Larry Lessig on congressional corruption and Obama

Watched a great video by Larry Lessig about Obama's first year. I always hesitated myself getting involved in the campaign last year, and I felt kind of like cynicism had won, but now I feel more like I had been right to be skeptical. Things haven't changed. Money still corrupts, and I'm still not sure that things can change. We have buying power, but we don't have a way to compete with the special interests that fund campaigns. Check it out if you have a minute.

Ukulele the hard way

The other night, our first sojourn into the wonderful world of the card game Asshole, a performance artist friend Anya Liftig (like Leftig with an 'I' instead of an 'E') came over with the gift of stale popcorn in a receptacle shaped like a ukulele with Elvis' face glued to the front. Not only was this a strange gift, and a much needed snack for us all as we played cards, we found that a day later, we had all regretted thoroughly our consumption of said popcorn, likening it to the "worst popcorn ever eaten" "styrofoam packing peanuts" and "Aahhgg! I can't believe I ate that popcorn!" Why was it in a ukulele? Why did Anya feel the compulsion to buy something like that on the 75%-off rack in a store like Big Lots? The stars aligned to bring us those munchies, and though we enjoyed it in the moment, we'll probably remember the entirety of our experience with fondness, possibly accompanied by an aversion for popcorn sold in strange yet appealing containers.


Note the way that Anya fondly clutches the popcorn as she discusses ice cream cakes and making out with trees.


This is just to show a pic of her post-performance where Anya she sat for 15 minutes while an ice cream cake melted on her head. Simple, funny, and disgusting.

Bring Back Bruce

As one can expect, getting the correct Visa for a visit to the USA can be a bit confusing. One of our studio mates, a resident named Bruce Montecombroux from Canada, made it here just fine, but after taking a brief sojourn to Canada for a show opening, he was denied return into this country due to the lack of a Visa which technically he cannot get. His first entry went just fine, and then they decided to demand a J-Type Visa which requires a host institution, which the Vermont Studio Center cannot actually provide, so in short, Bruce may not get back into the states. Another Canadian, whom I'll leave unnamed, though we find him very earnest for those of you who know him, is here with no Visa. I don't understand how this works, but if you feel compelled, write Senator Leahy of Vermont and help speed up this process of getting Bruce back. Our studio just isn't functioning the same way without the guy.

Shuttle run training, mid winter, Vermont Studio Center

Remember the shuttle run? We used to do it in grade school where you would run down to a line and grab an eraser on the ground and then run it back. We were timed; only the obviously fit kids really ever made the cut, and those of us who weren't physically inclined were made to feel like failures once a year thanks to the President's physical fitness tests. Last night felt like we were doing an exagerated adult version of that game.

We were playing asshole the card game last night, or Reagan as we dubbed our version, and the president made a rule that whenever 3 of a kind gets thrown down, which should be a rarity, we all have to run outside and run across the bridge near by. It's cold, it was night, we were getting really buzzed, and so at first it was just hilarious. And then it kept happening. We probably ran across that bridge, which is about a 200 yd. dash, at least 7 or eight times. During one of the last ones my 180 lb. frame got checked into a chain link fence as I made a move to pass this girl Mary who is about 5 feet tall and weighs a buck ten. That hurt. I got bandaged, had a numb hand, and it was kind of a sober moment. Still we didn't stop, and we proceeded to play some more. Another drop of 3 5's about 15 minutes later had us up and out again and as this girl Tatiana rounded the corner of our ice sheet walkway, she dropped on her knee and onto a rock. Quote of the week,

"I'm a wuse. I just haven't seen the inside of my own body for a while." She said this laying on the studio floor as we cut off her pant leg to clean her wound and apply bandages.

Fun times here at the studio center. Tonight, for a change of pace, we might have an AA meeting for all of us regulars at the firehouse. Something different, ya know?



Tatiana and I showing our war wounds.

More from studio night

A really sweet vintage record player in Dave Kearns studio.


J.T. Kirkland, who has these interesting panels of wood ply and gloss or mat polyacrylic. The dude has been pumping out work as he is "not here to socialize."


Marin Abell's jean suit being cut apart to repair itself, soon to be a majority of stitching while still wearable.

The studio tour was as if we got to peer into the minds of our fellow VSC denizens. Or maybe we just got to see some of the artwork up close that we've only glimpsed at through windows from the street near Wolf Kahn. These images are as I said, just a taste of what I saw. When looking back through the pics, mostly I had lots of images of paint filled cups, colored scraps of tape, and people looking extremely unprepared for being photographed. I shoot from the hip, what can I say. Still, we here at VSC sweat creativity (along with a bit of alcohol from the night before) and even our refuse is potentially the makings for greatness.

From the great white north

Not the first hanging banana piece at Vermont Studio Center, I'm sure, but part of Seung Ae's installation on open studio night. The band-aid demonstrated a softness and caring for the aging fruit.


Tatiana Berg, commenting on the gorgeous pour traveling across the floor of her studio.




Well, not actually that white as of late. The weather is actually in full thaw, which is a let down to some of us who've gotten accustomed to the daily snow fall. A soft drifting of flakes that we've all gotten used to. I enjoy seeing the snow when I really have no where I need to go. Sleep, food, and work. Those are my main concerns.

In case you're wondering, Titty Hammer has become a bit of a celebrity. Her name becoming infamous for just the quality of the wording. She arose from an excerpt in a novel being written by a guy named Scott here, and though we don't know the trajectory of his writing, Titty has lasted, will probably be created in T-Shirt form, and will remain as a piece of folklore in VSC history for years to come. I'll update with more elaborations on the forms that Titty has inspired during my time here, but for now, ponder the question, "What would Titty Hammer do?

Cold outside=studio incentive

I find the cold and snow here in Vermont to be not only a reason to stay in and work, but a different kind of inspirado. It's great to be surrounded by creative people, and the environment for us all to engage our creative ideas is fulfilling in many ways. Artist's names are flowing around us, stories of the trade, and wisdom from those further on than some of us is turning out to be invaluable perspective. If you haven't gotten on this residency train yet, Vermont Studio Center is only one of the very very many. I would say this is as good as I could imagine, but the varied locales, the different mixes of people and cultures would probably make all of these great in their own ways. I'm happy to have this chance to work, and to be around so many people who inspire me in unexpected ways.

Vermont Studio Center Begins

Driving through horrendous weather, I finally arrived at the residency I've been waiting for since last spring. The Vermont Studio Center welcomes us as the first group of residents in the year 2010. It's cold, and when I say that, it's about 15 or so degrees out and it's only going to get colder, at times maybe reaching 30 below zero. I hope my car survives. Already, one day in my computer has died, not due to cold, but just my over-taxing of its systems. Quite a fate when much of my research is done with my computer, with photos, and many of those draw from the database I've collected over the past three years. Gone, at least for now. I hope to see improvement, and hopefully work will go well here. Things are always an adjustment in a new setting like this, but it's inspiring as well and the people are better than the food, which is pretty awesome so far. Loving those little green sprouts. More as it develops, but enjoy a picture of my storm that I drove through for 13 hours, and also a video which dizzyingly depicts my studio setting in the midst of becoming a work loaded space.




*Warning: this video can make you sick if you watch it too much.