Sounding Out The City

Michael Bull published this in 2000, it has been ten years since then and I would image that the dependence on the personal stereo has grown immensely. Bull expresses that music has a tremendous effect on those who depend on it and or live for it. The introduction of the Ipod has dramatically changed the convenience of having your music everywhere you go. I was one of those kids that had my boom box with all my tapes stacked next to it... until the CD came around and I had my disc-man for road trips and late sleepless nights. I stayed loyal to the CD as long as I could, I refused to get an Ipod and be like all those other kids who had white cords hanging from their ears or worse have my computer crash and all my music files go with it.

I could never really understand the people who live on the Ipod... don't the songs lose their touch, don't those people lose touch with reality? The one or two times I did use my Ipod during my trek across campus and I felt really weird. I felt very disconnected and fidgeted more with the music to match my mood rather than just enjoying my stroll. Even when I tried to use my Ipod in the darkroom while printing... again I became more concerned with the music than the art, which has never been an issue when using a boom box and a CD.

In some cases like I mentioned before, personal radios are awesome... the Bart or "Tube" long road trips or exercise is where I find the personal stereo the most beneficial. I believe that these examples in which I find the personal stereo at its highest potential has something to do with the distraction and or disconnect from time. Out of a case holding 100 CD's I could listen to five or six by the time we reached Los Angeles (from Tucson) and be bummed that I didn't get to listen to more, rather than itching to get out of the car by Blythe, AZ. The same goes with exercising, I put thirty minutes on the cardio and the time flys while I'm listening to music not to mention creates a motivation and adrenaline rush that compliments the activity well.

There are pros and cons to everything in life. I believe that music particularly... similar to books vs. Ipad carries a nostalgia that is to be respected and preserved. Yes it is easier to take your computer or even your Ipod as a DJ and put it on top of the mixer instead of hauling around all your sacred records and spinning, but does it loose its impact, does it loose it ritualistic characteristics? I can understand the loner that wants to be disassociated with the world that just doesn't understand him, but I hope for his sake while he rides his bike he hears that car horn that honks at him before knocking him to the ground.

Ephemeral/Site

I cannot find one thing more awe inspiring than the natural process of creating a human life. What took but a moment of time to 'inject' if you will, caused a ripple effect inside my body that will last for months, years; a lifetime, and will continue to grow and change at the will of nature. The short life span of my boyfriends sperm seems unbelievable when you note the effects that little tiny organism caused. I have interpreted the emotion that Andy Goldsworthy experienced when he created his pieces; with such curiosity excitement and trust to be very similar to what I have been experiencing the last month after receiving the news that I have conceived a child. I have found myself to be studying how nature works, wondering if the same is taking place within me on a smaller scale. Akil and I have submitted our contributions to the natural process which will have a tremendous impact on both of us for the rest of our lives. Con favor de Dios.

walk 2/week 1

I have decided to interpret this pilgrimage on a more psychological level of what a "desire line" can or cannot be. Instead of focusing on the desert I walked through in the path created by my father and his hunting buddies and showing you pictures of the sahuaro cacti and some dead animals, I'd rather express my complicated thoughts while doing so in the poem below...

Comprehension

Extinct like the volcanic eruptions of Mount Kenya,

Intelligence goes as far as Albert Einstein,

With the "fight against terrorism"

Frustration will explode like Egbert Judson's invention,

Anger will carry on longer than the Nile

And separate Americans beliefs like the Pyrenees Mountains

Separates Spain from France,

From Mount Shasta to the Mississippi River

People are mad like Anthony Wayne,

Blaming the Middle East is blaming Mount Everest of murder,

Minds empty like the old mine shafts of the Colorado Rockies,

As patient as Martin Luther King Jr. we must wait,

Unable to express ourselves as Ruth St. Dennis,

We must stand as the Kilimanjaro Mountain stands in Africa; tall,

Royal like Grace kelly, respectful and honest

With determination like Fidel Castro and the power of the Amazon

We can cut through all the bullshit like the Colorado River cuts through the

Grand Canyon,

With as many ideas as the Indus River splits we can begin,

As civilization did in the Fertile Crescent of Tigris Euphrates,

Haunted like the Rio Grande we must act,

Not forgetting the teachings of Mother Teresa; Mahatma Gandhi,

We cannot ignore the beauty of the sunsets over the Catalina Mountains,

Or the massiveness of the Alps,

We must not forget that lives are as sacred as Paolo Agostino's music,

Suitable for the Pope,

And that playing God

Creating social desire lines will only get you as high as Mount Tamalpais.

