Friday, November 30, 2007

turn off the lights


yes you. right now.

now think: what would your life be like without art? if your parents never gave you art supplies when you were little. if you never had an art class. if you never had a teacher that believed in you. if you had never been to a museum. if you didn't have a creative outlet.

they did that little activity today at the cap workshop: "life of a france merrick scholar." it's deceptively powerful. i couldn't help but tear up a little. that is why i do cap. you can never underestimate the power one simple art project can have in a kids life... whether it's an self portrait, a book about fall pigments made with leaf rubbings, or a paper mache globe.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

the space between


i've felt a little off so far this week. just a bit of DTW to BWI jet lag. i'm needing time to fully make the transition back. the transition from coffee for pure enjoyment to coffee for necessity. the next three weeks are going to be a lot. final projects/critiques, a neighborhood called baltimore exhibition (no joke! actually happening. some things just work out. so amazing.) & my last two lessons at mt. royal elementary, to name a few. but if i just keep swimming...

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

almost home...


-a relaxing thanksgiving day. (don't let me do any homework! seriously.)
-momsie's birthday. yay!
-shopping on black friday. (oops. i mean... buy nothing day!)
-oc marathon with the pops. (he's still waiting to find out if lindsay is caleb's illegitimate love child.)
-getting the last piece of glass removed from my foot by my own doctor.
-p.f chang's with geoff, dahling.
-starbucks 57 times with jackie. (don't worry... when it comes to coffee our time management skills are top notch.)
-catching up on reading.
-panera with the ship kids.
-letting the inspiration come to me for final projects.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

if i were a font, what font would i be?


my metaphorical self-portrait from drawing today.

if i were a font, i would have to go with a bold all caps helvetica, a little bit of adobe garamond, with some signature up in there.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

public spaces






last week my cap class visited reisterstown plaza, which is actually a mall that, despite being "baltimore's biggest enclosed shopping center," appears to have seen better days. fletcher asked us to investigate lots of things about suburban gathering places & how they impact social behavior: plaza/mall design- is it comfortable? uncomfortable? beautiful? ugly? is the bottom line consumer needs or could there be possibilities for other cultural needs? is it a community space? malls have become such an integral part of our society, and aren't going away anytime soon. in the cap context you are need to go beyond complaining about their role in perpetuating consumerism, and start looking at the possibilities inherent in such a space. i hit the jackpot when i googled "mall as a suburban gathering place" and found the project for public spaces website. so interesting. that to me is community arts. why not? they are using design for social change, and have been very successful so far. the more i delve into this huge, abstract thing we call community arts, the more i realize how far reaching it is.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

last night


we celebrated tara's birthday before she left for thanksgiving break. she requested to wear my plastic tiara and go with some friends to eat somewhere that would sing to her. hard rock was closed for a private event, so we settled for houlihan's in inner harbor. still yummy (even though we had to do most of the happy birthday singing, and they charged lauren $5 for a red bull.)

we had so much fun. it was an excuse to take an insane amount of pictures and wear my $14 party dress from h&m and new boots. i'm pretty sure everyone on the light rail thought i was crazy. yes, i know it was cold outside. but it was a function follows form kind of night. happy birthday tara!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

what becomes of the sleep deprived


i was stupid enough to think i could handle a quick trip to towson town center after classes today when what i really needed was some good sleep. bad idea. one thing after another went wrong. you know you have gone too far when a fortune cookie is what brings you back to reality.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Thursday, November 8, 2007

so pumped.




a really cool thing mica is doing now is "black panther: rank and file." it includes films every tuesday in october as part of free fall baltimore, an exhibition (which opened today & i can't wait to see), and a two part symposium tomorrow. the first segment is called "aesthetics & revolution." because it's during the day they are expecting mostly mica students to come. the big superstar panel, "community & revolution" is later that night, and they are hoping that the audience includes more members from the baltimore community at large.

it sounds like it is going to be totally up my alley... just another perspective on how art can be a catalyst for change. and sometimes i agree that sometimes the best way to change things is to be radical. and to aim for things others find impossible or ridiculous. my favorite piece in the exhibition is titled "we wanted to be", by daniel joseph martinez. it stopped me dead in my tracks when i first saw it through the glass doors while it was still being installed. because it is all text, a perfect display of vinyl letters and kerning. it reads:

we wanted to be radical brave pioneers we considered ourselves to be a vanguard we overestimated ourselves ridiculously indulging in the illusion that a revolution was thinkable in the federal republic in this light we were self-timers who acted cut off from reality in a void we live a sort of armed existentialism.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

don't forget


i meant to post this a long time ago... just a few simple reminders.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

stationery for social change.


my cap class went back to east baltimore today. a neighborhood called baltimore was off limits, so this particular "implementation." was a group effort. we decided on each bringing postcards or cards, pre-made or blank, and using them as tools for social interaction. the concept with the cards was giving people an outlet for expression through our art. they could do with it as they chose... hang it on their wall, write a letter to city council, send it to an old friend, whatever. i was really into these once i got started (obviously, they involve letter stickers.) we decided that northeast market would have the most potential. everyone has to eat.

fletcher had some wise words about gathering spaces: "i don't always know what is going to happen, but i make things happen." i guess i'm not at that place yet. i'm still held back by my own over-analyzing and self-consciousness. obviously, the hardest part of the card concept was confronting someone. how would i know that they want to talk to me? but if i waited for someone to approach me, how would they know that i want to talk to them? see... there i go with the over-analyzing. i put stamps on every card thinking it would motivate me to make sure i gave them to people. no such luck. i gave one away the whole day, and it was in exchange for one of those "deaf education system cards." so my plan now is to use them when it is not so planned.

i'm not giving up on the idea of them, i think i'm just realizing that they aren't necessarily universal. i knew it would be hard. any time you share your art, you place yourself in a vulnerable position. i'm glad this class is giving me the opportunity to work all this stuff out in my mind.

Monday, November 5, 2007

i miss you boys!


my mom emailed me last week with pictures of the boys and some special seats. just look at my dad's face. a smile that big... he's been wanting seats from tiger stadium for awhile now.

i wouldn't have thought i would miss those crazy boys at all. but today when my computer wouldn't turn on at all and i really could have used some tech assistance, and last week when young kip called me on his private line and his laugh sounded just like dad's, and when i get emails like this giving me updates on what is happening at home... it's hard not to.

Sunday, November 4, 2007

ah ha moments


some notes/realizations/connections/inspiration from this past week...

Saturday, November 3, 2007

you are welcome, dan


Dear Becky from Dan on Vimeo.

you know i would never pass up the chance to share mica with someone else. i'm glad i was able to get you excited, dan.

Friday, November 2, 2007

shopping carts and light rails


"to live ordinary life artfully is to have this sensibility about the things in daily life, to live more intuitively and to be willing to surrender a measure of our rationality and control in return for gifts of the soul."
-thomas moore

so much good stuff this week. it's too daunting to even write about it all right now. that's what i get for not updating my blog as all of this happens. i just haven't had time. but i'm glad. glad that things are busy. it felt so good to be back in the schedule of staying up until 2 and getting up at 7 with a to-do list all ready to go. and to be drinking lots more coffee. that's me at my best.