Dylan, I think you might like this

If you're not already familiar with it: an essay by Seth Price called "Dispersion". 14 pages in which he discusses conceptualism. It's a very cool example of an artist recasting the traditional roles of writer vs. designer.

Thoughts on categorization

Categorization...
1. Ultimately means inclusion vs. exclusion
2. Has a bias towards same vs. different
3. Is non linear in context of space
4. Assumes that everything has a basic 'something'
5. Relies on criteria and feedback
6. Is linked to utility
7. Assumes that space is fixed
8. Assumes that 'stuff' can be made static
9. Creates newness

Not sure how Foucault would have felt about this list!?!?!

Annoucement

i received an email today announcing a group show that my friend valerie is in..

the poetic form of the announcement struck me as something that could be particularly relevant to this class, and is really delightful.

i have placed it below..

January 2010 New Group Show At Muriel Guépin Gallery Opening Reception: Friday November 12, 2010 from 6 - 8 pm. Group Show Featuring the Artwork of: Lori Ellison, Valerie Hammond, Kathranne Knight, Lucas Reiner, and Katia Santibañez. On view from November 12, 2010 until January 2, 2011 Muriel Guepin gallery is pleased to announce a new exhibition by artists Lori Ellison, Valerie Hammond, Kathranne Knight, Lucas Reiner, and Katia Santibañez. This group show was curated by Katia Santibañez. Their work will be on view at the gallery from November 12, 2010 through January 2nd, 2011. Opening Reception will be on Friday November 12, 2010 from 6 to 8 pm. One, two, three, four, five Artists Meet each other on the same road Taking cues from The world of Nature: A toolbox Brimming over Nature invites each artist to choose A path With sincerity, humility Nature makes us slow down And listen See Feel The chaotic world The cyclic world The Four Seasons With Kathranne We share her solitude We draw with her the thread, which brings us from wave to wave And we weave like the spider The endless sky Valerie is taking us back Slowly to her fairyland where roots entangle our eyes and mind The spider keeps walking Lucas spends his time with old friends: the trees of Los Angeles From the west to the east coast, we see their portraits, their posture We walk beside them We remember Giotto's, Cezanne's, and Van Gogh's Lori like a spider has captured us in her web Made of meanders, endless captivated gardens And Katia brings us in a reconstructed world The tree is not a tree anymore The leaf is not a leaf What are they then? Let's play with your imagination! Nature doesn't hide anything from us Nature is you, me, here and there and everywhere You entered the world of Freedom Leaving behind you any attachment and jealousy Nature doesn't cheat It beckons the artist to embrace its mystery with pleasure Its joy and its power wait in the shadows, ready to burst Muriel Guepin Gallery 47 Bergen Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 www.murielguepingallery.com contact@murielguepingallery.com 1.718.858.4535

Bank of America - my musings

I read the PDF online, since it was a piece about online banking and was produced online, it seemed the 'right' way to approach it. But reading 76 odd pages online is hard work.

To me, from the outside (the hard copy, that is), it looks like a piece of literature produced by a bank. Which is to say that it has a typical bank aesthetic. It wouldn't look out of place in a plastic holder in front of a teller's booth. But had I seen it in a bank, I probably wouldn't have picked it up. I'd have barely noticed the title.

The one thing it has that all bank literature doesn't have, content wise, is clarity. This is it's key ingredient.

I found the footnotes hilarious. Taken out of context of the book, they still make sense. They are like mini anecdotes. Very humorous. I'd like to see those in a book.

The terminology is also endearing - like 'fluff devices', for example. I actually want to see his visual interpretation of a fluff device.

I like the way he uses quotation marks outside of their traditional use i.e. he uses them on words that don't actually need them, but something about their use makes the sense change and further adds to the humor. Like "new" and "Infocenter". It's as if the quotations become part of his writing style. Ditto his use of bold and italics. (Side note: I was immediately reminded of that episode of Friends where Joey misuses speech marks when he's talking - i.e. the physical action of making speech marks).

Some of the comparisons he makes - the analogies, the metaphors - break up the content. Such as comparing online banking to the Challenger disaster (who'd have thunk?)

Additionally, some of the words he uses probably wouldn't be understood by a proportion of the population who do online banking: such as 'corollary, esoteric, disingenuousness, ubiquitous, plethora, parse, magnanimity).

