Trying to Imagine

I think my imagination is broken. I've been suffering from a creative block for a while, and it's gotten worse since my sewing machine broke. I was planning on using it a lot during my break, but now that that's not happening I've been forced to confront a nearly empty studio without much of an alternate plan. These past few days have not been very fruitful. I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking, but barely any making. Trying to stay positive, I keep telling myself that I'm just going through some necessary mental process before I can start making stuff, but I'm beginning to think I need to just buckle down and start doing, even if I'm not totally into it or it results in bad art. After all, you can't really fail if you don't have a goal...maybe it will lead to something good.

But after a few unproductive days in the studio, I couldn't stand the idea of going back there today. I felt the need to head out into the city on my bike with my camera and some empty bags to see what I could find.

I got sidetracked. But it was good.

Shortly after leaving my house, I saw two guys on fully loaded touring bikes. That's not a very common sight around here, so I took notice. I went on my way, running a quick errand, and then I saw them again on the bike path about an hour later, so I decided to talk to them.

They just arrived in NYC today, from Montreal, after seven days of riding. They weren't really focused on seeing New York--the trip was all about the journey and they're catching a train back to Montreal tonight--but they did want to stop by Central Park and see the John Lennon "Imagine" memorial. I volunteered to ride with them as a sort of tour guide. Truth is, despite living in New York for 11 years, I had never seen it myself. I always imagined it was much bigger...go figure.

John Lennon "Imagine" memorial, Strawberry Fields, Central Park

(hey guys, if you find my website, send me a message, I'd like to know more about your trip, since I'd like to do a similar ride in reverse.)

I rode with them a little more, before parting ways. It's cool to be a part of such a journey, even if it was only for a couple of hours in my own city.

Tomorrow, I'm taking the car to Home Depot to pick up some supplies, and then drop my sewing machine off to get repaired. Hopefully a working machine and a studio full of materials will help me be more productive before my vacation is over and I'm back at the office.

Off to a good start (sarcasm)

The first two days of my 19 day break from the day job are over and pretty much everything I planned has gone wrong so far.

I figured I'd spend day one taking care of the laundry in the morning and then check out some galleries in the afternoon. I did 6 loads of laundry (it's been a while). There are only 3 machines in my building, so I had to do it in two parts. After I already started the second set, the first three loads came out of the dryer just as wet as when I put them in. Since all three dryers were not working, I got stuck with 6 loads of wet clothes. Figuring out how to deal with them resulted in leaving my house 2 hours later than expected.

The galleries were a disappointment. I arrived in Chelsea a bit late and there's not much going on this time of year anyway. I quickly got bored and don't have anything to report. I was also planning on buying a very long, white nylon zipper, which I need for my project. I thought it would be relatively easy to find in the garment district, but I had no idea where to look once I got there.

Day two was to be spent in my studio practicing on my sewing machine so that I could hopefully get good enough to complete my project during my time off. However, the newly repaired machine broke the first time I used it. I had the tailor who works down the hall from me take a look at it. He was able to diagnose the problem, so at least I know that I didn't break it. Regardless, until I either get it fixed or replaced, the project I've been working on is currently suspended.

The weather is looking pretty ominous right now, so rather than ride my bike up to the studio, I'm staying home and working on Plan B for the rest of my time off. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of the maze of clotheslines cris-crossing my apartment:

Summertime blues

Generally, I don't really like the summer. It's too damn hot and muggy, and lately it's been raining a lot. However, I've grown to reluctantly embrace summertime because with the exception of a short period at the very end of the year, it's the only season when I can take significant chunks of time off from my office job.

Lately I've been at the office 3 days a week, leaving me with 4 day weekends--wish I could do that year round. Next week is my last week before taking 19 consecutive days off. That time is crucial to my studio practice. I spend a lot of time anticipating my personal summer "residency" so that I can be prepared from day one when I get into my studio. Those 2+ weeks are coming up real soon, and I'm excited for them, but simultaneously worried that I am not prepared enough to take full advantage. It's time to start really cracking down on the game plan.

