project rhyme

So here's a look at my completed portraits! I have three more I need to tweak in photoshop before they're reading to be shown, but everything should be done by Monday. I'm almost done with my book design too--I'm having my friends (and acquaintances) each write a sentence about me to put as blurbs in the front, so if you guys want feel free to contribute! You can describe me as literally or metaphorically as you'd like.

rhyme on the internet

So today I found out something magical about the internet: you can watch youtube videos, and play snake at the same time.

On the same screen.

That's right. While you're watching any youtube video, if you press the left & up keys at the same time snake will appear over it. Here's a video giving a much better explanation than mine. Personally I suck at snake and it's kinda hard to see it, depending on the color of the video, but I'm endlessly amused by the concept. I love that it's not enough to waste time watching videos of kittens on the internet--no! Now we must be able to watch kittens and play games simultaneously. Oh, internet! Is there anything you won't do?

I don't think Viola or Berners-Lee & co would have thought this is where we would end up in our digital age, though I think Borges had a good enough sense of humor to at least take it in stride--many of his writings certainly entertain weird, pointless endeavors. In a way, videos-and-snake also reflects Borges' writings on mazes, labyrinths, and multiple layers--the last one quite literally.

I think it's incredibly interesting to see how technology was predicted to develop, and the weird ways that people were right and wrong at the same time. For instance, I do think that we have established a pool of human knowledge, so to speak, one that allows us to share and collaborate! I mean, for instance, I was just able to share with all of you the knowledge I just learned within a couple of minutes. Was this life-changing knowledge? Probably not. But still interesting, entertaining, or at least mildly diverting! And really, that's the best part of the internet, I think: how incredibly weird and complicated it is and how wonderful it is to observe.

I've had an active online presence since about...uh, fourth grade? Maybe fifth. I feel like I've become familiar with various subsets of culture online mainly through sticking around on message boards for so long and meeting friends through them. My project is quite heavily influenced by internet-culture, as is a lot of my more traditional work--I've found most of my favorite contemporary artists through the web, and some of my biggest design influences are web-based, or things I've only been able to find out from being connected digitally (like Japanese or Korean pop design, for example.) The internet! So big. So weird.

rhyme on rj & mjj

"So I thought, well there's my statement, "Should an eyelash last forever?" And then I thought of the possibility of asking the question "Should half an eyelash last forever?" The eyelash could be cut in half because these eyelashes are composed of individual hairs, maybe even as many as a hundred of them, that somebody in Korea glued down to a strip of adhesive, so should the whole thing collectively last forever, or for one month, or should have of it last for that period of time, or one eyelash hair, should one eyelash hair last forever? Which then gets down to the point of no eyelash and "Should nothing last forever?" Which is pure Taoism, pure Zen when you get down to that, which is a point that I often get to in my work...and I'm involved with just absolute space, with no art, no eyelashes, no statement, no nothing." --An Interview with Ray Johnson by Henry Martin (1984)

What a great week! Field trips and movies and convocations! Man I love field trips. It was particularly interesting to me because (as I think everyone knows now?) I am involved with my own non-traditional gallery space project.Which is sort of a pain in the tuckus at the moment, but that is also not the point! Getting to talk to both Stephen Perkins and Mary Jane Jacobs was a really wonderful opportunity for my project.

I guess Ray Johnson doesn't really match up in that sense, but I found myself completely blown away by his art. It wasn't until after MJJ's convocation speech that I really started thinking about the reasons why and--surprise, surprise--I think it all comes down to that interaction between people again. I love the way RJ reached out to create his pieces through multiple sources--I'm also personally really drawn to collage work so that didn't hurt either. He also cuts a somewhat tragic, sensitive-poet type of figure which deeply saddened me at the time. As I watched the documentary I wasn't really expecting that at all, but at the end his death just seemed so unnecessary, so bleak.

In terms of MJJ, what most intrigued me most was her emphasis on how to integrate a project with a community of people successfully. I have a lot of feelings about issues of race, class, and gender, and how important it is to be aware of your privileges—not to be ashamed, or feel guilty about them, but to recognize the benefits you have and how they impact your life. It sounds pretty easy, but really looking objectively at privilege is hard! Really, really hard! I'm constantly reminded of this at my job (which involves working with low-income and at-risk kids). I really like the way MJJ described approaching different communities, how to stand back and quietly become a part of them rather than barging in—art, especially public art, can really resonate with people, and I think to truly have them respond to what you are creating requires a thoughtful approach. It requires being aware of other’s thoughts and opinions, and how they will be impacted by what you create. SURPRISE again I'm interested by how people connect with each other.

rhyme on happenings

Quite honestly, I'm struggling to write this post because I didn't have much of a strong reaction to the happenings or Kaprow either way. I have three sisters who have either a) graduated with degrees in dance or b) are attending school as dance majors. The oldest lives in Chicago and she's involved with dance that borders on the edge of performance art, so I've been semi-familiar with that part of the art world for six years or so.

I've never been a part of a happening, don't get me wrong! But I have definitely seen many shows that have been bordering the line between traditional dance/performance art. Maybe it's because I'm already familiar with this area that I find it difficult to write about? My reactions to it have dulled somewhat over the years...I guess I generally don't mind performance art either but because it's such a physical interactive experience I find it difficult to describe verbally.

ANYWAY I will talk about Miranda July instead because I think she's great.

She's a visual & performing artist--her performance-based pieces are (at least to my knowledge) much more scripted than the Fluxus pieces or the happenings, and she's also written and directed a few short films. What really draws me to her is that connection she establishes between different people--I've talked about this is almost all of my posts so far so I feel kinda repetitive! But the way people connect, interact, and inspire each other, indirectly or otherwise, is something that fascinates me. In a way, I suppose the happenings are exploring this idea as well, but much more abstractly. It's easier for me to connect to people like July, though it may partially be because it's easier to experience her work. Man the more I think about it the more complicated my thoughts are! Augh. Time to stop, I think.