Corruption #84/100

This is #84. I realize it isn't pretty. It is what it is. I had to make it. I found that center clock piece in an old dairy dump last year, it's perfect as everything else is also appropriate for the dump.

I was talking to an artist friend the other day, I was babbling about not feeling like an artist lately since I'm not making much or don't have that momentum that I had a year ago with galleries and getting myself out there. She said even when she isn't making art she knows she is attracted to beauty and sees things and responds in ways that others might not. I said I'm not attracted to beauty. I wondered why I was attracted to UGLY. Without hesitating she said she recently read my artist statement and immediately thought that I was recycling myself. That that is what I have been doing since I left Arizona and that is why I am attracted to 'junk'. She said I was destroyed and am now recycling myself each time I collect stuff and work it into art. That felt about right. Maybe I am recycling myself, I always thought I was garbage, maybe one day I will think I am a piece of art.

auto art

.....just think

someone actually created this thing and made money.

scraps

I still love finding insignificant pieces of scrap crap on the road. More and more I am attracted to broken bits from car accidents. That and the chunks of rubber and plastic also I assume, fallen off of vehicles either from impact or age.

In case anybody was wondering, I'm still here. Mostly Tod and I have been working like a team of horses removing dead tree chunks and limbs from the estate I care take for. Next I will start clearing out scads of leaves from the silt pond and regular pond hoping to do it before the insects get too hungry and the frog eggs burst. The eggs are in clumps, grotesque caviar-like masses floating near the surface. I don't want to disturb them but I also don't want to wait for a zillion tadpoles or whatever they are to appear while I'm in there with my rake.

Still working on my puzzle thing. Feeling just fine not doing anything else. Work (taxi) is non-existent. Mud season keeps things gloomy enough that tourists are also non-existent. I have to admit it feels good to just live day by day and not feel pressured to 'make art' or find where else to show/sell it. I'm appreciating the slowness of living the way I do. Appreciating Vermont as I've been reading scads of essay type books by Vermonters from the 1940's to present. I often toy with the idea of living somewhere else, knowing it would behoove my artistic career in many ways which I suppose is why I'm looking inward and really seeing where I am and enjoying that. I'm kind of on the diving board, but presented with more than one pool below. Not sure where I'm going to aim my body. Until then, I will enjoy the view.

Sally Mann

Watched the last half of this two hour doc. (the rest is taped and yet to be watched) a few nights ago. Sally Mann What Remains is the name both of the documentary and this series of work. I found it fascinating as it deals with death, the artists' process as well as her lifestyle and environment.

The theme is death and decay, which after 9/11 and her fathers' death, apparently fueled this body of work. Sally even goes to a forensic park and is allowed to look at and photograph corpses in various stage of dress and decompose laying scattered about. She had a lot to say about death, having lost her father not too long ago and observing his fearlessness. I personally felt like a need got met seeing this documentary, a need to have the veil of death unraveled. The need to see another artist who has definitely had the spotlight on her many times, yet still go through trials and tribulations (she had a challenging time getting this work shown). Something as simple as watching her wake up and feed the goats or going for a walk with her son in the woods and talking about her work....about her doubts and frustrations in finding a place to exhibit it.

You may or may not be familiar with her earlier work, Immediate Family, which was and probably still is a highly controversial body of work about her children. The book is beautiful and yes, a little disturbing, but I admire her determination and passion to follow her vision as an artist.

Good stuff. Great mentor from afar, a living breathing artist who is not glamorous, not a sellout and someone I'm glad to know is out there, doing the work, day in and day out. More about Sally here.

misc.

its EAST HAMPTON that has the art walk on saturdays NOT friday ( I got the place and day wrong) . Why I thought it was Northampton is beyond me. Trader Joes is in hadley just outside of northampton, again, I thought it was in northampton.

looking at my blog stats I see someone visited my site and spent less than 3 minutes on it but managed to look at a whopping FIFTY FOUR PAGES. How do you do that?

and lastly, when an artist posts a picture of art and no one comments, does the artist assume everyone thinks it stinks? (see below clock: center of time) I guess tod is the only one who likes it....good thing he has to buy it in six months.

whats in your basket

First in the easter egg basket is a movie called 'A Certain Kind of Death'. On Netflix it says: Winner of a Sundance Special Jury Prize, this sobering documentary begs the question, "What happens to people who die without any next of kin?" Filmmakers Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh examine the deaths of three people with no known family members. As the various public employees deal with corpses, finances and property, the film slowly unravels the individuals' life stories through family photos, letters and conversations with caseworkers.

Watched this last night with Tod and we were riveted by certain aspects of how this was filmed. Fascinating...educational....a little creepy but for sure you wont be the same after watching. Mostly we were obsessed with how much work the state went through dealing with people's bodies AND their possessions. It was exhausting and in an odd way reminded me of the penal system, in that we always manage to suck out as much time and money getting the job done as possible. (at least that is how it looks to me). Reminds me why I want to own as little as possible and 'leave no trace' when I kick the bucket.

Next goodie in our little basket is the doc. Trashed. Synopsis: “Trashed” is a provocative investigation of one of the fastest growing industries in North America. The garbage business. The film examines a fundamental element of modern American culture…the disposal of what our society defines as “waste.” It is an issue influenced by every American, most of whom never consider the consequences. Nor, it seems, the implications to our biosphere. At times humorous, but deeply poignant, “Trashed” examines the American waste stream fast approaching a half billion tons annually....'

