I tried the carefully planned approach this time, with straight lines, diagrams of joints and everything.

Last year, I made the bookshelf.  And what a treat it was to choose wood, plan, prepare, construct and finish my own large piece of furniture.  And it’s very happy with its current living conditions .  This year, I’d come up with the idea early on of somehow making a rock-and-moss table, which would be simply a small side table or coffee table with glass sides and top.  I’d attach two small reservoirs on either end of the table, to be kept full of water, and run tubing – the kind used in small animal cages or fish tanks – along the underside of the lid of the table, with holes cut in it along the way for water to drip onto the rocks and moss inside, keeping them moist and the moss alive.

It would be an awesome feat not only to build something to withstand that, but to execute and use it in my apartment.  But maybe another time.  This assignment had to two parts for its guidelines:

1. Precious object
2. Historic precedent/box style

Essentially, we had to choose something significant to us, a style of box from history that we admire and that relates somehow to our object, and create our interpretation of that style in a form that fits our object.  Some people made locket boxes for their pocket watches, or vertical Chinese pottery boxes with adjustable shelves.  I decided, since I’ve been experimenting with cooking so much recently, to use spice boxes and tables as reference to make a garden box for herbs that also functioned as a table, frankly because we didn’t have a coffee table in our apartment yet and I wanted to make one.

Pulling images from all over the internet, I chose the bottom left as the strongest influence, and went from there.

In the end, that’s almost what I made, short of it being deeper and with a hinged lid.  From approval on, the project really was more a matter of figuring out dimensions on all of the matching pieces, with the legs partially inside and out of the frame, and the top being a completely separate piece I had to then place quite exactly.  Not to mention I’d never used hardware before and made a few holes for some hinge supports that ended up not working with the inset legs.

No gaps!

Creator-griping aside, I am very pleased with how it came out, and excited both to have worked with joinery again, and to have added glass to a piece.  Both side and end pieces use two tenons into mortises in the legs; the bottom is luan that fits into a grove around all of the side/end pieces, and is cut to fit around the legs; the top panels are glued together with two dominoes at each joint, the glass simply fits into a groove around the inside of the lid and the whole thing hinges on 2/3s of a piano hinge.

This project has sparked a bit of interest in how wood finishing works, what to use on what, so that may be something I’ll experiment with in future projects.  Of course I do still have to setup and plant the herb garden in this thing, so maybe I’ll get to that first .

The context of the piece kept secondary, I hoped to shock and unnerve, and inspire late-night wondering about social worth, desperation and injustice in casual viewers and artistic minds alike.

We were given the deadline for the final show, for which we had to make something that had to do with the intersection of food and art.  That was how broad the class usually was, both a blessing and a curse.  In this case, it allowed me freedom to make whatever I wanted or needed.  I was struggling (and still do from time to time) to justify being an artist at all in a world with so many problems.  With the idea to make something that goes beyond the piece and is more about making a difference than making a thing, I decided to make something with enough shock value that would hopefully take the viewer out of context for a moment, and force them to acknowledge the extremity of the piece’s content and the reality it portrays.

A starving child is lost in a luxury of waste.

I found the photo through a simple Google search,*which I taped down to a pedestal.  I baked store-brand brownies, and crushed them up with chips, candies, food-related trash I found around campus and dust and floor grit swept from the gallery space we used for the show.  I frosted around the edges of the picture with chocolate frosting, drawing the spaces where I wanted the food trash to be piled.  I built up some areas with larger brownie chunks and piled the rest on top of that.  I made a few passes at it, with larger pieces and then smaller dust and grit, trying to get a fully-formed and -coated perimeter of food trash around the child.

Nails and gummy worms, fishing line and greasy chips and brownie dust mingle around the child's desperate form.

Influenced I suppose by watching Waste Land previously in class, and by my experiences in Latin American countries where I saw a much tamer version of what this piece addresses, I really wanted to make something that had a profound impact on its viewer, striking them hard enough to force them to try to do something about it.  It’s a powerful issue, and it’s extremely easy – especially in modern society – to get wrapped up in our own private worlds and lose sight of things like this that are so distant from our own realities, even if they could exist in the next country, or even our own.

Today, it becomes easier to envelop ourselves in the dressing of a matter, rather than the matter itself.

