Wednesday, Thursday

A day with Jamie Emerick,

letting your weight be supported

holding you up (with little help from me)

Bosco piece, "One who lay,"

reflection of the tree on the path

lying within

walking within

one who lay



It was fantastic to work side by side. I noticed the differences in working, in decision making, in thinking while keeping the other in mind/heart. We walked and sat still for at least half of the time noticing more about the little trail behind our house than I ever had. We noticed many organisms in the process of rebirth; a young tree growing out of a stump, a waterlily growing under the roots of a fallen tree; one still somehow protecting and cohabiting with the other.

Tuesday

10 Serviceberry trees are arriving tomorrow to be planted on our roof and in the backyard.
My friend had surgeries yesterday - not sure how they went.
I still have so much to do, I feel overwhelmed.
I think I want I want I want

Monday

She's going in for multiple surgeries today - to get stitched up, to become physically whole again.
We're sorting the schedule.
I've tried to sleep but my dreams are of my friend.
Keep on painting
I'm sorry I don't have time to discuss the public art application, let alone work on the application with you - perhaps at a better time, when there is less of an immediate need for my and your and everyone's attention. However, please include me in as a participant if we get it and install/perform later this year.

xx

thoughts with friend

Friend better, but still not out of woods.
Took 3 hour nap and dreamt of her -
She has a lot of angels around her, and is healing herself

slept 5 hours, but still feel exhausted.
Back to hospital later
I'm glad the sun is shining

Please send thoughts to my friend

Synchronicity

Today:

-9:00- 11:30: Studio.
Progressed with second Morse code piece. Three more strands


-1pm: Greek consulate with Dad.
Good progress; am officially in queue in Athens for dual citizenship

-3-4:30pm: Giro.
Walked from 79th street and Madison avenue to 24th street and 8th avenue, mostly along 5th avenue. Even with the overload of tourists, it's still my favorite passageway of New York.

-5-6pm: Worked on client.

-6-6:30: Ate falafel, thankfully alone.


-6:30 - 8pm: SoHo
Ilana's opening. It was lovely, met very interesting people.

-8-9pm - walked around SoHo with friends from the opening.

-9pm - 12am - With Turu's friends Dominic and Pat and Pat's baby Fenton.

researching place, land, home

The town of my birth: Jesenik , Czech Republic
http://www.zamky-hrady.cz/3/jesenik-e.htm
known for it's healing through water.
http://www.bohemianet.com/olomoucky_kraj/jesenik/jesenik_en.htm

to the town of my residence: Redmond, WA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redmond,_Washington
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Washington#Pre-history

I'm thinking of these places in relationship to Lucy Lippard's essay Looking Around: Where We Are, Where We Could Be. I'm thinking of colonial habits that devastate the ecosystem, my habits and my intrusion on this land. A thought from today; if you/I had very little water left, would we water the tree or drink? Which one is more important to the ecosystem?

Opening reception

Excited to see Ilana's show at Artists Space this Thursday

As Above, So Below

This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula. "'That which is above is the same as that which is below'...Macrocosmos is the same as microcosmos. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man, man is the same as the cell, the cell is the same as the atom, the atom is the same as...and so on, ad infinitum."

This message theorizes that man is the counterpart of God on earth; as God is man's counterpart in heaven. Therefore, it is a statement of an ancient belief that man's actions on earth parallel the actions of God in heaven. This pivots on the belief that "all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation."

To the magician the magical act, that of causing a transformation in a thing or things without any physical contact, is accomplished by an imaginative act accompanied by the will that the wanted change will occur. The magical act and imaginative act becomes one and the same. The magician knows with certainty that for the change to occur he must will it to happen and firmly believe it will happen. Here it may be noted that magic and religion are akin: both require belief that a miracle will occur.

To bring about such a change the magician uses the conception of "dynamic interconnectedness to describe the physical world as the sort of thing that imagination and desire can effect. The magician's world is an independent whole, a web of which no strand is autonomous. Mind and body, galaxy and atom, sensation and stimulus, are intimately bound. Witchcraft strongly imbues the view that all things are independent and interrelated." These concepts pivot on the belief that all things come from the One Thing, or First Cause, and "Its power is integrating, if it be turned into earth."

The purpose of all rituals in ceremonial magic is to unite the microcosm with the macrocosm to join God, or gods when invoked, with the human consciousness. When such a supreme union is achieved the subject and object becomes one. This is because the magician feels that he is consciously in touch with all elements of the universe, therefore, he can control them. It may be said, the magician feels connected with the universe. This feeling intensifies the more the magician successfully practices his skills. Whenever he experiences a failure he knows that the ritual was not performed correctly.

When feeling unison with the universe the magician knows he has reached his Higher or True Self because he has attained mastery of himself and the universe. Thus he feels his "skillful work ascends from earth to heaven and descends to earth again, and receives the power of the superiors and of the inferiors." Therefore, he "hast the glory of the whole worldtherefore let all obscurity flee from thee." Now the miracles are possible.

Some magicians, including Aleister Crowley, claimed that when the magician reaches this ultimate peak of altered consciousness the miracles are no longer important, the extreme goal becomes the direct union with God. A.G.H.

