I got this "friend request" from face book. And I sent Mr. Kaufman a message telling him how really great and hilarious he is! Turns out he wasn't trying to be funny.
I honestly thought that he was like a "Yes Man" or maybe a Baltimore Based Andrew Dickson, it made me think of the women's shelter confusion I had at the armory in New York (another post) or when I first saw the ads on Saturday Night Live, and how it was hard to tell which ones were satire and which ones were real.
I really didn't mean to insult Mr. Kaufman, he is obviously (as it turns out) very sincere in his efforts to recruit business. I finally figured that he had gotten my contact through toastmasters.
I have mixed feelings about my short and virtual encounter with Mr. Kaufman. On one hand I am honestly a little freaked out that someone would approach me this way (and assume I was interested) and on the other hand I think it is brilliant that he is so out there with his own bad self! And then on another hand (I know I already used two, but two are not enough) I wonder about my own fixations on the world, I am fairly new to face book, but before this everyone who has contacted me has been pretty "like minded" so I assumed that Mr. Kaufman was an artist, and assessed him as such. Is my assumption much different from Mr. Kaufman's seeing me through his lens of business opportunity? (ok I know he came on my turf and is obviously trolling, but lets forget about that) Really its not. I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it is somewhere in the direction of trying to figure out how we get out of our own heads and talk to (see) each other, but at the same time maintain and value "our own heads."
as always I welcome your thoughts.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
what would you think?
Friday, October 17, 2008
Is Socialism the New Communism?
Socialist (ecru?) is the new Communist (red)
I just finished watching the debates (the nine o clock version), and then good choir member that I am went to the Huffington Post to see what others were saying.
One of the links I went to there kept me up way later than I meant to be. It was a link to an hour long special on Fox about Obama, and all his really scary connections!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_HZMD97nMw&feature=related
It has six segments, please enjoy if you want to check it out.
The thing that really resonated with me was how the words socialist and socialism kept coming up. These terms were assumed to be, understood as equivalent to, …. I don’t know what but something that everyone would instinctively perceive as horrifying!
Now I personally don’t have a pet ideology. As far as I can see the problem with all of them is application, anything could work if we were all on the same page DUH! But we don’t even live in (or agree on) a Democracy, (as you know its a republic.)
My question is; what is so bad or scary about socialism? It seems like the word is being groomed to take the place of “communism” as the awful ogre, “there is no reason to think about it because it eats children and rapes widows,” and once the word is spoken all attention and energy must be spent deflecting association with it, instead of dealing with the real topic at hand.
I grant I may be over reacting, but I gotta say this is what I seeing coming down the pike. (where does that come from “come down the pike”?)
This post is my small attempt to say “hey lets not go there this time, lets stay focused on what matters and think about what makes sense, let’s not close up shop on an idea just because it gets called something (socialist, communist, conservative, radical, modernist, relational, abstract, intellectual, naïve… you get the idea! )
This last part of this post should be really neutral, and yet a call to action; very understated and at the same time poetic and moving. I don’t know how to write that, please feel free to send me your submissions!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Withina7minutewalkfromworksound
DAISYCHAIN
I met some strangers out side of KW Printing and asked them to recommend me to some one else on my map. What you see here are all people and businesses’ that I was referred to in this daisy chain fashion. I wanted to hint visibly at the web of connections that make this a community.
Visitors to the gallery marked and described their connections to places on the map.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
not exactly a new project
Well I got the message loud and clear at my review that i need to pare down my activity and prioritize, however I was also told that I tend to take on things that involve a lot of work. Now this might look like a new project, but it is just recognition that something I have already been doing is worth sharing.
As you may know I am helping Linda Wysong with her Backyard Conversations project on the south river front. Before the tour on Thursday somehow (I think she mentioned that I looked really like a tour guide in the uniform she had provided) the conversation came around to a place where I told her that people often mistake me for an employee at random places I happen to be.
I've been asked how long the wait is or told how many a table is needed for at restaurants; I am regularly asked where certain merchandise can be located at retail stores, once at the Goodwill I was even asked by an upset customer to call the manager. It is a hobby of mine to try to fulfill people's requests when this happens. Now this doesn't happen every week, but it has happened often enough over the years. I have enjoyed trying to help people with what ever it is they need when it does.
After the tour I was able to come to the tail end of the PSU Art Auction. While there I ended up talking to a woman who I didn't immediately recognize, but when she told me her name I remembered meeting her several years ago. She is an artist. When she heard my name she told me how much she liked my work, (I was very flattered) she went on to explain to her partner what an amazing photographer I am!
