and scale, ideas of containment and expansion, and definitions of success, contentment, and satisfaction. I also seem to be hyper-conscious of points and purposes. Of course it's a meandering path through all this, no conclusions have been reached, and a lot of flotsam and jetsam is being created along the way. I firmly believe objects are artifacts of experiences, and muddling around and making things is one of the ways I communicate to myself the world at large should anyone be interested. Mostly, it'd just me trying to get stuff out of my head and into the light of day. There does seem to be a lot of fits and starts and dead ends and revisiting, but I never claimed to be very efficient.

As I said in the last video installation I made: I'm not trying to make great art here, I'm just trying to figure stuff out.

Maybe a little more light will make it easier to see...

This is brilliant!

2009-09-16T20:10:00.002-04:00

Everything is more than one thing...

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

(from Mikaelah's blog)

Celebrating the mundane...

2009-09-02T19:04:00.002-04:00

the ubiquitous pint-sized mason jar:

Recently emptied of my mom's pickled beets (which are the best in the whole world!)

More recently (in the past hour or so) filled with and consumed (in order):

ice water
amber lager
an industrial strength g&t

Mason Jar? I salute you! You are perfect in your utilitarianism, and graceful in your timeless style.

i make dinner stuff

2009-08-29T15:32:00.001-04:00

watch if you wanna

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Found artist

2009-08-27T22:38:00.008-04:00

why i like the innerwebs...

C. Ryder Cooley

a stumbled-upon gem. i don't know if i could reconstruct the path of links that got me here, but no matter, what a find!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

2009-08-23T09:14:00.006-04:00

Not that anyone would wonder, notice or care but this lately vacant space (almost the whole summer!) might prompt a question like an suddenly empty downtown storefront, or a house unoccupied and being encroached on by the local flora...

I go back and forth thinking that nothing of note has happened in forever, but then look at all my pictures and realize that a lot of note (at least to me at the moment it was happening) has taken place, there's just been no time to sort, digest, reflect and report.

Busy-ness is a sickness, I tell you.

(and here is the moment where I could create a long, detailed and involved, factual and minutely documented dissertation on how most of the activities that consume my time from May-Sept are so completely in opposition to how I think and work when left to my own devices and rhythms that I am in a mostly constant state of cognitive dissonance. but that seems rather self-involved and mostly pointless as well as totally boring. which reminds me of a statement someone wrote about writing/blogging years ago that still sticks with me: "the two questions that when answered correctly can determine an engaging piece of writing are "so what?" and "who cares?")

Clearly, I celebrate the tangential, the parenthetical, and the glories of the run-on sentence...

All this to say, the paradigm should shift to what passes for more normal and more comfortable, more SENSIBLE, in the next 10 days or so. Maybe then I'll do something like a highlight reel from this summer, and remember that oh yeah some interesting and fun things did happen after all.

For now, I give you this...

(I took this 2 weeks ago and am just now posting it??? So much for immediacy...)

I love sunflowers, and before the spousal unit tumbled into her particular abyss of said busy-ness in May, she planted some for me, which are now all blooming in assorted sizes and shades (lemon yellows, rust reds, shades of oranges and other yellows). This pleases me greatly, as well as the goldfinches and other songbirds. And they serve as a reminder that when it comes down to it, the abstract trivialities of the workaday world don't matter all that much.

A good realization since I look at the clock and see it's time for me to go engage with the machine once again...

Back soon with some fun and interesting stuff I hope...

2009-08-11T07:50:00.001-04:00

it's like a Tim Hawkinson sculpture...

Video Installation: Marksims

2009-08-02T21:36:00.002-04:00

The title of this piece is "People Say I Should Write a Book (but I'm too lazy)"

Looping video, about 6mins 20 secs, first shown at the house show Friday night.

(just because I don't follow my own advice doesn't mean it's not good...)

watch if you wanna

Justin's house show 7.31.09

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

A JMS Public Service Announcement

2009-08-02T16:22:00.005-04:00

Actually, this is more like a public service product review. Always trying to be helpful I am (he says, Yoda-like..)

And please note this is a totally unsolicited review, that I suspect the reviewee might not ever see, not being frequently inclined to browse the innerwebs seeking public acclaim.

Enough preamble...

I've been wanting to do this for a while. This being the recommending of the most excellent 'zine ever. I submit for your contemplation:

I love a good 'zine. These sadly are difficult to find. And they're something you have to see, touch and directly experience in order to get the proper sense of the thing. I found my first copy of this publication by accident on one of my infrequent trips to town, and it was good, no, it was EXCEPTIONAL, cover to cover. I immediately go to the oracle (Google) and seek more info, a website, a blog on this wonderful writer...but, mostly nada. Wha? So I took the next step, and wrote the address on the back, sent a little donation, and asked to be placed on the mailing list for another. To my excitement, i received the newest issue a couple of weeks ago. Again, EXCEPTIONAL from cover to cover. Of course, now I am a subscriber. And you should be too! You won't be disappointed, assuming you like authenticity, honesty, colorful eloquence, sharp humor, yummy recipes, super good line art and lovely and engaging design qualities. Plus! the bindings are individually machine sewn at the publishers own kitchen table, with quirky little individual inserts, which means the whole thing is handcrafted homegrown goodness! If I made a zine, I would want it to be this good. I've even given a couple away as gifts. And trust me, at $3/issue, no money is being made, these are a labor of love, which I find even more appealing.

