Spinning Sequins Into A Snake

So, whilst in the throws of my love affair with this current project it is at times important to have little side projects simmering around to keep the creativity flowing. I started reading Miranda July’s blog about her new film The Future and she did a call for videos. The concept was simple: please animate an object that you think would come for you when the end was near. Make sure one can see your hand in animating it. simple, right? A nice echo to her Learning To Love You More project which I missed so I felt it was time to send her something. I made this simple video for her, using a vintage Art Deco dress. I figured, if it was my time to go to Valhalla then I want to be brought to the valkyries by the most beautiful object I have. For those with sensitive constitutions, I must warn you that this video contains what looks like abuse towards a vintage garment. I can assure you the dress was not distressed in any way, except for shedding some antique sequins and beads.

Tilda Swinton, What A Muse You Are

Tilda Swanson is incredible. She has a look that is haunting. Her beauty is in it’s own realm, ethereal and strong. The current issue of W is wonderful. I wanted to bring your attention to to because it is a different feel of fashion, more conceptual. I would also have to say some of the photographs look like they were shot in Iceland.

What is living on my night stand

So, I have been rather silent these past few weeks leading up to my departure for Iceland. I have been in multiple fittings mode, trying to get the costumes rendered to their final state, ready to walk the streets of Reykjavik. I have been training hard, and at night I collapse in bed and curl up with piles of books. I am a nibbler of information, so I am in the mist of consuming multiple books. Here is what I have been sticking my nose at the moment.
The Lilac Fairy Book by Dover
The Grey Fairy Book by Dover
The Prophecy: the creation and destruction of the world in the Viking Faith
Elves, Aesir and Human by Haukur Halldorsson
Hidur Queen of the Elves and Other Icelandic Tales retold by J. M Bedell
Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions by H.R Ellis Davidson
Icelandic Folktales and Legends Jacqueline Simpson
A Place Apart: An Anthropological Study of The Icelandic World Kristen Hastrup
Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories of Childhood Maria Tatar
The Importance of Being Iceland: Travel Essays in Art Eileen Myles
Out Of Actions: Between Performance and the Object 1949-1979 Schimmel
Body Art: Performing the Subject Amelia Jones
Isebella Blow Martina Rink
Nick Cave: Meet At The Center of The Earth YBCA
The Marchesa Casti: Portraits Of A Muse Scot D. Ryersson and Micheal Oralando Yccarino
Extreme Beauty: The Body Transformed The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Marathon For Mortals Bingham and Hadfield
The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim

Mentors

Everyone deserves a mentor. I met my mentor through a curator named Elizabeth with whom I worked in Pittsburgh for a show I did called Urban Iterations. I was living in NYC at the time. I had left art school and truth be told, I was feeling a bit adrift. Elizabeth could tell I needed help and she strongly encouraged me to go back to school. I was very hesitant to go back again, I was really struggling with what I wanted out of my education. She told me to go meet with her friend Francie, who at the time was a recruiter for SAFI. We decided to meet on a Sat morning and she agreed to meet me at my apartment , which I had also used as a make-shift studio.

Looking back, I believe there are no coincidences in life, just life. I had stayed out all night after seeing Gogol Bordello at the Knitting Factory. I was naive about being so cavalier about our meeting. In my young mind, I thought that I was the cat’s pajama’s and was not sold on going to art school. Hadn’t I just had a solo show in Pittsburgh? I had another solo show in Idaho the year before, so I was thinking I was doing quite well on my own.

