Digital vs. Analog vs. Spacesaving

These past few months I have felt the need to downsize my life.  I started throwing away a lot of stuff and rethinking how I approach my life, art, music, and job.  This sounds rather silly.  I have come to acouple of conclusions, 1) it's harder than it looks to downsize and 2) my approach to art and music has switched back to creating art on a smaller scale and creating music on a smaller scale.  

ANALOG vs. DIGITAL

So i've had this internal struggle about analog vs. digital, as most artists do, but i'm thinking digital has partially won this fight. I say partially because my love for the tactile experience of creating analog art can never be swayed, but digitally sketching is okay to me. Music creation for me is just as natural, if not more, digital as it is analog. Another problem I have with digital is if your outside in the sun it's hard to view the screen.  

I have grown quite attached to my Galaxy Tab 2 7", Galaxy III, and to a certain extent my iPad. I would even say more attached than to my sketchbooks and laptop, well maybe not to my sketchbooks.  

Android apps I use:
Sketchbook Pro
SPC Pocketband Pro
Hi Q MP3 recorder
Sythe Free
Polaris Office  

Apple apps I use:
Sketchbook Pro
Tabletop
Thicket  
Buddha machines
h.bk

I think I will explore digital art creation and music creation further.

Sketchbook pages

New Old Releases

A couple old(er) releases under different names:

jin men ju "01122008"

blind umizato "as the evening descends; two rivers"

Cat

I had a weird experience this morning.  It was about 6:15am and I was sitting in the living room, surfing the 'net.  It was pretty quiet so I wouldn't wake my wife up, and as I was sitting there I heard a cat "vocalize" in the back room.  I looked around for Jazz, our only cat, and he was right behind my head on the back of the couch. 

01.23.2011

I.  Altered guitar project.  Picked up a very used Six Flags guitar w/Superman symbol on it, a broken nut, no tremolo bar, and a chip on the neck.  Also, I have yet to try it out to see if the electronics in it works. 

Sat down yesterday and took out all the frets and filled the slots in with super glue.  Giving that about a full 24 hours to dry and will sand that down.  The neck had some rough spots where I pulled the frets out from so sanding may be a job.  Next:

1. Moveable bridge along the body.
2. Kill switch.
3. 7th "bass" string made of wire stretching above the top string.
4. New paint job.

 II.  Decided to use old films, "Searching For Something" and "A Gift Giveth", for two upcoming art shows.  One is at Fort Worth Community Arts Center, affectionately known as FW-CAC.  Finally getting a piece in there, was hoping to get a new film in there but not quite finished with my newest one, "An Ode To An Idea".  However, I built this new "box" to hold my iPad in in order to show the film.  Still trying to decide how to present the audio portion of the film.  The other show is at CUT Salon, a pretty cool hair salon, this one is put on by F6 Gallery.

III.  "An Ode To An Idea", came about as a lesson plan for my students.  We were/are going to start doing stop motion animated films and as an example I was going to make a film about how the star of my show was looking for an idea for his film.  It has grown "legs" and taken off from that idea.  I love how you can take a simple idea, as searching for an idea as a lesson plan, and it becomes this being that is "An Ode To An Idea".

12.30.2011

Review of my visit to the museum today. 

*Update - In the past I have dismissed Kaws artwork as bad mixes of Warhol and graffiti but after seeing the black canvases and the two fiberglass sculptures at the museum today, I have a new appreciation of his work.

Soundtrack for week 11.28 - 12.02

"Green Naugahyde" - Primus

"Sailing the Seas of Cheese" - Primus

"Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell" - Flaming Lips

"Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" - Flaming Lips

"Noche del Chupacabra" - Wo Fat

"Tala Matrix" - Tabla Beat Science

"Finally Confident" - ~topic

New illustration for upcoming Hentai Improvising Orchestra show.

Soundtrack for week of 10.31.2011 - 11.04.2011

"music to jog to" - the owl and the octopus 

"Love In the Age of Circuitry" - Andy Spain 

"Digital Music Landscape for drum and computer" - Herve Provini

"Lost Brother" - Assif Tsahar, Cooper-Moore & Hamid Drake

"Awash In Feedback" - Stone Machine Electric

"Shobaleader One: d'Demonstrator" - Squarepusher

"Sustrepo" - Hentai Improvising Orchestra

Almost midweek

Almost midweek.  Grades are due.  1st project, Grid project, on the way and is due this week.  Parent teacher night on it's way this Thursday.  Decorating the 1st floor in KSU colors and with a football theme.

