these were the first ones.  it was kind of a lark.  i ride the bus to and from work everyday, and there is something about the movement, the shifting, overlapping landscape that just keeps coming that i thought was really interesting, and i loved what i was getting.

now, background.  these are all taken with my cell phone.  iphone4, with a nifty little app.  nothing crazy, just giving me a slower shutter speed.  but i keep making them now.  even thought i’m in prague, i’m still taking public transportation everywhere, so i’m riding trams and seeing the city slide past me on a daily basis.  now, it’s not really sunny here in prague in january, so the images have shifted to be a bit gray-er.

but i’m really fascinated by these things.  i think my favorite is the one with the person in profile, but it is actually harder than i thought to get good shots of folks (you need reflections, which means either really bright sun or after the sun has set, and then you need good angles – tricky).  but still.  they keep accumulating.  thought i’d share.  i’ll let you know if they keep going somewhere…

See, I view this as a very individualized activity.  My brain functions a certain way, hence I tend to make art in a way that makes sense to my brain.  This line of thinking has been brought on by two events – one, I’m currently reading (and loving) Douglas Hofstadter’s book “I Am a Strange Loop” and two, I went to an artist talk here in Prague a few days ago.  I know it may not look it, but these two things are in fact, related.

Let’s start with the book.  Hofstatdter is an old favorite of mine, since I had to read “Godel Escher Bach” in college and thought his seamless weaving of science, music, technology and the human  mind was ingenious, and I’m a true sucker for anyone who talks about mapping and patterns and repetition.  So I was particularly keen to get my hands on “Strange Loop” where he really digs into our own understanding of self, and how the brain is able to make sense of the world and ourselves.  Heady stuff.  Amazing really.  And I’m not even finished yet.  But here’s the point, he talks a lot about what makes a person an individual, and he’s successfully upended a rather central belief for humans – that one body = one soul.  Let me bring this back to art, before I digress too far.  I’ve always asserted that each of us is truly unique, and that we see the world from our own, singular point of view.  And now I’m wondering about that.

Continuing, we’ve got this artist talk I went to on Monday at Svit Gallery down the street from my flat.  The artist is Jordan Wolfson and it was a kind of interview style artist talk.  And a lot of this talk centered around how and why the artist created different works, and listening to him speak made me realize that how he makes art is nothing like how I make art.  Obvious, yes.  But still interesting to actually butt up against the reality of this truth.

So back to the beginning.  Me, making art, here in Prague.  It’s been simply luxurious, to have to make sure to schedule time to just make things.  Now, granted, what I thought I would make is nothing like what I actually made (and am still making).  But to have the time to just respond, to let what is surrounding you influence how the work progresses is an unimaginably wonderful thing.  Certainly isn’t like when I’m home, and working a few jobs and tired and squeezing art making in on the side, where I keep doing what I’ve been doing, because it already makes sense, and that is actually for me, easier to do right now.

I tried to continue my skiagrams while here, though in modified form – cyanotypes instead of silver.  I’ll be honest.  They sucked.  To prove it, here is a shot of some of my tests:

No contrast, no form, no visual interest.  I knew I needed to adapt, but man, was it heck figuring out how to change.

Now here’s the interesting thing.  I don’t ever have just one project.  I’m a bit too scattered in the brain to stay focused on a single idea for very long.  So I tend to have one big, main project that I really dig into, and then I have little side projects “for fun” that I do when I need a change of pace.  That’s what this blog has really been.  My Natural Disaster images, or my series of images that are just blurry white on white.  Plus, I’ve been goofing around with my camera phone quite a bit too (separate post on those coming soon).

Here’s where things got cool the other week.  One of these “fun” projects started to resonate with what I was experiencing here.  My flat is this big, tall, white place, with little sound and almost no stimuli (no tv, no internet, nothing hanging on the walls and everything is painted white except the few pieces of furniture).

I would come back to this space, not knowing anyone in the city, not speaking the language and not a ton to do in this space but read.  Or take pictures.  So I started taking pictures of the light coming in through the windows, almost to prove that the sun did come out in this city!  And lo-and-behold, I’m making work very simliar to the Edge of Vision pics!  But with new intent, new direction and a very different resonance, at least for me.  I’ll let you be the judge.  Here are a few:

All in all, I’m excited about the new ideas and the new shifts that have happened here.  And the really exciting part for me is that this new visual direction is actually making a ton of sense with the sound that is paired with it (coming soon!) and so I feel like I’ve made a ton of progress with that end of my making stuff.  Residencies = highly recommended.

However, what you may not know is that currently, time is my greatest friend – you could almost say that we are now BFF’s.  That is because, miraculously, I am currently ensconced  in an armchair, in MY STUDIO, IN PRAGUE!  That’s correct.  Prague, as in the Czech Republic.  Cool, huh?  I was accepted to an artist residency program here at this very cool contemporary art organization, the MeetFactory (named because it’s first home was in just that, a meat factory, though now it is housed in an enormous old glass factory).

