ArthOle group on Flickr

Arahan Claveau (aka Steve Millar) has created a new group on Flickr for images (old & new) relating to the ArthOle gallery, events and performances. Yay!

(* Many are probably NSFW.)

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE GROUP PAGE!

Fun webpage - ScribblerToo

Picture results from a fun webpage flash thingy called ScribblerToo have been popping up on Flickr lately, so I decided to give it a spin:

This one was done in about 5 minutes with a mouse. Give it a try for yourself!

http://www.zefrank.com/scribbler/scribblertoo/

Groups - on Flickr, in Second Life, and otherwise...

Fuck SL photography

Jay from Brooklyn Is Watching recently discovered a piece I had impulsively thrown together at BIW last week:

Unfortunately, the full meaning of the piece was lost -- there had been another box there, placed by someone else, when I created mine; but it had been either returned, deleted, or taken down.

Jay had this to say on the BIW blog in response to my piece:

Thanks for coming back nebulosis (sic). I would agree with you generally speaking. And I would also say… um… so? There are a hellovalot more of what i call “blah blah blah blah” galleries out there than there are galleries showing anything interesting. ( these are galleries that have their hands over their ears and are saying “blah blah blah, im not listening to you… its still 1865 its still 1865 its still 1865″ — then down the street is another one that is saying “its still 1945, its still 1945″ etc etc. ).

Most of the stuff in the world is crap. always was always will be… what was it that drove you to particularly point this one out? And do you have any awesomely bad examples to point to that we can all enjoy?

To which I responded:

I definitely agree, Jay, that most of the world is crap. But what drove me to rez this particular piece was a box that isn’t there anymore.

Sometime last week I had been strolling through the grounds of BIW and came across a box with a mosaic of generic avatar portraits all over it, with the hover-text “Touch/Click me for invitation to a gallery of SL Photography” — and it just annoyed the shit out of me to see it — so I rezzed the box that you are sitting on in the above picture.

Fortunately, I took a picture of the two side-by-side; I’ve just posted it to Flickr (and I expect it will piss off some people):

Below the pic I added a caption, elaborating a bit further:

The box on the left is something I rezzed at Brooklyn Is Watching last week, in response to the box on the right.

(The box on the right has floating text which reads:
"Touch/Click me for invitation to a gallery of SL Photography"

The box I rezzed also has floating text, which reads: "Touch/click me for no apparent reason -- SL photography is fucking bullshit")

While SL snapshots/photos can be interesting to look at, I don't consider 99.9% of them to be anything more than mere snapshots -- I don't care how much Photoshopping went into it.

There are & have been a rare few individuals who can elevate it to an art form, but SL snapshots do not equal "instant-art" any more than random real-life snapshots do.

Perhaps the thing that irks me the most about SL photography -- and what has put me off about it as a medium altogether -- is the bandwagon mentality. It's trendy; it's a "me-too" hobby; it appeals to the 15-seconds-of-fame seekers. Most people who get into it never before had an artistic urge in their lives; and once they get bored with Second Life, they most likely will never do anything creative again. It's just a passing fascination for them.

ART is not a fucking hobby or a trend or a fad, it's a fucking way of LIFE, it IS life; and if you don't feel that way about your art, then you're NOT a fucking artist, you're a hobbyist at best & a phony at worst, so don't CALL yourself an artist simply because it sounds cool.

And, as I said -- I find many SL snapshots to be interesting to look at, but I don't consider them to be art. I don't take my SL pics seriously, either. They're fun to take, fun to play around with, and a cool way to document what I've been up to in SL, but in no way does come NEAR to calling upon my emotions and efforts in the the ways my REAL artwork does.

These statements & observations might piss you off, but I don't really care. You don't have to agree with me; it's simply my opinion.

So there you have it.

As far as awesomely bad examples — you can’t throw a rock in Second Life and not hit half-ass SL photography. How I wish I could throw it all into a fucking blender and just hit Purée.

Tag search in Flickr for Second Life (plenty of lacquered up tits & ass - *yawn*):

http://flickr.com/search/?s=int&ss=2&ct=6&w=all&q=%22second+Life%22&m=tags

My painting in the 2009 Salon des Independants @ Hygienic Arts in New London

At the last minute, I decided to enter a piece in the 30th annual Salon des Independants at Hygienic Art in New London, CT. I started a new painting, but hated how it was coming out, so I then finished a painting I had started for last year's Salon but never got around to finishing.

