create-a-thing-a-day month officially comes to a close. tomorrow i will write about the experience, though i am still processing much of it. I am not ready to stop, and did consider doing it for a year (but i do have other projects that need my attention). we are tentatively planning to do it again (possibly in july), and i will be attending a meeting in new york in a couple of weeks to discuss future plans. the project was created in conjunction with eyebeam and nyu (tisch).
while i am not embarking on this project for an audience (but rather for my own creative growth), out of curiosity how many of you would be interested in watching me go through this process again?
i've never done that before.
one more day to go.
inspired by steve lambert
i would like to colour this. maybe tomorrow.
an interesting exercise, i highly recommend it. just when you think you've got everything, you remember something else.
this is not exactly the execution i was going for but i wanted to get this one out.
description: an interactive calendar in which the user tears off a piece of paper for each day. the “days” once torn are then strung together in a kind of garland. the process of displaying the days that have passed is intended to make one more aware of the passing of time. (while also reusing materials which have outworn their function.) in a sense the passage of time is transformed into a celebration.
i'm not often bored.
but you knew that already.
onto a new theme tomorrow!
impermanence.
methods implemented (in order of appearance):
glue
wire
scotch tape
clothing snaps
needle & thread
pin
staples
blue ribbon
red sticker
paper clip
duct tape
blue wool
today i had a creative block, you have to figure going for 28 days straight it's bound to happen. so i just wanted to get this one out, and get a fresh start tomorrow. the exercise is as follows (click image for full results):
1. Choose an experience from your day (this is subject #1). today i was speaking to a friend about intuition.
2. Ask a friend for a subject. (subject #2) My husband told me to research the sound artist Toshiya Tsunoda.
3. Conduct research on both subjects, and make connections between them.
note: the point at which you start to believe that they have nothing in common, is where it usually starts to get interesting. at some point in my research i found a common denominator which was fascinating to me; both subjects are based on the reading of electromagnetic fields! upon figuring this out I triumphed and felt like my work was done here.
off to read in bed. looking forward to tomorrow.
exercise
1. Find a found photo either of people or a place you know nothing about.
2. Make as many connections as you can between you and the photo.
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notes:
(click image for a larger version)
*this was much harder than i thought it would be.
*photo found at an antique store in downtown troy.
source: google
The exercise for today on the connections theme:
1. Find four photos/imagery you find interesting.
2. Go to the library and write down the titles of the first four books with red covers.
3. Relate the titles to the photos.
process: I found just doing step one was useful in creating some intriguing connections. juxtaposing the images creates a tension and the brain attempts to create meaning from the combinations. after putting the grid together i felt that this was interesting on it's own without the titles.
description of images:
1. antique postcard from dieppe, france.
2. wooden beads found in a junk shop that I keep in a jar on my desk.
3. shoe box.
4. trees in my backyard. (photo by jeff pitcher)
book titles:
1. Women in Dada
2. the Arts in higher education
3. Art & Culture
4. Performance
(next time I will pick books from different sections.)
"A longing for excitement can be satisfied without external means, within oneself; for creating is the most intense excitement one can come to know." ~Anni Albers (wife of josef albers)
my theme for this week is "connections". i admit to having no idea how this one will play out (which is a good thing). the above image (click for the full version) is my personal research from the last six months, and while it is not linear, it documents the movement of my brain and how everything is linked in some way.
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I would like to remind people that this series of works are part of create a thing a day month. They are created in the spirit of play, experimentation and investigation, and in most cases done in 20 minutes or less a day, (though a couple took longer than this). I am hoping to push myself into some new and interesting places with it, and I want to allow my ideas/thoughts to grow and expand as I go.
this one was inspired by an article that I read (i can't recall the source), about a housing complex that installed the electricity meters beside the front door on all of the houses. which resulted in energy costs being reduced by 30% by all tennants. the idea being, if you are aware of how you impact the world you are more likely to alter behaviours.
so i created a dish soap bottle that is covered in statistics about water pollution, and the impact of chemicals on human beings and the environment. just so i am a little more aware each time I reach for the container.
statistics source: Naturally Clean by Jeffrey Hollender
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the website for the creative act has changed to http://thing-a-day.com
chalkboard surface
change the message whenever you want.
claim your food.
leave love notes.
record purchase date.
make a rating scale.
doodle.
track consumption.
arrive on time AND with fresh breath.
partake in practicle acts while eating your breakfast.