Maybe it's a bit early, but I'm beginning to be filled with a sense of dread for the end of the summer. Once the time off is over, I'm back to work full time and it's harder to make it all happen in the studio. The office job gets busier, and I begin my Mandarin classes again. This all happens at the beginning of autumn, which is otherwise my favorite season. But it's sort of a nice challenge to try and keep the summer momentum going into the fall.

I'll be in the studio for the next 3 days...

Storage in the studio

I moved everything out of storage and into my studio this weekend. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated and it didn't feel like I had as much stuff as when I first moved it in. It actually packed up quite nicely into the corner and doesn't take up too much of my work space. Eventually I'll probably put up some sort of permanent storage system.

Part of my motivation for doing this was to save a little bit of money each month, but more importantly, I'm hoping that having to physically face the amount of stuff I have everytime I walk into my studio will help me be more careful and thoughtful about what I make. My relationship to "stuff" is conflicted, in that I'm reluctant to throw things out, but aspire to minimize my belongings down to a few favorites or heavily used items and I hate to generate waste. Already I'm looking at the pile and plotting about what I can get rid of. This situation has been playing a big role in the way I'm trying to change the way I make my art.

Open Studio pictures

I've received a few requests for pictures from the Open Studio, but I personally didn't take any. Luis Fonseca, one of the other artists, posted a bunch of snapshots on his website here and here.

Here's one of the pictures of my studio:
photo credit: Luis Fonseca

Thanks for visiting!

Thanks to everyone who came out this past weekend and visited my studio. Overall, I'd say it was a success. This is my first studio space that is not associated with school or a spare room in my apartment, and having so many people come to visit and show interest in my work is encouraging.

I met a lot of people this weekend and had a lot of interesting and insightful conversations. I've gained some new perspectives on some of my past projects which are worth further exploration. This weekend really fueled my imagination, and I have a handful of new projects in mind on which I will begin work this summer.

I still have a lot to learn about some of the practical parts of being an artist. I met so many people this weekend, but through the chaotic environment, I didn't really think to have a sign-in book so that I can remember who visited and invite people to future exhibitions.

So, this may be a bit too late, but if you were at my studio this weekend (or even if you weren't there, but maybe you read this blog), please send me a message and sign up for my mailing list. I won't share your contact info and I only send out email invitations a few times a year...no spam!

MUTO by BLU

Check out this very impressive wall-painted animation, MUTO by Blu. The invisible art of graffiti is the performance, the action of making the painting. Normally all you see is the end result. This animation is all about the action, however it's much more complex than simply documenting a process. In this case the process of painting is what's important, perhaps more so than the final painting residue leftover from the completed animation.

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Reminder: This weekend I'm having my Open Studio, so please stop by if you're free and in the NY area.

Open Studios - May 17 & 18

Open Studios
Sat. & Sun. May 17 & 18
Noon - 5 PM

578 Nepperhan Ave.
Yonkers, NY

Come visit my new studio and see my new work in person (as well as some other selected work and the work of lots of other artists).

More information about the event and the artists participating can be found at www.yohoartists.com.

Getting there by train: Metro North Hudson Line to Yonkers, 5-minute taxi ride to YoHo Studios.

Getting there by car: Saw Mill River Parkway to Exit 5A-Palmer Rd. Left onto Palmer Rd., Left onto Saw Mill River Rd., Right onto Lake Ave. YoHo signs on left. Parking at the rear of the building accessible from Lake Ave, or parking lot on Nepperhan Ave.

Getting there by subway/bus: Take 1 train to 242nd St. (last stop). At 242nd St. & Broadway take Beeline Bus Service 1,2,3 (confirm with driver) to Getty Square, then transfer to #5 bus to 578 Nepperhan.

Click here to download printable directions with map and information.

Back to the lab

I started making drawings with the idea that it would help me think about the sculptures I plan on making soon. However, it turns out that I am only effectively thinking about the drawings as things in and of themselves -- not the act making sculpture. And since I haven't been currently making sculpture, I'm not actively thinking about it in the way I had anticipated I would. It's extraordinarily difficult to do without actually making things, so here's the new plan:

Since I'm still interested in the drawings, I will continue with that, but since I (A) need to make sculpture and (B) haven't been thinking in sculptural terms, I have decided to make "thoughtless sculptures" -- sculpture without pre-meditation.

