Thinking

Drowning in ideas.
Drought of art.
Thinking with my hands.

Collections

I decided to continue doing similar "collections" to the first one I did while in Seattle. Every place I've gone while in Europe, I have been collecting random objects around the city and photographing them together. The objects are usually insignificant and often broken, but my hope is that by putting them together- piecing them into the same frame, and photographing them in good light, they can become beautiful and whole again.

The objects are always photographed in or around the place that I stay while in each place. Since these found "things" are essentially my only possessions (other than the clothes and few items I have with me), it seems only fitting that they be in the place closest to my "home".

I select the objects with no particular pre-requisite in mind. Just anything I notice, or that catches my eye. Some collections are much larger than others, and some follow more patterns (things found on the beach, construction tools) which provides an interesting commentary on each city I'm in.

The thing I like most about these collections is that they seem to capture the feelings of being in a new place and trying to digest a myriad of new stimuli. The result is a fragmented and jumbled experience grounded only by a memory of the place you were.

Edinburgh, Scotland

fall flowers, old sea glass, red rock, new shell, yellow rock, spiral shell, tree coral, lost reminder, castle wall, yellow leaf, old shell, early Christmas, blind pirate, naked seagull, would-be sea glass

Florence, Italy

broken piece of old wall, found blue button, shiny shard, metal tube, lost blue note in Italian, metal vertebra, drunken couple, piece of new wall, purple broken sacrifice , tightly packed glass shards, metal hook

Venice, Italy

once glowing red leaves, questionable bottle, tree brains, 'love therapy' gnome


Palermo, Italy

broken mosaic, red flowers, wired glass, half of a postcard, spring, light bulb remnant's, volcanic rock, green gem from trash pile, red leaves, banyon tree seed, tooth/rock, curious metal disk



Syracuse, Italy

ocean floors, strange rock, banyon tree seeds, snail shells found in ruins, old tiles, rock with fossil imprints, bird bone

Starting the Unicorn Hunt

Unicorn
From Biennale, Venice Italy
Image curtousy of by tschnitzlein [soon to be back on Flickr]

-This post was originally written at the end of Sept-



As I currently sit in the Amsterdam airport, it is finally starting to sink in. I have made it to Europe, and shortly I will living in Rome for the next few months. After weeks of people asking “Are you excited?!” and my rehearsed reply “Yes, I am really excited”, but the reality was that it hadn’t really hit me. And how can it? Consumed in the logistics applying for the program, moving back to my home in Portland, packing and getting everything ready to go, you never have a chance to really think about the going part.

But as I sit here sipping a Koffee, brain and body befuddled of the day and time, I felt it. Realizing where I was, where I was going, that I was doing it completely independently my excitement sunk in. Knowing that I am embarking on, undoubtedly, one of the most significant journeys of my life, I felt a mix of curiosity, anticipation and hopeful expectations.

I felt the most appropriate thing to call my time in Rome “the unicorn hunt” because, where could be a better place to find the majestic creature than a place as magical as Roma?

More importantly, this is the first time that I will be able art and only art. It is the first time I will have a studio, and the ability to really take advantage of studio time. The unicorn is a creature that is majestic, pure and true. It is beautiful as something, which both exists and does not exist, paradoxically real and unreal- or finding a home somewhere in between. It is everything I desire my art to become. Alas, this quest is in a foreign land lined with artistic influence and a place where I am doing nothing but breathing aesthetics. My hope is that his romantic new stetting ill be the context most ideal for the capture of this mythical creature and the discovery of all it represents.

Bringing War Home

- Images taken Fall of 2008-

"Bringing War Home"
Large Format B&W Prints
Double Exposures with Stenciled Layer Mask

Civil War

World War II

Vietnam War

Iraq War

Inspiration:



In making each of these photos, the black shapes were made from actual images taken in each war. Meaning Hitler stands on the end of the WWII image and they are Iraqi solders hiding in front of the house. In this series I was thinking about the way war is portrayed, and how images are transient across time periods. When the weaponry is blurred to black, it is difficult to distinguish one time from another. The images steaming into our homes are a single dimensional portrait of war, which will never be able to depict the entirety of being in the battlefield. In this way, they become a cartoonist depictions shaped by our shallow comprehension of war and animated by our expectations of it's likeness.

Things, Not Stuff

Things, not stuff. Only the most beautiful things.

I recently moved out of my room- where I had lived for two years. I was amazed how much stuff I accumulated in just 24 months. Much of it was useless or excessive- three sets of sheets, birthday cards from three years ago, three pairs of polka dot rain boots, 24 chap sticks etc.

After packing up the contents of this space, I went for a walk with some friends through a park nearby my house. It was early in the evening, marked by the soft light of late summer casting through the trees, and I started collecting the above "things". Believing, at that time, they were the most beautiful things I could find- emphasized by the excellent lighting.

