The Maze

For hours I would sit, creating mazes; usually for no one. The walls were characterized often by a constant shifting of stylistic elements as well as size, the space between walls often shrinking down to the point in which only a magnifying glass could see. At the age of five i was truly interested, but was unable to articulate even greater relationships beyond that within the page. Now, in present day, becoming fluent in the language and philosophy of art while simultaneously returning to the roots of my innate interest in relationships, it has manifested itself into something much greater. I, my friends, my family, and the greater context of interpersonal and environmental relationships I effect, have entered back into the maze. This maze has no beginning or end, and it's walls are subject to my perception of their variation. Only a truly interested individual can differentiate the relationships between ever changing boundaries, and, only a highly creative individual can understand the context and nature for which the subjectivity of these walls is therein derived. The capacity to join in this constant redefinition of thought is measured only by the interest of the individual to understand the beauty, conceptualization, and reappropriation of space which constantly stretches and molds the reality in which I exist. Many will be lost, for I always am, and only in finding comfort in the constant redefinition and articulation of change can one truly ground themselves to something so subjective. As I have found my anchor in the fascination with constant relational shifts, I hope to be able to relate these ideas so that others may generate equal amounts of complex abstract thought that are true purely to themselves; developing their own personal parallel maze which operates in conjunction with my own. There is a time to be lost, and there is a time to be found--now they are one in the same.

Pretty Song

From Errollyn Wallen;

Production: The Girl In My Alphabet

Piece: are you worried about the rising cost of funerals? five simple songs: guru



I have the answer
The answer’s in a bottle
the bottle is on the mountain
and the mountain’s by a river
and the river runs to me

I have the answer
and it’s what you want to hear
and I’ll tell you what you eat
and I’ll tell you what to wear
and the road is not too long
and the way is not too hard

but I, only I
have the answer

for nobody wants to be alone
nobody wants to be a fool
and you want to live forever

and nobody wants to be alone
nobody wants to be a fool
and you want to live forever
I’ll set you free.

The answer’s in a bottle
the bottle is on the mountain
and the mountain’s by a river
and the river runs to me

I’ll set you free
free from yourself

5 historical monuments

dimensions: 70'' , 60'', 105''

medium: latex gloves, fiber glass, plastic, light fixture, gallery space

year: 2007











5 Historical Monuments

This piece was about the trail of action that is left behind; footprints, brush strokes, craft, construction. It is about how these traces of action build into a form which both gives and is a part of a greater context of everything happening at once. I wanted to literally freeze the traces of a repetitious action, symbolic to the patterns which govern the equivalence of time and space.
I dipped my hand in fiber glass, and put it on the mound, then would release the glove as a trace that my hand had been there. Initially I had thought to record this process on camera, but then realized that any capture of an action does not recreate the initial process, and so i found it arbitrary. A measurement of action. Time does not exist in that sense--things move--it is just one continuous action. This action is a constant interchange of space changing position; by the same line that brought the materials I used for the piece into my possession, it was the same action which brought the idea into my head, and left it all in a heap from which society may draw a greater context. After all of this; the idea that the only thing that I can capture is a tangible manifestation of this constant action, and never the action itself, parallels that of the craft and idea that leads an artist into the creative process.
I pay homage to the materials I use by titling each of them as a historical monument, and then lastly, identifying that the 5th and only true material of the process is the context which governed them into their situation; being the reason I listed "gallery space" as a material. The gallery serves as a miniature model for this piece, and the process of positioning the gloves transcends the space that the piece will ever occupy. As soon as the last glove was placed onto the piece, the piece ceased to exist.
I decided to light the piece as a statement about the allure of the senses. As an angler fish reels in its prey with a light, we similarly are bound to gravitate to our own sensorial definition of space. Often, in nature, and in myth, it is the gravitation towards light that prevents one from experiencing the true beauty of the presence and consciousness that what we are (ie. the inverse of our body, the space which we do not fill in the universe) transcends our ability to understand.
As I look at the materials, within themselves, as works of this process, others look to the product of my actions with these materials, as though somehow they were not a part of it. I did not make this piece. It just happened.

Diffusion

My latest piano piece. Its composed of the repetitive, vigorous rhythmic playing of single keys of piano, and then the digital stretching of these sounds into pulsating waves which blur the initial pressing of the key into the next. While also dealing with the perception of action in time, it's based on the idea of paralleling the act of diffusion and behavior of gases to measuring sound in a spatially volumetric way. I think it might be neat to somehow be able to release and control visible gases into the atmosphere of a gallery, creating gas sculpture/installations which sink and swell to correspond to this musical idea. Anyways, here's a link to the composition:

http://www.lightningmp3.com/live/file.php?fid=10645

hope you enjoy

5:53 AM

things connect better when im too tired to remember anything

Final

The following is my photography that I submitted as my final project in my black and white photography class, accompanied by the essay of explanation. It was my first attempt to write an artist statement type essay. It is a bit wordy, but received hella hyphe praise from my professor; both the essay and the photos.


