Saturday, September 20, 2008

what makes someone something?


i love writing - does that make me a writer? on a certain level, the act of writing makes me a writer - it makes me 'one who writes' - but there's certainly a difference between someone who keeps a plant alive on their window sill and a gardener.

to be someone who is something - officially - must you have skill? is that what creates the difference, the true being of something? you cannot fly a plane unless you are a pilot - someone who has gained a certain amount of information on planes and flying them, someone who has put that knowledge into supervised action, someone who has passed the test - but anyone can move, write, sing, be someone they're not - which leads me to ask: what is working? sitting in a cubicle is working. delivering the mail is working. is sitting in my studio writing this BLOG entry working? who decides? what classifies working from not working? being given money for the act? the degree to which you like what you're doing? whether you choose to do it or whether it's forced upon you? whether it furthers your goals? must it be something that is not broken? it works!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

the movement square's edges are starting to round - it just might roll

this week's discoveries and codifications:

1 - i am conducting movement research

2 - i am interested in exploring movement as an expression of music - not movement for movement's sake - so i can't start from movement, i have to get to movement through music. i have to be compelled to move.

3 - the missing link: i am supposed to have my violin and bow in my hands

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i met with ezra yesterday for our weekly rehearsal. a couch, a cat, and conversation were the main ingredients. topics included:

:what elements of movement interest us

:how to navigate communication person to person/artist to artist

:processes

:how to achieve a desired effect on an audience

:what you can and can't control (artist to audience/person to person)

:about the passage of time and how different places or situations can alter it

:how each person on an airplane has come from a different place, carrying each of their previous life experiences with them - how they will all go off in different directions upon leaving the plane to continue accumulating experiences - about what it means to have each of those people in the same reality together, moving through the sky, all on the same path, sharing the same space connecting point a to point b

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

animation station




Finally, after a week of updating and installing the latest software for my home computer my animation station is up and running!

The last picture is a frame from the original storyboard.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

inner workings

i feel defeated. i can't make sense of things. i need an interpreter. can't someone come and put all of my elements into a diagram with lots of lines connecting the parts showing how it's all working together? can't someone show me the big picture? that's what beth used to do. things are moving alright, things are moving along without me. i can't keep up. i can't keep track. how do i know if it's all fitting in? it doesn't need me in the same way anymore, i see that. but seeing that doesn't tell me what to do, how to adjust. what is it trying to say? is it doing its job? is it effective?

i need some outer workings.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

want to contribute? not sure how?

bridging wounds is largely about communication, perception, evolution, perspective, and the interconnectivity of things - i want to explore these concepts through human experiences, your experiences. i'd like to invite you all into an open dialog about the process, the concepts, the elements involved - will you share your brains with me?

many of you have expressed that you'd like to participate, but aren't sure how or where - visiting, supporting, commenting, or spreading the word are all wonderful and much appreciated ways. to chime in directly, click on the "comments" link at the bottom of any post.

i'm so thrilled by all of the interest, encouragement, and support i've received regarding the BLOG and the project. thank you!!

Monday, September 1, 2008

back and forth



i am most certainly on a playground.

i am just trying to figure out if i am on a swing or on one of those old school teeter-totters. remember those? (i think they did away with them in most schools. true story - super dangerous or something). anyhow i was sort of always terrified while on the teeter-totter (such a lame name, btw). instead of enjoying being tossed into the air and plummeting back to the ground, i spent the entire time terrified that my teetering (or is it tottering?) partner was going to jump off all stealth-like and send me barreling back to the ground. (which hurts like hell).

but the swings - i had a much better time with the swings. first of all, i essentially was doing it alone, the swinging that is. but as with the t.t. it was the last part of that that always freaked me out; because (of course) you were expected to jump out of those things. and while terrifying, there was something also super liberating about making the choice and taking the plunge (quite literally) out of the seat and, well, and onto the grass.

i am going on about this because for the past few months, or god, has it been a year? i have been going back and forth, up and down on the daily. one day i feel have everything under control and i feel like i am taking all of the right steps to have a successful little furniture/lighting/whatever micro design firm, and the next day it's as though i am as far away as ever from my goal, and nothing is materializing and i am getting old and i don't have a savings (true) and and and and and then the next day i am back to feeling like i have my ducks in a row, and while this all takes time, i am doing what needs to happen and i am doing it in a timely manner and yes gosh darn it i am going to be successful. and then the next day i am ready to join the peace corps and escape for two years.

...

so that's where i am, and that's how i am entering into this project. i am struggling with getting shit done and feeling accomplishment, while maintaining relationships with others and myself. i can't wait to get my fingers on some paper and get it between the jaws of my industrial sewing machine. and just let it go and go and go and...

i hope i am on the swing.


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the first photo is of the building where i worked in a cabinet shop a little minute while studying industrial design.

the second photo is of my stuff on a chair brian made outside our shop space in georgetown.

this is my first post.