Archive | September 2017

Not Knowing what THAT is…

Sep25

“Never doubt that what you do has an impact. No matter what your job happens to be.” A blogger I just found (Victo Dolore) wrote that, and I’m beginning with it, because it frames what I have to say today, really well.

Alot of people don’t know how to take art of the kind you see in galleries. And I can’t say I always know how to take it either?

IMG_20170924_144537
(Rirkrit Tiravanija)

BUT…

I love that it exists, and by “it” I mean the kind I don’t know how to take.

Because art, like people, places, or occurrences you don’t know how to take – give you the opportunity to travel to the unknown, which always re-casts who you know yourself to be in the moment, providing a fresh return to life.

You discover, instead of “know,” as you try to figure out what you’re looking at or what it means.

(Rachel Rose)

And in that practice, life is made pliable, first in your head, then in your heart, last in your environment.

unnamed-4
(Rirkrit Tiravanija)

And from that, a kind of “freedom” emerges.

You become a discoverer, not tied to the posts which defines all corners of life.

Free in the midst of constraints, obligations, requirements and responsibility.

(Rachel Rose)

Free in the chains.

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*Pictures are from two Gavin Brown Enterprises exhibitions on September 24th, 2017. The video installations are by artist Rachel Rose, and the photos of pieces made by Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Art Gallery Crawl I

Sep22

Last Sunday, I made my first trip back in to the New York art world. On instruction of an artist mentoring me, I planned a trip, to collect names to do a little research through.

The idea being to fund a few upcoming film efforts, via a gathered community interested in growing artists.

But all this stuff can be pretty stressful, so I was trying to figure out how to distract myself from the real aim in.

Then I thought… THIS IS ART. WHY NOT MAKE THIS (MISSION) FUN???

So… I invited a few friends and made a gallery crawl of it.

(One of my better ideas.)

You Never See A Love Like This…

Sep15

…up on screen at the cinema.

But that was pretty interesting to me (video going viral).

The way this guy looks at, smiles at, and touches his bride is incredible. As is her smile in response, no?

What a find…

Yes.

Sep9

I love Word Press, I just love it. I’m a big reader of — EVERYTHING.

It’s one way I satisfy my insatiable curiosity, by crawling into the minds of others via their discoveries. And I am not discriminatory, I will read whatever folks post. Even if they are writing, ‘My realizations about bunions (haha). ‘

I could sit on here clicking blog to blog, all day.

 

Anyway, I stumbled onto this post about leadership just now and read something I wanted to share.

“Ask people to do hard things.”

Sit with that one for a minute.

Now think about your most treasured friendship, greatest love, favorite parent, best teacher, all interactions with others where the exchange really left you with something magnificent. Did you find it to be with people who challenged you to expand yourself in some way?  ‘Asking you…. to do something HARD?’

If you ask my brothers, they will tell you my mother was this. Always stretching and challenging you in some way. And of course she wanted us to love her, but she didn’t care if we “liked” her. She just never wanted any of her children to be settling for their version of status quo when she knew we could do better (even if we didn’t know we could). So she would ask the deep, hard, challenging stuff you might not have been ready for.

All the time.

And ultimately you would find yourself figuring out how to up the ante she was upping on you, and would end up expanding. She wasn’t easy on your spirit, but I believe these kind of people call out the best in you.

And honestly we all want to be our best.

We feel the best about ourselves when we are and end up deeply respecting the people who may have acted as impetuous to that.

Right?

Honestly these days, if my relationships ask nothing of me? I become a little disappointed. Even in jobs if they fail to ask the proverbial hard question: “Where do you want to go in our organization?” Making you stretch beyond your comfort.

 

Sparks

Sep8

I don’t log onto Facebook very often, I kind of don’t like it anymore.

It feels like ‘everyday-man-as-celebrity’ Olympics.

Everyone seems like they are trying to create a show of how “great” their life is, instead of using it to connect in a deeper way (which social media can be used for). Instead of using it to peer into the moments of others we may not be able to keep up with in life, and engage about their progress?

We gaze upon ourselves and invite the gaze of others over to our universe of fabulosity.

Is it me?

Anyway feels alienating and doesn’t seem to create the bridges, the way Facebook intended.  Least not for me. It is a thin connective tissue linking us to one another, giving the illusion, you’re connected. Leaves me a bit empty personally.

However, every once in a while, the page produces a spark. Something that stirs up something else in you.

This was that today:

 

“The things that we run from…we’re running from the truth… we’re running from the truth man…so the only way I became successful…was going toward the truth… as painful and brutal as it is… it changed me… “

How did it make you feel?