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Indigenous Architecture

Lately I have been dwelling on my childhood, and reapplying elements of it into my life as a young man. I started this project knowing that I wanted to dwell on something that I had created as a child, and reexamining the significance of the object as well as how the social significance that the object or theme plays on a social scale that I was unaware of as a child.
Growing up as the son of an archaeologist, I was frequently going to museums, going to dig sites, or even watching documentaries at home about ancient civilizations. At the same time that I was completely and utterly fascinated with the idea of a maze, I became fascinated with the different architectures of civilizations throughout time, and how they differed. I loved to create small villages, or draw floor plans for households. I would even think about the type of people that would live in those spaces, and what they would need and want in order to live in the structure which I designed for them. My earliest creations began as just a reflection of my dream house or imaginary hideaway, but then developed into something completely outside of myself, where I was creating civilizations and social networks, enemies, and customs for people based around the houses or maps that I would draw. It even got to the point where I would create imaginary spaces in which my playground friends could escape into every recess; an imaginary space where, yes, I dictated it, but my decisions were based on the logic of the environment I created. Looking back on the whole idea now, I have found so many levels that I was completely unconscious of at the time.
I decided I wanted to build and photograph small civilizations loosely based around imaginary architecture I had created as a child. These are heavily influenced by native American, as well as ancient European architecture. I began to then think about the significance of architecture, and why it is different around the globe. Architecture is based on available material, as well as necessity and need, which all are based on the surrounding environment. I then began to think about then, why I am making these miniature architectural and cultural studies.
In an age where ancient ruins juxtapose modern skyscrapers and industrialized nations produce their own materials for architecture, the necessity and surroundings are now dictating our structures less and less. I began to think about all of the materials in my own immediate surroundings, and realize that I have so many different textures and materials in such a concentrated space, that I don’t have to leave my house to fulfill my needs. It was in this that I decided I wanted to not only build these architectural structures, but build them based on found material I found lying around in my own house. The lack limitation for me proved to be a parallel of the limitation imposed on ancient cultures, which didn’t have plastics or paper to use arbitrarily.
In creating these cities I then also began to think about how the scale was significant, and the importance of the miniature. It is a space in which I can manipulate and control tiny details. I wanted to address, photographically, the architectures in a way that felt as though we were in them, or approaching them. In doing this I feel it gives the viewer a better idea of what it might be like to enter and inhabit that space; a space which in reality, can be seen in its entirety by any human being. It is then my necessity for imagination and escape of reality that has not only built, but inhabits, and lives its everyday life as an avatar of my own self expression in my own made-up reality.

NOOOOOO WAAAAAAAYYY?!

Lately I've been so caught up in things I haven't taken the time to really think out loud to myself like i normally do. the other night though, right before i went to bed, I had a series of ideas that kept me awake. I feel like I am able to reach an equilibrium now, where I don't have to completely go off my rocker in order to achieve articulated ideas. Granted I am not generating as many ideas because I am not completely submersed in them all of the time, but it's nice to just experience without thinking too much some times too. Watching the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air every night in order to keep myself from thinking began to get very tiring(not to mention my bed is way more comfortable than the couch... although.... I have gotten compliments on the comfortability of my couch... I must say, it is quite soft and cozy....) But ANYWAYS, I'm gonna be submitting a triptych into a juried art show this December.. If i get in and go to the finals I will post the piece and the artist statement here on the blog. It's the piece I have kept for the most part under wraps. I think I get kinda paranoid about posting what I consider to be my best work online... it's so easy to just take pictures and share them all around you know... maybe im just kinda crazy or something.. I dunno.. it concerns me at times. In addition to the juried show, but a little less important, I am going to have a piece of art in a gallery in Long Beach named Koo's. I believe the piece is going up on January 3rd, but not positive. It's an installation.. and possibly a painting as welll.. but i will get pictures of either(or both) and post up on here too.

I'm SO excited!! going to Joshua tree with the photo department from CSULB on the 10-14 of January. Gaby is coming too and it's gonna be freakin awesome! I'm gonna have my new camera by then (crossed fingers) and i'll be able to really get some beautiful shots. We're gonna eat a tarantula like Bear from Man vs. Wild... Gonna be awesome.

I wish I had some images I wanted to include in this post.. I'll have pictures of my photography final up. It got hella great reviews from my professor. He told me it was perfect... It was a bitch battling dust... they were very minimal in form and shape, but very very heavy on content. I wrote a very eloquent artist statement for the piece, that was both complex but clear. I'll include that when i put the photos up.


CHRISTMAAAAAAAASSSSS!!!!