Suddenly the previous conversation I'd had with Linda Wysong and my projected identity project collided. I did explain to the artist Thursday evening that I am not a photographer, however I offered to do a photo shoot with her, and she verbally agreed. I like the idea of not knowing when I will be mistaken for performing a role I don't usually perform, but taking on the "job" that has been projected onto me the best I can. I like this because it is simple, it is like the bus stories because I can not know when it will happen, but unlike the bus stories there is a good chance of follow up and further chapters to the stories.
Stay tuned.
Monday, June 9, 2008
NYTimes article about Richard Reynolds
Hi all here is a link to an article in today's New York Times Magazine about Richard Reynolds, and guerrilla gardening. I hope you will enjoy it (there is even a seed bomb how to video clip!)
Click here!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Daisy Chain
Above is a picture of some connections I made between various artists, either by one artist referring me to another, or things I came upon from research of artist generated leads. I found strong thematic and conceptual connections between artists who came to me from disparate sources.
One over arching commonality between these artists, writers and organizations is an implicit challenge to the primacy of institutionally generated knowledge. By this I mean they challenge the assumption that information must be mediated by received science, or some other institutional body (or method) in order to create meaning.
Another common thread is an interdisciplinary approach. In addition to artistic skill, these artists all draw selectively on biology, archeology, sociology, technology, journalism, or history in the creation of their projects. None I talked to called themselves "social practice" artists, neither did they reject that label-as long as it was one among many.
All seemed uninterested, at best, in labeling their practices.
I note that all the projects I have looked at are time based, however I think there is something more specifically defining about them than that. All these projects deal with living things in ways that are cognizant of and, dependent on, the dynamics of change in one way or another. Whether you look at Mark Dion's Vivarium, or Anna Callahan's Irish Stories project; the time based element is intrinsic to the work.
This observation can be unpacked to include what is to me one of the most interesting issues addressed in my interviews and research; namely activism. If (as some claim) there is an element of activism, or pedagogy in these artist's works, then where does the work end? For example, I have planted an “edible estate” in my front yard, inspired by Fritz Haeg's work. He has moved on to Animal Estates now; is my front garden a continuation of his earlier work? My point being that even with a project that appears to be finite in time; if there is an educational or activist intent that becomes manifest then the work becomes time based in an extended way.*(see read more below)
Another extension stemming from the idea that all these artists are working with living things is the idea that social systems (communities and interpersonal relationships), even histories are also living things. Which puts for me a new slant on my own definition of social practice.
I've participated in discussions around social practice where one idea of a criteria would be collaboration with the public as a medium. I'm wondering for my self if “collaboration with dynamic entities as a medium” wouldn't be more apt. I say this because I think it implies more strongly a lack of control. I have discovered though this research my own proclivity to appreciate most, projects that do not presume specific out comes. This could be more simply put as I admire work that is open ended.
I began this research with the question of context, what context do these artists put them selves in? As it turns out my daisy chain method for this research is a microcosmic link in a larger chain. I now realize that what I want to understand more than context is process and resulting aesthetic. I want to understand how people I admire translate their varied motivations and interests into work. I am now aware that aesthetics (for me) are best an organic result of process, rather than the other way around.
Here is a list of the names on this chart, each is followed with a link.
Andrea Bowers LINK
Suzanne Lacey LINK
Anna Callahan LINK
Community Art Lab LINK
Augusto Boal LINK
Theater of the Oppressed LINK
Fritz Haeg LINK
Chip Lord LINK
Jeremy Deller LINK
Richard Reynolds LINK
Dave McKenzie LINK
Pierre Bourdieu LINK
Mark Dion LINK
Monday, May 19, 2008
Anna Callahan
I heard about Anna Callahan's "Encyclopedia of Danville" project from Harrell Fletcher. That was my first encounter. I started looking into her further and found her website. In exploring her other projects I learned that she and I share a strong interest in other people and their un-mediated knowledge.
Anna agreed to meet with me and let me record our conversation. She shared a lot of wisdom (she might cringe at me calling it that) with me about her process. I hope you will benefit from this short interview as much as I did. (I strongly suggest you check out her website before watching the video.)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
heavy industries
Its late, so this is just a book mark to write more about the lecture tonight later, but one thing we all promised to blog about was the moment when Shelby described Mark as being James dean like in his coolness. so note that and consider it blogged! One other thing I will try to expand on later, is how they have set them selves up like a swanky Japanese Boutique with no merchandise.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Another bus story
I know I usually make these posts about someone approaching me, but this is about a conversation I started on the east bound 12 last Thursday afternoon.
