THIS IS A PLACE

A Storm

2008-09-17T20:42:00.001-06:00

Well that was a long storm.

A Storm

2007-09-17T15:26:00.000-06:00

Two nights ago this strange storm blew across the city. It was small and gentle and silent with thunderless lightning strikes.

TENORI-ON

2007-09-17T12:20:00.000-06:00

Visual control of sound. Very cool.

Slow Home

2007-09-14T16:51:00.000-06:00

In response to a comment on my Slow Home post I am answering here.

How does one afford it?

That is the problem isn’t it? A simple appeal to the consumer will yield little result. The current structure of development prevents affordable alternatives to the status quo. Consumers can’t wait for big developers to change and big developers have no motivation to change. A young family needing a house will purchase the house, out of those available, that best fits their needs. However, just because a consumer buys the best product they can doesn’t mean that it’s the best product for them or the one they really want. If all the cars you can afford are Fords and Chevys and you buy a Ford it doesn’t mean that Ford makes the best car for you. We need a Honda or Toyota in house production.

Look at Daybreak where just a few of the principles of New Urbanism are used – small lots, walkable tree lined streets, detached garages placed back from the street – and you see higher property values and extraordinary demand. All of these things would have been negatives to developers just ten years ago. People buying houses ten years ago might have been happy with a Daybreak style neighborhood but developers were telling them they wanted something different and no one was offering real alternatives. Daybreak is a weak example of what is possible. But zoning codes are still stuck in the 60’s, developers are notoriously conservative and contractors are frightened of change. If it worked in the past why change?

Worse yet if you want a modern house using unique materials in a walkable dynamic neighborhood you run into contractors that are scared to vary from long established routines without charging extra and developers who don't think people want modern homes (they also have no idea how to do them right).

To answer the question of how does one afford something like the Slow Home ethic is a complicated endeavor. Right now I am still figuring it all out. One thing however is sure - it involves a lot more than just the consumer.

I hope to revisit this topic again soon.

Once

2007-09-14T10:37:00.000-06:00

This is one of the sweetest most refreshing films I've seen in years.

Windrivers

2007-09-06T18:10:00.001-06:00

Well I just wanted to post a few more photos of the trip.

Here is a part of the group (from left to right) Kit (Glyn), Cory, Jason, Sheralyn, Allen, Lorin

Evan and Craig

Brian

Windrivers

2007-09-04T16:08:00.000-06:00

Here are just a few pictures from my trip to the Windrivers. The highest point I got to was 11790 ft. peak on the continental divide.

Miss Teen

2007-08-28T17:51:00.000-06:00

OK, I have to comment on this one. If you haven't seen Miss South Carolina answer a question in the Miss Teen USA pageant than check it out here first. This is the response I loved.

A Response to Adam

2007-08-23T21:45:00.000-06:00

I just responded to this post on Being is Somethingness. I thought I would share my response here as well because I feel the experience was significant enough to remember it.

I don't have a good answer. I believe we tend to anthropomorphize the animals we commonly view as pets so it seems much more like murder to kill them.

I was backpacking and fishing last weekend and I caught several fish (which I haven’t done in many years). When I was removing the hook from the mouth of one of the fish I noticed it’s eye looking back and forth from my hand, which was struggling to remove the hook, to my face. For a moment I felt real sorrow for killing the fish. I even felt compelled to audibly apologize to it – though I am sure it didn’t understand what I said. I'm not sure that the fish was at all aware of what was happening but seeing its eye looking at me gave me pause.

I love meat and seafood and that won’t stop but I believe it is very healthy to periodically “look into the eyes” of the animals we kill to eat. It wouldn’t hurt to actually take those lives with our own hands if it was feasible. Then we might more fully understand that meat doesn’t grow pre-packaged on a meat tree and that real animals (some with might even pass for a personality) die to give us sustenance.

As for caged veal – I believe it should be illegal. And so should foie gras.

