My photo 'B is for Bird' featured in 'Architectuur en Alfabet' exhibition & book

Back in October of 2008, I got a Flickr mail from someone asking permission to use my photograph B is for Bird in an upcoming exhibition & publication:

Dear madam, dear sir,

The Centre for Architecture in Leiden in the Netherlands is organising an exhibition entitled Architecture & Alphabet focusing on buildings which make use of letters.

Searching for examples on the internet, we found your beautiful photograph B is for Bird
at www.flickr.com

Would you be so kind as to grant us permission to reproduce your photo in the book publication (in Dutch) that we are preparing, and may be also in the exhibition itself? We would, of course, guarantee that your name is mentioned as the photographer.

Our Centre being a non-commercial cultural institution which is completely funded by government subsidy and run by volunteers, we regrettably are not able to pay for your permission. Moreover, the book will be sold at a low price which will hardly cover our printing costs while entrance to all our exhibitions is free. We would gladly send you an invitation for the opening of our exhibition, which is in December of this year.

I granted them permission, and nearly had forgotten about it until I received another message inviting me to the opening of the exhibition -- I was not able to be there in person, of course, but it was a nice gesture all the same:

RAP Architecture Centre cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibition Architectuur en Alfabet and the presentation of the publication with the same name,Thursday 22nd January 2009 at 17.00 hours. Location: RAP Architecture Centre Nieuwstraat 33, 2312 KA Leiden...

...Book Architectuur en Alfabet (Dutch)
Publisher : RAP Architectuurcentrum
Editors: Bernard de Mol Moncourt, Annemarie Beunen, Barbara Heijl en Fons Verheijen
Graphic design: Jan Kleingeld
144 pages, ISBN 978-90-810744-2-1
Price: 15 euro

Exhibition Architectuur en Alfabet
January 23- March 29
Open: Friday , Saturday and Sunday 12-17 h and by appointment

RAP Architectuurcentrum
Nieuwstraat 33, 2312 KA Leiden
+31-71-5137525
www.rapsite.nl

I got another message just this morning, with a link to the .PDF version of the book:

A few months ago we asked your permission to use one of your photo’s for a publication.
We are very pleased to present you with the pdf-version of ‘Architectuur en Alfabet’. The following link will give you access for seven days.
We worked hard the last couple of month and hope you will enjoy the result. Although the book is in Dutch, we hope the multitude of pictures will make a good reading on its own.
We trust you will respect our copyright.
Thank you for your contribution to our project, on behalf of the RAP architectuurcentrum,

Kind regards,
Prof. ir. Fons Verheijen

I replied with my thanks, and asked permission to use a couple of images from the publication so that I could make a blog post about it. I was given permission, and I am grateful to be able to share the following image compilation of the book & my photo within it:

Paintings

Some of the paintings I've done in the past 5 years:

Title: Pressure
Year: 2008
Dimensions: 14 in. X 11 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas.



Title: Song to the Siren (Marianas)
Year: 2006
Dimensions: 8 in. X 10 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas



Title: Viscera/What I Have Written, I Have Written
Year: 2004
Dimensions: 14 in. X 11 in.
Media: Acrylic and thread on canvas.




Title: XI
Year: 2004
Dimensions: 31.5 in. X 30 in.
Media: Acrylic paint and thread on canvas.
Commentary: This piece has a lot of my history behind it. It started as a canvas I stretched for a painting class I took in college. The canvas was intended for a project that was barely started; only a preliminary sketch was ever done. I took it home with me at the end of the semester, intending to use it for another work at a later time. Another preliminary sketch was done on it and never completed. One night in a fit of rage I cut the canvas to ribbons with a box cutter. I didn't have the heart to throw it away, so I saved it. Some time later I moved into my grandmother's house and took the thing with me. I sewed it back together as neatly as I could and painted it with layers upon layers of gesso to cover the previously made pencil markings. I abandoned the canvas yet again until years later when I moved into a friend's. I recently completed it over the summer. I didn't add much to it; it needed to be cleaned to remove layers of dust and the stain of cigarette smoke. I added a simple coat of white and silver paint. I didn't want to detract from the simplicity of the stitching. In the end, I entitled it 'XI' because it took me eleven years to finally complete it.