It is disheartening to see this, needless to say, and a friend and I couldn’t help remarking how ironic it was that my piece was placed right next to a life-size chocolate infant that the audience participated in eating during the gallery opening event.

Eat up the baby

The next class after the show we had a vertical iron chef challenge, a sort of fun-final, which I couldn’t help thinking of as a competition of waste, a purely decorative creation funneled into the industrial-sized garbage can at the end of the room, along with the table linings, utensils and food scraps leftover from the process.  How much can we continue to throw away for the pure and simple purpose of “enjoyment?”

Not meaning this to turn into a rant, I should come to a close.  It brings to light, however, the debate over how much use it is to be an artist in these times when so much else can be done.  So much tangible good is possible, and yet somehow so far away, that it is difficult to justify making things like a cast sugar spinal cord or a multilingual grid reference to the various meanings of the word ‘toast.’  Sure, there’s value, but at what point does the piece lose sight of its context as an art piece in the society in which it exists?  When does the piece begin to exist for itself, rather than with relation to and in response to the situation in which it is made and exhibited.

* Note: I didn’t take down credit for the photograph I used, and apologize for that; I know it existed on multiple websites, but can’t remember who I took it from.  I profited none from this piece, but will give credit if a rights holder feels it is due.

It’s interesting to note that difference in how I approach a project depending on what its purpose is; almost like writing a story from a character’s point of view, or organizing a screenplay so that what’s seen portrays the story instead of narration or other exposition.

Anyway, I wanted a tree with obvious wiring and lights on it, and blatantly fake leaves.  It was meant as a comment about “commodification” of nature, about dressing up and “making beautiful” something as simply and naturally gorgeous as a tree, and about the absurdity of re-using nature for something “better,” or “more practical,” since what could be more practical than manufacturing oxygen?

So there were ideas, vague, but there was a direction, and I convinced myself that was enough.  I got to learn a good deal of foundation electronics stuff, in terms of simple wiring, currents, soldering and LEDs and power usage.  It was a good introduction to the topics of working with electronics, and I’m looking forward to taking an electronics elective next year.

Something related I’ve found online since the project is Peter Bristol’s American Standards lamp.

On the right is the Pozen Center, where we’ll see performances, but not just yet.  First, straight ahead, is the North Crakertorium, an open space for student-run shows and exhibitions; tonight it’s been dressed up for the Big Show.

Blacklight Painting by Aly Stoltz

Blacklight paintings, reminders of the music-painting performance series ToonColor, interactive pedestal pieces and the giant hand-painted SIM Big Show sign!

Awesomeness is still in store if we turn around and head back toward Pozen.  On the left is the Godine Gallery, a very nice space in the school for visiting artists’ shows and the like, also displaying SIM students’ fine work.  In it are the tree of dreams, a mesmerizing wall-mounted wood piece, my piece titled Practical Nature, decorated pests, and a sculpture selling satirically on eBay from the Mighty Leaf Tea Company, among others.

Next to that is N181, an open space most often used for performance classes (and the near-monthly open mic/poetry slam events), also dedicated to tonight’s’ shindig.  Plaster caps on steel make up Growth, a closet opens to the Mac Shrine, Mighty Leaf hosts a poetry contest, and lithograph prints spread to pyramid form on a wall.

Lastly, though certainly not least, is the Pozen Center performance show.  At 8 o’clock the audience began filing in, ready for splendor.  And it was delivered.  Beginning with a performance piece, phone conversations mumbled through the sound system while people moved to the tone of the words, echoing the tone of communication in their twinges and tensions of muscle.

Next up, we had live-music-driven animation, followed by a dark room to a brief sound piece.  Phoebe Amis brought the Mighty Leaf Tea Company’s advertising presence full circle with her nomination of the poetry contest winner and his grand prize of herself stuffed into a giant teabag-like cloth.

Following that were a song from a musical, a rapping duet, DJing, and three performances of music-driven light shows.  Using our LED Colorado fixtures and a DMXIS box, the three performers delivered mesmerizing mood, an infectious dance party, and an engrossing techno-remix beat that echoed in lights and darks throughout the whole event space.

Pozen alight with music and dancing, lighting up the friezes of the Parthenon lining the hall.

One of the performances inspired a dance party that involved most of the audience. It was pretty awesome to watch.

Kerri had a dark and droning piece, shifting the lights' tones and colors to match her own.

