From Moulting

On last Wednesday, York U had their fine arts open house, and this year it was called Moultling. The turnout was great and so was the art - I was impressed by all of the high quality work up - especially in the drawing department. Photo at York has always been strong, but it's nice to see drawing students doing interesting and ambitious work.
The photos above are of my stuff.

In other news, I also talked to the Scott Library at York U about putting work up on their newly renovated second floor. The space is huge and the art needs to fit - that means in the next few weeks I've got to put together ten new pieces that are each several feet large, and incorporate text and colour. I've got my work cut out, but I know it'll look great when it's all done. The space has great impact.

Sketchbook Project

Images from my submission to the sketchbook project have been posted as a two part slideshow.

click here to take a look

Here are the cover and a few of my favourite pages:
(click on each image to see it bigger)





For more information about the sketchbook project
For more information about the Brooklyn Art Library

On My Way

Last week I found myself with a couple of free hours on Queen West. I was sent home early from my first job, at the café but still had to go in to my second job at the mall. With time to kill, but not enough time to go home I popped into one of my favourite Toronto stores - The Paper Place - and picked up a few things. I then camped out at Second Cup and made a few small pieces using the letterpressed recipe cards and paper dots I picked up (beautifully made by Drop Around letterpress). These pieces are going to be a direct inspiration for the larger, two dimensional pieces on paper I plan on starting for the independent study.


Two shots of the paper dots and washi tape I picked up last week.


And an idea for my second book project. My first series of books is still in progress, but I'm thinking of ideas for the second one. For Christmas I bought someone a set of 45's that came in this great box. Each record is stacked in its own crisp sleeve and tucked into a neat square box. I've seen artist books presents as loose pages in a box before, and I like the idea. Aesthetic and conceptual planning aside, I have a feeling that this is how I'll be presenting my second book.

The next step is, of course, to submit my project to galleries to show all of this work together. The nice thing about graduating art school is that you end up with friends who work at galleries and art magazines. I'll be sending proposals within the next few days.

An Opposing View - some thoughts

Over the last few years, as I have shaped my opinions on art and the forces behind the work I make I have come to the conclusion that for me, art is for art's sake. To expand, I have tried to work against that general understanding that works of art must contain a social or political standpoint, an opinion, or some message. Even the bio and statement on my website mention this opposition of mine. This point of view has never really been challenged by anyone before - but I think people are either just too nice, or that we live in a post-post modern world where no one feels the need to challenge artists' statements.
I read an article about a month ago which I am revisiting for this post that challenges my perspective. The article was written by Meredith Tax and is called Culture is not Neutral, Whom Does it Serve? It was originally presented in 1969 and I found it in a book of collected essays called Radical Perspectives in the Arts.

Tax begins by presenting her thesis: that culture is not politically neutral and that it is impossible for it to be so. Cultural products, like any other products created by humans, are directly related to their social, political, and economical origins. She continues that in the arts, even omissions of political statements are still political - an argument which I've heard before and that, which I oppose in theory, have never been able to argue successfully.
She then goes on to discuss the problem with "art for art's sake" (which is my bread and butter) saying that this philosophy is relatively new, and was invented to satisfy a market. Previous to our time, art was created for a clearly defined reason - the demands of religious conventions or the specific needs of a patron. Only in the capitalist system does the art itself dictate the market rather than the other way around. According to Tax, the recent breakdown of the line between "high" and "low" art is also partly responsible for the acceptance of the "art for art's sake" philosophy.

Tax wrote this article in a time that is ideologically different from ours (or at least mine, as a student of post-post modern contemporary art where anything goes and Piss Christ is passé). Simply as an artifact, it was interesting to read an article where rock and roll is discussed as a new artistic form. It was great to read an article that challenged me to think about why I do what I do.

Baxandall, Lee, editor. Radical Perspectives in the Arts. Pelican Books, Ltd, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England. 1972.

Books in Progress 2

Here are some images of my book series so far. The work you see here was done in a pretty short time span, but I hope to take my time on finishing them.

From the book on being uninspired - typewriters, coffee cups, and letraset.



From the book on being misanthropic - familiar ground for me.

A self portrait - I haven't done one in a long, long time.

Rubber stamps and one of my favourite chiyogami paper patterns.



The first finished book - two more beautiful chiyogami prints and linen

The folded paper folios along with the work that's done so far all packed up in a little paper bag for transport.

Books in Progress

I've started work on my book project. I'm getting excited to see the final product (I have a loose idea of how it will turn out, but you never know) And I'm excited to have a one week deadline to get all six books completed by. For some reason I seem to lack initiative until there's a deadline looming.

Here are the pages for the six small book all folded and ready to be filled, covered, and stitched. I'm currently in the process of "storyboarding" how each will go, but it's a pretty loose process. I tend to believe I'm at my creative best when I fly by the seat of my pants...

I'll get into what the books will actually be in greater detail since I was a little vague in my last post. Each of the six books will be a little snapshot of some aspect of my personality or current circumstances. As I mentioned, the project is autobiographical (which is very new ground for me) but as per usual in my work reality will be a little embellished.
Each book will begin with "portrait of the artist" on the cover with the first inner page revealing what aspect of my life will be portrayed in the book. I also have a feeling there will be more text than illustration though, of course, there will be images in each book.

When I have one or more finished, I'll post. And they'll all be done and ready to go by next Wednesday morning.

Book Ideas!

I always come up with ideas at the most inopportune time. Today, I finally got the idea I've been waiting for for my book project while I was on my bike, heading down Bay St. I pulled onto a sidewalk to jot down the idea when I found I didn't have a pen or paper in my knapsack. I am one of those people that needs to write down everything, and I have cursed myself many a time for forgetting to bring a notebook and/or pen with me. And I always seem to get my big ideas when I'm out walking, biking, or at the gym. I think that the raised heart rate or blood flow gets me thinking better, but those are also the times when I usually don't have a pen or paper handy.

Anyway, onto my idea.

Since it's been a long, long time since I've done anything really autobiographical I've decided to do something about myself. The work I do is often highly personal and intimate, dealing with interpersonal or romantic relationships of between people, or just thoughts of one person - but it's always just made up.

I also want it to have something to do with the act of making art, or rather the process including the fictionalization of emotions (in my other work) and lack of inspiration/concept that are usually my downfall.

I plan on doing a small series, maybe about six, with each small book acting as a different piece of the "portrait" I'm creating of myself as an artist (and even coming to terms with using the word artist). Now that I've got a concept to match the aesthetics that are always the easiest part for me I'm ready to get started. Progress images and sketches soon to follow.