Grandaddy Basin

2007-08-21T13:39:00.001-06:00

Just a few pictures from a weekend in the high Uintah wilderness. This is a special place for me. It is where my first backpacking trip into the high country happened and where I realized that I loved being alone in the wild.

This is a view of Grandaddy Basin from Hades Pass a saddle you climb over to get into the basin from the Grandview trail.

Nate trying out Betsy Lake.

After spending our first night next to a group of inconsiderate, noisy idiots we decided to go cross country and try out our orienteering skills. We did spend an hour wandering around semi lost for an hour after we shot past one of the lakes we were heading to but we eventually found our way to Sonny Lake. That night was cool, breezy, peaceful and quiet.

An unnamed lake north of Mohawk Lake - just after the rain.

A fish?

A view of the canyon on the drive out.

Bocce and BBQ

2007-08-14T15:09:00.000-06:00

We have decided to take back the park. So Parktivities was born. It's a grassroots effort to begin using the park and creating an informed, aware and invested community that loves the park. We have bocce and BBQ on Sunday night and today we did Yoga with Dallas at 7:00-8:00 AM - ending at the tolling of the bells of the Greek Orthodox church.

It's a fun way to send a message to the city that we want the park clean and safe. With Salt Lake Mayoral race in full swing I believe will be heard.

Sports

2007-08-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

I have never read a statement about youth sports that I so fully agreed with. I liked sports and had a lot of fun playing with friends in the town park growing up - but as soon as it got too serious and stopped being fun I was over it. Card says it well here.

Straws and Design

2007-08-09T10:51:00.000-06:00

I saw this exhibit mentioned on a on a website and later in the back of Dwell. Moroso teamed up with Tokujin Yoshioka for their exhibit in Milan, he used 3,000,000 plastic straws to create an ethereal and cloud-like room. I like this little video of the event.

The Spirituality of Harry Potter

2007-08-01T23:02:00.000-06:00

I think this debate on beliefnet was very interesting. If you have time check it out. Especially the post by Orson Scott Card titled - What Civilization Does Harry Potter Create?

Washington DC

2007-07-25T15:52:00.000-06:00

Here are two pictures from our recent trip to Virginia and Washington that I liked. The first is of Michael and Me at Monticello although you would never know that by the background but I did wear my patriotic tee.

This next picture is of Motherwell and Me. He is one of my most influential Abstract Expressionist painters. I didn't take down the name of this piece but from the looks of it it is from his Elegy to the Spanish Republic series though it doesn't display quite the quintessential forms as some of this series, it's just a little loose. Judging from the scale probably dates from the 1950's. These were painted as a reflection on the brutal and savagely bloody civil war and Franco's subsequent destruction of the Spanish Republic. Personally standing in front of a painting of this scale is impressive. The deep black forms surround your field of vision and seem to envelop you. Unlike Rothco whose canvases were like doorways to a bright and meditative spiritual realm, Motherwell opens you to the overwhelming destruction and pain that far too often falls upon our lives.

Harry Potter

2007-07-23T18:42:00.001-06:00

Here I am in all my geekiness. I went to the party and taught lots of little (and big) wizards and witches how to draw characters from Harry Potter. Nate and I traded off 15 min. shifts teaching essentially the same thing over and over. I had tons of fun. As volunteers we got to be in an accelerated line to buy the book. I got mine around 12:25 thinking I had waited for along time. When I walked out and saw the line still waiting to buy the book I was blown away. There were hundreds of people in a huge line stretching 1/5 of a mile or more.

I felt a tinge of sadness roll over me when I got home. That was the last Harry event of its kind. The end of a era.

Line

2007-07-13T11:35:00.001-06:00

I love seeing someone who really understands how to use line. Matthias Pliessnig's work is dynamic and active in both drawing and sculpture (which is also functional). Check out his site.

