Just thought of a few things I wanted to tell everyone about the new happenings:
First, I am painting more helmets for Joe's squadron. They are coming along in their own toxic way. I am also starting on a large 25' x 8' mural for an elementary school at the same time. It feels balancing in a disturbed way.
The gardens that I started in the Projects have plans to expand by next spring to fill up the whole empty area. This will allow for each family within the projects to have a plot of land, hopefully. I work on the gardens mondays and tuesdays. Its a lazy farmer schedule of just after sunrise and a little before sunset. Wednesdays will turn out to be the mural painting day until it gets closer to the school year beginning again, then it will be time to speed up the pace of the brush. In this week's attempt, thursday and friday will be dedicated to the glass shop and starting the pieces I have been thinking about. That is if those two free days are not over shadowed by painting TVs for the TV Show that is coming up on July 18th. Blake Garrett and I have been working with a few other artists to make a TV Show spectacular. In celebration of the anaolg signal, we will transform each room of the Yes Farm into it's own designated TV Channel. We just started building the extra large TV screen that will show live performances and video in the front room. Kinga and I are attempting to bring the neighbors in on it by instructing them to point their televisions out their front window for a half hour show of 'fuzz'. We designated this concept as being the Weather Channel because everyone will have to walk outside and down the street to see it. Most every hour of each weekend goes into fixing up the Yes Farm so that eventually it will be what we want: a prinshop, studios, gallery, resouce center and a residency. We've got time, and we've got hands.. money will come when the economy feels better. For now I am as close as I will ever be to a farmer living through the depression, but instead of dust and drought our soil sees the impovershed abandoned burnt out motorcity between our row gardens.
Seasonal Goods September 26, 2009
It's all right out here in the not so sexy, dusty Detroit. I am working on glass, a nearly demolished building we call the Yes Farm, and teaching on the side. Constantly questioning my path in life, wondering what is actually worth my concentration and where it will lead me. I seem to be reassessing and second guessing a lot, wondering what is actually happening here and confused at what part I have for it all. Detroit is a magnificent place, similar to the enchantment of ancient ruins but rattled with the monumental problems of abandonment.
People say I've arrived at a tipping point. People who have lived here for years and have wished for better things still fear it might be another false alarm; but i think Detroit is on it's way to being the next art capital of the US, as long as we continue this steady influx of artists and the strengthening numbers of art spaces. Who's to tell though, I'll be here until 2013, then I will decide to stay or move to eastern Europe and escape for a while longer.
On another note, my electrical energy capabilities have been out of control. My phone lights up so bright that it is more a flash light than a tool for communication. I can no longer see who I am calling or read text messages, but somehow I am still gett'n by alright. Above are two images taken from my computer, try to get a picture like that out of photobooth!
December 1st, 2 minutes in...2009
SO, now it looks to be that life has taken me into many directions. All of which are completely ridiculous. The Yes Farm has turned to the path of print and now we are finally a profit place.. . still with revolutionary ideals, but now with the power of the dollar.We print on cloths, alter cloths, and think up more creative ways it is alright for us artists to make $$$. I am spending my days off of teaching on my glass and I am starting to clearly understand the importance of this advance. Sculpture vs. painting, sculpture vs. drawing.... 2-D becomes 3-D. That's not all, the art is completely intangible, submerged in glass. Just try to touch my surreal world, you can't. No one can, I simply take it apart and then put it back together again in 3-D one piece at a time. More to come, the world is starting to emerge.
2010 New Year's Surprise!
For the new Year I decided to live life with more awareness of my confidence. I plan to understand, take control and exhibit my confidence in every action, decision and question within my being. With that said, I will stand tall and feel in control of my future. This will be the year of important decisions, onward!To keep tabs on gentrification, I am taking note of the changing environment around the Yes farm. So far the only complaint I have heard is from a Pimp of Pimps who's name I have to keep anonymous. He is upset with the entire community of artists and farmers, blaming them for the influx of police officers patrolling the streets. He says it is much more difficult for his girls to get work when so many cops are roaming the streets. Now, as for support of the blame, we do call into the precinct when shots are heard near by which tallies more police reports and so more police. After thinking about it this must have been some hooker haven when everything went ignored. And so starts the pushing around of people, the migration of populations in already devastated areas.
I rolled into this new year with a crew of great artists, musicians and performers. Wonderland led me into 2010 and I am well on my way to moving around this surreal landscape. I have closed old relations and cut into new ones. I attempted to stay away from the impassioned people while the clock struck midnight, but when it came time for me to shine I shied away to comfort. Not sure why this happened, life does silly things. There are no coincidences.
Confused Decision Making Life 9/2/10
Learn how to speak forgotten languages and forget how to swim.
I am not ready to talk about this yet, so I will leave my comments brief and abstract. I am thinking again of the space between my time here and what I ultimately want to do within that time. A pinpoint in the space between is what I am trying to define; slowly realizing I'm spun with infinite possibilities so I wait for a meteor to shove me into a new groove. hopefully it will be a wider circle, or it may just knock me into a hole and then I'll see the other side.In it for the savings 16/3/10
Today at the Janice Charach Gallery in West Bloomfield I installed one glass head, positioned two glass waves onto pedestals and prepared three transparent pieces to be hung off the wall. The gallery is two levels and oval in shape. The ceiling is crowned with two circular skylights. The Glass Head is a bird's eye shot from the door and positioned sideways to see it in the round.
Hillery, the woman in charge of the gallery at this time, told me that these pieces should be displayed in more upscale galleries after I told her about my previous shows in Detroit. She gave me a list of the gallery names to contact so that these may sell more. She liked them because they made you think, she said. They were created with concept I told her. Hopefully this will be an example show that tells me to make more.The world could use more art like this, I could use the cash, the glass shop could use the cash and well... the gallery will find a place to use the cash too but they don't seem as desperate.
I spent the morning in the glass shop. Cleaning each panel can take as long as it does to paint it. Master Tim took a half-hour to do the work that would have taken me three. He helped notch the steel frames, polish up the edges of the base and wrap the pieces in brown paper. He loaded the pieces into my truck and came with me to the install. Just his presence seems to make the job go smoothly.
These next few months will be telling of what is to come for many of us. It will work itself out for all of us who know what we want from it.