Catching the bus at the top of 4th usually means getting on a nearly empty bus and having my choice of seats. But Thursday the bus was already full. As I went to the back to make room for others getting on, a fellow at the very back moved over and signaled me non verbally that there was room. I sat down, thanked him and started annoying him with conversation. He works at OHSU and is from Ethiopia, he has been here for one year. I asked him what was his mother tongue (we were having a hard time understanding each other, which is probably why he wasn't overly eager to talk to me.) He didn't really answer me except to say that they spoke a lot of english in Ethiopia except that is is "english english" he explained that they finished thier words out in front of their mouths so that one could understand, but that in america we talk inside of our mouths which makes it hard to understand. I told him that several years ago I met an older Ethiopian man who spoke Italian, this man told me that many Ethiopians spoke italian because of the occupation. (I was hoping to speak italian with him) he didn't know what I was talking about. Then a fellow sitting in front of us said, it was Mussolini who invaded Ethiopia to avenge the humiliation of an earlier Italian attempt that failed, but then the British came in and pushed the Italians out.
I was hopeful that this fellow would join our conversation, but he didn't and I suddenly became very self conscious and embarrassed that I'd been bugging this guy who was just trying to get home from work. So I uncharacteristically shut up!
What happened next was lovely. "Facil" seemed to understand what I was feeling and introduced himself to me. We carried on with a much more two sided conversation. I asked him how he happened to end up in Portland, I couldn't understand what he was saying, it sounded like, "like" or "life", and then he said, like powerball, AH I said, like lotto like chance, like life! He said Yes! and we both cracked up- it doesn't sound that funny, but maybe you had to be there.
This was my best ride all week.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
A little help from my friends!
As I mentioned in my last post I had a gardening injury over spring break which put a damper on my plans for not only our vacant lot improvement project but also my own project of turning my front patch into an "edible estate". All of the plants for the vacant lot were perennials I dug out of said front patch, and it was left in a big muddy mess with nothing but the weeds left for a couple of weeks! Last Friday (my finger splint free and mostly healed) I decided to dedicate three days to finishing the project. I had a good 8 hours of it on Friday, it was heaven, and then I was at it again early Saturday until I found my self on my knees in the mud, I'd thrown my back out errrgH!
Monday night at Marie Watt's lecture I met David Cook (a visitor from the Art Institute of Chigago), and Tuey Burns, recently back in town from Arizona. They agreed to work on my "estate" so the last three days they have been doing my dirty work, and I now have a terraced front patch ready to receive seeds. These guys did a lot more than just help me with my garden, they stimulated me with great conversation on topics ranging from clocks and time, to our shared love of words. They also made the suggestion that since I didn't have enough paintings to cut up for the whole retaining wall and we had to use some plain scrap that we write something on it. Franny always has a lot of random facts in her head, so we asked her for one. She said "43.5% of all percentages are made up on the spot." So that is our message. Tuey has invited Francesca and I to apply to be part of her Chinese family!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
A Complicated Tango at the Back Room
Tonight at the Back Room the guest panelists were Amoreen Armetta, Molly Dilworth, and Alex (Kreb?) aka "the tango master"- a title he resists.
The loose theme of the evening was 'searching' and an inquiry based in the mind and the body. Alex was a surprise guest that Stephanie Snyder provided as a gift to Amoreen and Molly, relieving them of any pressure to plan a dialog. Stephanie really is a most gracious host!
Sean, Andy, Chelsea, and several other of our PNCA colleagues were there. As were Rita, Pat, and Susan Harlan.
The evening started with a brass gypsy band, and for the first time ever dancing at a back room event! I love to dance and don't do enough so this was definitely a bonus for me. And after a delicious and substantial dinner we had a tango lesson. Well Pat and I had part of a tango lesson, we ended up being partners and were unable to master the "careful listening" involved in the relationship of non passive submission. Apparently we are both alpha dogs.
This is ironic as this idea of "duende" achieved by mutual submission and letting go of thought became a metaphor for the discussion afterwards. Alex described very eloquently the place that two dancers -strangers- can achieve when they are able to be in perfect communication, he stressed the equal pressure exchanged between the bodies as a "listening tool" so that in perfect communication the leader is as submissive to the follower, as the follower is to the leader. A total union as it were. He explained that when he first experienced this he was very young and the day after the dance wondered if he was in love, or dating the girl, should he call her? Now he understands that it is not sexual, it is a moment that is made though the connection (it takes two to tango) but the experience is generated and experienced equally. I don't know how to put this exactly so I will clumsily say that there is no residue of personal obligation after the dance. However I can not believe that there is not some lingering connection or knowledge.