Lucky

2007-06-25T21:53:00.000-06:00

Wow you never know how animals will act. (It doesn't end as bad as it looks)

Slow Home

2007-06-25T20:56:00.000-06:00

"There is a crisis of housing. It is a crisis borne not from scarcity but from plenty - too much, too big, and too many.
Large corporations create the majority of our domestic environments.
Our most intimate and important places are built for profit rather than people. The result is a seemingly endless sprawl of cookie cutter houses, strip malls and highway interchanges that are bad for us, our families, our cities, and the environment."
I couldn't agree more. If we are ever going to create neighborhoods and communities that matter I believe this is the way. Go to the site and see the details if you don't believe me.

Slow Home

Here are ten steps to create better homes and better neighborhoods.

1. GO INDEPENDENT

Avoid homes by big developers and large production builders. They are designed for profit not people. Work with independent designers and building contractors instead.

2. GO LOCAL

Avoid home finishing products from big box retailers. The standardized solutions they provide cannot fit the unique conditions of your home. Use local retailers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to get a locally appropriate response and support your community.

3. GO GREEN

Stop the conversion of nature into sprawl. Don’t buy in a new suburb. The environmental cost can no longer be justified. Re-invest in existing communities and use sustainable materials and technologies to reduce your environmental footprint.

4. GO NEAR

Reduce your commute. Driving is a waste of time and the new roads and services required to support low density development is a big contributor to climate change. Live close to where you work and play.

5. GO SMALL

Avoid the real estate game of bigger is always better. A properly designed smaller home can feel larger AND work better than a poorly designed big one. Spend your money on quality instead of quantity.

6. GO OPEN

Stop living in houses filled with little rooms. They are dark, inefficient, and don’t fit the complexity of our daily lives. Live in a flexible and adaptive open plan living space with great light and a connection to outdoors.

7. GO SIMPLE

Don’t buy a home that has space you won’t use and things you don’t need. Good design can reduce the clutter and confusion in your life. Create a home that fits the way you really want to live.

8. GO MODERN

Avoid fake materials and the re-creation of false historical styles. They are like advertising images and have little real depth. Create a home in which character comes from the quality of space, natural light and the careful use of good, sustainable materials.

9. GO HEALTHY

Avoid living in a public health concern. Houses built with cheap materials off gas noxious chemicals. Suburbs promote obesity because driving is the only option. Use natural, healthy home materials and building techniques. Live where you can walk to shop, school and work.

10. GO FOR IT

Stop procrastinating. The most important, and difficult, step in the slow home process is the first one that you take. Get informed and then get involved with your home. Every change, no matter how small, is important.

Green Walls

2007-06-25T19:28:00.000-06:00

I love this. It's nice for the corporate office but it would be amazing in a living room. I imagine it would be alot of work to maintain and a bit messy but who cares. Here is the site.

Here is one for your courtyard.

Mark Luthringer - Ridgmont Typologies

2007-06-22T18:20:00.000-06:00

This says it! I won't say much - just that I am really glad to see this work. I really wish I had time to go to the show. Here is the site - read the statement.

Radiolaria

2007-06-22T14:29:00.000-06:00

I realized that I need to start keeping track of the things I am thinking about during the day. Of course I am working on my regular projects but I am constantly distracted by new ideas and (for me) new discoveries. Here is a site that I cant get over - see the archive. So absolutely inspiring. Maybe these constant posts of random junk won't inspire anyone but me. Then again this is my blog and if you want to know what I am doing, how I'm thinking, and where I am going as a person and as an artist then follow along, I'm glad to have you with me.

Hobbit?

2007-06-21T11:23:00.000-06:00

If you always wanted to live like a modern hobbit this is the way.

Casa PR

2007-06-21T10:38:00.000-06:00

Beautiful introspective minimalism. The inside is white and airy with a lot of natural light from sky lights above.

The outside is sculptural. Maybe a bit of form over function but like Gehry sometimes the sculpture is foremost. And oh yes that is a spiral stair sunk into the yard and leading into or out of the house (this represents for me so many childhood fantasies). You could never do that in the U.S. (not legally that is) thanks to the safety police.