Dad's hand surgery

My dad almost got his hand chopped off in a table saw yesterday.
He called my mom from the ER, and then she called me.
We went to the hospital while he was being operated on.

The surgeon came out and said the procedure was successful:
his pointer finger had to receive a skin graft from his hip
his thumb had to be sewn up very carefully as well.
Feeling may or may not be regained in the tip of his fingers.
Considering his age, he was doing very well.

We went to him in the recovery room, and he was very out of it.
Unexpectedly, I felt faint and nauseas and almost passed out, but I got over it.
He was awake, but not aware of what was going on; he wanted to know what time it was over and over and over.

When he looked in my eyes and knew who I was and why I was there, I realized I have a bond with him that I don't have with any other living being.
In that moment, I knew I wanted to be a parent.

Guest of Cindy Sherman

I went to see the movie Guest of Cindy Sherman. last night.
It was an interesting film, and I am glad I saw it- but rather than recount it here, I liked the review given by ArtFagCity blog.
Although it was a portrayal of what is was like to be Cindy Sherman's partner during her meteoric rise to fame during the 1990's, it seemed to me to portray an inner sadness and also highlight the lack of personal fortitude of the director/partner.

What concerned me most about the film was the reinforcement of gender stereotypes with regard to domestic partnership or marriage. Some thoughts:

When women are in the role of a "supporting wife", their marriage is more or less deemed successful by the larger community- a strong man, a good provider, a supporting wife, perfect life. In my experience as a wife and woman making art and living in New York City, there is not a lot of mention of a woman's own careers, a woman's own independence, a woman's own life separate from being wife, mother, negotiator, bill payer, laundry do-er, washer, mender, etc. (see previous posts about On Any Given Day poem).

I could just be projecting from my own domestic situation a little, but the movie did illicit that reaction...

So, when the supporting partner in a relationship is a man - and in this case, someone who seems to have remora tendencies from the beginning -feeling of emasculation, lack of self worth, and identity issues come to the forefront and discussed as though they are something new - they can't seem to deal with their more submissive role. But this hierarchic assumption of authority is still the fundamental thing that maintains inequality at home and in the community!

With women I know and have grown up with, I find it is still commonly accepted and even something to be proud of to be a "woman who doesn't work". New York City certainly is not easy to live in as a single person, let alone a wife and mother. To be a woman whose husband can afford to keep her at home, to raise a family, etc. is something that I see many women aspiring to, often at the expense of their own careers and own identities.

Sadly, movies continue to reinforce this inequality, which illustrates how we have not been able to move past this issue.

organ between

Being with my friend today we stumbled upon this beautiful image of the organ she and her daughter shared.

"The placenta or afterbirth is a highly vascularized ephemeral organ present in eutherian mammals that connects the developing fetal tissues to the uterine wall. The placenta supplies the fetus with maternal nutrients, and allows fetal waste to be disposed of via the maternal kidneys. The word placenta comes from the Latin for cake, from Greek plakóenta/plakoúnta, accusative of plakóeis/plakoús - πλακόεις, πλακούς, "flat, slab-like"[1][2], referring to its round, flat appearance in humans. Protherial (egg-laying) and metatherial (marsupial) mammals produce a choriovitelline placenta that, while connected to the uterine wall, provides nutrients mainly derived from the egg sac. The placenta develops from the same sperm and egg cells that form the fetus, and functions as a fetomaternal organ with two components, the fetal part (Chorion frondosum), and the maternal part (Decidua basalis)."

sketch

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31808466@N06/sets/72157616236562649/show/

thoughts that came up as I was sketching:
-corresponding to chakras in the body
-begin with beads on the floor
-beads as vibrations, as conversation, as dialogue (and then the physical movement of each string)
-a form of speaking with each other in silence
-women's work- sewing, decorating
-more importantly connecting
-sit as meditation with another- communication, commune

I want this performance to be a vision for what we can create between ourselves.
"In Almost Absolute Silence"
Here is my latest paper that will explain this further:

(Who knows- maybe we lose the necklace and just look at each other in silence)...




Tereza Swanda

Visual Culture Project
Semester 2 – Packet #1

Redefining Love through the Female Perspective

March 23, 2009
Sowon Kwon

What am I searching for within the texts written by or about feminists? Certainly, there is the underlying connection that since I have a female body/mind/spirit, there will be something within the lines of the previous writers that will reveal what is me; clarify what/who I am and reach me at the core; my beliefs, wants, anima. I am re-positioning, redirecting my education; not studying institutionalized (male) knowledge which I had throughout previous schooling, but the periphery which is continuously emerging as a parallel study (even as many of the writers are recognized as scholars in their own right). As Judith Butler has realized, so to have I. “I might not find my version of philosophy mirrored for me in any institutional form.”(240) Within feminist education lies a blueprint, a sketch of another possibility and through my reeducation there can be a deeper shift within the paradigm of my life. “For it is not a matter of changing this or that within a horizon already defined as human culture. It is a question of changing the horizon itself—of understanding that our interpretation of human identity is both theoretically and practically wrong.” (Irigaray, 20)

Let me/us consider one way we interact with one another, the monetary economy, which is a mediating structure between us all. Let us also consider the present moment as this structure is slowly and finally crumbling—or at least standing on shaky ground. How dynamite to think of breaking through this barrier to one another—to see, really see the other! I am not alone in my thinking:

It would entail, beyond the enslavement of property, beyond the subject’s submission to the object…, becoming capable of giving and receiving, of being active and passive, of having an intention that stays attuned to interactions, that is, of seeking a new economy of existence or being which is neither that of mastery nor that of slavery but rather of exchange with no preconstituted object—vital exchange, cultural exchange, of words, gestures, etc., an exchange thus able to communicate at times, to commune…, beyond any exchange of objects. (Irigaray, 45)

To quote from an interview with Millay: “Should the profit system be abolished?”