Stephanie asked if this might play out in a civic way? The question was never really answered to my satisfaction, at least the question I understood her to be asking. I thought she might be suggesting the possibility of a civic duende. To me the metaphor would go something like this, just as in tango (per Alex) you can learn the steps in 6 months, and it takes a lifetime to still not finish learning the dance, but one has moments after learning the steps of being able to forget them and achieve that feeling of duende, and that is what keeps one dancing. Maybe after learning the basics of ... social interaction, one begins to "dance with them and occasionally has moments of duende that compel one forward to learn more and practice more. To me this would be an example of civic tango.
As it happens at any really good dinner party, the conversation veered from a direction some found more promising and went off into areas that others were most interested in. (that's really obvious code for, I wanted to take another trajectory, but since I didn't speak up I can't really say anything about it) But it came back around too. Amoreen asked the audience if anyone could think of an example in life that was similar to what we had experienced in our tango lesson, of moving together while also experiencing and negotiating a relationship with others around us. (bad paraphrase) Someone mentioned negotiating public transportation (turns out he was talking about crowded trains in Japan) and the wordless communication that he experienced with people, the example he gave was something like asking for just a couple more inches and the other person agreeing and giving him those inches, all with out words.
Amoreen brought up how she actually finds it hard to walk in Portland. She likes to walk when she is frustrated (not the right word) with her writing. She misses the jostling and more aggressive walking style required by the crowds on the streets of New York. Pat then brought up the point that we had been talking a lot about finding this unity this “duende” and she admitted that it is a good thing to experience, but that in fact for her it is the discord and the oppositions that move her forward, they are the things that interest and compel her forward (my paraphrase). Amoreen agreed with this as did Molly. Molly went as far as to say that utopia didn't exist and couldn't. There was then a volley of words about the roots of the word “utopia”.
At some point when Amoreen was asked if writing for her was similar to tango for Alex, she said that really it was more like always chasing after something that was just almost in reach.
At this moment (or at some point including this response) I realized what I thought about the idea that the discord is what is most interesting. I agree, it is the discord and things not being resolved that move me forward too, but I think we are conflating the private with the public. The discord I find valuable (unpleasant but valuable) is internal. I don't personally benefit from discord in the world around me. I have no fear that even if everyone else on the planet were suddenly to find themselves in total accord I would be any less internally conflicted- ok maybe a little, but I'd still have plenty of angst to motivate myself. I think there is a huge value in trying to make, or perceive even fleetingly profound connections with others.
Tango is an interesting metaphor for this to me for a couple of reasons. The idea that a “transcendent” moment can be achieved between strangers, and the concept of this mutually achieved transcendence not mandating any future obligation. This last bit may seem a little cold, but I think not. I think it is honest. I think that one reason we are all so hesitant to engage with each other (strangers especially) is because we fear we will enter into some sort of implicit undefined contract.
Now to shift the focus slightly; during dinner I had a conversation with someone at my table about social practice. She said that the problem with social practice is that it was undefined thus there is no way to have a dialog about it. She said that there is no common language for it, no way to critique it. I am not explaining her point very well so far. I think what she was saying is that from the point of view of an educator, how can you help a student fill in something that is missing if you don't understand what the whole should look like. She said that social practice needs to put its self in a context so that it can be discussed. She also had some very convincing examples of “bad” social practice art. And she said that if we were to do “social practice” it should have a political or social intent/result.
I explained that from my point of view it was unfair to judge the whole genre by a few bad examples. After all there are plenty of bad studio artists as well. Also I suggested that the very nature of collaborating, trying to learn how to best collaborate with people outside of the self selected art world had the potential to make as much difference as working only within it. And the main thing I said was that, from my point of view, what we are doing as students in this program at PSU is really difficult, we are trying to define the parameters of our own practice within a field that we are spending equal amounts of energy defining and not constricting. I told her how much time and energy we spend thinking about and discussing topics such as responsibility, relevance, audience, not to mention our own projects and how they intersect with these topics. We are also concerned with the same things as every other MFA student, such as how can we support our selves as artists, what is ethical etc. It is really a very challenging pursuit that like other art forms requires integrity, intentionality and persistence in order to progress.