And then there's the numerical count of the times he uses certain words in the book:
- mislead = 1 time (I'd have thought it'd be a lot more)
- confusing = 1 time (as per above)
- conceal = 2 times
- deceptive = 2 times
(since he seems to think that online banking is all about misleading, confusing, concealing, deception, I'd expect to see more appearances by these words)
- abuse = 5 times
- complex = 14 times
- overdraft = 160 times

My 'lines' from today

When will you start listening to me? What do I have to do?
I'm about to melt down again.
I've tried asking, begging, crying, threatening, shouting, bargaining,
none have worked.
What strategy should I employ?
You say you want responsibility, so I assign it. I give it.
But you reject it, forget stuff.
I'm left to do everything.
I'm on repeat.
Having the same conversation over and over.
It's exhausting.
I don't have anyone.
I'm lonely, depressed, anxious, tired.
Tired of being tired, tired of talking of being too tired.
Too tired to speak.
I need more.
I need help. I want to go home.
I want people around me who I can trust.
I'm stuck. I'm trapped in a dark, thick prison where everything is the same.
You're not listening to me.
I'm doing my best. I can't keep up.
I want to trust, I want to breathe, I want to sleep.
I need perspective. I need to get a grip.
It's the worst I've ever felt.
It's hard.

a veces uno se siente

the line

crossing brooklyn ferry

less is more

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens

                                                                                                                                                                      

    In a Station of the Metro

        The apparition of these faces in the crowd;

        Petals on a wet, black bough.


Silencio


counter-examples

  a) William Carlos Williams

  b) There is such a thing as a poetry reading that is too short.

  c)

experiments...

i started photographing my sketch books both old and recent. then i started taking photos immediately following a writing or sketching spurt. they are pictures of pictures and words as pictures. in a sequence, they seem to move. almost. they knock around in a web of lines.

i am attempting to sift through my seeing. i see things in retrospect that i'm blinded by in the moment. sometimes, my eyes simply park, pick a shutter speed and click. i did not see.

seeing happens in my memory sometimes. but sometimes, in the moment, i focus on the wrong thing. but always i see things i never saw before when i revisit them. in these experiments, i am letting the camera do the deciding, and making me see what the camera saw, which, like it or not, isn't always what i would have seen...

A Change of Heart

I've been thinking a lot about my major project this week and the value of single use items (and the weekly homework I've set myself)...and come to the conclusion that I'm feeling a bit nonplussed about the 'why'. And here's why:

I wanted there to be a distinct link between what I'm doing in this class vs. what I'm doing in the studio - but my studio work is shape-shifting so quickly, that even I'm finding it difficult to keep up - and I'm in the driver's seat!

More than that, though - I've been fighting natural instincts in my art-making...I thought I'd use the opportunity of being at RISD to rethink my focus, and to push myself in different directions. Blow that, frankly - it's not working. I am what I am. And, now that I've invested almost two months in trying to reinvent myself, I realize that I don't really want to. I love what my gray matter ponders naturally. So I'm going to love it and nurture it and tend to it like a rare orchid. Or something like that.

I decided to go back to basics - like in Monopoly when you get the card that says 'Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200'. I did this by asking myself:

- what do I really care about with regards to writing / art making?
- what gets me properly excited about my work - written or otherwise?
- what makes me want to stay up really late to get it 'just right'?
- why should anyone give a fig about single use items if I don't give the same fig? (figuratively speaking, ha ha ha)

So I've totally changed the output of my major project which I'll discuss during my slot in due course. The main reason for this post is to share where I'm at, because I'm wondering if anyone feels the same way i.e. starting with something, then realizing it's not what it should be / what you wanted it to be - and deciding to start over. Not that everything I've done so far has been a waste. I'm a completer finisher and an INFJ Personality, so I'll be doing the single use stuff anyway. Which says a lot about me, really.

free broadband from google

check it out

puffin foundation grants

· Innovative Art Projects Funded -- Puffin Foundation Artist Grants
The Puffin Foundation seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to art organizations and artists throughout the country who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy. For the upcoming 2011 grant cycle, the Foundation will provide Artist Grants ranging from $1,000 to $2,500 to encourage emerging artists in the fields of fine arts, video, and dance. Artistic, educational, and environmental public interest projects will also be considered. The Foundation is particularly interested in supporting innovative initiatives that will advance progressive social change. Prospective applicants must request funding guidelines and forms by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Foundation's office by December 1, 2010. Completed application packets are due December 30, 2010. Visit the Foundation's website to review the grant guidelines.

