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Back at home and trying to process all of the information that I absorbed during this last AIB residency.  Returning to a nonexisting routine is very difficult, that is to say...school (job) is out and broke, and trying to plan out how to balance a semester routine, without the daily routine in place.  So I approached one of my temporary jobs and now I have an interview today.  I know that it is not much money, but it pays weekly and it will help some.

I have been reading, researching things to read, and last night I had the urge to play with some cardboard.  I will post some pictures in a few days.  I am also waiting on a reply from a potential mentor.

Finally Video!

Here it is everyone!!!!  The video that I have worked so long to get.  I know that I know absolutely

http://youtu.be/AGUpV2aP_HA

Yes, Its June

Time is flying by, but at least I am down now to one job that ends this week as well.  I got my TV delivered with the help of my family to the Wheeler Community Arts Center on Saturday.  I got the measurements that I needed and got the wires hung that will support a fake ceiling.  Today I finished trimming the rug and it is completely done.  Between last night and today I built 4 panels to use as the ceiling and a wall on one end to help constrict the size of the space.  I have had issues finding some cheap speakers to put inside the TV...So I conceded and decided to go ahead and use my Bose from my pc, because cheap speakers give you terrible volume levels. 

Tomorrow I will be renting a lift, provided there are no snags, and getting the TV into the air and attached to a steel girder.  My nerves are shot!.

The left beam where this will be hanging!

  

 In its place until its assembled and lifted.




 More framework....

Walls and ceiling done!

End of May

Feeling a little pressed for time, just like the rest of us....I am positive on this!  This has been a busy morning, along with the last week!  I finally finished the back section of the TV!  Today I made the soundtrack and installed it onto my mp3 player...after waiting for months for my son to help with this, I did it myself.  Go ME!!  I also started my rug that goes with the installation (which will go together fairly quick).  The first 2 foot square is done, and I am letting glue dry.  I also wrote out my paper longhand this morning, and will start typing and editing later after the peeps settle down and hubby leaves town to go to my sons to bring back the other boys.  GOODBYE Peace and quiet!

 

All 3 sections done (not assembled) (yes, it took over the house)

  

The beginning of the rug! (out in the studio)

Middle section complete!

I just finished the middle section tonight, after spending these last two weekends working from the time I got up until bedtime, and another couple of hours during the week totaling about 52.50 hours in just the surface treatment of this section.  Tomorrow I will be picking up some more brick paint (I would run out just as I get to the smallest section).  My goal is to have the last section finished by the next weekend, so that I can get busy with the rug for the room.

 This was just after last weekend, after I had finished making and applying the bricks.  (I had some made, but ran out)

Finished section....Lots of time and caulk!

This has been very labor intensive and highly technical.  This is also my first suspended piece.  Cross your fingers!

Mays Beginnings

I had to take a second job to raise the money to get back to school, and I am beat!  I am going to be able to send in the $ today for my room fees at Massart, YEAH!!  Last weekend I finished the front section on my piece (back side, and front grout painting).  This week I have been preparing another 4x8 foam board into brick strips for the middle section and I am ready to put them on this weekend.  I am afraid that I may run out before I get to the smaller of the 3 sections and will need to by another sheet of foam.

I will post photos after I get going on the middle section.

April Catch up!

I have been feverishly working on my TV.  My brain is totally fried trying to keep it safe, because I am working on it in the middle of my home freeway (the area by the front door and kitchen and living room).  The project is getting heavier and I am getting scared when I need to maneuver it around....almost impossible without any dings on the surface regardless of how careful and stressed out it makes me.

OK, I have been doing my readings on a kindle during my lunch time; although it makes it difficult to remember to take notes, due to my time constraints.  The bottom pic is where I have been painting the caulking to warm it up from the stark white.

Photos.....