Later a man suggested that what all true art has in common (all art, including science etc..) is rigor. My friend who I had been discussing social practice with earlier leaned over and said “you see that's my point”, and I said “no that's my point!”
This all seems really wild (ironic?) as I talked to Pat this morning over coffee about how tired I am of oppositions. I really think framing different approaches oppositionally is not only futile, it reinforces conflict and is lazy. Pat told me something someone told her-no she read it in an obituary- this woman, a painter and teacher told her students "For you to be right doesn't mean that everyone else has to be wrong."
So check it out I tell Pat just this morning that I hate “opposition”, she tells me this really great quote that validates my sentiments, (even though she values opposition) I go to the back room, and make a completely “oppositional” response to my friend about the topic of social practice!
It was an interesting evening and a very complicated tango - but then there were more than two dancing.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
KUMBAYA
At my group critique last monday I presented some research I had done on the word and song “Kumbaya” which means “come by me”.
I became interested in this because of a comment made about us when we were in New York. Someone said in response to our sitting in a circle on the floor that we were very “West Coast” and they wondered if we would start singing “Kumbaya”?
When I heard about this later my immediate response was, we should send them a video of us sitting in a circle singing kumbaya! The person making the comment was certainly not being complementary, however my initial response wasn't meant to be vindictive. Rather I think I thought it was funny and a way to open a dialogue, or at least cause some thought.
Some interesting things I learned about the song were first that it is credited to a Portlander see wikipedia entry (there is some dispute around this.) I also found a lot of recent editorials where the word kumbaya is being used as an adjective, and a slam. It is invoked to denote weakness generally and more specifically a weak grasp of serious realities. This reminds me of the (not so) old days when politicians would accuse each other of being communist and thus effectively hijack the trajectory of the conversation, as the accused then spent all his or her rhetorical skill denying the claim.
After looking at this research it seemed to me that I could happily accept the label of “kumbaya”, I would be interested to hear why it is a bad thing to exhibit a belief in possibility and unity. I say this even though I am not religious so “some ones crying my lord -come by me” might seem an odd sentiment for me to embrace, however I see it as a call for strength and wisdom generally. I guess that is why it is considered weak; it is admits that one doesn't have all the answers or that one lacks the total personal power necessary to effect change alone (unilaterally).
I also put together this collage of other people's utube videos of the song being sung. I think this video shows how diverse are the relationships that people have to this song. I personally don't think any of these clips are trying to be ironic. Some come from and understanding of the song as a spiritual prayer, some from growing up with it at camp, some simply as a song that everyone knows, and some almost documentary about pain in the world. As I assembled these clips I was struck by the cacophony created by layering so many performances of this one song, and also by the randomly occurring unity that emerged in some moments.
Listen carefully to the opening audio clip, it is Katherine Hepburn from "The Lion in Winter."
Kumbaya from sanone on Vimeo.
After my presentation and my request that we make a movie, there was a very lively discussion. What I had seen in the various utube videos was actually reflected in the opinions we all had. I mean by this that there was a huge range of interpretation. We did sing the song together, but I will not be submitting anything to anyone just yet. This is mainly for two reasons. First it was pointed out that unless we could send it to exactly the person who made the comment it would have no resonance what so ever, and in fact might seem so odd as to reinforce the stereotype of the west coast, and secondly it was suggested that it might be perceived by some as offensive or racist because the word kumbaya was imported/appropriated from Africa. Also, it now seems a project worth investigating with a lot more thought.
Thanks to everyone who participated for making this a really great and though provoking critique.
It was really fortunate that Storm Tharp was our visiting artist, he had a similar experience in Seattle, and the word kumbaya was used pejoratively then as well. I am really interested in questions around sincerity, hipness, and authenticity to mention a few, that this topic brought up. I never dreamed that kumbaya would be so contentious!
I am looking forward to further dialog about this, and it may end up that I do a project that is inspired by the overheard comment in New York, yet is not a direct response to it.
Private showing at the Armory
I ended up going to the Armory by myself in New York, as I was really slow going through the whitney and then stopped by NPR to participate in the radio show that Katy organized.
A couple of people told me that I should definitely see the video of the trees falling down, so I kept searching for it. When finally it seemed I had looked into every room, even some that were not meant to be looked in I was about to give up. Then I saw another staircase at the end of the hall and I assumed that their must be more on the floors above. I started up the stairs and met a couple of other people coming down, these people seemed to work there and in retrospect I think felt encouraged that I was headed in the right direction since they didn't seem to see a problem with me going up the stairs.