All of this got me thinking about possessions, specifically the difference between "stuff" and "things". Why to we hold onto things that are of no use to us? Is is for the sake of owning them? Or is it out of fear of not having them?

I don't know why I was so drawn to the various leaves from above. I think it was a reminder that sometimes simplicity can be more beautiful than anything else, but we are sometimes sifting through too much stuff to find it. These leaves were all that was needed to adorn the trees in their own lovely foliage. Perhaps, the best things are a few nice leaves collected from a stuffed forest.

I then made a pact with myself that in the future I would only keep the most beautiful and most valuable things, and to try to filter out the extra stuff which suffocates us everyday.

Annie of My Eye

Photograph from Book

Karen Finley at her home in Nyack, New York, 1992
Annie Leibovitz
"A Photographer's Life"

The Story of My Favorite Dress

dress

v. dressed, dress·ing, dress·es

v.tr.

1. To decorate or adorn.



2.To furnish with clothing.



3. To arrange a display in.



4. To garnish.



5. A one-piece outer garment for women or girls.

Outta My Light

Great photography always boils down to great "photo", in it's literal sense. Although light should always be taken into consideration when taking a photograph, light itself can often times be the subject.

In the word of "Little Wings":

Got it like a ghost that girly gleaming
Look at what the light did now

"Through the window"
Black and White Digital Images










"Tea Cups"
Studio Lit
Black and White Digital Images

Take Away Shows

If you haven't heard of the Take Away Shows, I worn you now, make sure you don't need to be productive because this site is known to suck you into an video watching oblivion more powerful than a cigarette addiction.

The Take Away shows, hosted on "La Blogotheque" are short films of indie musicians performing in the streets of Europe. (But mainly in Paris). Filmed by Vincent Moon they are not only beautiful in color and surprisingly high quality in sound, but also powerful in their spontaneity. Unscripted performances while walking through the streets allows room to see the reactions of people and oftentimes their eagerness to join in the music. The melding of created sound with natural noise is raw, beautiful and inevitably addicting.

Special thanks to Maggie who sent me Bon Iver "Lump Sum" and gave me the key to this magical music portal.Here are a few of my favorites:

Bon Iver




Arcade Fire



Yeasayer



Sufjan Stevens

Neato

Some of the neat digital art I've found or that has been recommended to me in the last few weeks. Enjoy!



Old School Animation





Datamoshing




(Thanks Zack!)



Mixed Media Animation





(Thanks Sophie!)



Just Plain Cool

For The Little Kid In Us All

Adoration of an Oxymoron

Stop motion. I didn't realize I was so interested in this until someone actually showed me what it was. Looking back, I see my intrigue in the concept started long ago. Two years ago, to be exact. I did a photo project which had to center on a randomly assigned word. Mine was was "instant". So I made a series intended to look like film stills, because "instant" to me was a type of measurement, a precise sliver of time which often lacks transition before or after.
Fall of this year, I continued with this interest, and took a series of photographs and composed them into a film. The images were shot with the intention of being stills, but I started playing with the idea of creating a sort of "digital flip book". This was a rather unsuccessful attempt as the motion is choppy and it's rather repetitive, but it marks the beginning of my understanding of stop motion animation.

Exchanging Niceties with a Tree
Song "Lighthouse" by Electrelane




From there I was finally introduced to the concept of "stop motion" after seeing "Muto" by Blu (see below). I fell in love with the oxymoron right then and there. The wonderful thing about stop motion is that it works both ways. It can take something that is not moving at all and give the illusion of motion by sheer number of images and speed of viewing to make a satisfying deception for the viewer. The photos are still, the camera is still, and the inanimate objects in the photos are still. The only time things are moving is when there is no camera to record it's actual motion. Or it can take something that is moving, like a person, freeze parts of their motion with a photograph and reshape that movement with a film.Whether motioning what is stopped or stopping what is in motion, the trickery is oh so charming.

Here are a few of my favorite stop motion films:



(Thanks Maggie!)








(Thanks Ethan!)





Finally I decided to tackle this primal form of animation myself. I struggled significantly (see entry below) in finding a solid idea for the project. However, I became interested in the concept of metamorphosis, and specifically, the caterpillar to butterfly transition. This is where the title "Holometabolous" comes from, meaning "complete metamorphosis." As a college student, I was thinking about how transient life is during this period. It is the time when so many people are tying to "find themselves" but are doing so in a setting where classes, friends and current home are in a constant flux. We spend so much time adapting that it is impossible to really map your identity. Plus if you were to identify yourself completely, it would be that much more difficult to handle the inevitable future transition.


The Garden State

I also don't think people give enough credit to their context. We all find ways to adapt or affiliate with our background, and must accept that our sense of self must adapt too. Essentially, identity is malleable, and the only way to really find it is to accept that, to an extent, you will always be searching for it.