Institute for East Asian Architecture and Urbanism

2007-06-20T19:05:00.000-06:00

I just ran across this site. It has a nice set of articles under the "Architecture of the Month" section. I adore that set of buildings in the middle picture. I just wish I could see them larger. I don't imagine that I would like an entire street with such extreme step backs but this little section disrupts the wall nicely - like a river cascading down between two cliff faces.

Wheel

2007-06-15T18:40:00.000-06:00

Slowly but surely I am building a bike. I know it's not really exciting but here is the first wheel I spoked myself (or at least half of it - Adam did the other half while teaching me how). It still needs a little polishing and the hub needs a rebuild. Oh and that is a coaster brake hub so no crazy over-the-handlebars-while-trying-to-stop-the-petals for me. I am a man of leisure and luxury - I'll just kick back to stop.

Streets Matter

2007-06-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

This site shows some great streets and some bad ones. Some are very functional others not. Some are beautiful and others not. Streets connect us both as communities and as individuals. Their design and dimensions matter.

2007-06-13T11:41:00.000-06:00

I thought this was nice - great wall texture - from a strangely random site. It comes from Havana but it was on this blog Iran Graffiti and Urban Art Report

Tord Boontje

2007-06-12T17:33:00.000-06:00

One of the most beautiful sites I've seen and some really appealing designs. Gaudy Modern maybe? Check him out - Tord Boontje

Questions and Statements

2007-06-12T16:14:00.000-06:00

One of the hardest questions for me to answer, in a casual conversation, is "what kind of art do you do" - Archi-structurally reasoned multilevel urbanistic pattern layers influenced by time and process and informed by the mid-century action painters of Abstract Expressionism and the urban thinking of Nikos Salingaros and Jane Jacobs and the visual artifacts of theoretical physics, sub-urban planning, religious creed, and abstract cartography - is neither easy to explain or understand in the two min. someone will actually give you their attention.

One of the most difficult times to be asked complex questions that require a lot more than a yes no answer is while you are lying on your back with a bunch of tools stuck in your mouth.

I went to the dentist today.

Havasupai - People of the Blue Green Water

2007-06-07T17:17:00.000-06:00

Michael and I just got back from Havasupai last Tuesday night. What an amazing experience. I will post more photos soon.

The Bike (2)

2007-05-28T11:27:00.000-06:00

I have a good feeling about this bike. I really think it is going to look great. I've started stripping it down for painting and expect to start painting the primer tomorrow. Just have some hand sanding to do. I also have a bunch of components to shine up. So far I am around $65 total cost (not including my hours), not to bad.

The Bike

2007-05-23T16:36:00.000-06:00

Here is the frame. I finally got it completely stripped and ready to be painted.

Great Sky

2007-05-23T15:38:00.000-06:00

This was the scene from the balcony two nights ago. A suprisingly cold evening just before the light gave out completely. This reminds me why I love living in the mountains.

Homeless Home

2007-05-23T15:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we found a hobo living in our elevator equipment room. Ken, the elevator service guy and I went and knocked on the door after the service guy said he heard someone inside. When we knocked an husky voice said that he needed a minute to get dressed. When he finally opened up he had as nice a home as possible in about 40 sq ft. He had carpet, a nice foam mattress with blankets and sheets, a radio and storage bins filled with other useful and creepy items (a frilly kitchen apron). We had to make him remove his stuff. He started throwing everything into a pile while grumbling that he didn't have anywhere to go. He doesn't like the homeless shelter because it is filled with schizo's he responded when we suggested he go there. We let him keep his stuff out on the terrace until he could return to cart it off.

Ken told me today that he returned to apologize and ask for work later that night. Ken told him to return in a few weeks and we might help him out then. We'll see.

I must give credit to Ken for being so nice as we were kicking him out. He really was patient and kindly while being firm. A good Christian example.

Oslo

2007-05-18T13:14:00.000-06:00

Michael and I met Oslo last night. We went to dinner with him and Pepper. What a funny independent little boy. I can't wait to see him turn into a toddler. He will be running through the house naked, dodging the grasp of his pursuing parents, as soon is he is capable of understanding what clothes are. Of course this is all conjecture but he just gives off that independent kind of vibe. But as babies go, when he laughs he really shines. I couldn't help but love him.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera - so no pictures.