I went all the way up, as I came through the doors onto the 5th floor I was struck by the bright florescent
lighting and the dingy white walls. This was a big contrast to the dark mystery of the first two floors. But it seemed fitting as there were 5 or 6 big empty canvas laundry hampers on wheels lined up on the middle of the floor in front of me. Directly behind them there was an open door leading into a room that looked like a large break room, or a small cafeteria. there was a wall covered in posters to my right, it was a mix of informational, community type flyers, and art announcements. The one that stood out immediately was a day glow orange advertisement for employment as a telephone market researcher. The only activity in the room was a large TV playing news at the far end and a woman sitting too close in front of it watching.
I took this one photo and then went out of the room to another long long empty hall. At the very end of the hall there was one of those old fashioned full length mirrors, the kind that is shaped like a cameo and rotates on a pin through the middle. It was angled perfectly in the corner so that it reflected that same day glow advertisement posted on a wall around the corner. I ventured down the hall really intrigued and thinking that this was a hugely ambitious project. as I turned the corner I found that it was the very same poster, and turning completely around I saw two fairly large institutional style swinging doors (the kind with the little porthole windows) One of them was propped wide open giving me a clear view of what seemed to be an ocean of cubicles all about 4 and a half feet high. I thought this must be the calling center, then I noticed that the two cubes open towards me had platforms filled with cloth, but when I looked closer I realized they were beds with large women wearing many layers of clothing laying on them. Exactly as I was trying to make sense of this and recoiling with thoughts of slave labor and exploitation, a woman who was talking on long sprung corded wall phone mounted just inside the doors came around the corner and saw me. She didn't even say hang on a minute to the person she was talking to, she just barked at me “what do you want!” I said I thought i was in the wrong place, she then said “I can't be responsible for what happens to you here.” I started to leave, but then came back to look at the poster again to see if I could get a clue to what was going on. She saw me again and repeated “I can't be responsible for what happens to you.”
I asked her what this place was, and she said it was a women's shelter.
Feeling a little shaken I headed back to the stairs I was going to the 4th floor, I knew for a fact that there was an event taking place there the next evening so I figured maybe that's where I could find the trees falling down. (please see the read more section for more about trees falling down) I went though the doors and the space was half way between the institutionality of the 5th floor and the grand decay of those below. there was a long dark wood bar lining the left side of the large hall, and on the right a long dark bench. On the bench very close to me were two women, one of them with official looking tags around her neck. She asked me I wanted, and not in the friendliest tone, I lied and told her I was looking for the calling center. She softened very slightly and told me to ask the people down stairs. I asked her if this were part of the women's shelter and she said it was.
At this point I was feeling pretty confused, what had I seen, how was it that the first floors of this grand building hosted a rotating schedule of high class art events, and just up above were living all these destitute women, what kind of shelter was this, were these battered women? If so why did they have them staying in a place where the public could roam around and a batterer could easily get at them? Or if they were dangerous (as the woman with the phone seemed to imply) why were they not being helped more, why were they being warehoused in this freakish place?
As I went down the stairs I was met by about 20 older african american women coming up both sides of the split staircase. The stairs were very steep and some of them were having a hard time and taking a break every few steps. It was really uncomfortable because most of them seemed so tired as to be completely out of it, almost like zombies they didn't even see me. And those few that did glared at me as though they still hadn't forgiven some awful act of betrayal I had committed.
This was the most intense experience I had in New York, and for a lot of reasons. I thought I was experiencing an installation long after I should have understood that this was real life. I also feel like I had an experience that was even more intense because of this confusion on my part. I still haven't sorted this all out, but It raises many questions for me.
I asked at the front desk about the women's shelter and they said that it had been there for a long time and was run by Lennox Hospital, but they didn't know what the reasons were that these women needed shelter.
I have since found out that the shelter is run by Lennox Hill, which is a charity, and these women are homeless.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Nerves of steel
This is a picture of Matt, he is one of my mentor students, at last nights mentor session he was interviewed live on a local talk radio station, this picture is him doing the interview on speaker phone during the mentor session.
As you all know I have an intense discomfort with public speaking, and I am unsure how much of my discomfort is because of the "public" nature of it, and how much is the scripted, or anticipation that I am going to be speaking to a group (as opposed to a spontaneous act.)