My job during this madness of awesome was to coordinate the moving of each act into and out of their spaces in the room, be they on or off stage, with whatever equipment they needed or had with them.  It varied from case to case; the dancers needed nothing, the first music-light-show was simply a guitar plugging in; but the DJing and the other light shows had carts to be wheeled in and out, a piano was moved, and mics were placed and removed.  Simple, really, and at the base of it not a tough job in the least, but a hectic atmosphere gives my mind plenty to run with, and so it was a long night.  Immediately after the performances ended and the room cleared, we struck everything set up for the show to make way for another event the following evening.  Tons of work, lots of fun, but I don’t think I’ll do it again next year.  I missed all of the other show, and only know of it from pictures and what I’ve heard or seen while setting up.

Photos from SIM Studio’s Flickr.  Pozen info @ SIM site.

Resources:

• Bookbinding on Instructables
• http://www.praxisbindery.com/ - My uncle works here, he taught me some things
• http://www.guildofbookworkers.org/

From the video above alone, the possibilities seem to abound, and its uses in theatrical production and environment creation/transformation, and guerrila applications, are pretty exciting.

I’m kind of a stickler for really learning deeply and fullly whatever it is I dive into, and this is no exception.  I’ve always loved writing tutorials, synthesizing ideas and communicating them was almost second to filmmaking when that was my main passion, and I created various graphics-related tutorial sites, both as tutorial-writing venues but also as web design and development projects.  They were great fun, and sometimes I’m bummed they’re not hosted anymore.  Oh well, onwards and upwards.

For my entry into the Photomanipulation contest over at Instructables, I walk the viewer through a very detailed process of taking a daytime image and converting it into a nighttime image, with a moon and some creepy Halloween-style effects:

Before (Grey day by larskflem)

After

My penchant for delving into the nuts and bolts of what we’re doing at nearly every step of the tutorial doesn’t lighten up until near the end, but I feel like it’s a very full and comprehensive guide on how to do something simple, with all of the why to back it up.  The video form is more engaging, for sure, and I did love recording it, but the contest required their entries in writing, so my 3-4-day transcription process leads us to the final entry here.  And I’m pretty proud of it.

So, if you’re interested, there are 7 pages of technically solid and thorough instruction on how and why to take an image from boring grey day to creepy ghost hand under the moonlight.  Check it out and vote for me if you like it .

Also: PDF of the tutorial, video version (Vimeo).

… One of my majors requires (not explicitly, but very implicitly) that we develop a practice of making our own stuff without external forces pushing us to do so.  While this is awesome, and probably one of the best things to have going on in art school, it really means we have to step up and tackle the world and ourselves in a serious manner.  (Not always serious, but at least as far as taking ourselves serious as stuff-makers goes).

So, one of my projects for this year is a short film.  Starting with the guidelines of some cool, fast-paced cinematography, some simple, flashy effects work, and a bitchin’ fight scene with weapons and unique choreography, I banged this out in a few weeks near the end of August, and would looove some feedback.

Originally I wasn’t going for heavy story or even fully-fleshed emotional tones, but now that I’ve gotten out the first draft, I’m open to developing that stuff and really the whole thing in almost any direction.  That said, I like the piece as it is now, and I do want to keep things short and concise, while also trying to pack a punch (both metaphorically and literally).

So, please attack this with fervor and excitement, and I’d love to hear what you’ve got to say in the comments.

Also, check out Scribd.com if you like the PDF-embedding doo-hickey I used above.  I used the iPaper plugin to add the document into WordPress.

The videos get pretty quiet sometimes, so I’ve included the transcripts of each poem.  Since it’s such a long page, here are some links: Cold (#1), Life Alive (#2), Fuck you (#3).  Just scroll down from each video to read along.

Cold

Cold from Blake Johnson on Vimeo.

Transcript:

I am cold.
I’m running toward the things I’ve been told
are good,
desperately wanting to be brought into a fold
when I should
be building my own,
but remember the graces I’ve known
means I need to be bold,
I need to let go of the days I hold
so carefully crafted with scheduled precision
losing all notion of feeling or vision,
trumping the regularity of a nine-to-five
and keeping me from feeling like I’m alive.
…but FIRE!
and I lose all restraint;
I spring into action like a saint:
I know my mission, I will not give in
I will not falter,
not be slowed by the halter of inhibition
or judge by the amount of my nutrition;
my intuition has always guided me
and so since when was it OK to say to that sweet side of me that
“no!” “I don’t trust you.” “I’m too scared.”
Never.
That’s not fair.
So I come to these nights,
to watch the linguistic firefights;
to gaze in awe at the mouths of people
and drift into wonder amongst words never feeble
that light up my weeks like the sun,
and I wonder, “have I won?”
Down the rays beat,
spreading their thick heat
across the glinting transparent cube encasing my rusty heart.
I am cold.
But slowly,
with dedication,
I find that I am melting.