Art is Vital

2007-05-18T13:10:00.000-06:00

"For reasons that are difficult to articulate, art is vital. As we experience it, we increase. This is not necessarily to say that we gain information, but rather that we become part of a larger thing, and in some way we know or are known more completely.
I believe it is this illusive quality that unites art as diverse as that of Rembrandt and Paul Klee. In this sense it is not a new thing that must continually be done in art, but rather the old thing, continually explored by new individuals."

Brian T. Kershisnik

The Honda is Gone

2007-05-10T13:16:00.000-06:00

Well it has been nearly 10 years since I came home off my mission and purchased this little beauty. It saw me through post mission weirdness, post mission dating and marriage and 7 years of school. I drove it to San Francisco three times (one of those trips it carried out just about every earthly possession my friend Mark had). Seattle once for my honeymoon. North as far as Yellowstone twice. South to Saint George three times. East to Denver once. I drove it everywhere I could along the Wasatch front. And one never-to-be-forgotten drive from Seattle to San Diego and everywhere in between. It ended its service as a construction car forced to carry tools from job to job. I put 143,000 miles on it. It saw me through the most formative years of my life. - Today we donated it to JOY.

So I salute you Honda, you did me proud.

A New Bike

2007-05-09T10:27:00.000-06:00

Well I am beginning a new project. I am going to attempt to build a fixed gear street bike. I'll document the process. Here is the beautiful new $15 Raleigh frame and me cutting off the old lock.

Spring

2007-05-09T10:12:00.000-06:00

It is long past the blooming period for the pear trees but I took this photo and thought I would post it. I love spring in Utah.

Camping

2007-05-08T16:53:00.000-06:00

Nate and I went out camping again. This time we went to the west desert. We camped southwest of Tooele. In the morning we drove west on the Pony Express Road until we reached the geode beds. It was desolate and barren and stark and beautiful.

Camp was fun because I tried out my ultralight tent set up. Basically an umbrella with a ground cloth. It cuts the weight of the tent almost in half and for one person it has plenty of coverage. Bugs are another story.

2007-05-08T16:50:00.000-06:00

Check out the website for Broadway. I posted more renderings of the Lanai Loft.

Broadway Park Lofts - Lanai Loft

2007-05-02T20:24:00.000-06:00

Just a sneek peek at what I've been working on. (Hey, that's a nice painting down there!)

Michael and Me

2007-04-30T11:50:00.000-06:00

A few Sundays ago we went walking over by the temple. We ran into a friend and he took this photo. I really need to take more photos of Michael and myself. Time just passes too quick. Thanks Sheldon.

On the Way to Jackson

2007-04-24T21:03:00.000-06:00

Just a quick pic from my trip to Jackson Wy. It was a beautiful drive both ways but I only stopped once to photograph. I always regret not taking more photographs. I use to think that it was the cost of the film that prohibited me from being more liberal with my shots but now, with a digital camera, I realize it is the sorting and editing task when I get home that I don't like. Why take ten when one good one is all I really want.

Some Other Things I Want to Do

2007-04-05T17:41:00.000-06:00

Before time runs out (see previous post) I want to:

Grow a long beard.
Go hang gliding and/or parachuting
Learn to sail
Climb a 17,000 ft+ mountain
Learn some type of musical instrument
Get a public art works commission
Play video games for 24 hrs straight
Have a 6 pack (body)
Visit every continent
Learn to surf
Live by a beach for more than a year (surfing regularly)
Write a novel

Things You May Not Have Known About Me

2007-04-03T23:13:00.000-06:00

In response to Absolutely Plum

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Window washer, carpet cleaner, janitor
2. Vinyl siding sales and delivery
3. Nursery man
4. Bellman, hotel van driver

Four movies I would watch over and over and over (In no particular order):
1. Star Wars (IV-VI) (not because there good but because of nostalgia)
2. Searching for Bobby Fisher
3. The Last Samurai
4. Finding Forester