Yes, I blame the system…. I should like to live in a world where everybody has a job, leisure to study, leisure to become wiser, more perceptive…. I am willing to give up everything I possess, everything I will have…. I am willing to live in the simplest life … to live in a hut, on a loaf a day (Oh, I do know this sounds idiotic!) to achieve it. (Millay, 387)

They [women under a capitalist system after the fall of communism] had freedom to speak but no voice. They had freedom to buy essential services with money they did not have, freedom to indulge in the oldest form of private enterprise, prostitution, prostitution of body, mind and soul to consumerism, or else freedom to starve, freedom to beg. (Greer, 11)

…we discern some value in not being sure about the value of becoming a philosopher, unless a resistance to its institutionalization has another kind of value… (Butler, 234)

What do we truly value? What structure or system can we create between ourselves that upholds those values? What does that look like?

Another median between us is language. Unlike a physical exchange however, it has the potential to be much more. It is a much more nuanced exchange—with tones and pitches, pauses, rich subtleties, with many dimensions, not to mention the variety of languages.

If we are to regulate and cultivate energy between human beings, we need language. But not just denotative language, language that names, declares the reality or truth of things and transmits information; we also and especially need language that facilitates and maintains communication. And it is not just the lexicon we are talking about, but a syntax appropriate to intersubjectivity. This also calls into question why we speak—the very purpose of speech. (Irigaray, 100.)

How we speak to one another becomes of utmost importance. Luce Irigarauy’s answer,
“In Almost Absolute Silence,” is a chapter dedicated to this notion. “This silence is the condition for a possible respect for myself and for the other within our respective limits.” (Irigaray, 117) “But above all, it gives you a silent space in which to manifest yourself.” (118) Therefore, language is not just the speech we communicate with but also and more importantly that space of interaction, between action and stillness, between sound and silence.

One artist that embodied this play between silence and sound in language was Edna St.Vincent Millay. She wrote her poems in silence, completing them in their entirety before writing. In addition, however, many whom she reached knew her from her vibrato voice. (Milford, 383) Millay toured and gave readings continuously throughout her life as well as doing radio shows. It was her inner strength, her love, which she revealed as she sang each word. (http://static.salon.com/mp3s/millay_sonnet090601.mp3)

What do we know of love, loving, being with love, sharing love? I agree with Krishnamurti from his chapter, Freedom from the Know, in his text, On Nature and the Environment that we do not know much about the topic.

When I say, “Love has no tomorrow and no yesterday,” or “When there is no center, then there is love,” it has reality for me but not for you. You may quote it and make it into a formula, but that has no validity. You have to see it for yourself, but to do so there must be freedom to look, freedom from all condemnation, all judgment, all agreeing or disagreeing. (33)

We do glimpse it however, when we start talking about love between. Not love of one for another, a subject/object relationship. Not something, I alone create and then pass on to another to receive. But a vibration, energy between us in which I try to see you as clearly as possible and vice-a-versa. “Transcendence is thus no longer ecstasy, leaving the self behind toward an inaccessible total-other, beyond sensibility, beyond the earth. It is respect for the other whom I will never be, who is transcendent to me and to whom I am transcendent.” (Irigaray, 104) Luce Irigaray comes closest to Krishnamurti’s notion:

I am listening to you, as to another who transcends me, requires a transition to a new dimension. I am listening to you: I perceive what you are saying, I am attentive to it, I am attempting to understand and hear your intention. Which does not mean: I comprehend you, I know you, so I do not need to listen to you... (Irigaray, 116)

Another feminist that seems to know of this kind of love is bell hooks. Through her book, The Will to Change; Men, Masculinity, and Love, hooks connects with many men and presents their perspective:

My vision for myself and for all men is that we reclaim every piece of our humanity that has been denied us by our conditioning. Obsession with sex can be healed when we reclaim all the essential aspects of the human experience that we have learned to manage without: our affinity for one another, caring connections with people of all ages and backgrounds and genders, sensual enjoyment of our bodies, passionate self-expression, exhilarating desire, tender love for ourselves and for another, vulnerability, help with our difficulties, gentle rest, getting and staying close with many people in many kinds of relationships. (Bearman, quoted by hooks, 182)

It is rare to read such honest self-expression from anyone but more so from a man.