Blue Paragraph




Blue words on white is what your millenium is made of.
Google "blue" to get blue sentences saying
"move your mouse over me."
A purpled version is the clicked-on color.
Know that this means nothing new.
Friends send funnies from youtube as blue snaky
hieroglyphics underlined and falling off your senile square-screen.
Long lists of blue beg you and tempt you into taking
an eternity to type electrical letters.
A couple of clicks and you can see
one through thirty out of three
million interpretations of the goods you googled.
You are getting smarter by the second.
Blue news, blue weather, blue jokes, blue controversies in foreign countries.
Blue data, blue videos, blue gossip, blue social networking sites.
Read them now.
Make them turn purple.

rebecca reineke

october 2010

look at this title

Wednesday Nov 10, 8:00 pm at :

58 Battey Street (upstairs)

Providence RI 02903

As always volunteers are asked to bring food and bevvies, and to show work.

There will be projection and audio.

Joerg Piringer will be in the house and jamming word processors with every letter in the alphabet.

John Cayley and Ian Hatcher will be performing a live trial of language from: "clogged question opening will can others see ends away like blue sixteen clouds girl April eyes consequently short connecting heads our my now empty pull pale protruding sagging knocking morn colours summit heather snout tired are mine hers sweet don’t darling high dog morning mud is long it’s"

If you have something to present, please contact: Ian Hatcher <ianhat@gmail.com>

Thanks to Ian for hosting.

---- writing digital media . language-driven digital poesis . literal art ---

looks good

Ivan Albright

Mr. Albright, an American Magic Realist, was a stickler for detail...including his titles. Some paintings took him up to ten years to complete. Ten Years!!




Heavy the Oar to Him Who is Tired, Heavy the Coat, Heavy the Sea

1929, oil on canvas, 53x34in.

And Man Created God in His Own Image

1930-31, oil on canvas, 48x26in.

questioning color

word drawing

junot diaz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tD45oj1ro

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

an unmissable performance of sound and electronic poetry by

Joerg Piringer

Thursday Nov 11, 7:30pm

McCormack Family Theater

70 Brown Street (entrance in Fones Alley)

Providence

Joerg Piringer will visit Brown for Writing Digital Media at the Literary Arts Program, after touring elsewhere the US with the Vegetable Orchestra <http://www.vegetableorchestra.org>. Apart from his work with the Orchestra, Piringer is a digital artist and member of the Institute for Transacoustic Research, as well as a practitioner in the fields of electronic music, radio art, sound and visual electronic poetry, interactive collaborative systems, online communities, live performance, sound installation, computer games, and video art.  He currently lives in Vienna, Austria.

---

apps for iPhone/iPod touch and iPad:
http://apps.piringer.net/

http://joerg.piringer.net
http://www.iftaf.org
http://www.vegetableorchestra.org

Definition of definition

I was asked yesterday why I cared about the importance of defining something or not; this particular person's view was that definition was essential to writing and that That. Was. That.

I'd like to challenge 'that'. To define is to make clear, to be distinct, to formalize meaning and facilitate common understanding, to be sharp, to be accurate. But I think there's something delicious about being fuzzy, loose, informal, free. When I think about lack of definition in my writing - particularly for my major project - I think about the freedom that comes with being obscure, from being not as perceptible as usual, for details to be somewhat hazy or muddy...and thus open to interpretation.

I guess I'm trying to add a pinch of ambiguity and slice away some of the rigidity that comes from being so...definite.

After class, Jerry and I had a conversation about designing architecture out of words and writing words that describe architecture. We conjectured if this is possible at all.

Designing a space from the words of a novel is difficult because each reader personally interprets the text. When an architect stamps a set of construction documents, he or she is against the idea of physical interpretation. The prodigious set of documents shout "This is how I will look!" Can an architect stamp construction documents for a novel by outlining every step, shadow, and clothing article? Would it say"This is exactly how each scene takes place!"? Maybe, but one risks losing the meaning of the scene with a blitzkrieg of details more dizzying than excessive shaky cam.

Now the opposite: what if we write a building. I couldn't fathom any examples until I stumbled upon a section diagram for the Seattle Public Library by The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). This winning design proposal uses text to present the building (for those interested, the project is articulately explained on this website). OMA have other projects that incorporate typography to label building programs, but this one is especially appropriate. Unfortunately, this diagram fails to describe the feeling one has when walking through the space. Either that is interpretive, or architects are not writing well enough.

Poems by Minimalist Sculptor Carl Andre

Food for thought:

Minimalist sculptor Carl Andre has a series of poems in an old barrack of the Chinati Foundation's permanent collection in lil' ol' Marfa, Texas....which just happens to be three hours away from El Paso, my hometown.

I was actually caught off guard once I saw this exhibit of this particular body of work seeming how most of the stuff he's known for is sculptural.

I encourage you to check out the Chinati Foundation if you're ever in the area. It's developed into quite a little art mecca in the middle of nowhere.

