Artists on my mind:

Charlie Isoe

Octavio Ocampo

Octavio Ocampo

Sulamith Wulfing

Art of the Japanese Internment Camps

Days of Waiting is a documentary about the life of Estelle Ishigo before, during, and after her experience within the Japanese internment camps during World War II. Although her only connection with Japanese heritage was through marriage, she was still removed from her home and placed in a camp named Heart Mountain.

On that note...

Imagine going from this....

....to this.

Zen Buddhism emphasizes meditation.... Something I wish came more naturally to me. However, while I guess it is something that should come more easily to me than it currently does, I think the majority of our society (or the world?) shares my problem.

Do you meditate?

The first time the idea of meditation was presented in my life was during middle or high school for me. I rented a book from a library on meditation for teens or something to that effect.

They gave the example of imagining yourself as under water, with each thought you have being represented as a bubble of your breath floating up towards the surface of the water. Every time you experience a thought, you are supposed to let it rise to the surface, your only interaction with it being that you are watching it float away. Do not respond to the thought with another thought - although that reaction is practically inevitable until you get the hang of it.

Thinking: Buddhism

Here are a few quotes that caught my eye from The Zen Teachings of Master Lin-Chi.

p. 41

"Whatever confronts you, don't let yourself be imposed on. If you entertain even a moment of doubt, the devil will enter your mind. Even a bodhisattva, when he starts doubting, is prey to the devil of birth and death. Learn to put a stop to thoughts and never look for something outside yourselves."

p. 47

"The various phenomena in this world and other worlds are in all cases devoid of intrinsic nature They are also void of any nature that manifests itself. They are empty names, and the words used to describe them are likewise empty. But you insist on mistaking these idle names for reality. This is a great error. Even if something did exist, it would in all cases by no more than an environment that changes with what it depends on."

p. 49-50

"A true student of the Way never concerns himself with the Buddha, never concerns himself with bodhisattvas or arhats, never concerns himself with the blessings of the three-fold world. Far removed, alone and free, he is never entangled in things. Heaven and earth could turn upside down and he would not be perturbed....Why is he like this? Because he knows that all things in the phenomenal world are empty of characteristics. When conditions change, they come into existence; when there is no change, they do not exist. The threefold world is nothing but mind, ten thousand phenomena are nothing but consciousness. These 'dreams, phantoms, empty flowers-why trouble yourself trying to grasp them?'

Making

After someone cracked my mirror, I had the desire to break it more and glue selected pieces onto a canvas.

After a couple hours of messing around with it, this is what I came up with:

It is done.

Now to wait for its arrival!

wish me luck

I decided that this summer, I want to teach:

1. A class about Movies, where teens can discuss certain themes within the context of movies... such as race, different cultures / cultural appreciation, and the like. The class would probably be 45 minutes long, with a little bit of free internet time before and after as bait. I want to get teens talking about what they watch, instead of having a passive role in movie-watching. When I have asked them about a movie they saw recently, I usually get responses like "it was cool" or "it sucked" etc. While I don't expect them to give me a full-blown review, it would be great if they had a more thoughtful, individual response.

2. a class about Lyrics & Poetry. I would love it if I could get kids to think about the type of words they listen to though music. I want to open their minds to the vast array of types of music out there, and how older music can still be relatable to them, even if they other see generations as completely different from themselves.

Waltz with Bashir

So far my attention span hasn't been long enough to watch the movie (it has subtitles), but it looks AMAZING. It reminds me of 300 in that every screenshot has a wonderful composition.

Here's a few cool ones I found online:

Rebel Relabel - Convenience ®

Overall I felt like my project achieved the look it was going for. However, on the bus and in class, I realized that from other people's reactions to the "Feeling down?" line at the top, Convenience ® appeared to be making a statement specifically towards anti-depressants.

My aim instead was to show that people are always looking for convenience, whether it is at school, at home, at work, in the grocery story... Essentially everywhere. I feel that this inclination is so ingrained in our society that most people are unaware of its presence. And what better way to achieve ultimate convenience (blissful ignorance through the dissociation with reality) than to take a pill? Even if the directions were complicated..and the possible side effects dire...Would you do it for ultimate convenience?

...After writing all that, I'm almost thinking it could be sold with the packing style of a protein powder or shake or something...

I will update with an edited version soon.... Most likely the same Claritin-style box as before, but with a different message. Hopefully I'll be getting the Adobe package deal on campus sooon...

NASA: APOD

NASA: Astronomy Photo of the Day

This website is AMAZING! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LOOK AT IT.

I hope it rattles your brain/blows your mind like it has mine.

& this photo - yesterday's photo of the day - is simply breathtaking.

ENJOY!

Learning to Blog

Right now I am trying to teach a group of teenagers how to blog. [Unfortunately my reasons for doing so are due to the pressures of a national hierarchical system whose messages and intentions are ridden with miscommunications, that by the time they reach me, i have two and a half weeks to complete 8 different projects with these teens...including the blog...and did i mention teenagers these days have NO MOTIVATION!??!?!?!]

I thought it would be easy. It sounded simple. For me, to be expected to write about what I'm thinking/making/looking at seems very self-explanatory and open-ended.

HOWEVER... when dealing with adolescents/young adults who have learning disorders on top of other issues that affect those who live in poverty..such as being homeless as several are.. something that seemed so basic, suddenly become difficult. Nearly impossible. Like I said, no motivation. Plus their critical thinking skills are so low that the simple task of writing a couple sentences on what they think about some topic takes them f o r e v e r.