Title: Abyss
Year: 2004
Dimensions: 32 in. X 40 in.
Media: Acrylic paint and staples on canvas.
* Was shown at the Salon De Independents,
Hygienic Arts, New London, CT
www.hygienic.org/
January 28 - February 11, 2006

Thought for the day.

The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye. The more light you shine on it, the more it will contract.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Arthole Radio this week

Arthole Radio returns with a new monthly schedule starting this Wednesday, January 28th.

Hope you can join us!

Arahan Claveau: 9pm UK/GMT (4pm EST/1pm PST)
Amy Freelunch: 10.30pm UK/GMT (5.30pm EST/2.30pm PST)
-INTERMISSION-
Nebulosus Severine: 9pm US/EST (6pm PST/2am UK/GMT)
Amy Freelunch: 10.30pm US/EST (7.30pm PST/3.30 am UK/GMT)

Copy and paste this link into your streaming media player:
http://slan13.ipr365.com:10320
(e.g. in Windows Media Player press CTRL+U, and then paste the URL of the live stream in the 'Open' box)

Show archives here.

Cat Verbally Om Nom Nom Noms

(If you cannot see the above video, click here for direct link)

Selavy discusses "systems of reference"

If you didn't attend Selavy's event at Arthole on Sunday, you REALLY missed out on a fascinating discussion. Selavy presented a slideshow of some of the various art pieces that went into influencing her work. It was a great insight into "systems of reference" and into the mind of the artist as well!

For anyone who may have been interested in the background music I was playing, here's the track listing:

Baltic Fleet - Berlin 8mm Deep
The Album Leaf - Window
Aphex Twin - I
Biosphere - Startoucher
Apparat - Interrupt
Clock DVA - Dark Attractor
Breakage - The 9th Hand
Butthole Surfers - Whirling Hall of Knives
Scorn - The End
Portishead - Hunter
Black Dog - Raxmus
Boards of Canada - Slow This Bird Down
Autechre - Altibzz
Maninkari - Participation Mystic (Jesu Remix)
Nine Inch Nails - Corona Radiata
Cut Copy - Time Stands Still

Selavy's installation will remain on Arthole Level 3 until January 31st. She has decided to leave the slideshow running automatically, so you can have a look for yourself.

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kress/168/88/391
(You will arrive in the Arthole lobby, but there is a teleport to Level 3 on the floor.)

Pilfered from a friend's Favorite Quotes

"A billion years ago there wasn't even any man, there was only a fish. A slippery thing with gills and scales and little round eyes. He lived in the ocean, and the ocean was like a jail, and the air was like a roof on top of the jail. Nobody could go through the roof. 'You'll die if you go through,' everybody said. And there was this fish, and he went through and he died. And there was this other fish, and he went through, and he died. But there was another fish, and he went through, and it was like his brain was on fire, and his gills were blazing, and the air was drowning him, and the sun was a torch in his eyes, and he was lying there in the mud, waiting to die, and he didn't die. He crawled back down the beach and went into the water and said, 'Look. There's a whole other world up there.' And he went up there again, and stayed for maybe two days, and then he died. And other fishes wondered about that world. And crawled up onto the muddy shore. And stayed. And taught themselves how to stand up, how to walk around, how to live with the sunlight in their eyes. And they turned into lizards, dinosaurs, whatever they became, and they walked around for millions of years, and they started to get up on their hind legs, and they used their hands to grab things, and they turned into apes, and the apes got smarter and became men. And all the time some of them, a few, anyway, kept looking for new worlds. You say to them, 'Let's go back into the ocean. Let's be fishes again, it's easier that way.' And maybe half of them were ready to do it, more than half, maybe, but there are always some who say, 'Don't be crazy. We can't be fishes anymore. We're men.' And so they don't go back. They keep climbing up..."