My Comment on Wanderlust

walk 1/week 1

While on my walk I focused my attention on what my senses could tell me. I walked noting things I felt to be interesting or at best grabbed my attention. During this time the senses I most often found useful were the sense of sight which is symbolized as a yellow star, the sense of sound symbolized by a pink circle and the sense of touch which is a green line with a green squiggle.

1. Sight: In my career as an artist I have found myself attracted to liquor stores. I have always lived in neighborhoods that had an abundance of them, so I assume thats why I like to photograph them. When I was looking for this place I live now I had my seven year old step-daughter in mind. What I noticed while walking on Country Club, Speedway, Dodge and Grant is that in that whole square-mile only four liquor stores where open for business... guess I chose a good neighborhood!
2. Sound: I also wanted Amira (my step-daughter) to live in a neighborhood where there were plenty of children that she could possibly get to know. I remember when choosing the neighborhood I assumed that her father would want to send her to the school closest to the house. I was wrong, he did not want her going to the school and quickly I forgot they event exist; until I went walking and herd the many sound of the active schools.
3. Lastly, the upgrade to the nicer side of town challenged me to do one of my favorite things to do... walk with no shoes! In my old neighborhoods this could mean stepping on some seriously nasty stuff, but here I strutted along as if I had not a worry in the world. Well with the exception of the heat the ground emits, none the less it was an enjoyable experience.

What I enjoyed most about this exercise was not escaping my household :) but allowing myself to breath, to experience once sense at a time and try to put out all other stimulants which I choose not to focus on. In a sense this walk was like meditation, relaxing and rewarding.

This American Life

The opening of This American Life was funny yet incredibly political. To say that if you trip on a sidewalk you cannot sue the city... unless the city had been forewarned of the danger makes sense. But it makes even more sense and money for attorneys to hire people to map the dangers so of course they can have cases in which to take to court. Denis Wood reminds us that everything can be interpreted as a map, depending on what you filter out and focus on.

Act 1: Living Organisms

The pattern of lights, the traffic signs even the pumpkins that are displayed on the porches of residents in the neighborhood deserve enough attention to produce a map. Every map has a purpose often related to money, property value and such. Denis Wood would like to create a novel using maps and symbols. It would be interesting to review the results of an area mapped differently on every page. It seems this would be a homebuyers dream to have.

Act 2: What's on Right Now?

Toby Lester became fascinated with the act of harmonizing with the sounds that surrounded him; computers, air-conditioners or heating systems and he believes that like music these sounds can stimulate your mood. He related each sound to a musical note and created studies of what these unnoticed sound do to us. What is the tonic of your kitchen?

Act 3: Does This Electronic Nose Look Like a Nose?

Miss Nancy answers questions that could be interpreted as a bit silly with such seriousness that it forces you to understand that this product has a purpose. Vapors and bacteria are smells that the electronic nose is familiar with, not unimportant smells like blueberries. This is because the purpose is legitimate not trivial, to identify dangerous gases and more of the like could be an extremely profitable product.

Act 4: Quite a Survivor!

Perhaps the woman in this act has a sort of OCD that has convinced her that she is destined to self diagnose... using only the sense of touch. Health related scare tactics used by pharmaceutical companies and or doctors it seems has damaged the psyche of this woman. She lives in fear and anxiety constantly, unable to enjoy life which is filled with all of these inaccurate maps of her body she has created. A woman once told me to get to know my own body, that I was able better than anyone else to ease pain or tension, and I did. Now when I go for a massage or adjustment the therapist is shocked when I am able to adjust myself... or tell her exactly where to locate a problem. The result is rewarding, I hope for this woman she can do the same.