First friday +

Last night was not only Good Friday, but first Friday as well for art enthusiasts here in Indy.  I made it to 3 different locations along with Autumn to keep me company.  I was disappointed in the fact that no one was working in a similar manner to me, but needless to say there were a few interesting exhibitions and I got to talk to some old friends. 
Perhaps the best news is that the manager of the Wheeler Arts Center will allow me to install my piece there for documentation.  I did point out that I wanted to do it after the first Friday of May, when the Art school seniors usually want to put on their thesis shows.  No charge for the space!  She has been trying to get some quality in there, and it runs in waves as to when they will have a packed building.
Okay, a new twist kind of hit me like a ton of bricks....pardon the pun, but as I work and think about all of the connections that I am making with my installation....the one that I hadn't connected the dot with is the back and forth rhetoric between male and female components, or the odd relationship I inadvertently created.  The TV is made of simulated bricks in a standard format which is stereotypically a male dominated trade, and opposing that is the couch which is created out of weaving pizza boxes....an old fashioned home craft relating to the female skill set.  Somehow I may have also touched on part of my own issue....without meaning to interject such a personal threat of how a man in his self is overbearing and power ridden to control.......much as a TV in a ritualistic daily life.
Maybe....I am that small couch waiting to be crushed.

ok...... too much thought....photos!

Hard at Work

This has been a very busy studio week for me.  I have been working on the secondary piece for my installation.  A friend is still hedging on letting me use their space for the installation, but I am not worried they usually help out when I need it.  I have been working on my paper as well, besides being the taxi for my kids.  I wish I could get everything out as well as it has been processing in my head on the paper, and I really wish that I had more time because there is another book that I wanted for my research......I guess that it will need to wait until next semester.

Okay here are the photos of my secondary piece.....very close to getting done!

Weaving

I have started doing exactly what the title implies to create a fabric to cover the little couch I am making as another piece for my "living room".  I am just currently waiting for the ok to acquire a space that I can install this huge piece and get it put together into this installation. 
Danielle is going to help me get this documented in a video format so that I can play it in Boston, and we discussed sound and I am getting a looped static sound to play for my TV!!  Excited!
She also thinks that this piece is strong enough for a grant!  I hope that I can get it together and back apart with minimal damages!

Where does the time go?

This last week and a half I have been continuously producing more bricks and building my first large suspended installation piece.  At this point I have finished covering it with cardboard in which I will be applying the fake bricks.  I got the pieces set together and initially placed the brackets that hold them together so that I can be precise about placing the cardboard and the rigging to hang it.

I got the plexy glass today to use as the face.....4x6', our friend that owns the hardware store gave me a $10 discount and was still $55.

The best news is that Dave (hardware store owner)also owns several other business buildings that he rents, and will let me use a place to install my installation!!!  I was so worried about where I was even possibly going to be able to do this.  He was also the person who allowed me to use a building for 2 months prepping for my thesis show!!

This piece requires a lot of technical junk to get it right!  This is the total size of the main piece and will require about a 12 foot ceiling to install it, but if I have to I guess I could use a 10.  There is still so much to do.

Catch up Post!

Over the last 10 days I have been working on collecting stuff as usual and my next paper....I do remember saying somewhere that I am not fond of writing papers....some more than others.  I write SLOWLY!
I write a paragraph at a time (or a thought at a time) to make the task less overwhelming.

Ok..last weekend I started making and painting my fake bricks, until I ran out of acrylic paint for them, I had not idea how much more I would use when I added in the texture.  I made it out yesterday and picked up 4 times what had gotten...

Now...yesterday I finally grabbed the bull by the horn, so to speak, and started the framework for what these bricks are going to be attached to, and it figures, I ran out of wood.....I used up 16 furring strips!!!

I was still working on the face of it at this time, but I think that you can get the scale of it, this is only the face of it!  Yes I had to clear out my dining room, it is still too cold in my studio and I have to get something done on this or I will run out of time!

Material Trip!

Finally!!!!  I made it to Lowes to pick up some furring strips, sand, china markers and foam board.  Now, I will get to start to make a bigger type of mess...one that I truly love to make.  I am in the process of finding out which glue may work on 2 ltr bottles.  I found one that does work; although I prefer a stronger hold. 