Life Alive

Life Alive from Blake Johnson on Vimeo.

Transcript:

Life Alive!
this is what I always wanted!
The last few years have been nothing but haunted,
shrouded and black like the son of a ravaged alley cat,
missing the old
and wishing the new
would simply fold and there’d be something, someone, you.
All I ever wanted was you,
and you, and you, and you,
and to share the love
and to do what I dream of
and to laugh and to hug and to feel
and to know at the end of the day that
YES! I AM REAL!
So I will ROCK OUT like there is no tomorrow,
I will think with my heart and go with the flow,
and remind myself that every moment is a window,
and that I just need to JUMP!
Standing up here is terrifying,
electrifying,
sending chills down my spine
and freezing my mind
but I will ROCK THE FUCK OUT of my time
until, old and wrinkly, there’s nothing left to do but unwind,
and know that after all the time I strived,
I finally managed to live some bit of life alive.

Fuck you

Fuck you from Blake Johnson on Vimeo.

Transcript:

Fuck you.
For loving everything.
For trying anything.
For believing the world was good,
that all is saved by love and brotherhood.
Fuck you.
For dreaming,
for looking in the mirror and believing,
for knowing that every moment you’re alive
only leads to growing and contentedness in knowing that you tried.
Fuck you for sleeping at night;
for knowing that no matter what life would turn out alright.
For being loved by everyone
and believing a hug could silence a gun.
Fuck you for caring,
for daring to go out alone, with no map and no call for help and coming home,
laden with treasures,
and a smile betraying inner joy beyond measure.
Fuck your inner joy,
you as a little boy
when everything was possible and you would make it so,
from the self-taught fight choreography to the lightsaber glow.
Fuck your boundless imagination,
when your vault of ideas required mental pagination,
when movies and writing were the keys to the world and you would always, every time, without a doubt,
get the girl.
Fuck you for making me doubt everything,
fuck you for making me cry when I sing,
for your limitless words,
for your ability to herd every emotion
into a notion
set in motion by some simple phrase.
Since when was your life’s purpose just an adolescent phase?
Fuck you for becoming so afraid.
Fuck you for being controlled,
fuck you for getting so old,
and fuck you for still thinking that age has anything to do with anything.
Fuck you for letting this depression happen to you.
Fuck that ex of yours for wrapping it ’round you.
Fuck you for keeping it there,
and letting it take this long to tear.
Now… rip it off.

Thanks for checking this stuff out.  It’s usually more personal and stress-relieving, more directly reflective of my life than my other works, so it’s cool to have a place to get that out.  Hope you liked it, there’s definitely more on the way at some point.  The open mics/poetry slams will go on all year…

Originally meaning to stick with “good sites come from tweaks and enhancements over time” I tried pretty fruitlessly to figure out how to change the existing layout into something that would keep my old site intact, but capably handle a new batch of work. Because we all know I won’t get a chance to update with much more than posts until Christmas break.

Alas, I couldn’t help but be suckered into the promises of greatness from a brand new theme, and as it turns out, using the simple Twenty Eleven theme by WordPress has been a very smart move.  I started with the Portfolio Press theme but decided its back-end was more than I wanted, and went with this option instead.  It’s run very simply from my end, leaving me to really focus on the posting, and letting the gears work all the coolness of the menus, the home page layout, with its different post type displays and featured slideshow, and the individual posts laying out differently as well.

It’s a good jump for me, and as I continue to get used to its workings and take advantage of its features, I hope you’ll enjoy it as well.  Lots of new content on the way as I’m starting a new year in school, so look forward to that!  For now, though, check out my summer stuff, especially the Poland post, for sure the most extensive blog post I’ve done yet.

I’m looking forward to putting new stuff up, learning more about this new theme, and hearing your feedback on how the whole thing is progressing.