Latest Obsession:

Parc Avenue by Plants and Animals. 

Escapism

I'm in the process of doing research on Richard Misrach's Desert Cantos series for an American Art seminar class, and I happened to stumble upon this little literary gem Escapism written by Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan in 2000. Tuan is such a captivating writer, and I'm finding that his chapter on Hell relates so much to Misrach's three cantos entitled Violent Legacies. Don't let the title fool you, Tuan shows that escapism is an inescapable component of human thought and culture and should not necessarily be considered as negative. I'm loving it!

Apple Picking?

The question of the day is whether or not to pick apples in Oregon for six months...

Lost: Schwin Breeze

This bike is the doppelganger of mine, but it does not have a basket.

Last seen the evening of March 23, 2009. It has a front flat tire, an adorable basket, and makes a lot of noise... If you see it, please let me know.
Also missing: an old pair of leather loafers, but I left them outside on purpose.

For today, this is heaven.

Long Life Cool White 1999

I have just started reading Long Life Cool White: Photographs and Essays by Moyra Davey. This is a brilliant collection of her works published by the Yale University Press last year. If you are unfamiliar with Moyra, I highly, highly suggest looking her up. I just love her. 

Caffeine, Baseball, and Picnic!

I'm hoping to score a box of these...but I would be happy with cotton candy.

Three of my favorite things all of which I get to enjoy today with my lovely sister who is staying as my house guest for a long weekend! We are starting with tasty cafe food and slowly making our way to the Texas Rangers and Rockies Spring training game this afternoon. If I'm lucky I will catch a fly ball, if my sister is lucky I will catch two... I'm trying not to think about what I have coming up academically, all I know is that next week is gonna be a doosey.

If I wasn't vegetarian...

I would eat this today!

I forgot to wear something green to work, and had to compromise by drawing a crude four-leaf clover on a chartreuse post-it. It keeps getting caught in my hair.

Planned time spent working not breaking...

Spring break has befallen upon me and, unlike many of my boisterous cohorts, I will be Spring working not Spring breaking. Luckily I have this lovely little mural to walk by everyday on my way to school. I'm not certain who painted it, but it sure makes me happy!

Although the goal of spring break is to get some serious work done, I plan on seeing the amazing musical talents of Portland, Oregon singer/songwriter Alela Diane this evening. She is a great motivator to buckle down and get some substantial reading finished because last time she passed through the southwest she canceled her Tucson show. If you are a fan of psych folk and campfire gospel I highly suggest catching her gig. Alela will be featured at Club Congress as part of their West by Southwest showcase. If you can't make it out tonight I recommend checking her out here:

www.aleladiane.com

Idomémeé

Janaina Tschäpe's Melantropics-Vertrum Bulbosus

Idomémeé is a beautiful publication featuring one of MOCA Tucson's Artist in Residence, Janaina Tschäpe. Tschäpe has become huge inspiration in my work especially in exploring the seductive possibilities of narrative and metaphor.  Janaina has such and effervescent spirit, and incredible eye for the beautiful and the sublime, that it impossible to take you eyes away from her imagery. I had the privilege of meeting her last summer at a MOCA event along with her husband Vik Muniz. If you are unfamiliar with her work I suggest visiting this website:

www.janainatschape.net

As for Idomémeé you can find it here:

www.idomenee-magazine.com

Inspiration. Chicken.

Thinking a lot about David Lynch today, looking for something to spark an interest in what I'm doing with my video work. Most specifically I'm interested in his thirty second video made for the Lumiere and Company; a collaboration between 41 international film directors in which each made a short film using the original Cinematographe camera invented by the Lumiere brothers.

It's pretty amazing and can be seen here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvWWAonuoMay 

Today my brain looks like this...

A giant cluttered mess of a studio, that is my brain today. 

Spook Sport.

For this overcast day I give you...

An amazing film from the 1940's done with conventional cel animation and pen drawing by Norman McLaren directly on 35 mm film stock. A superior version of the hand colored shorts that Walter Ruttmann composed about 25 years prior (they can be seen on Berlin:Symphony of a Great City, Ruttmann's opus to Berlin circa 1927, as an extra feature.)   Check out the real deal whimsy by visiting www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnLJqJBVCT4

A day of productive endeavors.

Yes, Productive is the Theme o' the Day.

(image from video yet to be bequeathed a name)

Whilst finishing up the massive amount of reading for my art history seminar I finally found inspiration for my new video project. This inspiration happened to take the form of mashed potatoes. So today I read 100 pages, made mashed potatoes, walked to the library, wrote a rough draft of a paper, converted my freshly recorded meal into a nice digital package (via final cut,) and proceeded to walk home, watched some anime, played with Francis, and finished off my evening with chocolate covered raisins and the completion of the paper I drafted early this afternoon. 

I think I'm gonna explode...

It's time for a garden party!

Hurrah!

With Tucson's weather at its peak, it would be absurd not to celebrate the wonderment of this day. I am doing so at CC's house with lemonade and cookies, (and perhaps a spirit or two.) While I should really be dealing with the cluster in my studio, I can't help but justify my slackage with this lovely afternoon. Plus this gives me the chance to work on my boccie ball and deer hugging.

Spring and Seeds!

In hopes to deter from the stresses of graduate school, and daily adventures in general, I am dedicating this space to tiny ocular novelties. Amidst weeks of moving from adobe to adobe, my new home has quickly become an absolute haven and I am so happy to have finally settled in. Luckily, with a little help from a friend, I have the the pleasure of taking over the care of these baby lettuce seedlings... 

I am calling them my vegetable harmoniums!