Tonight, I guess I will not start destroying the house with my constructions, and be nice to the family since it is Valentines day. (I was nice) I did take the hubby down to Acropolis for dinner early before the big crowds hit. 

My plans have been sketched out, tomorrow I will take measurements of an actual object, and then enlarge it to have a sounder game plan.

OH!!!  I bought me a new toy, not to pricey, but definitely will have some fun with it.  YES, I got a penpad for my pc..

Now to really figure out how to use it.....

Book- Home

I just finished "Home: A Short History of an Idea" by Witold Rybczynski.  I am going to use this post as a record of a few sentences out of the book that I may need later for quoting.

pg 125  "Comfort was a generalized feeling of well-being, not something that could be studied or quantified."

pg 214  "Nostalgia for the past is often a sign of dissatisfaction with the present."

pg 217  "Domestic well-being is a fundamental human need that is deeply rooted in us, and that must be satisfied.  If this need is not met in the present, it is not unnatural to look for comfort in tradition.

pg 231  "It may be enough to realize that domestic comfort involves a range of attributes-convenience, efficiency, leisure, ease, pleasure, domesticity, intimacy, and privacy- all of which contribute to the experience; common sense will do the rest."

Christopher Alexander in footnote: "A Pattern Language"  (may need to read)

Great Meeting with Mentor!

I was extremely delighted to have had the opportunity today to meet with Danielle at her lovely home!  We had a lengthy discussion as to how I should proceed with my installation, and my first step is the creation of the TV.  This is the piece that will have the most impact on the psychological feel of the room which makes it crucial!

I am currently working on technical issues for construction of different pieces which may be included in the installation or in perhaps other installations.  Sometimes I feel that there are an inordinate amount of technicalities to overcome and once these have been ironed out....its all downhill!

Lots of good ideas to process through!

1st scheduled mentor meeting of the semester

Yes, the title pretty much sums up what this is about.  I will meet with Danielle on Sunday at her house at 11.  Luckily she lives here locally and since the weather here can change and get nasty rather quickly, I was so glad to get her to agree to it.
I mentioned last the weekend before last I was going to make a maquette....ha ha, a little on the lame side, but it did help me to think about the construction of the actual installation and how I will actually put it together.  I really want to thank talking to my adviser, and for the lecture from Jean Lowe.  I have been roughly sketching out some of my ideas, but I am probably one of the worst quick perspective artists that I can think of.  I work better in the 3rd dimension.  So... here is a really rough model, and by rough I mean sizes are not right nor are the materials or colors true to production.

I have also started making several strands of braids which will be used in conjunction to the rug, but in creating various pieces of furniture.  I would like to thank these ideas for how this specific installation is getting designed due to artists like Rachel Perry Welty and Charles Ladray!  Thanks to all of the great input from my critiques. ps...the rug has nothing to do with the above photo!!!

Weekend work!

As I have been reading for my personal research I have discovered a new word, Stimmung which is a sense of intimacy created by a sense of the owner by the furnishings within the room.  This word seems to strike at the heart of my feelings of "Domestic discomfort".  Where does the individual take hold of their place in their surroundings when a space is shared by a multitude of personalities striving to achieve their own sense of comfort?
Philosophy aside, yesterday I continued to work on my rug, and today I am going to try to make maquettes  of domestic interiors with my current concepts to increase my visualization.

Researching Artists

I took a day off before returning full fledged into the work routine to start getting my art life in focus, and today has been spent listening to critiques and researching artists that were recommended.  I loved the installations by Charles Ladray, and Rachel Perry Welty.  I also appreciate how unpretentious Ladray is about his work....

In Boston

Squeezing in a few moments in the computer lab, because the internet at the hotel I am staying in keeps stopping after a few minutes.  So far everything has gone very well; although the walk to the MFA was very cold!  I was very thankful that we did not have any snow!!

  I will post some pictures as soon as I get back to Indy.