Four random places I have spent the night
1. On the floor of the Gart Sports store in the Layton Hills Mall (work)
2. On the floor of Edit Technologies (work)
3. In my Honda Accord in a parking lot somewhere north of San Francisco
4. On my chair at Allen•Millo (work)

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. Simpsons
2. The Office
3. Law and Order
4. Star Trek (the old ones)

Four places I want to visit before I die:
1. Patagonia
2. Scandinavia and Iceland
3. Borneo
4. The Himalayas

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Sushi
2. Fish and Chips
3. Blueberry muffins (which I never get to eat)
4. Beef Jerky

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In a tent in the woods
2. In Venice
3. On the beach in Maui
4. Driving to Alaska.

Four people I wish I could talk to again:
1. Jason Dickamore
2. Cory Bowthorpe
3. Grandma and Grandpa Gibb
4. Dick Norris (Channel 5)

Four things I would like to do before time runs out:
1. Live in a rural location
2. Live in a foreign country
3. Build a 20 story residential tower
4. Have a show in a major New York gallery

Four things I am afraid of:
1. Drowning
2. Losing my eyesight
3. Small talk
4. Most bugs

Four places I've loved being on vacation:
1. Maui
2. Europe
3. The entire west coast (one trip)
4. Glacier National Park

2007-03-25T04:33:00.000-06:00

Still at work at 5:00 on Sunday morning (since 9:30 Sat morning). This has been one heck of a harsh month. Work has taken a toll. But today I finished the plans for the Patrick Dry Goods Co. building.

We submit to the city Monday and then wait for the red lines. I feel satisfied with another job well done. The condos will be really cool when they are finished. However, it makes me sad to see how long it takes just to get one cool project up and running. I want the city to be full of residential projects but now that I have a view from the inside of the infill residential/mixed-use development world I am beginning to realize just what a miracle it is that any project gets finished.

Bellybutton

2007-03-02T00:21:00.000-07:00

So every once in a while I remember that I have a bellybutton. Since I've accumulated some extra padding around it I realized today that it has become kind of deep. Like a little cave.

Antelope Island

2007-02-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

About two months ago I took this picture from my balcony. Sometimes the inversion is just about unbearable. I wish on days like these I was on the beach in Hawaii.

Five days ago I took this photo from Antelope Island. This reminds me of all the reasons I love the Salt Lake Valley. This is just 20 min from my driveway.

Breathtaking.

Nate and I went out to the island for a winter camping trip. Friday afternoon there where whiteout conditions on the drive up to Antelope Drive. I admit I was wondering if we were going to have a good experience. Just as the sun began to set the clouds broke. The western sky was awash with color and the lake like glass as we drove over the causeway.

It was a perfect night.

We sat by the fire talking for several hours. We ate a few hot dogs and climbed into our bags. We learned from our last winter trip and had better ground pads this time to insulate us from the ground. Nate tried out hand and toe warmers for the night which I think he liked. I filled a Nalgine bottle with boiling water, wrapped it in a sock and stuck it between my legs (to warm the blood in the femoral artery). I slept really well. No cold at all.

We woke to deep blue skies and 25ºF.

This was the view from the door of my tent. That much uninhabited space always stirs something in me.

I cooked breakfast in the morning. Now that I'm on the south beach diet (which is really just a program for eating healthy) I have to watch what I eat so we had eggs, turkey bacon, bran muffins and kiefer(thanks dal). We spent the day wandering around exploring this or that and taking pictures. We had buffalo burgers for lunch at a little place on the island.

One quick note about the picture above. Even though the lake has an average of 15% salinity it still froze over in some areas when we were having sub 0 nights. These great shifting islands of ice are the last vestiges of that time.