XD!!!

ARTHOLE EVENT for Selavy

Sunday, January 25th at 1 pm SLT --

A farewell party will be held to give viewers a last chance to appreciate Selavy Oh's installation, "Systems of Reference." Selavy herself will be here to speak about her work. Music will be provided by Nebulosus Severine.

"Systems of Reference" will remain on Level 3 of Arthole until January 31st. See this amazing, complex work while you can!

(above picture © Selavy Oh)

SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kress/168/88/391

Thought for the day

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

-Alvin Toffler

Save the dates -- Season 2.5 is coming!

Arthole is excited to announce our new guest artist, Dekka Raymaker.

On Saturday, February 7, 2009, Dekka takes over from Selavy Oh with an installation entitled The Church of Whoami that will occupy Level 3 of the gallery.

Dekka has been an active participant at Brooklyn Is Watching and is a graphic designer by profession in real life.

On Sunday, January 25th at 1pm SLT, a farewell party will be held to give viewers a last chance to see Selavy's Systems of Reference. It will remain on Level 3 until January 31st, so see this amazing, complex work while you still can.

Level 3 of Arthole will re-open on February 7th, event details will be announced soon.

Previous work by Arahan and Nebulosus will remain on-site for viewing as they prepare new projects for Season 3.

SLurl to Arthole: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kress/168/88/391

New link added

This is probably my favorite site for current events:

The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs

Arahan's new blog

YAY! Arahan Claveau (Steve Millar), my friend and fellow Arthole artist, has created a new personal blog, finally!!

http://arahanclaveau.blogspot.com/

25 things

& yes, that's Halloween makeup. :P

1.) I don't know how to ride a bike or how to rollerskate.
2.) I've never flown on a plane before (partly because I am deathly afraid of it), and I have never (yet) traveled outside the U.S.
3.) I can spot typos or misspellings a mile away -- they drive me fucking batshit nuts. Whenever I discover a typo or mistake I have made, I feel deeply ashamed. Writing anything takes me forever because I always re-read eveything I've written about 5 times, at least.
4.) I was in the Girl Scouts for 6 years when I was a kid and I loved it, except for the selling-cookies part.
5.) I am supposedly related to Emily Dickinson (the poet) on my mother's side.
6.) I am a licensed cosmetologist (hairstylist) in the state of CT, but I have never pursued it as a career, nor have I ever wanted to. I keep up my license so I can still buy professional hair products. :P
7.) I rarely drink and I can't remember the last time I was actually drunk.
8.) I quit smoking about 3 years ago somewhat out of the blue, completely cold-turkey. It was easier than I imagined it would be.
9.) I live with (yes, "live with," I don't see animals as possessions) 6 cats and I'd rather hang out with them than with most people.
10.) I am severely allergic to horses and can't be in an enclosed space with them for any length of time.
11.) I haven't owned a car for over a year and I'm kinda in no rush to get another.
12.) I once found a piece of quartz crystal in Arkansas. I was 12 years old. I was on a camping trip with my family and one night on the way to the bathroom, I saw something glittering in the low light. I was drawn to it, dug it up, and found the crystal. I still have it.
13.) I haven't had my natural hair color since I was 12 or 13. I started with Sun-In hair lightener (http://www.sun-in.com/lemon.asp) since I wasn't allowed to do anything more drastic at that age. The rest is history.
14.) If I had not been an artist, I may have pursued a career in science.
15.) I never listen to the radio. EVER. I love music, but not the fucking crap they play on mainstream radio.
16.) If I could have a real working third eye implanted to my forehead, I would do it in a second despite my fear of doctors/hospitals.
17.) I am a supertaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster) and in general am a highly sensitive person (sensory and emotionally). I also have ADD but I don't take meds for it.
18.) I wish I had learned how to play the piano.
19.) I taught myself to swim. When I was about 5, my mom brought me to swimming lessons, but I didn't take to it -- I was too scared. But when my family got a pool put in a couple years later, I was able to relax more and learn on my own.
20.) I think I probably have asthma that was never diagnosed.
21.) I've never had a cavity in my entire life. (*knocks on wood*)
22.) I am simultaneously both an only child and the eldest of 6 children. I am my father's only offspring; my mother remarried and had 5 other kids with my stepdad (my half-brothers).
23.) I have a tiny tattoo (about 0.75 inches) of an anarchy symbol on the right side of my right knee. It was given to me by my friend Dakota, when I was about 18. He used india ink and a sewing needle attached to a broken pencil.
24.) I could sing the alphabet reasonably well before I was a year old.
25.) I spend way, way, way, WAY too much time thinking. My brain never shuts off, ever.