I don't know what the point of THIS blog entry of mine is... Seems like nothing more than vent session... Yet I feel like there is an issue, much larger than myself & these teens, of which I cannot name yet. (oh the joys of worrying about work outside of work hours) I guess it irritates me that people in high positions of that national system really do not understand what goes on in the lower levels. I guess that's part of the "big picture/issue" that I am trying to describe, without going into too much detail and bashing my employers...

But I suppose that's just the story of humanity right?

My future camera

Since 2010 began, I made a resolution to save money and get a camera. Three years ago I absentmindedly set my camera down while hanging out in downtown Napa and simply walked away from it :(

Now I have stopped spending my money frivolously, and have enough dollars in savings to get this guy...

My choice really only has to do with the fact that this is the camera my mom has, (the one I used while in Napa) and it has the color function where you can pick a color and have everything but that color show up as black/white.

My budget is about $400....if anyone has any comments/suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

Hess Collection

While in Napa, I partook in my first wine tasting experience at Hess Winery, thanks to my brother now working there. But apart from that, we spent time checking out the Hess Collection. Sadly no pictures could be taken of the exhibit (which my mom had issues - mostly memory related haha- understanding), but there were some very interesting pieces.

For example, there was this carved wooden lady, with a very round torso, like a pregnant woman, with four spider-like legs. There was something about that piece that really made me think about the tantalizing effect 3D art can have - it really pulls you in and makes you want to examine it in a physical, tactile way.

Unfortunately we got there late & didn't have time to go on the Audio Tour (which I think is a couple hours long =/ ) - BUT if you are ever in Napa, I recommend it for sure!

Here are some photos I took of the winery itself:

Spring Break in Napa

Unfortunately it was rainy and overcast the whole time. Otherwise I would have actually gotten OUT of my car and taken photos.

intricate

I AM UTTERLY FASCINATED WITH RYAN MCGINNESS'S ARTWORK.

UTTERLY. FASCINATED.

Aesthetic Comfort, 2008, acrylic on canvas paintings (72 in. dia. ea.) with vinyl installation

under black lights, Cincinnati Art Museum, Courtesy Cincinnati Art Museum

Left: H.O.L.L.A.N.D. (Hope Our Love Lasts And Never Dies), 2006, acrylic on wood panel, 48 x 48 in.

[Love the title of this piece. Clever. Catchy. &love that it doesn't include "I" at the beginning.]

Right: Latet Anguis in Herba, 2006, acrylic on wood panel, 48 x 48 in.

Oh the patterns, layers, and colors oh my! So complex. It's so heavily patterned

Scorpion Syringe

Morning Inspiration

"Nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful people with talent;
Leave the house before you find something worth staying in for."

- Banksy
(British Street Artist)

By the looks of his artwork, he's taken his own advice....

Feeling sick on this beautiful day?

Yep, I could barely believe it myself. That said, it gave me reason feel justified to lie on the couch all night, laptop in hand.

I did more research on Paul McCarthy, the Salt-Lake-City-Born and now LA-based artist who began his art career with and has this far culminated with his most recent exhibition, "Snow White," which features who else but the fair-skinned Disney beauty we all know so well. He places her in all kinds of sexual and, uhm, fecal(?) positions, with dwarves interacting and animals watching.

After spending the majority of Saturday with my friend and her class (from CCA) at galleries in LA, my mind has been blissfully frazzled. The variety of artworks we saw - ranging all the way up to a whopping $15-20,000 PER ARTWORK- really made me question what I have considered to be art within my own limited mind-frame. Now when I look at Paul McCarthy's art, I have a better picture of what the world - the art world of course- he is trying to make an impression on.

The blissful part is that I feel inspired - something I have been waiting a long time for. Since my high school art class, I paid way more attention than necessary to the rules of composition and formality. I've missed the feeling of getting completely lost in art, which is what a large chunk of my childhood was comprised of....

Final Thoughts & Adjustments

Overall I am mostly pleased with my results. As Kyle pointed out, my ipod ad isn't the best solution for the sky. If anything, it takes away from my overall idea by directing too much of the viewer's attention on one area with its symmetricality (is that a word?), instead the composition being equally overwhelming in all areas. I was thinking a monumentally large ad in the sky would further drive my point of chaos, but it ultimately gives iPods more credit and attention than I wanted. I'll admit that I took too long trying to categorize each building by certain types of ads, which led to me being frustrated and choosing the first visually-pleasing and striking ad I could find.

My new solution is to fill the "sky" space with advertisements and logos that are mostly blue. More to come...

Process

I started off by inserting the ads that caught my attention first, such as the fridge, the green Garnier Fructis hair products, and racy clothing ads.

Then I began categorizing each building with a certain type of ad (like personal grooming, appliances, clothing, fast food, grocery stores, etc) in order to give the chaos of ads some type of order. Ultimately I gave up because it was feeling too tedious and I enjoyed the process of placing pieces randomly - or rather, placed with the intention of overall composition, not categorization. Looking back on it, I'm sure the categorizing could have worked out, but I do like the purely chaotic feeling the final product gives:

If you haven't felt disturbed recently..

...Research Paul McCarthy. He appears to have somewhat of an obsession with disturbing sexualized images.

The following are a few of his well-known pieces.

Now I ask, is this art to you?

Giant inflatable poop.

Chocolate Santa holding a buttplug.

Which of course, is taken to the next level:

Aaaand even a step further:

(He also made various similar sculptures sans-Santa.)

Perhaps the internet has not explained his intentions accurately, but in my opinion, either he is truly demented & this is simply a product of that, or he is obsessed with trying to be demented. I don't think I have much respect for either.

On that note, if you like creepy crime-related stuff, the website Dreamin' Demon may be for you. It features true crime stories from across the country, some more disturbing than others.