ARTISTS IN CONTEXT

Two Ganoderma Lucidum Lyceum Events in Concord and Boston in Collaboration with Mildred's Lane Renovating Walden

Title page of original edition of Walden

 

OneBook Outdoor Picnic at Monument Square, Concord, MA,Town

Center, to discuss "Created Commons" by Lewis Hyde

Thursday, November 4, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Please bring your own picnic, although some surprise delicacies may be provided.

AIC is joining Mildred's Lane Renovating Walden artist J. Morgan Puett to host an evening picnic on Monument Square to discuss Lewis Hyde's assertion that "despite his fabled independence, we would not have his [Thoreau's] work were it not for the remarkably rich community and communal institutions that surrounded him in Concord."

The "Created Commons" reading can be downloaded from the AIC website. NOTE: We have arranged an alternative indoor site for the picnic in case of inclement weather; please check the AIC website on Thursday for up-to-date information on where we'll be meeting.

Philosophers' Walk Through Urban Nature
Thursday, November 11, 10 a.m. - noon, location in Boston TBA
AIC transposes the shape and length of one of Thoreau's many walks onto the Boston landscape, thereby setting the stage for a philosopher's walk through urban nature. Join us, artist J. Morgan Puett and some surprise guests as we walk and think about the relationship between town and country, society and nature. (Check our website next week for starting location.)

The Mildred's Lane Renovating Walden installation, spearheaded by noted American artists J. Morgan Puett and Mark Dion and curated by curatorsquared (Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox), is on view at Tufts University Art Gallery through November 14. These two Ganoderma Lucidum Lyceum events have been organized by J. Morgan Puett and Artists in Context.

sounds/looks bad (not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good)

problem 1: a question of color: can color carry meaning in writing (print or electronic): present 3 examples + one counter-example

a question of color (mairéad)

?colour (odette)

a question of color (dylan)

keith:

problem 2: if it looks good, it sounds good; if it looks interesting, it sounds interesting: present 3 examples + one counter-example.

if it looks good, it sounds good: Odette's response

if it looks interesting, it sounds interesting: Dan's response

looks good-sounds good (dylan)

problem 3: less is more

present 3 examples + one counter-example

Odette's response

Less is More (Dylan)

Single Use?

Hi everyone,

To help inform my major project I'm keen to find out what first comes into your mind when you think of the phrase 'single use'?

Specifically, and without my prompting, what 3 words and what 3 images do you think of and visualize when you think of 'single use'?

La Ribot 'Laughing Hole'

This is well worth a look for anyone who hasn't seen it - it was presented at Art Basel in 2006. A really impressive intersection of text, language and performance, and the 'spectacle' of oversaturation where words become meaningless to the sound, which in itself becomes more and more sad/hysterical/tragic over the course of the performance (which went for 8 hours):

any thoughts on language use in this?

Raster vs. Vector

When editing a book, it is critical to work in a software program that saves your .pdf in vector format. Raster images (jpeg, gif, tiff, etc.) contain a fixed number of pixels. When you save an image in raster format, the quality decreases if you increase the size. A vector file remains in perfect resolution at all sizes. Adobe Illustrator and Adobe InDesign saves files as .ai and .indd respectively, and can both export files as a .pdf which is great for printing.

Adobe InDesign works in a left/right page interface for editing book spreads, can export a .pdf with text in vector format, and can print with crop marks to create border-free edges. I highly recommend using Adobe InDesign for creating anything with pages.

Not a lemon

This weekend I was introduced to the work of Ralph Lemon, a choreographer / writer / dancer who has a wonderful way of integrating words with movement.

There is one particular essay of his called 'Four Years Later', which you'll find in an anthology called 'Planes of Composition: Dance, Theory, and the Global' (Seagull Books, 2009). This book was edited by Jenn Joy (RISD) and her colleague André Lepecki. I highly recommend it.

Nanna Hanninen - breath & line

Thinking about breath and line reminded me of the photographic work of Nanna Hanninen, a Finnish artist who creates urban landscapes as photographic 'drawings' of her body movements.

Her movements (breathing, heartbeat, laughter, talking and walking during the time of exposure) and the scenery melt into a single image. A sort of sociological / narrative exploration. Me like lots.

lots of interesting references here

10-minute plays

This appealed:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/19/ten-minute-plays-theatre

Doing one of these could be fun: A selection of scripts of 10 minute plays

Speaking One's Mind

I stumbled across this poster and it made me smile:

yo, keith. check out this website.

http://industrialpainter.com/

Horse Less Press will be reading submissions to Horse Less Review #9 all through November! We will be aided by our fabulous guest editor, Jennifer Denrow! Send your great work to horselesssubmissions@gmail.com. We prefer a single Word, RTF, or PDF attachment of 5-10 pages.