The reason Matt was being interviewed by this sports station was that last Thursday when he went to the Blazers vs Sonics game he was randomly asked to do some kind of a half time shooting baskets thing. (I don't know a lot about this, but I suspect most people do.) Any how he agreed and the task was to make 4 or 5 specific kinds of baskets (lay up, college 3 point, nba 3 point... I don't remember the others, I'm just trying to remember what he said) anyhow if he could make all these shots with in 30 seconds he could then do a bonus shot- a half court (as I understand it that is really hard.) He made all the shots including the half court in under 30 seconds! I gather this is terrific. The reason the radio station wanted to interview him is that all he won was a ten day car rental, and someone else was trying the same shots for a car. Apparently he is a local hero, and the fans want him to get a better prize.
OK here is the deal, Matt did a great job with the interview, but he was shaking, and I could empathize with him completley- I could see him feeling just the way I do when I "have to speak" his body was having its own reaction. He was able to pretty much spontaneously perform an amazing skill based feat in front of thousands of people in an exceptional fashion, but a phone interview with a local radio station made him nervous.
This has me really thinking that maybe the nerves are less about the size of the group and more about the expectation of performance having time to fester.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Kizzy
This is a different kind of bus story.
The stop I have gone to for years on 22nd is gone now, I forget and just walk up to it anyway.
On this particular morning I decided to walk down burnside to 20th and catch the bus there. As I was approaching 20th on the opposite side of the street I needed , I saw this guy at the bus stop pull out a pen and write something on a sign pasted up in the tailors shop by the stop.
Based on his body language, I made a little bet with my self... he wrote something nice.
When I finally got to the stop, I checked out the sign, it was an 8and a half inch paper saying "sorry we can't open today, we are sick" and what was "graffiti ed" on it was "get well soon", with a smilely face. I said to the guy I'd seen write it, woha that is so great, thank you. He said, "yeah I felt a little like I was maybe vandalizing but opposite, I hope when they come they see this they know we care, they are just these old people running this shop, they put the bus schedules up in the window for us, they don't have to do that, they are really cool." I put quotes around this but this is just what I remember, he said it all a lot better.
We ended up talking a lot on the bus together, he made me feel really good about life, and my day. He doesn't call himself a social practice artist, he is just living the way he does. He let me make him feel good too. When he got off the bus, he came over and gave me a hug. It didn't feel like reflexive gesture, it felt really right.
My meeting with Kizzy this morning really made me feel both validated about social practice, and also like an idiot. Kizzy works in a home for disabled people, and is studying music theory on the side, he is in into sampling and hip hop. He is living his life, and is a social art practitioner in the way he lives. I know that I have an "reasonable agenda" for getting a degree, but this really begs the question of how will I enhance in a proportionately meaningful way what I can contribute because of my MFA experience? I'm not meaning to dis the whole MFA thing at all, I am just wondering , or feeling a responsibility to define it for my self as something more. I'm really privileged to be in this place for what is a very short time. Meeting Kizzy today made me realize that I need to dig in or branch out in order to add something to this opportunity.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Gas Station Kismet, maybe
I smoke, ok I know I shouldn't and I'm always just quitting, but I do. As it happens there is a small advantage, I end up going to the local gas station on a regular basis to buy cigarettes. I have over the years developed relationships with the people who work there, (I could tell a lot of stories here now, but I won't.)
Tonight when I went in to buy my smokes, Hannah (who works at the station) told me that it is really weird to her that there are three women who buy american spirits, yellow (me) orange and blue, and "its like you are all the same as each other and different from everybody else." She likes us all. I told her that I would love to meet these women. Hanna is totally comfortable facilitating a meeting between us all. I explained a little bit about social practice, and how if she wanted look at this as a project that she was doing, I would help, maybe host a dinner. She was totally game.
This image is Hannah's contact information. I've blacked most of it out, to protect her privacy.
USGS field trip.
This is a picture of ground water, really!
On Friday Varinthorn and I were taken by Karl Lee (a hydrologist with the USGS) on a 5 hour field trip. We accompanied him as he checked data at sites along Johnson Creek and Crystal Springs.
We learned how the BES contracted with the USGS to collect scientific data to help them understand how building on the flood planes, and past work done by the WPA to change the nature of this waterway has contributed to the flooding and problems around Johnson Creek. The BES is using this science to design new projects that will abate some of the flooding. We saw areas where BES has bought houses on the flood plane (through the willing sellers program) torn them down and planted these areas which can now function again as flood planes. We also saw a site where they have made the creek snake around so that more water encounters more earth for absorption, as well as plenty of room for flood plane. (I'm a still a little ignorant and I don't think that is exactly right, please be generous)
We learned about ground water (even saw some at Holgate Lake-see photo above) We saw both low and high tech equipment for measuring temperature, flow, and quantity. Our collective heads were reeling with new information.
