This week in Brooklyn

-(4) steel beams, at 1500 lbs. each, got installed on site Friday
-Hired carpenter crew to fix structure; starting them tomorrow
-Thinking about writing a book about my experience as builder/owner
-Dinner tonight with friends; meeting M's "new boyfriend"
-Packed for belated honeymoon today
-Rode bicycles with T. I don't want to leave Brooklyn; want to move out of Queens right away
-Re-structured finances with both banks; approved as builders to call our own shots
-Re-structured priorities at work
-Started making artwork again this week, regularly. A practice is a practice is a practice
-Felt extremely tired
-Heat wave upon us
-Was on hold for hours with various companies
-Fought for monies owed by cheating plumbing subcontractor
-Did not let myself get walked on by former boss
-Meditated in new space
-Got new space exorcised/cleansed yesterday; received bonus housewarming gift of new sage smudge
-Realized we may have to move back in with parents for 4 months while construction continues and after we close on our apartment sale.
-Basement apartments are not for us
-Rent is not for us either
-Mind/body connection OK this week. Direction of summer and direction of fear different
-Spoke to old friend who sounds stronger
-Dreamt my brother died, dreamt of having lockjaw, bloody teeth and gums, swollen mouth inside an out on my left side, in a tower, flying fish below, Maribel Garcia as a video knowing she's dead but seeing her made me cry.
-Woke up crying.
-Called my dad for happy father's day
-Brushed my hair

Dancing- moving the fe/male forms

I have recently strated dancing agian. both Nia and Ballroom. Actually I will start teaching it in a few weeks.

The last time I danced was ten years ago and decided to let it go when it was taking time away from 'other work.

Moving my form post carrying a child is a whole other movement. I love the flow of mind and body working as one and teaching others this. It is neglected both for women and men here. Oh and sadly the sexuality/sensuality play into this form of expression as well.

I have to say, I feel most free in a new dance I have just started, nia- it is all women and of course this lends to a freeing atmosphere ( no need to dress up, smell good, paint face- refreshing.) This is what I would like to bring to ballroom- where historically sex plays such a huge role. Lets start with te labels, "leader"&"follower" for example.

Movement can feel so good- and when there is another human in front of one to move with it can feel remarkable- that subtelty between bodies, the respect. How do I teach this without the comments like "he is the sun of the universe, you (woman) spin around him?". Changing the language will be helpful to reframe this dance, I hope.

Keep on with the ten foot poles. Excited to see the images, videos, performances.

ten years

Today is my ten year anniversary being with my husband.
We've been together for t e n y e a r s...

Amazing that when I think about it it seems like a long time, but then when I consider the moments, each moment, it seems like no time at all.

I feel very lucky to be with a partner who has been a continuous supportive of me, someone whom I've learned so much from, and shared a third of my life with.

Today makes my heart feel bigger and lighter and happier

my ten foot pole

Just got a slot as a massage therapist for the WTA working at the US Open this year in August!! Now maybe I'll get to work on the ladies for my ten foot pole project, or at least have the potential to be in their presence!

Basically, I am visually playing with the phrase "I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole"...investigating how that can look...having images of successful women whose fame and/or fortune has been discredited because of their sex and/or sexuality exist just above many a ten foot pole.

Last week I brought (4) ten foot dowels into my studio, and taped the images of women above them. Serena Williams, Martina, Martha Stewart, Louise Bourgeouis, Agnes Martin, Virignia Woolf, Edith Wharton, among others, Condelezza Rice were all up there to begin with.

The walk alone with these sticks under my arm and extending five feet in front of and behind me was an unexpected delight: walking from the male dominated hardware store (hilariously called Dykes Lumber) through the streets of Long Island City to my studio was the second best performance I ever did that no one saw (the first being my cleaning the studio stairs in Tuscany in '05; luckily a colleague witnessed that). The cat calls, whistles, slowed vehicles, and gawking stares of me carrying these poles made me consider "performing" again with the same sticks.

So, why female athletes? Thinking about my own history with sports, and the double standards women have when it comes to being successful. I have an interest in the female athlete stemming from Greek mythology (Athena, Daphne, and other strong women forced to transform themselves to get away from pesky persistent men) and being a gymnast for 11 years, competing for 6 years.

A suggestion was made to make my studio a mackette (spelling?) for a larger installation, and I may do just that. The idea of an illuminated image, media based, just far enough away from the top of the ten foot pole, reminds me of torches mobs used to carry on witch hunts and lynchings. I'll see where that leads me and post accordingly when I can.

ownership

Who owns a color, an idea, a lineage, a brush mark? I was discussing this with another artist today in her studio...the questions came up about how one can be possessive of visual vocabulary (like you can't use red because I used it in a painting six years ago! wah!) or not allow a picture to be taken by another person because THEY were going to take the picture and then give it to others, etc.

I found the whole thing depressingly childish and was saddened that my friend had to endure what I perceived as a pretty immature onslaught of insecurity, assumption, and projection.

It's hard to write about this and be vague about who what where when and how....but the underlying concept is interesting to me and maybe that's what I want to discuss...why can't one find similarities of work between artists fascinating rather than threatening? I always love when artists I know merge ideas, help one another, etc.

One can't own the word "the" and then lend it out to everyone else who wants to use it.

Steal! steal! steal! I hope the best for the above mentioned Little Miss Bossy

Date skip

June first enty is in the archives but not readable when the blog opens. FYI

GMC

Gordon Matta-Clark show at the Whitney. Breath of fresh air on a very hot and humid New York summer day.

Beautiful, very poetic approach to a violent act of sawing, cutting, splitting architectural structures. It left me feeling lighter, more quiet. I didn't feel the work was dated at all, and actually think I may try to see it again before it closes on Sunday.



I especially liked his idea to BB gun blow out windows at Cornell and place images of Public Housing Projects from the Bronx displaying the failure of modern architecture design. Curious that by banning the work at the University it became more powerful. Does the more one suppresses an idea the more infiltrating it can become? Does banning work make the work itself more interesting? I think I would have resonated with the piece regardless of whether it was banned or not. It was a great idea. Simple.