So, get yourself one. Better yet, get yourself a subscription! Support Good Cheap Art and micro-publishing. Who needs a paper generated by the big multinational conglomerate, or yet another advertising vehicle created by the mainstream media? This is GOOD STUFF originating from REAL LIFE.

For your convenience, I'm posting the subscribe page. You could print it out and use it for the label on your envelope!

You can thank me later, after you've received your own little piece of textual bliss...

House Show at Justin's 7.31.09

2009-08-02T16:16:00.001-04:00

watch if you wanna

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)

Where I've been and what I've been doing...

2009-07-30T08:40:00.002-04:00

Goodness. There are tumbleweeds blowing thru this blog. I am embarrassed.

Just a quick note to say I'm alive and kicking, and scattered in a million directions. Projects, maintenances, the dayjob at the school of craftology, the whole summer a disheveled and dysfunctional whirl. Life is a carousel, or so sings Greg.

While I gather myself and try to make sense of where I am and what I'm doing, go visit my friend Beth Schaible's blog. It will soothe you, please your eye and make you happy.

Hopefully some updates and pics tonight. Or whenever. Until then, be well.

Mad Scientist Artisiting (work in progress...)

2009-07-14T18:09:00.003-04:00

I love making stuff from junk! If this works (and testing indicates yes maybe it will...) i'll put it in a show in a couple of weeks.

Stay tuned if you're so inclined...

Call me sappy, but this should be required viewing for EVERYONE, daily!

2009-07-13T18:53:00.002-04:00

I use Google Reader (you should too but that's another post). In the sidebar thingy there's always Recommendations. Not for me usually, i find more than enough on my own and the interwebs is a sinkhole of time anyways. But for some reason I clicked on the link to Dancing Mermaid, and this to my delight was what was found:

Untitled from mccabe russell on Vimeo.

Makes ME think I could change the world (or at least little parts of it), and I'm not even the target audience (at least I don't think I am...)

Just goes to show you, people are doing big magic all over. I find that inspiring.

(here's an article with some backstory...)

Scoff if you want, make fun of me if you will, but I tell you, this is the feel-good story of the summer and the best hope for the future we have. Much MUCH better than all the institutions and organizations that teach conformity, socially approved and consumer-viable/buyable object based making. Igniting the human spirit? Now that's worth doing!

Thank you Dancing Mermaid!

Now, while you watch the vid (which is well done by the way) I'm going to the Collaboratory to start building a sound sculpture for my next show...

Interlude: Lunch

2009-07-12T12:48:00.005-04:00

I felt like cooking lunch for some reason. What to make? Lots of stuff from the garden, let's see... prodigious quantities of carrots.

Solution: DIY ginger/carrot/curry soup. Greenies (mint and parsley for accent).

Tres` yum. Oddly enough, pretty much everything in the photo was handmade by moi...yup, all except the cutting board.

(editors' note 7/14: -from the comments-

Kate Boyd said..."And the bowl, which was made by your better half."

HA! Evidence that I am both insufficiently observant AND forgetful, a glorious combination of flaws... and it should be noted, she grew the carrots that were the basis of the lunch and the post and the followup...it's a family affair here at JMS World Headquarters...)

Make your own...

lunch
stuff
shows
fun...

and away we go....

Standards of Excellence

2009-07-09T08:44:00.002-04:00

It occurs to me it might be helpful and illuminating to my readers (both of you) if i set forth the criteria I use to determine if a project is a success (by my terms and definitions) or not. So:

1. I actually move the project from a vague idea to a physical reality (meaning, I actually DO it.)
2. When done, it doesn't suck really bad.
3. There is engagement/participation with and by the viewers.

There you have it in a nutshell: The Just Making Stuff Secret to Project Satisfaction

Feel free to apply these measurements to your exercises/events/projects.

Psychiatric Help

2009-07-09T08:31:00.002-04:00

We all need it, whether we know it or not, and whether we want it or not. So we offered it up outside the umbrella of our health plan, and underneath the porch during lunch- Impromptu Mental Health Care:

Thank you Margaret and Beth (is that not the BEST BOOTH EVER???), and most of all Dr. Dan (who dispensed pithy prescriptions resulting in the healing of many troubled souls!) for making it all happen.

(btw, if you're inclined, hie on over to Margaret's blog and wish her a happy birthday!)

Next up: The Missoula Oblongata