Sunday, February 26, 2012

“A child can teach an adult three things: 
to be happy for no reason, 
to always be busy with something, 
and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires." 

-Paulo Coelho

Thursday, February 23, 2012

yes

Drew Dudley: Everyday Leadership


Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Ai Weiwei...again...

especially because I think someone who was going to do some research might not have gotten around to it yet...

Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995). Middle view of a triptych of gelatin silver prints, each print 49 5/8” x 39 1/4”. Courtesy private collection, USA.

 (Making of) Colored Vases (2006). Single channel video, 13 minutes, 09 seconds. Courtesy Ai Weiwei, Beijing.

 Colored Vases (2006) Vases from the Neolithic age (5000 - 3000 BCE) and industrial paint; between 10” x diameter 9” and 14 1/2” x diameter 9 1/2”. Courtesy AW Asia collection, New York.

links to more information:
Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn via Daily Serving 
Ai Weiwei via PBS
more via the guardian

first assignment

dear future students,

to begin with, I apologize for giving you an assignment before we have even met. 
I know this may come off as overkill or as me being overeager or mostly as the beginning of me asking more of you than you expected (or wanted). however, in addition to being a pain in your ass, know that the result of me thinking of you this far in advance will actually be to your benefit.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I want to be tough on you.  I want to push you beyond what you believe you are capable of.  I consider my experience as a student often, and teachers that have made me happy and teachers that have made me angry are one thing.  But teachers who have truly improved my work and my life...those are most often the teachers who have challenged and demanded and expected a lot from me.  Therefore, be prepared for me to be rather demanding of you...because I am confident that you can produce, create, and overall be much more. 

With that, here is your first assignment:

Within the next week, raise a critical brouhaha over a work of art we discuss in class.  Remember to think critically...a passionate argument means little if it is not supported by thorough planning and carefully chosen evidence.  You are encouraged to gather your support from the work itself, ideas discussed in class, as well as ideas and opinions from sources found elsewhere. 
Your chosen evidence should inform and support your own arguments...do not simply present the arguments of others.  Take a stance, make a statement, figure out what the hell a 'brouhaha' is and raise one.


Monday, February 20, 2012

increasingly convinced

i have become increasingly convinced that to create, you must look.  you must observe, you must experience, you must reflect, you must use your eyes and your mind and your intuition
at the same time.

Sean Avery
Feeple (male) - mixed media
15 x 15 x 15cm

see more of his work here

Sunday, February 19, 2012

"anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new"
-Albert Einstein

nick cave

"what makes people happy?
what makes them step outside of their day to day existence and 
be light...within a moment..."

I'm terribly interested in the unexpected part of art, the unexpected to the artist in which even he or she was not planning on a particular outcome...it is as if the work itself has a plan & an intent & a natural way of being - a skin, a sense of being...in which it feels most comfortable...

Thursday, February 16, 2012

thankful

all I can do sometimes is smile and shake my head at all the amazing things in my life...

the amazing opportunities, the wonderful individuals placed in my life that encourage me, challenge me, push so hard that I cry and then keep pushing because they know I'm stronger and smarter than I think I am, question me not because I'm wrong but because they know I can do better, and all of the people who love me fully and deeply and unconditionally,

for all these things I am grateful, and feel truly blessed....

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

peter graham


to see more of his work, go here

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012


"Artists Keys"

Martijn In 'T Veld
Artists Keys - 2011
set of uncut keys
"An Arrangement for the Architect and a Darkroom Timer" (2005)
2 channel video installation
60:00 looped

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

momentum


making art is about moving forward...it's about pushing through...about gaining speed...finding yourself, feeling out that push and pull, asking of the world, and taking from every experience and moment you find yourself in.

and sometimes, it's also about making things that suck.  about disappointing yourself, and being unimpressive.  it's those moments that remind me why I'm an artist, for what reason I subject myself to the incessant need to create, why I was given this desire...because we're brave enough to fight through the disappointment to come to a solution that was more than we ever imagined our hands could create.

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths...
Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."


Saturday, February 4, 2012

brilliant

Magda Sayeg...(S Lamar Blvd Bridge)

I had the most amazing, unplanned conversation with a 5 year old today about knit bombing vs. graffiti...kids are constantly impressing me, surpassing my assumptions, and inspiring me by the way they think and speak and create.  So raw, so brilliant.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Diana Al-Hadid


Built from our Tallest Tales, 2008
Wood, metal, polystyrene, polymer gypsum, fiberglass, plastic, concrete and paint 365.8 x 254 x 203.2 cm (144 x 100 x 80 in)