Within feminist education lies a blueprint, a sketch of another possibility; to have a universe of two who not only coexist but also love. Love not only between lovers, but also between children and elderly, between men, between women, between friends (who are initially strangers), between father and son, between colleagues, between us. “The subject does not produce meaning alone, does not realize a task alone, nor accomplish an undertaking all alone.” (Irigaray, 126)

Work Cited
Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Greer, Germaine. The Female Eunuch. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008.
Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. New York: Atria Books, 2004.
Irigaray, Luce. I Love to You: Sketch for a Felicity Within History. New York: Routledge, 1996.
Krishnamurti, J. On Nature and the Environment. San Francisco, Calif: HarperSan Francisco, 1991.
Milford, Nancy. Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay. New York: Random House, 2001.

can you sketch it for me?
Again, I would like to discuss the concepts we are working with and try to storyboard together before we set ourselves on a project.
Thanks!

After speaking with Laura Mack, http://www.zeekgallery.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=135

Voice and Communication (between sound and silence) are of utmost importance to me.

I am thinking of our performance (the other collaboration- to possibly occur this summer).

Laura had a beautiful idea, which would entail a longer performance but that seems to be what this work is calling for anyway- so it got me thinking...

What if we sat in my artwork space at school- your standard cubicle for artwork- and quietly starting from the base, between our calves (perhaps wearing longer black pencil skirts), stitched on each strand of beads in a simple, quiet gesture, documenting the process until we reached the throat area- at which point we could attach the necklace perhaps as a necklace. I am not sure how to secure the strands where the clothing ends- (on the head).

The piece would take as long as it needed (I don't want to do it on the night of performances- 7 minute max-because I think it needs its own time and time should not be a factor.)

I don't think any dialogue should happen besides the attaching of the beads. I am writing on silence in my paper, “This silence is the condition for a possible respect for myself and for the other within our respective limits.” (Irigaray, 117) “But above all, it gives you a silent space in which to manifest yourself.”

How does this sound?

Voice/over

Interesting.
Adie Russell, a workshopper, does something similar...

Thinking about our upcoming collaborative application, does voice, ownership, communication come up for you?
It seems like both of us are working with the concepts of the erasure and memory and also being a woman making art today...thinking...

I'm finding the male voice over this text really interesting, especially his passion for the words...

brainstorm I

“…it is not a matter of changing this or that within a horizon already defined as human culture. It is a question of changing the horizon itself—of understanding that our interpretation of human identity is both theoretically and practically wrong.” (Irigaray, i love to you, 20)

domes on the horizon (in cob?)
horizon as morse code the text between us

Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition Call for Artists‏

REQUEST FOR OUTDOOR SCULPTURE PROPOSALS
Redmond Arts Commission
ENHANCING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS
March 3, 2009

PROPOSAL

The Redmond Arts Commission is planning the 2009 Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (October 2009-May 2011). The Redmond Arts Commission will select up to 15 sculptures for exhibition at sites throughout Redmond including parks, neighborhoods, and local businesses.

Sites for art placement will include Redmond Parks, businesses, and areas of the City where there is significant public viewing area.

PROJECTS
• Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children. The installation site will be selected by the Redmond Arts Commission in cooperation with the City of Redmond Parks and Recreation Department with advice from the artist.

ARTIST COMPENSATION
Artists will be contracted for the exhibition of their artwork. They will receive a stipend of $1,000. Exhibited sculpture will be available to the public for sale with 80% of the proceeds of any sale paid to the artist.

Artists must be able to arrange their own transportation and do their own installation. Assistance will be provided through the City of Redmond Park Operations staff. The City of Redmond insures the art for 50% of the value for total theft for the duration of the exhibition.


METHOD OF SELECTION
The selection panel may include representatives of the Redmond Arts Commission, the Redmond Parks and Recreation Department and the City of Redmond’s Risk Manager and interested city residents. This is an open competition process available to all artists. Selected artists must be available to install their art in Redmond in September or October 2009 and deinstall their art in October 2011.

Key criteria for the selection process will include art of the highest quality, the maintainability of the piece or pieces, and the suitability for the location. The permanence/durability of the piece will be considered. Safety of the design and installation will also be a significant factor.

SCHEDULE
• Submittals must be received by the City of Redmond by 4:00 pm. Friday, April 24, 2009
• Preliminary screening will take place in early May
• Finalists will be notified in June 2009
• Art dedication and installation will be September - October 2009


ENTRY SUBMITTALS
• Current Resume
• Up to five images of work completed and available for installation. Images may be printed, or on a CD. Multiple views of the same work can be submitted in addition to the initial five.
• A directory to the images with title, date, medium, size and selling price.
• Requirements and directions for installation.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope to return the submittal materials if you wish your materials returned to you.


SUBMITTAL
Submit entry to: Mary Yelanjian
US Mail
City of Redmond Arts Commission
PO Box 97010
MS: 4NPK
Redmond, WA 98073-9710

Deliver to:
City of Redmond Arts Commission
Redmond City Hall
15670 NE 85th Street, 4th Floor Parks
Redmond, WA 98052
Monday-Friday, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
For additional information contact:
Mary Yelanjian
425-556-2316
myelanjian@redmond.gov

From e-flux

Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, Anton Vidokle
Editorial

Much of the tension within the sphere of contemporary art is generated by the insularity of the art context, which often prompts artists to be on the lookout for other situations. The museum is too exclusive, the artwork overly framed, the discourse too removed from everyday life. And yet, attempts to liberate artworks from their conditioning often finds them still connected to the art context by a rigid tether. Boris Groys has suggested that in order for art to be shown in public spaces and still maintain its status as art, it must by necessity be more conservative than art shown within institutions, because by forsaking art’s traditional context, it bears the burden of having to justify itself through other means.