Unbranding theme:
Who needs children's toys when you can just cover up your household goods with these handy skins?
hours of fun.
The ideas are just starting to really get going with this, so many possibilities.
wait til tomorrow.
My theme for this week is unbranding. While I do actually enjoy the packaging of some products, I find most items to be visually draining and lacking restraint. I wanted to consider what my house might look like with no visable brand names on packaging. This got me thinking of various methods to have products blend into my environment in a fluid way, either by simulating something that I find aesthetically pleasing, or by somehow integrating them into my psyche (ie. making them practical or necessary.) I came up with the idea to create product "skins" that mask the identity of the product. I am creating a series of downloadble pdf's playing with the concept. This is the first test.
i'm not sure if it is successful but am enjoying the process.
my studio is a bit messy.
game: see if you can match the list with the items.
a great website and book, DO IT.
artist yukinori yanagi draws by tracing the path of an ant on the floor with a red crayon.
article about two sisters who have been writing letters to each other on found objects for years, objects include rocks, shower curtain, umbrella. (link from my dad).
"If you will cling to Nature, to the simple in Nature, to the little things that hardly anyone sees, and that can so unexpectedly become big and beyond measuring; if you have this love of inconsiderable things and seek quite simply, as one who serves, to win the confidence of what seems poor: then everything will become easier, more coherent and somehow more conciliatory for you, not in your intellect, perhaps, which lags marveling behind, but in your inmost consciousness, waking and cognizance." ~Rainer Maria Rilke
the picture hanging wire was really hard to glue down.
My entry for day 2 of create-a-thing-a-day month. Please check out the site for great things other people are doing.
The theme for this week is "Material Samples-(or things i use everyday to make art)".
other themes I am considering:
-art made using packaging
-mail letters week
-things made out of random things in my studio
-movement documentation
-things found while walking the dog collages
manufacturer: winsor & newton, designer's gouache
method: out of the tube
I've been tagged by Jennifer, and though I've done this one before, I am at no loss for idiosyncratic behaviours. I began thinking about what might be considered strange to others and I determined that the things that you do that are REALLY weird you may not know about because they are not weird to you, (it may help to ask friends and family to tell you what your quirks are.) writing about these things here seems a little odd to me, since my idiosyncracies are a large part of why you dear reader are here. So let's say these are things that I haven't written about here before.
1. Contemporary vernacular makes me cringe, as well as different spellings of common words. for example "peeps", "par tay", "bling", "sup", those are all i can think of right now, you get the idea. My sister is really into hip hop, so I do make some concessions out of love for her.
2. I still don't have a driver's license. (this one is hard for me to admit and one of the things I feel the most shame about in my life. yes it's true.) having put it off for so long i have made it into a really overwhelming thing. I signed up for lessons this week. I'm going to do it now and I'm scared.
3. I always put my pajama's under my pillow during the day. My nana taught me that when I was little.
4. I am self taught with basically everything I do, and have made a life out of researching anything I need to know. This comes out of being rather stubborn, and not wanting help from anyone. I always feel like I can do it myself. everyone who knows me well is hyper aware of this fact. it can be a negative at times. True intimacy with others requires one to be at times both dependent and depended on, (read: a willingness to ask for help.) I am learning these things the hard way.
5. I think i already mentioned the difficulty with shitting in a public restroom. that one is better now.
6. I will talk about shitting with anyone, anywhere. I tend to like people more if they will talk about shitting too. I've spent a lot of time in hospitals where the subject becomes a necessary part of daily dialogue. Does that gross you out? then we can't be friends. talk about poop is good.
7. I am obsessed with bad puns. they make me laugh hysterically.
8. Two years ago I began switching the first letters of two word combinations. For example, Random List becomes Landom Risk, puppy dog becomes duppy pog. I do it constantly, and I got my husband doing it too. Don't start, it's difficult to stop. if you're lucky sometimes you get a really funny one. (does this contradict item #1 on this list?)
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other things
pan's labyrinth is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I'm still reeling from it.
I am loving my new journal made by erin.
I've long been excited about the concept of "decoration as information", a good example of which are subway map tatoos by marti guixe, the geography + information postcards are another good example.