Holometabolous
"Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly."
-Andre Gide

The Photographer’s Dilemma

"Looking Between the Lines"
Scanned black and white negative

I had bad case of artist block in formulating a solid idea for my final photography project. The more I thought about my intentions and how represent those ideas visually, the more my creative thought seemed to be pushed further out of reach. This got me thinking about the process of making art. For most artists, the meaning is dissected after the art is created. For others, there is a higher level of intentionality established before approaching the work. I feel that I weave between these two methods depending on the assignment, but more commonly, I decide where I am going conceptually before making the visual map to get there. Although I believe this can make the art more meaningful, other times I think I drown my creativity with too much logic. It is a fine line between giving art enough thought to find the method most conducive to the idea, and submerging art’s ability to access the illogical by trying to articulate it’s existence with reasoning.

There is also the flip side of this as a viewer rather than creator. Why do people look at art? And what are we supposed to take from art? Sometimes I think art should be brought into the logical realm, by dissecting its meaning and significance. Other times, I think it begs to be left alone, left as something unexplainable.

As I was contemplating my struggle, I thought about this particular challenge in terms of photography. Unlike painters, sculptures or other artists who have a much more hands on approach, photographers must always operate through another medium: their camera. In doing this, one has to juggle the logical side of how to operate this machine, and the creative side of what this machine can see or do. Therefore the artist must also master the maneuvers of this tightrope walk between using reasoning to operate the machine and innovation to make artistic photographs.

"Peek"
Scanned Digital Negative

This discussion has its place physiologically in terms of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and is the part used for linear, symbolic processing, speaking, and reasoning. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and is used for holistic, random, intuitive thinking or fantasizing. Most people become dominate in one of these hemispheres, and for most artists it is the right.

Photography however, prevents either hemisphere from becoming dominate. To look through your camera at the picture being created you must close your left eye and look with your right. By doing this, you are activating the left hemisphere, which is used for rational thought. As a fine art photographer, the right brain needs to be used to see the image as a something other than a representation. This then is the photographer’s dilemma; to create art as the right brain would, despite using your left brain to make it.

"Hidden Identity"
Acrylic on canvas

My solution to this conundrum was to put my camera down and start making finger paintings. This overly crude method of making art allows a certain catharsis limited in photography. By plopping the paints directly on the canvas and allowing my fingers to mix the colors and create the shapes, I am able to bi-pass the road block of intentionality. I can expel my creative energies directly on a canvas, messy as they may be.

It turns out messy is sometimes the only antidote for a photographer facing a blank canvas.

Unicorns for Christmas

"Starry Structures"
Digital photo collage


I've decided to start this blog primarily for self-serving reasons, but also as a way to share the images I spend so much time with my camera creating. In my Contemporary Issues in Photography course, we were asked to define the type of photographs we like to take. I sat there in contemplation, bumbling over an accurate definition of my work. Mainly, because I don't think a good definition is available at this point. However, my intention is to use this blog as a means to find it. By creating a chronology of my work, posting project ideas and noting the artists who inspire me, I hope to lay the framework for such a definition. Although this is not the ideal way to display my photographs and art, I think it allows for explanation and exploration that other avenues do not.

I have been hesitant in the past to post any images or artwork. I feel like it's flaunting it. I don't want to presume authority over something I am still learning. However, I also feel that keeping my art in various folders in my room is almost insulting it's existence. I do consider myself an artist, but this does not mean I see myself as someone who is always creating impressive art. I only request that you as a viewer and critique bear this in mind. I am, however, eager for feedback (even if critical) if you care to share.

The gentle and pensive maiden has the power to tame the unicorn,
Fresco, Palazzo Farnese, Rome
probably by Domrnico Zampieri, ca 1602


On that note, why "Unicorns for Christmas"?

I came to this title after the recent birth of an infatuation with unicorns. Unexpected snowstorms in the Northwest left me housebound and restless, which, logically, only leads to research of this mythical creature. My obsession led to Christmas wishes for a unicorn, which led to nostalgia of my younger days when wishes for magic were within reason. As a child, there were multiple accounts where my requests to the holiday mascots were not only impossible, but imagined. I asked the Tooth fairy for the ability to fly, I asked Santa for a bell from his sleigh, and the Easter bunny for a whistle to talk to animals.

Although I have outgrown the faith in such wishes, I feel that the thought process of this childhood logic has not completely disintegrated. It has transcended into my art. The photo series I make are intended to push the bounds of reasonable thought. I want to challenge the organization of our schema by challenging what we see. As Santa and Tooth fairy know well; seeing is believing, and herein lies the power of photographs. Jumbling our view of time, space, identity, gender and logic can be done with no better medium than a visual one. If I am able to poke through the membranes encasing any of these within our minds, then I believe this is success as an artist.

In my course I wrote down "Challenging conventional ways of thinking" to define my work. This is what I have now, but we shall how this definition morphs.

And so it begins.