Congratulations

2007-01-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Mark and his wife Pepper had their first baby. I have to say first off that I love children - from a distance. I’m excited to have my own child some day and I’m sure that I will have no problem loving my own child. I have, however, never felt much emotion upon hearing about the birth of family and friend's new babies. I just feel a little disconnected. I received news of Pepper and Mark’s birth today and I finally felt what I’ve only seen others feel so often. It's real true - happiness. I love their little son. I love him because he is innocent. I love him because he is a mix of such beautiful, intelligent and loving people. And I love him for the life he will live being raised by them.

Oslo Thomas Elliot

Finally I Write Again

2007-01-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

I haven’t posted anything for a while. I wasn’t sure what I should say here. I would really like a place to talk frankly about personal things. But I was unsure how much of my artistic endeavors should be mixed in with personal musings. I have resolved those issues. I will soon have a website where I will concentrate on my work. This blog will be personal and honest. I will include artwork here sometimes but I won’t direct people here when they are interested in my work.

Cold Night

2006-12-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

The power plant on a cold night.

No tipped over trucks.

Snow

2006-11-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Finally, we get a real snow down here in the valley. I came out of my office at 2:00 AM this morning to find the city enveloped in snow - and it was still coming down. There was hardly a track in any of it.

So quiet.

I still love this.

The "Whole Earth Catalog" and Questions About the Decline of Civilization

2006-11-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

It’s funny how you can live your life and not be aware of some prominent pop culture item. You meet kids whose fond memories of Star Wars is from the recently released Episodes I-III and who think Nirvana (the band) is classic rock. Well the "Whole Earth Catalog" is just such an item in my life. It is a catalog of a whole bunch of strangeness born from the Hippy culture. It is a real trip (to borrow from the vernacular). It is out of production now but was at its height in the mid 70’s.

If you ever find one, hold onto it, because it is a relic of a time long past and quite possibly never to return.

It is interesting that the moment in pop culture that so strongly advocated a return to the earth and a simple communal life came just before technology became the answer to everything and invaded every aspect of our life. It seems we were on the peak and we tipped toward technology. Will technology always hold the answer? Must progress always include more technology, more consumerism, more stuff? Is it even possible not to move that way? Could we turn around and go backwards? I know we can be forced back by disaster or collapse but can we choose to go back? Is it possible to stop using cell phones or computers or airplanes or even electricity? Are we doomed without choice to slide towards decadence and depravity and excess until we are forced to re-start? And are we in the decline right now? Or does technology hold the solution to our problems?

Discount Clothing

2006-11-28T22:41:00.000-07:00

I hate going to discount stores like Ross and TJ Max.
Let me make myself clear - I don't mind finding a deal every now and then - and I hate spending a lot of money on clothing. Sometimes I fear that I will grow old and stale and miserly and will keep wearing the same black tee shirts that I am wearing now. So when I go into one of those stores and find good jeans or a nice shirt for a few bucks I feel like I beat the system. But that is why I hate them. As soon as I look down at the rack of strange mega-baggy pants, with labels I recognize and many I don't, or at shirts that are just a few years behind the curve, I always feel a wave of disgust come over me. It is, at times, appalling to look at the wealth of our society. Not just that we have much more than we need but that – in the end – none of it is really valuable. It's all trifle. We are told what styles of clothing to purchase and we pay dearly for that style. In just a few short years – what we once valued so highly – is relegated to the discount store to remind us that we pay too much and value too highly things that have little intrinsic value and little inherent value. I always question my self and my life work in such situations. Am I producing anything of real value?

In the end though, I am never interested in trudging through the philosophical underpinnings of the conceptual nature of value. Or the debatable importance art plays in society. So I just dig through the trash and find something I think I could tolerate wearing and leave.

Patrick Moore Gallery SLC

2006-11-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

So at last I will show a few pictures of the big night. Thanks to Silus Grok at silusgrok.blogspot.com for the great pics.

Here are my big pieces. The man in the suit bought "re-deconstuction".

Me with some new acquaintances.

This is the scene.

Nate, his friend and me.

My friend and the reason I got this show, Holly.

My hand.

Just outside.

