variations | only the decades of our youth were left behind
it was a wonderful era
the years in decades;
things to dream
> and now
the dreams to leave behind
variations, rewind and remixes | postcards and influences 02
Some moments with Highwire Gallery, the Philadelphia Artist Cooperative, John Cage in performance, Digital Voice, fellow artist and friend Paul Curci, and my solo digital exhibition “Sometimes In the Waking the Reality is More Pressing than the Dream.” at Villanova University Art Gallery. The years 1987 through 2001.
Below are links to the original posts that I am using for these variations, rewind and remixes.
In the Reflective Mirror / Various Artistic Influences 03: why ask questions about art
variations, rewind and remixes | postcards and influences 01
I often start a new series. Never quite knowing their origins, or where they will lead me. Several series that I have developed, such as Post Canvas and Paint, Data Complexes, Variations, Rewind and Remixes are just that: Endless conceptual ideologies of ambiguities in form and structure, that for the most part, have emerged from past artistic influences. Every new work builds on something from the past: An exhibit here. A performance there. A poet’s word softly translated. An image seared in memory. Newly discovered places … deep dark places and beautiful heavens. And of course, there is the reflection in the mirror and memories behind everything. I enjoy working from my past. It seems at times to be all I know. So in this series of Variations, Rewind and Remixes, I will simply re-examine my catalog of artistic influences in a new way. Back in 2011, I created several posts under the title “In the Reflective Mirror | Various Artistic Influences”, and asked the question … When searching for meaning in a catalogue of artistic events, does one art form influence another? And I can say, that in both a direct and subliminal manner, that it does indeed influence the way I see and create art.
Below are links to several of those earlier posts.
In the Reflective Mirror / Various Artistic Influences 03: why ask questions about art
variations | a returning ecstasy
you are …
a returning ecstasy
> now hold me tight
and never let me go …
variations | you can’t hide your dreams in familiar places
when a dream becomes
a familiar place
we find solace in its awakening
variations | if only you could remember the stars at night
you held my hand
as the stars fell
and our hearts collided
variations | art matters
Over the past few months I have been creating digital artwork within a series called “Variations”. It developed out of a soul-searching experience I had with an exhibit I saw by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko on display late last year at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, South Carolina. Memories, dreams, aspirations, magic and loss have all found their way in different forms of expression throughout the series.
One of the developing constructs of the work is how do I relate to the thoughts that exist within the framework of my daily life? I think all of us, artists and non-artists alike, struggle with this and many other questions. One of the questions that has emerged for me is … does art matter? Has it changed anything of any significance in my life? Yes and no. Yes, I long to create. I am pleased with every waking moment that I find the impulse to create. For there has been many days, weeks, months, and even years when the drive to produce art could not be found. It is undoubtably a beautiful thing to shape your craft into self-expression. But to what end? Is there really any escaping the reality of lost things; loved ones who have passed away, beautiful times gone by, aspirations fallen short, collapsed dreams? What weighs more? Art or life? For me, in truth, I create art to either “escape” or find “answers”. No, art does not always save. No real answers here. And maybe that is the point. Perhaps the only meaning to life or purpose for living is to be blessed with the breath of a new day. Then take your pen, or brush, or camera, or whatever serves as your way of expression and try to find that which will give you peace. Even if it is, only for a moment.
variations | your heart in my picture frame
a heart framed
by love
your picture
next to my every waking moment
Na Yeon Choi, Brittany Lang, Suzann Pettersen, Jiyai Shin, Karrie Webb and Shanshan Feng 2013 Wegmans LPGA Championship Pre-Tourney Interviews
I am looking forward to seeing my favorite female athlete, World # 3 Na Yeon Choi (NYC) do her thing at this week’s Major, the 2013 Wegmans LPGA Championship. Here is an interview with her and other stars of the LPGA.