[* I entered a different painting last year, which didn't sell, & I forgot to pick it up, so I have no idea what happened to it... I have no pictures of it or any other record of it, unfortunately. I could have SWORN that I blogged about the experience, but I can't find a post anywhere in any of my past journals... argh]

My entry for 2009:

Title: All Loveliness Is Anguish
Year: 2008/2009
Dimensions: 11 in. X 14 in.
Media: Acrylic on canvas.

Here's a bit more information about the event:

Hygienic Art, Inc. was created as an incorporated structure in the fall of 1979, when artists employed by a federal Comprehensive Education and Training Act (CETA) grant decided, as a final project, to hold an outsiders' art festival. The show was modeled after the "Salon des Independants," a late 19th century art movement in Paris in which artists had protested the aristocracy by exhibiting their works in cafes located in the 'seamy' areas of the city. The artists in those exhibitions gave rise the the great French Impressionist movement.

The exhibition was presented at the Hygienic Restaurant, New London's only 24 hour eatery, which had been open since 1919. The rules were simple; no judge, no jury, no fees, no censorship, one piece per artist and all were welcome. The show was an immediate success and the Hygienic Art Exhibition became an annual creative arts festival, attracting over 450 artists and an audience of thousands...

...The show has moved around over the years taking root at a pizza joint, rock clubs and other historic sites around the city. Wherever the people were the art was hung. Andn there was a lot of art (last year nearly 500 showed their work) and lots of people to take it in (the show, fondly dubbed New London's only Winter Tourist Attraction, averages more than 3000 visitors on its opening night alone).

Everything changed in 2000 when Hygienic Art, Inc., the non-profit organization formed to oversee the show annually, made a bold move to save the historic Hygienic Restaurant building which was quickly sliding down a path to demolition in the name of redevelopment. The building was purchased, rehabilitated and now houses the Hygienic Galleries as well as a Cooperative of developing artists. Hygienic Art soon took aim at the property next door, a vacant dirt lot, and built the iconic Art Park which now plays host to music, theatre and other community events.

(Above excerpts taken from the Hygienic XXX Collectors Program)

Design: Karli Hendrickson

I arrived at around 4:30 pm, hung my piece, then wandered the space for awhile, checking out all the other art.

My painting on display (I was entry #502):

The official opening was at 8 pm, and since we had time to kill, my friend & I decided to have dinner at the little bistro across the street, Brie & Bleu.

We had originally intended to just order something small, but ended up getting a bunch of stuff to share, it was so difficult to choose! We started with the Tuscan white bean spread with toasted baguette slices, then added the Antipasto plate, which included mixed olives, prosciutto, and cheeses (brie, a 5-year Gouda, & Blue Stilton); my friend ordered the soup of the day, which was a hearty chicken tortilla; I had one of the daily specials, fish tacos (blue corn tortilla, shredded cabbage, white fish & some kind of creamy sauce) with a side of pico de gallo & rice. We also ordered a bottle of wine recommended by our server -- the Don Ramon 2006. After dinner, we lingered for a bit, my friend got a coffee and we shared a chocolate pot d’crème garnished with sliced strawberry.

We wandered back to the gallery for awhile longer, but it had gotten REALLY crowded so we didn't stick around -- there was literally no room to walk around by the time we left.

A few examples of the work on display:

(click the photos for artist information)

[The piece on the right reminds me of a sculpture by Tim Noble & Sue Webster called Pink Narcissus; my friend Dekka Raymaker recently posted 2 pics of it on his photostream --
flickr.com/photos/dekka_raymaker/3233845803/
flickr.com/photos/dekka_raymaker/3237110310/ ]

For more pictures from the gallery, please click here to see the rest of the photoset. This is not a comprehensive collection of the work on display by any means (there were well over 500 pieces); I don't have a good camera (only my cellphone), so I simply took pictures of the ones I liked best to remember them.

If my painting doesn't sell, I have to go back in about two weeks to retrieve it -- I hope I remember to this time!

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:

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.)

Spontaneous photo meme

I have (indirectly) created a monster!

Unbeknownst to most of you, I also have a Livejournal account, which I created in order to be able to read the blogs of some friends. My friend Vady posted a meme recently, & I thought it sounded fun so I participated:

Instructions:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... Just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

Soooo I posted the above pic of me to Flickr; little did I know that the idea would become such a huge hit! Someone even started a Flickr group for it -- sponteneously me.

Fascinating, how this kind of thing spreads. Seeing all the pictures is amazing, too -- I love how everyone kinda adds their own twist to it. Fun times!