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.