One of my greatest teachers was Sarah Bagley, my childhood weekend art teacher and family friend. She used to say that only 10% of what you make is going to be good. No one piece of advice has helped me more. It’s so important to remember that you need to make a lot of work to get to that 10%.
Chase
I’ve always liked watercolors. My best friend and I took a weekend class in high school and I must have committed our teacher’s every word to heart.
It’s kind of cool to have an art making process that hasn’t changed over time. So much about video and animation is about the changing tech and learning new programs.
I’ve been painting pictures of the crowds of 9/11 and also Ja’Marr Chase of the Bengals.
Witches
I’ve been trying to think about word loss. People with memory issues often flip words or names but there is usually a rhyme to the reason. Pants become towel depending on the person. I think that the threads of association are how our or brain compress memories.
Concrete and bricks and pie crusts have cracks. On rainy days, our neighbor would let us stand on her porch while we waited for the bus. So I associate widows and perfectly styled Mary Lou Retton hair with foggy bus lights and the silent neighbor who lived across the road. If my mind stopped sorting correctly, what would I associate with witchcraft?
Echolocation
I wonder if some people are tuned into the presence of others better than others? Can you tell when you’re alone in the house?
Smile, you’re on candid camera
It’s interesting to think about how accustomed people are to being filmed compared to 30 years ago. Analogue video and film were a finite resource so there was almost always a moment of tension preceding it. You can almost see the guarded expression, the squaring off of shoulders, the leveling of gaze.
Stand in the Place Where You Live
Cincinnati is so strange
Loss
I live with a certain amount of clutter. Having worked in media for years, so much of it is on VHS or dvd. Do I convert it or let it go?
Move forward or archive the past?
When it feels like the walls are closing in
I’m going to paraphrase Nadia Bolz-Weber here:
Remember that millions of human beings throughout history have lived through worse political situations and still managed to make art, and find joy, and share meals and resist despair.
Toymachine
I saw a Toymachine bumper sticker yesterday. I had forgotten how much I liked their Tallly Ho. Maybe I’d forgotten the connection to Ed Templeton? Maybe I never knew and liked both entities independently.
Ron Tammen
I had the same penpal for 35 years. He was a kind soul with a foul mouth named Brian. His Grandmother called him Brine and when she passed away, I started calling him by the same name. We met on a Project Close UP trip in Washington DC.
In high school, I was pretty caught up in the web of romantic intrigues so it took me quite awhile to realize that a boy writing me long letters on a regular basis wasn’t rooted in romance. I blame teen romance novels for this skewed worldview (I’m open to a class-action lawsuit, if anyone is interested). Luckily, I didn’t let my idiotic mindset keep me from staying in touch with him. Handwritten letters turned into emails in 2001 and we wrote to each other consistently until his death this Spring. We talked about dating, politics, religion and unsolved mysteries like Ron Tammen. It’s a very strange thing to be connected to someone in only one way — Brian didn’t do any social media that I know of so I only knew something was wrong because our communication ceased.
I have 580 emails from him and dozens of letters. I realized (in a foggy state) that his words are my words now. There will be no more transmissions from the young man from Alaska with the low voice and the big smile.
I’m sorry I didn’t write more.
dreams from future media
I’ve always been a little skeptical of the originality of my dreams. I have a pet theory that they are crafted out of tv shows from the future. We perceive time as linear but what if I’m pulling material from tv shows I’ve watched in what I perceive to be the future?
Security Camera
Memories are so strange. I wonder if younger people remember their past differently because of the proliferation of imagery they consume? Do they remember imagery differently than I do, in picture form, because that is the way that our past has been presented to us? Can you remember gestures and movement or impressions? How did the existence of photography alter people’s memories? Do my sons remember the past in motion?
Visual literacy
Once upon a time, I taught visual literacy for a couple years. The concepts were deceptively simple: how people read pages, where your eye is drawn, how memory effects image processing. We talked about picture books a lot which was really fun and prompted cool discussions.
It’s easy to say the words, your memories affect the way you process visual information but it’s so much larger than that. It ripples over everything. If you’re pushing a stroller, trash cans on the sidewalk catch your eye. If you’re worried about the weather, you look up at the sky. If you’re grieving, you notice the signs of funeral homes.
Falling
I did a series of painting of people falling. Technically jumping as a lot of them were of people cliff diving. But, underneath it all, are the images of people jumping from windows on 9/11. I don’t really have the right words and I don’t think that’s necessary. Sometimes, letting things echo is better than speaking.
marks
My friend recently if I knew how to draw. It was a strange question that I’ve never been asked before. People that know me have seen me leave pictures here and there. If they know me better, they have probably seen me draw or drawn with me. It’s something I do a lot.
Anyway, I’m going to scan some old slides and some new drawings.
Stone
St. Louis Botanical Gardens
Adaptive behavior
I love the St. Louis City Museum. For the first 1/2 hour, it’s overwhelming but then you just start climbing in everything you see.
Oh, a hole in the floor? Sure, let’s see what’s in there.
Brutal
I’m so smitten with Crosley Tower. I probably take a picture of it twice a week ♥️
Connie
For lack of better ideas, I posted the entirety of Connie Allbright online. At some point, I had made a 365 day version of it. Maybe it was better but I doubt it.
well, that was different
Slamdance was my first big film festival. I learned a lot but I’m not sure any of it will help me be less nervous in the future.
Sure, I talk / lecture students all the time but talking to adults (who may or may not have paid to see your film) is a different matter. The contrast on my projection was too bright so I’m not sure if I remember if anyone clapped or made appropriate sounds.