Act 5: Sense I Have No Plan for the Rest of My Life...

This man found himself interested in eating at every restaurant on Pico Blvd. and create a map using only his senses that could get him from one end of the street to another. He had to go to each restaurant in order, had to eat at each place, had to experience each ethnic difference... via taste. Why didn't I think of this!

The spectrum of creating a map is so wide that pretty much anything you desire to study can make for an interesting map. If all the maps in the world were created within the last one hundred years ( in 1998) just imagine all the useless or detrimental maps to come.

Rivers and Tides

I was emotionally connected to this documentary as I have many times expressed that words at best "do a job" in terms of describing art; unable fully to express ones idea. Andy Goldsworthy is consciously connected to earth as we all are but fail to notice. Many times while listing to him try to explain his work I relied on the visuals for the understanding and found myself connecting to my beliefs in Native American tradition and respect for our Mother Earth.

How Andy relates to time it seems is much like the birth of a child, inevitable, exciting and demanding. Time controls everything and cannot be stopped. At moments he found himself enjoying time relaxing and meditating in it, and in others felt pressured and frustrated by it. But more often than not Andy accepted the existence of time and worked it into his projects as a benefit rather than a nuisance. For example the scene in which he grinds the red lime stone, patiently speaking on his intention to toss it into the water, and how this would be but a flash of a moment made no difference to his dedication of grinding that pigment. Interesting that the high iron content is what causes the color red, like in our blood was a brilliant connection and reenforced the idea that we are all connected.

Every tree is different every tide, person every rock. Andy understands that there are "obsessive forms" that repeat themselves throughout the earth perhaps even inside our bodies but he grows attached to certain places. His attachment to his home town I would assume is due to the fact that the pressures of producing art are somewhat non existent. He produces when he feels, and he is familiar with what he feels which enables him to create more stable and secure work. For example the opening of the documentary were he is building his stone 'egg' he says that with each time the structure broke down he learned something new about the stone. And by the end he had learned enough about these stones to produce solid structures that were able to coexist in their natural environments. And in those natural environments they were breathtaking and amazing, especially watching an animal come up and rub against one of them. Yet when sitting in the middle of a stark, bland inorganic environment such as the gallery the structure lost its spirit.

What makes Andy's heart thump is when his work is not destroyed by nature but transformed, and becomes a part of nature. When working outside the safe cubicle of the art school you are faced with what he called "too many unknowns" which in his case is inspiring. For me setting up a studio to photograph a model in my arranged environment, although takes great effort, knowledge and respect has never been some thing that I am interested in. I much prefer to shoot on the street, to shoot people or places that I feel will eventually be lost forever. The power of the photograph as he describes, allows him to relive and enjoy his work; I feel the same. There is a certain 'energy' that comes with working outside the office. This energy comes from recognizing that the moment has passed and will never return, how you related to it or documented it is all that remains. The lack of stability is freeing and fluid, much like the effects of the visual elements of his work.

The concept around the sheep was a little hard for me to understand at first but thinking and thinking led me to connect this question regarding "the very thing that bring it to life, causes its death". Andy talks about how the sheep are powerful in their own sense and that the land as a result of them being there has become rid of trees and brush, only grass remains and even that is tortured and torn by the sheep. Yet this is not the destruction of a place but a rebirth or new purpose for which it is now to fulfill.

Every place has a history, something interesting you can find if you care to look. Joel Sternfeld's work in color photography is conceptual and respectable. He brings attention to the history of the places that he photographed just as Andy did with his stone wall. They both seem to have the same respect for these locations and are both perhaps spiritually touched by them. Site is important when you are working conceptually because it inspires you. Place if you are open to it can communicate with you in ways that like Andy says cannot be described in words.

What I took from this was the confidence to do the work you love, to produce work that you believe makes a difference, even if it is in the smallest of ways. He reminded me what it is to be a free artist, free of social expectations, free of commissions hounding you. His passion when speaking was so unorganized that it directly reflected the basis of why he does this work, perhaps he just doesn't know why he has to do these works; but does it matter?