Clueless straight guys

Ever wonder why you have trouble "getting the ladies"?

If you can't be bothered to learn about women...
or about dating...
or about what NOT to do or say to women...
or to learn even BASIC SOCIAL SKILLS --

then get used to NOT FUCKING.


So answer the CLUE PHONE or start saving up for that hooker and/or mail-order bride.

Some recommended reading --

• http://divalion.livejournal.com/163615.html
• http://whywomenhatemen.blogspot.com/
• http://heartless-bitches.com/rants/niceguys/niceguys.shtml?necessary_repost

(I'm not one to go on men-bashing tirades, because I really hate that "war of the sexes" bullshit -- but yeah, I just had an "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME???" moment with someone who will remain nameless -- and fuckless, probably)

My Second-Life-self featured in machinima by Lyric Lundquist

Lyric Lundquist contacted me recently and asked if I would allow her to film some footage of me in Second Life in my installation, 'Ornamental Love.' On her Flickr page of the completed machinima, titled 'ordinary can be so dreary,' she says:

lately i've been getting loads of footage in sl of many incredible artists and friends. i was originally going to make one MASSIVE machinima with everyone in it but changed my mind. instead i'm grouping footage together to make more.

hope you enjoy this one as much i did making it.

Thanks for including me in your project, Lyric!

(If you cannot see the above Youtube video, click here for a direct link. Watching in High Quality is recommended.)

2008 in review

2008 was a pretty big year for me; I feel that I made a good amount of personal and artistic growth, so I'd like to spend a moment or two documenting some of the more significant moments.

[I actually started this post about a week ago and have only just finished it. :P]

JANUARY 2008
-- I uploaded the infamous 'Odious Source' picture to Flickr that stirred up a shitstorm (technically, it was uploaded on Dec. 31st, 2007 but the resulting controversy came the day/s after):


-- I hosted the Second Annual David Bowie Birthday Bash in SL:


-- I was invited to exhibit an art piece in the Amsterdam sim in SL, so I created the installation 'Come Closer,' a site-specific interactive, kinetic piece:


-- Construction of Arthole, the collaborative gallery in SL for me and my friend/art co-conspirator Arahan Claveau (Steve Millar) began:



FEBRUARY 2008
-- I did the construction & art directing for a sociological / identity / gender exploration / embodiment / performance-art piece in SL called 'The Labor Project,' concept by Rivka Rau and Jubilant Quackenbush:



MARCH 2008
-- I was featured in the (now-defunct) SL tabloid The Avastar as one of the Top Ten most influential women of SL (I was chosen as the art candidate):


-- I began exhibiting work semi-regularly at Brooklyn Is Watching, beginning with Bunnykenball:


-- I found an actual Bunnyken on Ebay, bid on it, and won:



APRIL 2008
-- Arthole opens! Our first guest artist was Ichibot Nishi:


-- I was invited to join the Not Possible In Real Life (NPIRL) group in SL.


MAY 2008
-- Arahan, Ichibot, and I participated in the Kunstvlaai festival, held in the Virtual Holland and Amsterdam sims, an event in Amsterdam with components both in real-life and in SL:


-- Khamudy Mannonen, a friend, donated the Arthole Annex, a piece of virtual land, to our gallery so that we'd have a bit more space in which to build:


-- I participated in the group Hyperformalist exhibition in SL called Kiss the Sky:


-- I participated in the Garden of NPIRL Delights, a multi-artist event held in SL; my build was called 'Excess of Sorrow Laughs / Excess of Joy Weeps':


-- I hit my third rez-day, or the 3-year anniversary of the date I first came to SL:


-- I bought a Wacom digital drawing tablet, finally! --


-- Changed my avatar shape to be less-skinny.