Mastheads from the UK - 1946

>>>>>

Memo No. 2 is up

http://6memos.tumblr.com/

Feel free to post likes, dislikes, and comments!
D

Wikipedia's Francisco Moreno

Los Pinche Times Mamones Cabrones
ok so what does pinchi mean people.....The fuckin' Times fuck-heads fuckers...something like that

“Fall Leaves” to print at noon on October 28

We at The Design Office are excited to announce a new project — an event, actually.
At noon on Thursday, October 28, 2010, we will print the poem “Fall Leaves” by Brazilian designer Guilherme Falcão out of our window in downtown Providence. Written in response to our call for submissions, “Fall Leaves” is 2-feet wide by 24-feet long and will take about two hours to print from our 4th floor office at 204 Westminster down to just above street level.

The poem is a palindrome of five words that repeats itself ten times — evolving typographically throughout. The piece is timed to autumn. In Falcão’s piece, oversized blocky letters are stand-ins for the leaves, homogenous in color and position at start, colored in midway, and absent at the end. The piece could evolve then loop forever if it were not for the limitations of ink, paper and our own attention.

The poem is typeset in “Shift,” an original typeface by our own Jeremy Mickel. This project marks its first use.  For more information and media inquiries, contact John Caserta
Rain date is Friday, October 29 at noon.

 

90 mins for lingocrits

See the original call for proposals

call

About Guilherme Falcão
Guilherme Falcão Pelegrino is a graphic designer from São Paulo, Brazil. BA from the Senac College of Communication and Arts (2006) and currently a postgrad student of Art: Critique and Curating at PUC/COGEAE, his activities as a designer also include workshops, lectures, collaborations and self initiated projects such as the Parasite Zine. He has been featured in books and publications both inside and outsite of Brazil, and is part of Pequeno Comitê, a think tank of cultural projects and ideas.

*************************************************************************************************

Oct 12, 2010. More in Project News

Text and Image: Text as Key

This is a book, "Age of Eruption," that I made during a residency last summer. It is unfortunate that, as a am looking for images to post to this, the very one that I need to make my point is missing. I will bring it in on Wednesday if you would like.

So this book is about growth. More specifically about the growth of adolescent teeth. There is very little text (it is basically a table of contents) and it only really makes sense when referencing the images, returning to the ToC and back and forth like so.

I like using text this way, because it fully exploits the format of the book - making the reader physically flip back and forth - something that is very unique to a codex book.

There is also a second narrative that is more of a "printer's narrative" but it is not as relevant for the concerns of our class.

4wrds

perhaps y'all saw this on NYT
got to look up some of these bands .. .
i only know the body

Four Word CMJ Reviews: Saturday

By BEN SISARIO

Woven Bones: Fun/evil feedback vortex.

Times New Viking: Faster, chantier, unison-er, better.

Braids: Patterns enthrall, tinkering offputs.

David Vandervelde: Leon-ine, hirsute space blooze.

Phantom Band: Perfect indie choogle + melodica(s).

Robert Lester Folsom: Belated debut; kinda “Margaritaville.”

Homeboy Sandman: “Ohhh, freestyle o’ mine.”

Atomic Tom: Equipped, competent; heard before.

Shilpa Ray: Sounded fearsome, looked weary.

Prince Rama: Postpunk tribalism; Ari echoes.

Martina Topley-Bird: Right rasp, soul, sex.

The Body: Cranial drill volume. Whaaat?

Oberhofer: Designated marathonners, surfin’ Blood.

No Joy: Haze — feedback or hair?

La Sera: Simplicity, but not grace.

Cloud Nothings: Basement melody liberated, bashingly.

Viva l’American Death Ray Music: Greasepaint roar, Fall scrape.

Lower Dens: Slow cloud, affectless cry.

Lia Ices: (Kate + Joanna) / (Arwen − Stevie)

Three Amigos: What Is A Plethora?

OK, it's a bit lame and a bit 80s but I love this film and especially this part.

It's funny how people think they know what words mean but actually have no clue.

Reminds me of the whole debate that went on when Alanis Morissette released 'Ironic' which, ironically, had nothing to do with irony...

Performance with Green Apple

Ok, so this is not an artifact from a performance. I guess it was the first in a series of performative acts.

I wrote this conversation onto the skin of the apple because the words were collectively something that I was having difficulties with. They describe a very personal experience; a conversation with my sister that I have been mentally trying to get past.

The second performative act involved eating the apple.

Unfortunately (though I tried) the performance was not documented well. But here is a picture of my face stuffed with apple bits.

look familiar?

digital graffiti