I have yet to watch it all, Tod already zipped through it and what little I have heard makes me anxious to watch the rest. Things that I never considered, such as the fact that plastic is a by-product of oil (if I understood tod right but will soon learn from the doc) so if/when oil is gone what the heck are we gonna do...tv's, computers...everything is plastic. Fascinating to think, gets the little brain going.

It's supposed to snow today.
I've gotten 5 hours of sleep and am waiting for tod to wake up, we thought we would start a tradition of easter egg hunting for scrap on the roadside. It's only 5:30 am....I might have to go back to bed.

What else can I put in the basket. It's quiet out there. Back to feeling all alone in blog land. Feel free to say hi paula... you aren't alone... i'm still here... i still read your stupid blog.

Center of Time 82/100

I'll be honest with you, this isn't one of my favorites. I like it but I'm not in love with it. Why did I make it? Because when I showed it to Tod he loved it. I kept wanting to use another bauble on the RR Plate but he really insisted on this being made. So I went for it with the stipulation being, if no one buys it in six months he will buy it.

I do like the fact that I found this at the end of the road in a melting snow bank. That black round thing was jutting out of the snow with the other side showing, the orange caught my eye and I picked it up, delighted at the perfect thick roundness with the strange center. No clue what it is. It is heavy and rather thick. All I can think is some snow plow guy lost something from his rig? Anyhow. It's made. It's here. It's the Center of Time.

*you know what, I just realized the reason this doesn't grab me so much is because it is kind of repetitious of what I have done in the past. I think after making so many clocks I've come to expect them to continue to change and get better each time. Which is good to strive for, but different doesn't always mean better does it. Maybe this just felt like I was going back instead of forward when in reality it just IS.

**oh and i deleted twitter. still dont get it...like it or understand whats so interesting about what everyone is doing throughout the day, let alone thinking anyone on earth cares what i'm doing.

new blog!

Some of you may remember my post on Felter Vilte Kazlauskaite a few weeks ago. I saw her rug on Etsy and included it in a treasury, since then she has included my clocks in nearly a dozen treasuries (you are awesome!). I've gotten to know her for the gem of a person and artist that she is and I'm thrilled that she has started a 'real' blog. Her other blog is written in Lithuanian and used more as a gallery for her works so I'm thrilled to see she has started one that is going to be more personal and written in english!

When I read the post she wrote about me and my clocks I was stunned, honestly, I don't think I've ever read anything so heartwarming about my art. Through her description of my work I feel more connected to it and have a different appreciation for what I've done. I've always told people that my art 'doesn't mean anything', meaning I just make it and don't foist some meaning into it. After reading what she wrote about the clocks I realize there IS a meaning to them and one that truly is from the materials and not the creator of the art. I love how another persons perspective can connect the artist with their own work!

Welcome Vilte! Go check her out and say hi!

Aztec Time Piece 83/100

I was thrilled when Tod's mom sent us a little bag of things to use in art making. I especially loved the round shingle cut outs from her roof, how cool is that? I call this Aztec Time Piece, the colors and feel of it make me think of another time, somewhere warm and dusty. Somewhere mysterious and magical.

Red Bellied Aphid 81/100

Red Bellied Aphid, 2009
#81/100

I have finished three clocks in the last week or so! This is my crazy one. I've allowed myself to go there with colors I would normally worry about, it's liberating to just go for it!

There is a beauty to this gloom and doom. When it is gorgeous out, those seemingly short lived days make one less apt to want to be indoors and write or work on art. Today we have more snow coming fast and furious in speedy non-stick particles. I've managed to get slightly under the weather with my 2 hour long walk in the pouring rain two days ago but I'm still pressing on with my clocks. When you guys see them you might be surprised, I've made one that is so colorful and nuclear snotty green, even I can't believe I did it. Funny when I haven't made art in awhile I feel clumsy and just slightly off. That is good, it means I can't jump right back to making the same thing. It feels right that it feels wrong. If that makes sense. I'm in a transition in my head, in my art. I wrote a perfect post this morning and accidentally deleted it before I was able to save it. I'm so pissed off and exhausted at all the lost linking and information I put out there I might have to wait a few more days to try again. I leave you with two pictures of what I see from my little basement french doors.

quote

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not...genius will not...education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

-Calvin Coolidge

found objects

I often walk the same 2 mi stretch, day in and day out the same road. I'm always surprised and sometimes startled at what I find.

Trader Joes, Northampton MA and Bill Maher

I'm thinking I should drive my ass down to Northampton, Ma. and visit the red/orange google blops of art galleries. It's just over 3 hours drive AND a Trader Joe's exists there. What little online reading I have done, it appears there is a decent art community there.

A little day trip sounds like a good pill to swallow. I can load up the car with frozen food and packages of nuts from Trader Joe's. I can walk around and look at art and try to understand why no one has picked me yet to be in their 2nd friday of every month art walk that I signed up for last year online. What kind of art is down there anyways? Anybody been there? Have art or restaurant recommends? It'll be worth it I think just to get away. I could go for a long hike on the Nomwotuck Rail Trail. Maybe take some pictures or find scrap.

I was going to go yesterday or this week but alas snow is now once again falling and covering the ground. The weeks forecast calls for rain and snow every day. I will wait until it's nice so I can enjoy being out. In the meantime I've been lightly treading in the dark hole and might actually get some more clocks made soon.

As an aside, I watched another doc. and this time didn't let myself loathe humanity even though it would have been easy.... I have to recommend this one. Bill Maher's Religulous. I felt somehow empowered just knowing Bill is gutsy enough and educated enough to take this on.