Michael and Me

Terrain: My Artist Statement

2006-11-16T15:53:00.000-07:00

It seems customary in these statements to discuss how the artist's work represents them. But I'm not entirely comfortable with that convention, as I can't say just yet that my work represents me in any significant way. To borrow from literature, my paintings aren't so much personal narratives, as they're travelogues. Each piece is the souvenir — a remembrance — of a journey I took as I moved through a set of self-imposed constraints.

I rarely plan a painting, but prefer to build my paintings from individual parts and procedures — layer upon layer — hoping that the group of layers and disparate parts will, in the end, connect to form a diverse but coherent community. Separate pieces, but interconnected in some way. And it's within this framework of time and process that I find my freedom to explore motif.

In the course of developing the works for this show, I limited myself to a specific grouping of processes and parts. Processes distilled from my innate interest in the theories of city and community — how people find, maintain, and terminate emotional, societal, spiritual, familial, and physical bonds — and my boyish fascination with the visual artifacts of molecular science and astrophysics. A fascination tempered by process, by layering and response repeated over and over... by time. Thick paint strokes, textural events and personal mark-making represent my time spent with a piece. They mark my movements and emotional intervals. Soft, aggressive; periods of rest, periods of passionate engagement; a thrust of striking clarity... sometimes doubt and indecision.

I have found that my time spent in the process of painting is like traveling through rugged, mountainous terrain. Each outing is exhausting and leaves me physically and mentally depleted but on every peak I catch a distant glimmer of some larger place on the horizon — some place where I will find clarity. Until then my paintings are just relics of my travel, abandoned along the way.

And like any journey, I am thoroughly engaged in the moment and unconcerned with what the viewer will think. I return from the journey, and let the artifacts speak for themselves. Each viewer will experience my work in a way personal to them. I don't really want to interfere. I find my own significance in my work... Others bring their own story to the images. Let them find significance where they may.

The Pieces

2006-11-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

Passing Still II

Passing Still III

Thoughts on the Individual II

Thoughts on the Group

Re-Deconstruction

Thoughts on the Individual IV

Running Errands

Small Talk

Strangers

New Blue

Freeways and Supernovae

On Approach

Interconnect You

Enemies and Blackholes

Urban Heart Studies II - VII

2006-11-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a preview of the drawings to be featured in my show. I fell in love with this process from the very beginning. They represent the juxtaposition of the aggressive boldness and soft studied carefulness I want in my work. I began by laying out a large sheet of paper on the ground. Using a large mop-like brush I slopped on sumi ink and let it set. Days later, after I had escaped from any former ideas about what the original marks represented, I cut up the paper into 10 x 10 pieces. I spent a few hours on each one responding to the random marks covering each piece. I tried color on a few but wasn’t satisfied.

Finally, I can sit and draw something but still get all the randomness and accident I get from paint.

Franz Kline tekhnologia maybe?

My First Real Show

2006-11-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have a show of my paintings this coming Friday. Here is the announcement.

Where is my Cottonelle?

2006-11-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

I went to the grocery store today. I was walking down the toilet paper isle with two people ahead of me. One stopped and said to the other, “Here is the toilet paper.” The other looked over and immediately and loudly complained, “WHERE IS MY COTTONELLE!” Her anger wasn’t directed toward the other person with her but rather to the store as a whole, to the unseen manager, to society. She didn’t even turn her head to see if her “Cottonelle” was next to the brand she was looking at, which it was. Somebody didn’t put it in the right place (right being where she first looked). It’s their fault right?

A friend told me that when he opened his small sushi place the mail carrier yelled at him because there wasn’t a mail slot. He said “Well, I am here every day at this time can you just hand it to me?” To which the mail carrier responded by walking out without leaving the mail.

I guess I don’t have a point but I thought these two stories were interesting.

At Least It's a Start

2006-11-13T17:25:00.000-07:00

Since I have absolutely nothing to do and I love typing I have decided to start a blog. This might be the most boring blog of all time. My posts might be the smallest you’ve ever read but I don’t care. I might not have a lot to say (or have the ability to type what I do want to say) but I am going to say it anyway. Even if the “you” I’m writing to is just me.