So maybe this idea that art needs to be liberated from its own specificity should be flipped around: rather than thinking of art as a fixed space that should defer to the real world in order to realize its full potential, it can be important to remember that the real world, with its own models of production and consumption, is itself the fixed space, and that art is the contrivance that provides the exception. The insularity that grants objects, gestures, statements a moment of suspension and a capacity for self-reflexivity is precisely that which protects them from the tugging instrumentality of the everyday.

In a complex game he played with the basic perimeters of artistic practice, Duchamp accepted this tug, and used it as a weapon against art’s insularity - just as he used art’s insularity as a weapon against everyday objects. In her extensive essay on Duchamp’s self-conscious studio practice, Elena Filipovic discusses how the artist treated objects in his studio as “objects of contemplation” while also remaining highly skeptical of public exhibitions: “All exhibitions of painting or sculpture make me ill. And I’d rather not be involved in them.” And yet when he did participate, he would attempt to absorb the entire exhibition into his own artwork.

In “Religion in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” Boris Groys considers the reemergence of religion as a force that compels and explains the increasingly private, sovereign spaces of contemporary image production and proliferation. Where the Enlightenment introduced ethical, political obligations to the public sphere, we now find a discussion around the spirit to be beneficial for understanding the increasingly sovereign spaces of the internet and digital culture.

In “The Way of the Shovel: On the Archeological Imaginary in Art,” Dieter Roelstraete questions whether an increasing tendency in art towards a historiographic mode might overemphasize romantic notions that truth lies buried in history. Perhaps an archaeological art of reenactments, reconstructions, and recoveries distracts from the more pressing issues of the present and the future.

In the first of a series of four comics, Michael Baers offers a short introduction to his upcoming series of comics for the journal and reflects upon his current state of exhaustion, quoting Deleuze: “The tired person has merely exhausted the realization, whereas the exhausted person exhausts the whole of the possible.”

Silvia Kolbowski edits President Obama’s inauguration speech to “remove references to religion, the celebration of militarism, delusions of national power, the phantasmatic projection of enemies, the glorification of the struggles of the poor, the puritanical elevation of suffering, the erasure of difference, etc.”

And Dieter Lesage responds to Irit Rogoff and Tom Holert’s recent contributions to this journal on the role of the art academy, addressing the Bologna Process and its influence on art eduction throughout Europe.

Let's talk this weekend - I'm in studio today and then have appts. later on.
I'll call you either after 9pm today or tomorrow afternoon.
Looking forward to discussing the possibility of our poem becoming a public sculpture in Redmond...I have many ideas.
A

postcards, 2nd version, another next thing

Text accompanying each card:

In working collaboratively, I wanted to see what we are- who we are- and what we collectively envision, (we being VCFA folks). I am proposing a project of sending to you postcards from Montpelier, that have had the image sanded off- in order for you to paint/draw/collage/perform and leave traces of documentation on.

Here is my thinking;

In these economically challenging times as in times of any crises there is at the same time great potential in that there is a pause, a settling of debris, to reflect and rethink our values; time of restructuring and reevaluating. We are responsible for creating the economic system- we too are the ones who can uphold it, alter it, and/or demolish it. The question we are facing then is what kind of system do we want to promote? Art has a potential of showing us another way of being, another way of living. The answer may lie even farther than our own scope of understanding but we can start envisioning the possibilities.

As Artists, what kind of a world do we envision?

Please mail the preaddressed postcard by July 20th.

Thus far there are 17 participants.

insomnia... thinking of the next thing

I received a call for art for the Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition; so most of the night I spent envisioning the sculpture and placing it in the context of Redmond.

The initial idea is to cast an easel out of bronze and have it function- be a space of reflecting on this landscape. The parameters are:
* Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children.

Have never cast in bronze so that would be an adventure! I will take the month of April to prepare the proposal.

The other idea would be to enter our poem- your necklace- I want this piece out in public although the above exhibition is probably not the context. I would also love for this piece to travel physically between us to our respective coasts. Mostly I just want to touch and feel your hand in making the piece. I am also inspired of the photos of you with the piece- I see it as a beautiful drawing; figure, beads, another figure, the morse necklace as a link between. Now I am envisioning a circle of women with the morse necklace strung around the neck and then continuing on from the throat chakra to the next woman. Let me give you a call.

I did get this one

Dear Angela,

Congratulations! You have been chosen to be one of the artists in ARTcamp at NYSG in July and August 2009. Please confirm that you will be participating by either email or phone and then in order to reserve your place please send a check to NY Studio Gallery by April 1. Let me know if you have any questions about the residency. If you have already made other commitments please let me know so alert the next person on the waiting list.

