Callie’s Cat Door

What can I say for an artist statement? We already know how much the internet loves all things cats, and I needed a project. My friend Andrew had just adopted another feline friend, and set up a Facebook page for her, Callie the Tripod Cat, because she had to get a leg amputated. Andrew and his wife Leigh are giving her a good home. He had posted some pictures of the cat doors he made, and Callie’s followers wanted to know how they could do it too. I filmed him building one, and bookended it with footage of Callie and her friends. I found some appropriate music for a cat video, and had Callie narrate it so to speak. Is it art? Maybe not, but I could see doing this kind of thing for other Facebook clients.

Signs

This gallery contains 10 photos.

I stopped questioning the ways of the universe a long time ago. I ‘lost faith’ when I was a little kid, because how did an all seeing God make any sense? Whose God was right? Who had the privilege of worshiping the right One? … Continue reading →

Question Everything.

My impulse is to question everything. I question why people think the way they think, why people are the way they are, and why so many are not open to new things.
I wonder what’s behind the things that pass as popular entertainment today.
I have been held back from what I truly want to do, because I don’t have the means, yet who has to dictate what those ‘means’ are? And for that matter, what in the hell do I truly want to do?
I question the status quo, as I am most definitely flouting it. Who gets to tell me what to believe? Why can’t I decide for myself?
Why ARE so many of us still clamoring for the approval of their imaginary friends?
It’s an age of technological marvels and limitless means of expression. Advancing technology lets your most random thoughts be expressed in color and sound. I wasn’t born with it but I watched it grow. So why not get in on it, and maybe change a few minds?

project 3

Project 3 is going to be about non-belief. In an age of scientific wonder and the proliferation of the internet, why do so many get their panties in a bunch when you question their faith in a mythical being? Why put so much time and effort into the intangible, when there is so much in front of you? I want this project to address these questions, as well as the discrimination and other issues that atheists face. It is after all supposed to be a civil right in this country to believe what you want to.

some of the churches …

within a 8 mile radius

buildings old and new

so big I can’t fit them in frame

often the tallest buildings in our landscape

within blocks of each other

is HE really up there?

invading my entertainment

if he can have a voice…

why can’t he

or he?

why vandalize?

money could be better spent.

Project 2. Right!!

This is my indictment of the extreme idiocy that has happened over the past few years, with the dawn of social media, and the election of Barack Obama. This is a small compilation, using the words and statements of various pundits and politicians who find the most ridiculous things to say, yet people eat it like cake. Palin, Santorum, Bachmann, Oreilly, Beck , Hannity, and especially Limbaugh have seen their shining stars begin to flicker out, and I hope this piece would help that process along. The so-called Tea Party movement burst on the scene in a wave of hysteria and is going out with a whimper. I thought I would include not only the controversial, but also the outright stupid things these people (who still have mass followings) have said and continue saying. The marching music symbolizes their phony patriotism, which their fans think is real (and march in line to it). I decided to end it with various people and controversies ( Trump, Orly Taitz, Michelle at the Oscars,etc,) that seem to get these people into a froth, thus doing the same for their acolytes. I ended it with the one thing these pundits and pols seem to be mad about..Barack Obama is in the White House.

project 2.

not coming along like I’d hoped. The idea I originally had of a left v. right doesn’t jibe with my own beliefs. I am thinking of doing this project more along the lines of some of the crazy coming from conservatives, particularly when it comes to religion, women’s rights, LGBT rights etc. Not a week goes by when I see something newer and more puzzling coming from the likes of Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh etc. I have also compiled sound bites in Audition that vilify ‘Liberal Media’. I would like to show how the conservative media manipulates the masses, while using scare tactics and wild conspiracy theories. While I had wanted to do both sides, the conservatives are providing me with the most material. I am adding more screen shots and sound bites, but I can’t post the soundbites to the blog.

Project 2 coming along

One week gone by, and LVR is rolling along slowly. As for its final form I am not sure what to do with it, but I have been compiling pics and recording sounds from various political websites from both sides of the aisle. My politics lean left, so  I haven’t quite decided whether I want to be impartial, or just compile a piece where the right comes off as dastardly and underhanded, while the left side comes off as completely reasonable.  Whether i want to do it as an art installation or as a video of someone going down the internet’s political rabbit hole remains to be seen.

Idea for Project 2

My next concept is for a project tentatively titled L V R or left vs. right. I want it to be a statement on how the internet has affected the political narrative in this country, especially since the election of Barack Obama. I want to show how the country has been divided along party lines and along common sense. My plan is to use 2 monitors, each running a seperate mini movie comprised of screen shots of various political online rhetoric.

Artist Statement. OLD video (fixed)

I decided on ‘old’ as a topic, because the realization hits me in the face on a daily basis. I wanted to show a warts-and-all portrayal of a man who may or may not be going through a midlife crisis, and spends many hours of the day around those younger than him. I also came into this project with some trepidation as all of my classmates are half my age. Up until this point there was usually someone in a class with nearly the same life experience, but this semester has been unique. I began with waking up, and my daily routine, only now it’s got a few added wrinkles (just like myself). The real topper was having to get reading glasses this year, after spending my whole life bragging about my perfect vision. I decided on the still images, making sure they were highly detailed. I chose to do this with no assistance, and the project kept evolving daily, opening itself to new possibilities. I had to sadly reign it in, or it would have completely gotten away from me. I am not going to make high-minded art references or avant-garde name drops, because I did my own research..living in this body for 43 years.

My storyboard so far.

OLD storyboard