pensive backbone circuit

To be an artist is to believe in life.    Henry Moore

Oh snap, as the tee shirt says, Blogger won't let me upload pictures today.  I'll try again later but what a pain.  I'm in the middle of cooking chickens for the dogs, a pot roast for us tonight, and some stuffed cabbage rolls for the refrigerator when I don't feel like cooking.  We'll be all set.  

I pick up TY tonight at the airport and he's bringing his elderly uncle home with him-  he is nervous about flying by himself so we will have him stay here until he feels better about going to his own house.  I*don't*know*how*long*that*will*be.  But this is the uncle that I have always liked best so he's welcome here any time for any amount of time-  

just wish I knew 'the plan'.

But of course I was looking foreward to finally getting to the studio after three weeks of travel and friends here.  Looks like it ain't gonna happen-  I just hope I can meet some of the deadlines that I'm up against.  Funny how life conspired to get me the studio of my dreams, and now that I have it, things keep getting in my way-  like new grand babies and elderly uncles and bestest old friends...  No I'm not offering any of them back for trade, just making observations.  Guess the fates know that if they just throw bad shoulders at me I'll figure out a way around it!  They have upped the ante this season.

ANYway, I got to the Morikami Museum the other day, and though it was too cold to walk around the lake, I finally got Lisa there to go see it.  Then yesterday her flight was early evening so we went to the Norton and saw three good exhibits before our legs gave way and we had to sit in the cafe drinking lemonade waiting for time to pass.  It happened to be After Dark Thursday so they had a live group playing and all sorts of stuff going on. And it was a 5 minute ride to the airport for her flight home, so a perfect way to 'waste' some time. 

Of particular interest were three shows-  Phyllidia Barlow's HOARD was three rooms of assemblages of varying industrial materials, many hanging from the ceilings.  Some looked like falling meteors, others like fabric ropes in a knot at the ceiling level precariously hanging over the edge of the room.  If you're in the Palm Beach area, this was worth seeing.

Also there was a fine exhibit of 60's and 70's jewelry by David Webb.  It was beautifully displayed against a malachite wall with information on who owned each piece or why it was made.  Another room had many magazine ads open to the pages showing his work on models in Bizarre and Vogue.  It all looked very 'familiar' and over the top.  There were also some film loops of movies where the actresses were wearing his jewels-  very cool Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee for one, Elizabeth Taylor in another.  A trip down my admittedly fuzzy 60's memory lane.

The third show, which was in some ways the most interesting to me because it was 'on topic for the SAQA current discussion about size of work. This was 'The Polaroid Years' and the rooms were set up with a few very large format polaroids of Chuck Close like this:

These were probably 5 or 6' high and keeping with his paintings in scale. The second size, other portraits, taken with the old 20"x24" cameras were interesting, many I had seen before because there were so many of these in Boston at the

time.  For instance there were several of Wegman's Weimeriners together on one wall at this size, one a doggie posing in a mink coat and heels.

Elsa Dorfman was sort of the court photographer of the time in Boston and in great demand for her candid portraits of families or couples as well as individuals.  She was a darling of the beat generation and her photos of them are legend.  Her portraits were printed actual size of the polaroid film, and this size was very compelling hanging in the exhibit.  

Also included were many actual size polaroids (3" squares, faded or aged) collected from all over which were identically hanging in black frames with white mats-  As an arrangement of black squares it was OK, but each of these tiny pictures was so lost they were as good as not there.  SO- my learning process is (drum roll) I need to work bigger.  I need work that is seen across a room and carries that far.  I need to project what ever the hell I am talking about, rather than whispering the message in tiny hushed tones only to my next door neighbor.  Yes, size DOES matter, and I have to remember to use that little fact.  Thanks, Chuck!  (and the Norton for framing the hundreds of little photos!)

I came across a woman who has merged photos of herself from her childhood with photos of herself today in the same places.  What a concept-  being seen with your younger version!  After that I have more beautiful photoshop photos, this time in B&W.

Some beautiful photoshop here-  Tokyo-born, London-based photographer Chino Otsuka takes the past and present photo project to a new level of expert photo manipulation with her series titled Imagine Finding Me. Rather than simply recreating old photographs as an adult, she inserts her present-day self into photos from her childhood. The result is an incredibly believable image that features photos of Otsuka as a little girl in the 70s and 80s standing side by side with herself as a modern-day womaEssentially, the series presents a double portrait of Otsuka and the many places she's visited as a kid. With the advantages of using digital software and technology to merge her past and present self, the photographer is able to create these unique self-portraits. She says, "The digital process becomes a tool, almost like a time machine as I'm embarking on the journey to where I once belonged and at the same time becoming a tourist in my own history."

I’m really enjoying these conceptual photographs by Martin Vlach. The artist digitally merges his own photography with elements of nature to create surreal, atmospheric scenes that feel both isolating and mysterious.

warning: not a real albino squirrel

The Albino Squirrel Preservation Society, whose motto is “In the constant pursuit of albino squirrel rights,” is a worldwide organization with chapters at the University of Texas, University of North Texas, University of Pennsylvania, University of Western Ontario, Cambridge University, Texas A&M University, Illinois State University, The Juilliard School of Music and ASPS High School Chapters. Why isn’t Oberlin on the list-  this article appeared in the Oberlin paper.

The society’s creed is, “I pledge to uphold the objects of the Albino Squirrel Preservation Society, to foster compassion and goodwill towards albino squirrels, and to dedicate myself to the protection of all squirrels, especially those that are albino.”    

I'm not the only member!