Karl was an amazing tour guide, he not only took us out in the field, but also gave us a tour of the office, the lab and the storage room, where he showed us some of the equipment they use in the field ..... and a santa suit.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Words and Meanings
I used to have a "magic" dictionary. As you might know all dictionaries are not created equal. So often the word one is looking up is either not there, or is there with a definition that is too narrow, not worded well, or generally not helpful. The reason my dictionary was magic is that it always contained exactly the definition I needed to expand my thinking. I lost it in the fire and have never found another up to the job. In the read more section below I have cut and pasted definitions of words from our critical theory readings. I don't know how it is for the rest of you but I know that some of these words I have looked up several time before, but for some reason the meanings don't attach well, so I look them up again. Others were completely new to me.. "monad".
The list is not alphabetical, instead it is ordered chronologically (as I encounter these words in the readings.)
I will continue to add to this list through the term, and will not limit myself to the theory readings.
One thing I find very interesting is how many of the words I look up (in general) have definitions listed first that apply to science or medicine. It seems to me that this makes them metaphoric..... but I guess they're not if they are in the dictionary.... but then again... all dictionaries are not created equal....
I must say again; I love words, that isn't to suggest that I know a lot of them, or what they mean, but I love that we all use them almost as though they are solid and indisputable objects, when in fact they are components of a completely fluid medium, with infinite meanings. Perhaps I can describe the magic I see in words/language by making a rather lame and obvious comparison. If you are in my house and the lights go out and I offer you a torch, you might think that I am either a little reckless, or just dramatic, but if you are British you will understand I mean a flash light. I know this is a stupid example, but if you are to take on what I think about words and language being perceived as firm and almost physical things.... picture this, you are in my house the power goes out and I hand you an actual torch! This will color the way you think about me, my house that evening. I believe that even when there is a lingual miscommunication that is cleared up later, an image, or an experience has irrevocably happened. The way we interpret the words we hear or read, become part of our experience and history.
The fact that we all use words means to me that we are all artists and social sculptors, via this fact alone! Joseph Beuys expressed a strong belief in the power/importance of language, and I agree. But my feelings about this predate my knowledge of him. Language is so abstract and fundamentally creative, the public at large is considered to be uncomfortable with abstraction and creativity, but in fact they are fluent in both when they use language!
By the way, all the definitions in the read more section were taken from the web, mostly from encarta, but also wikapedia.
Kalos kagathos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kalos kagathos (καλὸς κἀγαθός, IPA: [kalos kaːgatʰos]), sometimes written kalokagathos or kalos kai agathos, is an idiomatic phrase used in ancient Greek literature (including philosophy and historiography), attested to since Herodotus and the classical period.[1] The phrase is adjectival, composed of two adjectives, καλός and ἀγαθός (of which κἀγαθός is the crasis with καί, "and"). The derived noun is kalokagathia (καλοκαγαθία)
[edit] Uses
The phrase could be used both in a generic sense, or with certain specific force. As a generic term, it may have been used as the combination of distinct virtues, which we might translate as "handsome and brave", or the intersection of the two words "good" or "upstanding". Translations such as "gentleman" or "knight" have traditionally been suggested to convey the social aspect of the phrase, while "war hero" or the more cynical "martyr" are more recent versions, and emphasise the military element.
It became a fixed phrase by which the Athenian aristocracy referred to itself; in the ethical philosophers, the first of whom were Athenian gentlemen, the term came to mean the ideal or perfect man.
kalos kai agathos, the singular balance of the good and the beautiful.
[edit] Καλός
The adjective καλός encompasses meanings equivalent to English "good", "noble", and "handsome". The form given by convention is the masculine, but it was equally used of women (the feminine form is καλή) and could also describe animals or inanimate objects.
Plato, in his work Republic, used the term τό καλόν (the neuter form) in his attempts to define ideals - although it should be noted that his protagonist (some would say 'mouthpiece') in the dialogue, Socrates, stated that he did not fully comprehend the nature of this καλόν.
[edit] Αγαθός
This second adjective had no particular physical or aesthetic connotations, but described a person's bravery or ethics. Again, around the 4th Century, it had become politically meaningful, and carried implications of dutiful citizenship.