Best wishes,

ZA

the next piece

I started my next installation/Morse code necklace.
Using turquoise and smaller glass beads, my eyes are already strained.
Also, the text I am translating is very difficult to meditate on and work with - it brings up many memories of the Cape Town workshop, and reminds me of how little I understand other matters of this world. It's one of Ingrid de Kok's poems I wrote about earlier this week.

I think it'll be a good idea to invest in a larger glass under which I can work without compromising my optic nerves.
Let's talk later about our performance - logistics and what your intentions are are questions in my mind.

x

I went bead/supply shopping for my next Morse code installation, and have been working all morning.
x

rejection, seems to be going around- On to the Next Thing then

Hello Tereza,

The Arts Commissioners don't have any specific ideas but we'll keep you in mind.

Thanks,

Mary


February 28, 2009

Dear Mary Yelanjian and Redmond Arts Commission Office,

I am an artist and a resident of Redmond wanting to participate in the arts of this community through a public art piece. Currently in my second semester of graduate school, I am focusing on public art as a topic for this semester and exploring how to integrate my practice with the community.

In these economically challenging times as in times of any crises there is at the same time great potential in that there is a pause, a settling of debris, to reflect and rethink our values; time of restructuring and reevaluating. We are responsible for creating the economic system- we too are the ones who can uphold it, alter it, and demolish it. The question we are facing then is what kind of system do we as citizens want to promote?

Pondering this question is what I have started centering my art around. Art has a potential of showing us another way of being, another way of living. The answer may lie even farther than our own scope of understanding but we can start envisioning the possibilities. (Please view my slide show at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31808466@N06/sets/72157614175822764 It is a sight specific piece from Montpelier, Vermont.)

I would like to organize a similar piece to the one in the slide show above, here in Redmond on any public wall or sidewalk that has substantial traffic. I would pose a similar question: Please write down what it is you truly want. Then I would ask the viewer to write down an answer, which I would then trace and possibly enlarge and then blur into the background to make room for more wants. I would work on site for the duration of the piece up to one month. In the end, we would see the abstract landscape of our wants and simultaneously with the documentation of the process, I would develop a slide show for the city of Redmond similar to the link above.
Please let me know if there is such a possibility, space for this public art work here in Redmond.

Thank you for your time, Tereza Swanda

I didn't get in

March 16, 2009

Dear Angela Rose,

Thank you for applying to the Keyholder Residency Program at the Lower East Side Printshop. The selection panel of artists and art professionals has reviewed over 200 applications, and has selected 5 finalists for further consideration. I am sorry to write that we will not be able to offer you a residency at this time.

The quality of applications was very high and it made our choice among a great deal of exceptional artwork very difficult. I strongly encourage you to reapply in September, as our panel rotates with every selection.

Thank you once again for your participation and interest in the Lower East Side Printshop.

Best regards,

Programs Administrator

I miss Agnes Martin

insomnia.
I can't tell if I'm excited or scared, but I'm awake at 3:18AM.

(in preparation for my first mailing of papers for school- I find Luce Irigaray a beautiful poet.)

Introducing: Love Between Us

Human Nature is Two

Sexual Difference as Universal

Donning a Civil Identity

The Other: Woman

She Forgotten Between Use and Exchange

Two of us, Outside, Tomorrow?

He I Sought But Did Not Find

You Who Will Never Be Mine

I Love To You

In Almost Absolute Silence

A Breath that Touches in Words

Practical Teachings: Love — Between Passion and Civility


To you: spacing in order to pass from affectivity to the spiritual, from interiority to exteriority. I see you, I hear you, I perceive you, I listen to you, I watch you, I am moved by you, astonished by you, I leave to breathe outside, I reflect with earth, water stars, I think of you, I think you, I think of us: of two, of all men, all women, I begin to love, love to you, I return towards you, I try to speak, to tell to you: a feeling, a will, an intention, for now, for tomorrow, for a long time. I ask of you a place and tome for today, for soon, for life, mine, yours, for the life of many.

penetrate
perpetrate
violate
venerate

Women and Children First

Women and Children First
by Ingrid de Kok

It’s always been so.
This makes it worse.
Women and children first.

First to be hurt
Last to be nursed.
It’s always been so.

When rumour stalks
First to be cursed.
And worse.

Turned out, inside out.
Only safe in the hearse.
Women and children first.

.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
- .... .. ... / -- .- -.- . ... / .. - / .-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.- /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / .... ..- .-. - /
.-.. .- ... - / - --- / -... . / -. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- /
.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
.-- .... . -. / .-. ..- -- --- ..- .-. / ... - .- .-.. -.- ... /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / -.-. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- / .- -. -.. /
.-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- / - ..- .-. -. . -.. / --- ..- - --..-- / .. -. ... .. -.. . / --- ..- - .-.-.- / --- -. .-.. -.-- /
... .- ..-. . / .. -. / - .... . / .... . .- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.-

Ingrid de Kok

In Cape Town 2007, we met the poet Ingrid de Kok, who graciously read to us from her newest book after a long week of going to Robben Island, the townships, and District 6. We ended the first week listening to her with the Indian Ocean on our right. I remember it was approaching sunset.