The MeetFactory in Praha

This has been the very definition of a luxury.  Time.  Space.  Room to move, to think, to experiment.  I had forgotten how amazing this was.  I feel like I’m back in grad school, but without all the stress, and with way better scenery!

Now, I’m not saying that this has been one big vacation.  The first week or so was a bit rough.  I had a hard time switching to this time zone, and then, there is this whole thing of not knowing a soul here, not speaking the language beyond “Ano” and “Ne” (Yes & No), and it being January and all and there not being a lot of folks just wandering around.  I was all of a sudden cut off.  Alone.  Actually, lonely.  No husband, no cute little furball of a cat, no job and co-workers, no students.  There were a few days where I saw tons of people and yet I didn’t say a word the whole day (I do a lot of nodding to try and avoid my horrible Czech prononciation).

This is a weird thing for me, at this point in my life.  Not talking.

In some ways, I think this threw me a bit, and affected my art.  I was existing totally within my own head.  This can be a weird place, one I wouldn’t recommend visiting, unless it’s a bright, happy day!  Kidding.  Kind of.

Anyway, I got stuck.

Now, I am un-stuck.  I’ll write again soon, where all I’ll talk about and show is my cool art and the neat stuff I’ve been doing, but this post, this is pure gratuity.  My “Dear Diary” kinda moment.  It’s been so long since I was forced to confront myself without any filters. No Tv, lots of books, but there is only so much that even I can read, limited internet (none at my flat).  Lots of time to think.  Reflect.  Remember.  I don’t know if I’m ready to admit this yet, but maybe I needed space to just think and be.  No distractions.  No obligations.

For now, I’m going to run with the idea that is has been positive, if slightly frustrating to start off.  I’ve still got two weeks left of  the residency, and the art stuff is kicking into high gear, which is getting me excited.  It’s easy to see now in retrospect that by unplugging, and removing myself that I would shift and see myself in a new light.  The tired old cliche about what going to an artist residency is all about.  But who knew that it could be so hard to do, to experience.  That unplugging can be down right difficult.  And I didn’t even go cold turkey!  Having to confront yourself without anyone or anything acting as a filter is not something many of us do on a daily basis in our wired world.  I’ll let you know how it goes from now forward….

Here’s the long and short of it.  We bought a house (yeah!) then started renovating it – which took a lot longer than expected (months).  Then we had to pack, move, paint and unpack.  All while I got an additional position at school, working in the admin office.  It was a hectic summer, to say the least.

But now I’m kinda back.  At least on a semi-regular basis.  And I’m back with all kinds of updates.

One, I’ve got work in a group show down in Jersey (woo hoo!).  I wasn’t able to get down there to see it, but my mom went, and she said the whole show looked amazing, and I got a few shots from her and her friends   It’s titled “langour | temperance / repose.”  The show info is HERE and HERE.  And here is a sample of one of the images that I have in the show.  You may recognize it from previous posts…..

Also, cool news, I’ve started work on the new batch of big, mamba-jamba murals for my solo show here in Boston at the Garner Center at NESOP.  Can’t wait!  Did test strips on Monday, and things are looking good!  Maybe I’ll post a teaser once I get the first couple developed

And the third bit of cool news is that I was accepted to an artist residency!!!!  This is kinda amazing for me, as I’ve never done one of these things.  It just sounds awesome.  Sure, I’d love to go some place foreign (ie, Prague!?!?) for a month and just make art!  Twist my arm, seriously!  So, to help me along with all this, as airfare is insane and it is a month of room and board, I decided to launch a Kickstarter project.  I’d been hearing a ton about these, and I’ve had a few other artist friends launch projects in the past, but this is another first for me.  So if you know anyone with a couple of extra bucks eating a hole in their pocket, send them my way, and they can help support arts and crazy ladies who want to go to Prague!  Oh, and here’s the link to the project site in case you want to check it out:

Amy’s Kickstarter Project

If nothing else, you should go check the page out, as I made a video, and it must be goofy and foolish, as I can’t seem to imagine me being able to film myself any other way.  You’ll get a laugh.

Anywho, that’s all for now.  I’ve still been working on the natural disaster series, expanding it a bit, so there may be new images on that front soon.  Hopefully, I’ll be better about updates from now on…..

Signing off for now.

The opening reception last week was amazing and it was unreal in a very good way to finally see my work come together.  I’m so happy with the work and still kind of in shock that it’s up!

See, this is the thing with working on a huge scale.  I don’t have 14 foot ceilings in my studio.  I don’t even have enough wall space to hang all 9 murals at the same time.  When I put them up in the gallery it will be the first time I can step back from the work and see it as I imagined.  Totally unreal.