There’s been a lot of talk about how Stacy Lewis has played well for a regular LPGA tour member, but not up to her lofty former #1, currently #2, standards. That’s rightfully so. Stacy deserves the attention. She’s earned it. However, I’d like to look 1 spot down the Rolex Rankings to #3 and ask if this will be the tournament Na Yeon Choi, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, breaks out of her run decent, but not spectacular finishes. The 7-time LPGA winner was a runner up earlier this year at the HSBC Women’s Champions and she has 4 top 10s so far, but she’s capable of much more…certainly capable of putting a second Major championship trophy on her mantle. One thing is for sure, she won’t get DQ’ed again this year! Here’s an interview with her, along with Brittany Lang, Suzann Pettersen, Jiyai Shin, Karrie Webb and defending…
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experiment: data complex 3 | nostalgia | video art
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The day on the beach brought back memories of beautiful times gone by: She the choreographer and dancer, and he the artist and filmmaker. Together they drifted back to the beginning of their artistic dreams. Fused with the technology of the post-modern world and the collective mindset of a creative construct, they forged ahead into the unknown: History has a way of repeating itself. What is old is new. The same as it ever was. Forever and a day.
variations | to a safe place of maps and memories
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lost in subjectivity;
perception and safe places,
found only …
in the mind of maps and memories
variations | in your sleep with our dreams
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another moment
with your dreams
asleep and shipwrecked
a Titanic love
is all we have
variations | a night with your heart by my side
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Your hair caressed,
by the leaves of the trees
my voice in the night called,
and your heart fell from the sky ….
variations | for now and maybe forever
if you thought
that things could change
remember …
for now
and maybe tomorrow |
it’s always the same as today
music for backgrounds | sound artist chihei hatakeyama
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Chihei Hatakeyama is one of my favorite ambient sound designers. He weaves beautiful tonal soundscapes for enriching the creative process and for meditative reflection.
New Sounds at the Electro-Music Festival in Asheville
Dosia Mckay is a fantastic composer and performer. She writes beautiful music for ensemble and chamber. And as seen here, she explores the latest musical technology. Recently she attended the Electro Music festival in Asheville, NC where she sampled synths both old (modular) and new (the Haken Continum). Oh yes, she is an excellent painter as well. Stop by her blog for a wonderful feast of imagery and sound.
I spent two days at the Asheville Electro-Music Festival (http://emavl.com/), soaking up many wonderful sounds I am not accustomed to and getting a fill of good drum grooves. I saw new musical instruments, such as Eigenharp and Haken Continuum. I even got a one-on-one demonstration of modular synthesis. I also listened to several very interesting bands/performers with mesmerizing video projections. I feel inspired for weeks to come.
The photo features the Haken Continuum, a MIDI controller and an instrument in its own right with a very powerful internal synthesizer. Watch what it can do here:
Photo courtesy of http://experimentalsynth.com/
experiment: data complex 2 | shipwrecked | video art
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Drifting on the endless sea, a Titanic moment: Crushed against the data of memories, hopes and dreams. Cold and icy. Feeling a part of something, in the place of everything, on the edge of nothingness. Falling from the sky with no structure to evolve into. Living in a deep, dark, place masquerading as a beautiful heaven; a post modern world, an urban complexity. Data Complex – Shipwrecked.
variations | today he felt less than alive
Something has been following him throughout the day, it speaks to him in soft whispers. And in-between the lost evolving things, (dreams and memories alike) and all the many yesteryear’s, today he listened and felt less than alive.
variations | don’t say the things that hurt
If only now you could remember, as I fell further away. Please, don’t say … the things that hurt.
variations | don’t say you know
i thought
for a moment
if it could be
then you paused
don’t say you know
is all i remember …
variations | sunrise and chakra flowers for meditation
“Sometimes our thoughts and feelings in the light of a new day, will take us places we long to go. Where the beautiful waking sunrise of a new day, offers our meditation a meaningful pursuit. It is here we find our thoughts renewed with the bold light of insight, peace, and rejuvenation”. ~ Walter Smith
a rewind | sunrise and chakra flowers for meditation
“Sometimes our thoughts and feelings take us places we can no longer go … However, in the waking sunrise of a new day, we can, in our meditation, understand our thoughts anew and find places full of insight, rejuvenation, and tranquility”. ~ Walter Smith
In keeping with the pursuit of tranquility and the essence of Zen that I focused on in my recent video entitled “Experiment: Zen Meditation | Landscapes for Well Being”, here is a rewind of a collage with the same theme from 2009. My next post: “variations | sunrise and chakra flowers for meditation”. As in all my pieces in the variation series, I am using this image as a starting point to reach a new compositional insight.
experiment: zen nature | landscapes for well being | video art
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My “Experiment” series continues with “Zen Nature | Landscapes for Well Being”, a celebration of the beauty of nature and Earth Day. A colorful collage of earth and space; bringing together the compassion of love, life, culture, and soulful melodies for meditation.
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world”. ~ John Muir
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”. ~ Native American Proverb
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 