At our open studios festa (thanking all the artists, poets, scientists, curators, etc), one of my notes to myself was that I wanted to create a Morse code piece of one of her poems. Last night I was re-reading her book, and found a few pieces I connected with:

Body parts

may the wrist turn in the wind like a wing
the severed foot tread home ground

the punctured ear hear the thrum of sunbirds
the molten eye see stars in the dark

the faltering lungs quicken windmills
the maimed hand scatter seeds and grain

the heart flood underground springs
pound maize, recognize named cattle

and may the unfixable broken bone
loosened from its hinges

now lying like a wishbone in the veld
pitted by pointillist ants

give us new bearings.

The transcriber speaks

I was the commission's own captive,
Its anonymous after-hours scribe,
Professional blank slate.
Word by word by word
From winding tape to hieroglyphic key,
From sign to sign, I listened and wrote.
Like bricks for a kiln or tiles for a roof
Or the sweeping of leaves into piles for burning:
I don't know which:
Word upon word upon word.
At first unpunctuated
Apart from quotations and full stops.
But how to transcribe silence from tape?
Is weeping a pause or a word?
What written sign for a strangled throat?
And a witness pointing? That I described,
When officials identified direction and name.
But what if she stared?
And if the silence seemed to stretch
Past the police guard, into the street
Away to a door or a grave or a child,
Was it my job to conclude:
"The witness was silent. There was nothing left to say"?

The head of the household

is a girl of thirteen
and her children are many.

Left-overs, moulting gulls,
wet unweaned sacks

she carries them under her arms
and on her back

though some must walk beside her
bearing their own bones and mash

when not on the floor
in sickness and distress

rolled up in rows
facing the open stall.

Moon and bone-cold stars
navigational spoor

for ambulance, hearse,
the delivery vans

that will fetch and dispatch
the homeless, motherless

unclean and dead
and a girl of thirteen,

children in her arms,
house balanced on her head

performance thoughts

I need a little space of not talking right now - but thank you for your call earlier today.
I was still having a tantrum.
Can we discuss possibility of performing together maybe over the weekend?
I like the idea - let's discuss the concept and move it deeper.
I want to start on the one for you; I like the idea of two pieces existing in the world.
A

Meaning Cleaning critique thoughts

the critique went really well - it was really intense, and brought up a lot of emotions for me.
the next day i was destroyed, and wound up binge eating and not leaving my couch.

As I have begun to pick myself up this week, and after talking with / to Hayley this afternoon, I see things I am attracted to in Meaning Cleaning itself. It's personally interesting for me to put myself in the public, to bring "private" work outside. I really like the interaction, or lack thereof, with passersby.

The action of public cleaning can bring to light damaged systems that allow so much to fall into such disrepair.

The action of public cleaning can also be a mirror to show possibilities of what another structure can look like.

The action of public cleaning can be both reflective and highlighting - just like the back paintings, just like the hand held mirrors.
To provide a space of real communication seems to be interesting both of us - when we retold the group stories that were told to us, we both thought "that's it!" or at least part of it.

Then the act of hidden microphones and recording others' stops being weird and becomes unnecessary.
It's our voices that retell the stories, placing us in the center of our own work.
It's the choice of location, the choice of attire, the choice of practice...

The action of public cleaning also brings out a rage from within me I am afraid to let it out.
I see the macrocosm of how poorly we treat ourselves as human beings, that I often wonder what the point is of what we are doing. But then I hear the most poignant and tragic story by someone who gets completely what we are doing, and understands everything in the three minutes she is with us. Then she's gone and I think our work has made a difference.

It's important I know to distill what it is one is truly interested in.
I have to admit, I wanted the quick fix, the easy solution.
I wanted the group to tell me what to do.
I was tired of making decisions.
But after a few days, I feel like I am able to see more clearly what it is I'm interested in.
Poor Hayley had to listen to me have a complete breakdown/temper tantrum at the cafe today.
She is a very patient person

I love to you

I really want to read this text with you:

http://books.google.com/books?id=FNf-eKTJAY0C&dq=I+Love+to+You,+luce+irigaray&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=3zn9S--zd8&sig=BhvpVek60t-FL2pgFhEcLiW00PA&hl=en&ei=LUO3SZLwGJmQsQOd2Kj5AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA8,M1

7 minute max- performing Necklace for a Goddess

August, '09, Montpelier


(possible sound- Morse code of our poem- looped)

we come from opposite sides of the stage- (there is no stage but we can come from the sides- like arms wrapping a round the audience)

we in black- canvas with necklace is in the center- we are profile to the audience

perform attaching the necklace between ourselves- the same way it is hung on the canvas- start at the crown of our head and follow down to the upper thigh.

Leave slack in the strings- so it remains an arc

Breathe deeply so the strings move slightly- enough to where they feel alive. I think this is the most important part for me and the whole performance can be just this.

after a couple of minutes replace strands onto the canvas

Invitation: Would you be interested in doing this performance with me this summer at VCFA?

One of my clients died yesterday.
On Women's Day
While I was having my critique.
I will miss her, and am sending her reiki

Color, Relationships

The first color mixing swatch- responding to the current mural- restoration project.
There is so much I want to respond to in your past couple of postings.