And, see, there’s this other cool thing about the project.  I’m finally doing my sound!  I’ve been toying with sound art/music/digital-aural-chaos for about 3 years, but I’ve never really put myself out there with it.  I love doing it, it makes sense with where the overall project is going, but most of the time I’m getting my work into group photography shows, and that doesn’t quite lend itself to the inclusion of sound installations.  Again, amazingly unreal.

So, if you happen to be in the greater Hartford, CT area any time this summer, you should go see the show.  It should be amazing.  And the call for proposals that made this all happen is their annual Step Up program where they foster emerging artists and give them their break, so you won’t just get to see my work, but the amazing work of 5 other artists who got their chance.

Here’s the postcard image for the show and then the details from the back of the postcard.

And as always, thanks for stopping by…..

And life continues.  I’m going to my studio this afternoon, because short of me flying around the world to Japan, there is nothing, physically, that I can do to help.  Donating money does help, but my day to day existence has not changed because of this earthquake.

And this is weird.  It feels wrong, somehow.

And so I make new work.  Unfortunately, this may become a new series, long term.  My way of coping and dealing with these world-changing events that are so remote that I can go weeks without even thinking about what’s happened, yet there are whole populations whose entire lives have been irrevocably changed in the span of hours.  My way of acknowledging my distance, both physically and emotionally from something so monumental.

These are coming out very differently than my Deepwater Horizon series.  There, the images were of this body of water that was fundamentally being altered, even though it was difficult to see from the surface.  Here, the devastation is so visible, so impactful, that there is a more chaotic feel to the work.  Also, the immediate human loss is much more pronounced, so there are a more people finding their way into the images.

Signing off…..

New images.  Different, but still mostly in the same vein as where I’ve been.  I like the ideas of line, pattern, color, texture, shape and how they formally fit together.  I think I’m a bit old school in that sense.  But I also love the idea of looking at something, specifically a photograph of something or somewhere and not being able to quite place what it is that I’m looking at.

So.  Here’s a small sampling of the new guys.  Not sure what to call them.  Everything at the moment seems a bit cheesy – topographies, charting somewhere, blah blah blah.

They’re still a bit weird for me, as they are actual photographs, taken with a camera, in focus with the bare minimum of tweaking done to them, as opposed to altered six ways to sunday or pulled out of the air with chemicals or some other process…..  I’m kind of enjoying it.

video still from the disputed piece that was pulled

I’ve ended up reading a fair bit on this today.  It started with Jerry Saltz’s note that he posted on his Facebook page.  Then the Tyler Green piece on ArtInfo.  Then Blake Gopnik’s article in The Washington Post.  Which led me to this post on CNSNews.com written by Penny Star.  I won’t rehash these pieces or the countless others that are out there.  But it’s definitely worth looking into if you value freedom of speech and particularly if you are an artist who hopes to be able to express your thoughts without censor.

So after all this reading I am now shell-shocked.  Frozen.  Not from all of the reading, not from slight sense of disbelief that it only took a few hours for a major museum to pull a piece when complaints were issued.  No, I’m literally numb right now as I type this because of the comments that everyday people have been posting regarding this exhibition and this piece specifically.

Yes, I’m horrified that a very vocal faction of our society can scare a major institution into censoring itself.  Terrified.  Yes, it is incredibly ironic that this all happened on World AIDS day, when AIDS is the disease that killed both Wojnarowicz and his lover and fellow artist, Peter Hujar who the piece was made in honor of.

But the moment I went from reading these stories to feeling compelled to write something was when I got to the comment section of the CNS post.  The level of disgust, bile, hatred, and outrage that is displayed there shook me.  Someone called the exhibition a “Hate Crime against Christians & their children & should be prosecuted as such.”  So many of the comments reference the fact that the Smithsonian Institute is in part publicly funded with tax-payers dollars, and therefore the public should have a say in what can and cannot be exhibited.  Others refer to the “smut peddlers,” the “depravity,” and other adjectives such as sick, disgusting, rubbish, sickos, trash, degenerate, perversion, porn and I could keep going, but I won’t as I’m sure you get the idea.

This is really weird for me.  I’m so upset, so angry, so ashamed that I can’t quite put into words my own opinion here.  And that word there, opinion, I think is crucial.  Art, when created, is one person’s view, one person’s opinion.  It is normal and healthy to disagree.  It would be a dull world indeed if everyone held the same opinions and beliefs.  And there is a lot in this world that I disagree with.  But I don’t wish violence, pain and ostracism on people I disagree with.

I’m also really disturbed by the fact that there is still so much hatred towards other human beings in America, a supposedly enlightened and educated society.  Moments like this make me feel pessimistic.  There is no way that humanity will ever evolve beyond senseless violence if these views are still held so tightly in the year 2010.

Enough brooding for one day.