Of course, this is impossible -- the very act of making is thinking. But the idea is that I'm not really starting with an idea, or question, or thesis. I'm just going to use whatever I have on hand or stuff that I find and put things together so that it's form is negotiated in its making. Every thing that I make this way will exist on its own terms, whether those terms are conceptual, structural, etc.

This isn't intended to be a new body of work, but rather an exercise -- a homework assignment to myself. If it turns out to be worthwhile, I'll continue with it as background activity while working on whatever I happen to be working on. I plan on making these quickly or slowly, trying to let each piece decide for itself what is required. If I expect anything from this, it's probably just a pretty high rate of failure, but if anything good or useful does develop, I'll post the findings.

And with that, I'm off to the studio for the day.

Year of the Rat

新年快樂！ 恭喜發財！
(Xin Nian Kuai Le - Happy New Year)
(Gong Xi Fa Cai - Wishing you prosperity)

Happy Chinese New Year! It is officially the Year of the Rat. I'm taking this weekend off from my regularly scheduled studio time to celebrate the new year with my wife's family in NJ.

I only made it to my studio one day last weekend and I was looking forward to starting my new drawings, which will now have to wait until next weekend. However, I can't really complain about 2 days of eating home-cooked Chinese food. In China the festivities last for 2 weeks. Plus, I'll get a chance to practice speaking Mandarin before my first class on Monday.

image: Year of the Rat, 2006 by H.H. Wong 黃可鏗

At least the studio is ready, even if I'm not there

When I woke up today, it was snowing pretty hard. It wasn't sticking, and I knew it wouldn't last long, but the forecast is predicting rain for the afternoon. I rely on my bicycle to get to my studio and even though bad weather doesn't normally stop me from riding, I wimped out today. Probably because I hate cleaning my bike after riding in the rain, and I recently got soaked really bad on Friday night's downpour. Now the weather isn't even that bad, but it's a bit too late for me to go.

At least I finally finished getting the studio set up. I also started building support panels which I will use for mounted drawings, similar to these. I was planning on mounting the paper today and starting some small studies. Instead, now that I've decided to stay home, I will do some sketches in my book and work on some ideas I've been thinking about for new sculptures...more info on that in the near future. I think I'll also study Mandarin for a bit. 下個星其一晚上我有第一中文課。(Next Monday evening I have my first Chinese class.)

YoHo Community

I'm feeling pretty good about my new studio. It's about a 20 minute bike ride from my apartment. The space is almost ready for me to start working. All I've really got left to do is build a work table.

The building is in Yonkers, but it is being hyped up by the real estate company as YoHo Artist Lofts. The name "YoHo" is a bit corny, but there does seem to be a genuine community within the building.

On Monday, there was a meeting...I was able to meet a few of the other artists and some of the building management. Topics covered included upcoming building renovations and prelimary talk about the annual open studios held in the spring. Of course, I haven't started making any new work yet, but I've got some ideas and I should be getting started in a week or so.

Progress so far

So far I have managed to move all of my stuff into my studio, paint the walls white (you can't tell in the previous picture, but the walls were 2 different shades of beige), and install a new lock on the door. My stuff is still all in boxes, except for the stuff that I've already used, which is haphazardly thrown all around the room. I don't have any shelves yet. The floor is a total mess and everything is dusty.

I'm not going in today. I plan to pick up some office supplies, organize my computer (which remains at home for now), and figure out whether to buy or build shelves. Tomorrow I'll go and clean up the mess.

First!

Today is the first day of 2008. It's also the first day of my lease on my new art studio and the beginning of this blog.

I've been without a studio for a year and a half, and I find it difficult to work without one, so getting back into the studio will be a bit like starting from scratch. Also, this will be my first "professional" studio (no longer making stuff in the corner of my apartment).

To go along with my new studio practice, I plan on updating the blog every week or so. The goal is to document my artistic progress and give me a chance to clarify my thoughts on my work or other related (and occasionally not-so-related) topics.

First job is to get the studio organized...