The whole 9 by 8 foot landscape is comprised of the relationship between the blue and brown/green of these two swatches.

For tonight, I want us to focus on one thing: what I have, and what I have accomplished!

One hour before

one hour before the critique, and I'm having an anxiety attack - so many old structures and thoughts are making feel totally unprepared and really critical of who I am and what I'm doing.

Is the house clean enough?
Why didn't I buy that scented oil for the hallway - will guests smell the trash from the basement?
Will they notice the walls are scuffed?
Is anyone going to notice the floors aren't oiled?
I forgot to buy soap for the bathroom
I only have bagels and coffee for people to eat - will it be enough?
Is anyone going to "get" our video?
I am doubting my collaboration communication - am I making something out of nothing?
Why am I not more prepared?
Why can't I ask for help?
Why do I tend to carry the burden of organizing too much?
Why don't I trust more people more often?
I hate not having enough money to finish our home - I don't need another project.
I hate not having my bookshelves in order - I feel so scattered
I don't even have proper viewing capacity - everyone might hate it
Will I run out of coffee?
Do I have enough chairs?
Why is my collab partner late?
Why do I always feel I'm the one doing everything?
Why don't I appreciate what I have, and what I have accomplished?

meaning cleaning critique tomorrow

Meaning Cleaning is happy to hostess the next critique - even though it's technically at Angela's house, we would like to discuss and think about our most recent collaboration: video documentation of our October 11 performance on 14th street. We have been collaborating with an amazing video editor, and are looking forward to discuss and critique the work that Meaning Cleaning has done this far - perhaps as well to discuss our concepts for the future.

Some things that have come up for us during the editing process:
Is video documentation of performance work an art form in and of itself?
Is our video too much one or the other - meaning, too artsy or too stark?
Does it communicate clearly what it is we are doing?
Is the video too long or too short?
Where could we exhibit this work to underscore the notions of bringing "private" / domestic work into the public?
Projected guerrilla style? Submitted and shown formally?
(Should we even be thinking about that?)

Also, please note Sunday is the first day of daylight savings time - so 12:30 will feel a little earlier.

This is interesting

Think of the implications/concept of this artist's work.
Her name is Julianne Swartz, repped by Mixed Greens gallery. Although I think the series is beautiful to look at, I thought of the political and socio-economic implications of the image in the mirror showed another story....

I also thought of Jessica H and Melissa M...

Chelsea Art Museum

On a rare night out, we went to the opening reception of our friend Adie's show at the Chelsea Art Museum.

The Chelsea Art Museum, home of the Miotte Foundation, is pleased to present the group exhibition UN-SCR-1325, which brings works by eight Belgian artists together with works by eight American artists. Referencing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the exhibition focuses on the position of women in global and local sociopolitical contexts. The artwork in the show critically addresses topics such as religion, sex, identity, trauma and war.


UN-SCR-1325, adopted in 2000, is the first resolution passed by the Security Council that comprehensively addresses the impact of war and conflict on women and women's contributions to conflict prevention as well as conflict resolution and sustainable peace efforts. The exhibition acknowledges the great importance and value of this resolution. Instead of being illustrations of a political declaration, the individual works examine critical moments of social and psychological defect and disruption. Rather than portraying women as victims, the artists of the exhibition present works that expose the resilient reactions of women to negligence, discrimination and intolerance. Present and past occasions explored in this exhibition include the California Gold Rush, 9/11, the Iraq War, racial issues, domestic violence and sexism.


Many of the works presented in the exhibition find their inspiration in concrete time and place. From the staged repetition of a random action in the work of Joëlle Tuerlinckx, to the notions of space and isolation in the work of Sofie Muller, to the relational complexity between "you" and "me" in Vanessa Albury's work and to the survival objects of collaborators Kathleen Hanna and Becca Albee: these works reveal how the artists reflect upon the here and now. The exhibition confronts the viewer with physicality, femininity, transgression and action. "If women suffer the impact of conflict disproportionately, they are also the key to the solution of conflict", said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2002. The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 demonstrates how women can be an important force for change in a situation of conflict. Through this exhibition we are invited to think consciously about how change can be suggested, accepted and successfully integrated in our societies.


The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium and supported by The Armory Show, Capitalatwork, Yasmine Geukens and Marie-Paule De Vil, and Office Jan Van Woensel.


Support the cause SOS, stop sexual terror in East-Congo

Originally a "send-a-friend", we also went to Cape Town together in 2007.
I'm so happy for her.
I'm also happy for me - I had a cathartic confrontation/reconciliation with two friends, and now feel like 100 pounds of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

MISC

Meaning Cleaning performance at MISC opening - New York Studio Gallery, New York City
December 11, 2008
Documentation courtesy of NYSG

also i was thinking about the reds and blues - consider the frequency of each in relation to one another: how can they resonate to communicate more clearly? i think it leaves so much to play with! Brava!

lists

purchased four varieties of each; blue and red, play begins

Necklace for a Goddess

Amazing!

I want to stand on the right hand in the photo of you on the left and have the strands connect us!

Fabulous work!