Francie showed up at my little apartment which was crammed with stuff. The walls were covered with magazine tear-outs,photographs, and polaroids plastered all around my mirrors of friends. She carefully looked at my portfolio and then we quickly got into a lively discussion on the pros and cons of art school. And what I mean to say is we argued. Little did I know how wonderful it was we butted heads. We got into it in a way that I had never been challenged before, it was amazing. I stood my ground firmly. I argued that despite only attending a year of college and a year at a French Photo Institute in Paris I was doing quite well with my two solo shows. I was doing projections with my photography that not many people were doing at the time, so I felt special like I was doing something original. We went back and forth about the work and then all of a sudden she turned to me and said “yeah bur you are not happy hear in New York, in fact you are quite lonely.” I was shocked. She said such a pure statement of truth to me I could not believe how she had come to that conclusion. “I can tell you this because you have a shrine for all the friends you miss that don’t live in NYC.” She pointed to an antique door with a mirror inside it that I had outlined the the border with polaroids of all my friends who had come to visit me while I was in NY. I put them there so I could see them every day as I got ready in the morning. By looking at their faces, it felt like they were closer to me, as if I was enjoying my morning coffee with them every day.

“You are living in some kind of installation of all of your friends that you miss” said Francie. I was gobsmacked. “You don’t have a community here, you are on your own. Artists need a community. “If you got to art school you will find that community. You will take classes there where you will make art you never thought you could make. It will change your art. Your art will get stronger. Art school will challenge you in ways you have not even thought of yet in terms of who you are as an artist. That is why you should go to art school. I am going to change your life.”

And like a Greek oracle she said those words, and it was so. I applied to SFAI that fall and by January I was in class. I felt that our conversation that morning changed the course of my life fundamentally. Eight years later I am still on the west coast making art, surrounded by an incredible community of artists and my work has evolved greatly beyond photography. I could have asked for a better person to come into my life and turn it upside down. I needed to be brought back to reality and she was able to do it in a honest was that I could really, really hear. I think there isa particular relationship one can have if one finds the right person who can see one in life and allow one to change for the better. Francie changed my life and I will always be incredibly thankful that we met and argued for hours that Sat morning about art. Thank you Francie Caprino for kicking my ass when it needed to kicking and thank you Elizabeth Reiss for introducing me to the right ass kicker.

Mind Body Connection

I just saw the Vidal Sassoon documentary and it blew my mind. Born in 1928, here is a man who suffered greatly in his childhood, living in an orphanage seeing his mom once a month. Early on in his life, his mom told him she had a premonition that he would become a hair-dresser. He got an apprenticeship at a small hair salon and quickly evolved into becoming a world wide super star of hair. What struck me beyond this man’s vision and talent, was his utter devotion to his health. He always took time to work out his body and take of himself and ate healthfully. He believed that a healthy mind and body must be in synch in order to achieve one’s goals. This man is a powerhouse of inspiration go watch his documentary.

A Treasure From Childhood

Hand-me-downs were the rare and coveted treasures of my childhood. Growing up I had a a very chic friend who would give me her hand-me-downs. I was about 8 years old and the thrill of getting a brown paper bag from her home of her and her older sisters cast offs was incredible. It was almost better then Christmas. I felt as though the clothing I received was somehow infused with all their glamour and sophistication. Truth be told, I felt I was growing up around secret royalty. They had lived as small children in Italy, buying their candy in Italian. In turn I felt I somehow barbaric that I could only buy my candy in plain english, “one snickers please”.

One particular piece of clothing I received from my childhood friend was the ultimate 1980’s status symbol. It was a hot pink Ralph Lauren polo shirt. I remember choosing which day I would wear the shirt and how exactly I how to create my outfit. First, I would part my hair on the side and wear one barrette on one side of the part and the other side I would let artfully drape obscuring my my right eye. I would then pair my shirt with my Navy blue Carroll School Sweatshirt. I would pop the collar up so one could see that shock of pink. I paired with some blue jeans and my white Tretorns. I finished it with a worn fishermen’s rope bracelet and some friendship pins placed on the last row of my sneaker laces. I was now set to struck the hallways of my lower school. I still treasure the art of giving and receiving hand-my-downs. I love having my friends clothing in my closets. I am also glad to have a piece of my clothing make it to a good home wear it will be loved.