                                                  the goal post constructed but unpainted.

I have two new songs about ready to go.  Both, "09.06.2011" and "09.11.2011", sound very electronic.  Instruments used:

1.  old broken Casiotone
2.  Ibanez Soundgear 6 string
3.  Garageband loops
4.  Numark portable turntable

New image for Stone Machine Electric t-shirt design.  A combination of a human skull and foo dog.

                                                          foo dog/human skull design

Soundtrack for week of 09.12 - 09.16.2011

1. "Disintegration Loops I" - William Basinski
2.  "Disintegration Loops II" - William Basinski
3.  "Disintegration Loops III" - William Basinski
4.  "Disintegration Loops IV" - William Basinski
5. "Wake Up!" - John Legend/The Roots
6. "The Message" - Dem Southernfolkz.

09.03.2011; Works in Progress

Some "works in progress":















"ZAP" #1















"ZAP" #2

"ZAP", is two canvases in one.



















"FEAR or PHOBiA"



















Yet another "Untitled" piece.

Lately, I've really gotten back into painting. Photography and video has kind of taken a back seat to painting.

Need to start thinking about instruments to build or find for an upcoming project with our wonderful dancer friends/collaborators with the Home Made Dance Project. With electricity issues we may find ourselves playing acoustic a lot.

Current list of instruments:
1. Cymbals
2. Pot lid percussions
3. drum kit parts
4. battery powered toothbrushes
5. combs
6. cabinet doors
7. things to hit other things with

08.06.2011; An early morning

I suppose the pain meds have worn off from my recent surgery. It's early and I can't sleep. All I can think about is cats with human bodies, a man made of concrete wandering the streets, men with bizarre beards, a film I'm working on called "Exile on Montgomery Street", the music of Phill Niblock, and coffee.

CHINA '88 Excerpt from Phill Niblock on Vimeo.

Brasil '84 Excerpt from Phill Niblock on Vimeo.

New and Improved "exile on montgomery street" excerpt

Roadside memorials

A new series of photographs of roadside memorials. This is the first two...

"Shaver; .25 miles east of Eastchase exit, Fort Worth, TX"

"B. Minyard; .25 miles east of Eastchase exit, Fort Worth, TX"

Fun with Voice to Text

1.

-Email to mother:

"Mom can I get Betty Brown's, Betty Morgan's, Michael's and Sister's phone numbers?".

-What Voice to Text created:

"Mom kanye gay betty brown bedding orange michaels and sisters phone number.".

2.

-Video idea spoken to Voice to Text program:

"Video idea for training birds

Number 1 toy monkey wind up banging symbols.

Number to banging wind up monkey catches on fire.

Number 3 hold me out of stuffed animal carcass outside.

Number for birds fly down and eat car games. "

-What the video idea was supposed to say:

"Video idea for reigning birds

Number 1, toy monkey wind up banging cymbals.

Number 2, banging wind up monkey catches on fire.

Number 3, pull meat out of stuffed animal, hang carcass outside.

Number 4, birds fly down and eat carcass. "

06.22.2011; sketchbook pages

05.30.2011; a life simply

i've been thinking a lot lately about how to simplify my life without losing the things that I feel like I need in my life to be enjoyable. This is not some new agey idea or anything like that but I'm striving for a life that is a little more free, where I have time to finish work and do some other things that I enjoy like running more, gardening, and meditating.

There are a lot of books, blogs, and tv shows out there that are supposed to help one with this but they don't take certain things in account like people with ADD, differing lifestyles, etc... Also, these things are a "demotivator" to me because it almost seems like simplifying your life is a fad and I have this mentality that if something is "popular" my attention for it won't sustain itself throughout.

My challenge to myself and hopefully with my blog and my journals/sketchbooks is to document my steps to simplifying my life.

A list of things to do:

1) throw away all unwanted items and items that have not been used or looked at for the past 6 months.

2) determine what things are important in my life and what I want to accomplish day to day, year to year.

3) take time to read more:
a) "The Happiness Project"

4) reduce my web presence.

5) run more/bike more

6) eat better.

This sounds like a New Years Resolution list but it has taken this long for me to get it in my mind that I want to do this.

This site will be dedicated to this....

improvfriday 05.26 - 05.28

05.18.2011

Page from a current sketchbook.