JUNE 2008
-- I hosted an event at Arthole for Arahan, who had decided to cancel his Flickr account:


-- I was offered the use of a sim for 2 months by Bettina Tizzy, founder of NPIRL; that project eventually became the installation 'Chasm,' but originally started off VERY differently.

-- I decided to close my SL shop, Numinous, to focus on more art projects:



JULY 2008
-- I finished my SL installation 'So Flows the Current' at the Depot 7 sim:


-- I also completed the 'Chasm' installation:


-- I was asked by SL fashion designer Callie Cline to work with her on an ensemble for a virtual fashion show at the Black Swan sim:



AUGUST 2008
-- Arahan and I created the performance piece 'ORIENTATION' for the Club Goodbye Dollar event held in both SL and real life:


-- The second season of Arthole opened, with new guest artist Selavy Oh:


-- I took day trips to Boston and Maine:



SEPTEMBER 2008
-- I collaborated again with Callie Cline for another virtual fashion show at the Black Swan sim:


-- I helped to plan and build for the third anniversary celebration of Le Cimetiere, a virtual nightclub owned by my good friend Jinx Paz:


-- I built an installation, 'Ornamental Love,' for the Sintetika sim in SL:


-- 'ORIENTATION' is re-created and filmed for PICNIC 08, an arts and technology event in Amsterdam:


-- Arthole Radio launches its weekly show, with Amy Freelunch (Amy Wilson) joining the line-up shortly after:



OCTOBER 2008
-- I built a Halloween-themed installation, 'In The Hall of the Pumpkin King' for the Cetus Gallery in SL:



NOVEMBER 2008
-- I accepted my first real-life commission for a work of art, which was sold to my friend known as Sunshine Kukulcan in SL; it was completed and shipped in December:

(crappy phone-cam pic; better photos to be added soon)


DECEMBER 2008
-- I was interviewed on Skype by Amy Wilson (aka Amy Freelunch) for Arthole Radio -- you can listen to it here - http://arthole.shadow-dominion.com/Amy/wilsonep12.mp3




Also of note in 2008:
-- I overcame my fear of the dentist (for the most part) and started going back regularly, which was a HUGE step for me, since I had not gone in many years. Fortunately, I had no serious issues and only needed a series of deep cleanings.
-- I met a few Second Life friends in person, though I am not going to mention their names, out of respect for their privacy and my own.

'Ornamental Love' - last chance to see it

My SL installation at the Sintetika sim, 'Ornamental Love,' will be dismantled on the evening of Jan. 8th (if my internet connection holds up!).

SLurl -- http://slurl.com/secondlife/Sintetika/21/155/41

RIP, Great-Uncle Bill

A couple of days ago, my mother told me that my great-uncle Bill (her father's brother) had passed away on New Year's (eve or day, I'm not sure which). He was pretty old (92, I think) and it sounds like he just died of old age. I was not close to him, but I still felt a twinge of sadness...

A couple of summers ago, I spent a few days in Maine, and he was kind enough to let my roommate & me stay overnight in one of the little cottages behind his house. She and I spent some time with him while we were there, just talking and keeping him company. I hadn't seen him since I was a kid, probably. Despite his age, he was very alert; his mind still sharp as a tack.

Hearing of his death made me feel a little nostalgic, so I dug up photos from that vacation; sadly, I don't have any pictures of him.

The cottage we stayed in


The Maine Diner, where we've eaten several times over the years


Statue & flowers in front of a photographer's studio in Kennebunkport


Rainbow at Drakes Island Beach


Setting sun at Drakes Island


Nubble Lighthouse in York

See the rest of the photoset here.