Jana SterbakI've been doing a little work on Czech art and literature. I'll be posting some information this weekend. I know it's been something like a month now since an update. I promise it will be exciting.
10.24.2007
10.01.2007
finalized essay
La Persistencia de la Memoria
The experience of time is one of transience, impermanence, and entropy- these are integral aspects of life regardless of culture and historical context. The sharp shifts in my life, the highlight of which was immigration, revealed this to me at a very early age.
Because of this, I have developed a particular interest in fantasy (defined as any mental incarnation which exists outside of the present moment) and its ability to create longing, therefore serving as a strong impetus for action. However, the yearning towards a potential future horizon lends itself to pursuit, while the experience of longing for the past does not. The past is a particularly fertile, yet confusing breeding-ground for fantasy and longing- one that relentlessly calls for an impossible act: the return.
Instead of indulging in that fantasy, I respond by dissecting the experience, studying the preservation of memory through the relification (the creation of relics) of objects and places, as well as the preventative preservation of relationships through communication, particularly the sharing of experiences and objects. I am simultaneously interested in the examination of memory itself and the extent of its ability to create fantastical, romanticized illusions.
In the study of my own longing, I have begun to disassemble objects of personal historical and sentimental value and to investigate my experience doing so. I try to note both the suffering and the moment of disconnect during the destruction process and observe the point at which the object becomes exclusively memory and is therefore subject to the process of romanticizing.
Simultaneously, I have, In my past installations, attempted to recreate these mental abstractions in a physical space, not to test the strength of my memory but to actualize these fantasies, permitting me to contrast them to the experience of the present moment; what I call the banal.
My third, concurrent pursuit has been the simplistic act of illustrating horizons and mountain ranges, imagery closely linked with the ever-present but inaccessible or, at least, the not readily accessible, creating metaphors for the experience of longing.
Finally, I am interested in electronic mediums as an extension of mental space for storing experiences (through video, audio and photography) and the role of current technology such as YouTube and Picasaweb in allowing a more immediate and multisensory experience of others' memories and, therefore, a more expansive understanding of subjective history and longing. Because, while the moment exists as an objective thing, our experience of it does not, and neither is our capturing of it through memory (or the extension of memory: the previously mentioned technology). That is what piqued my interest in collecting videos of sincere joy, communal singing..etc from the internet; because they allow me, in spite of barriers of distance or, perhaps, even language, as close to experiencing others' past as possible and give me the opportunity to observe, among other things, the types of scenarios chosen to be remembered.
The internet serves as more than a medium for the exchange of facts, it is also one for the sharing of these fantasies, creating what I call, with some hesitation, a very rough draft of a universal consciousness- of our thinking, of our memories and of our longing.
The experience of time is one of transience, impermanence, and entropy- these are integral aspects of life regardless of culture and historical context. The sharp shifts in my life, the highlight of which was immigration, revealed this to me at a very early age.
Because of this, I have developed a particular interest in fantasy (defined as any mental incarnation which exists outside of the present moment) and its ability to create longing, therefore serving as a strong impetus for action. However, the yearning towards a potential future horizon lends itself to pursuit, while the experience of longing for the past does not. The past is a particularly fertile, yet confusing breeding-ground for fantasy and longing- one that relentlessly calls for an impossible act: the return.
Instead of indulging in that fantasy, I respond by dissecting the experience, studying the preservation of memory through the relification (the creation of relics) of objects and places, as well as the preventative preservation of relationships through communication, particularly the sharing of experiences and objects. I am simultaneously interested in the examination of memory itself and the extent of its ability to create fantastical, romanticized illusions.
In the study of my own longing, I have begun to disassemble objects of personal historical and sentimental value and to investigate my experience doing so. I try to note both the suffering and the moment of disconnect during the destruction process and observe the point at which the object becomes exclusively memory and is therefore subject to the process of romanticizing.
Simultaneously, I have, In my past installations, attempted to recreate these mental abstractions in a physical space, not to test the strength of my memory but to actualize these fantasies, permitting me to contrast them to the experience of the present moment; what I call the banal.
My third, concurrent pursuit has been the simplistic act of illustrating horizons and mountain ranges, imagery closely linked with the ever-present but inaccessible or, at least, the not readily accessible, creating metaphors for the experience of longing.
Finally, I am interested in electronic mediums as an extension of mental space for storing experiences (through video, audio and photography) and the role of current technology such as YouTube and Picasaweb in allowing a more immediate and multisensory experience of others' memories and, therefore, a more expansive understanding of subjective history and longing. Because, while the moment exists as an objective thing, our experience of it does not, and neither is our capturing of it through memory (or the extension of memory: the previously mentioned technology). That is what piqued my interest in collecting videos of sincere joy, communal singing..etc from the internet; because they allow me, in spite of barriers of distance or, perhaps, even language, as close to experiencing others' past as possible and give me the opportunity to observe, among other things, the types of scenarios chosen to be remembered.
The internet serves as more than a medium for the exchange of facts, it is also one for the sharing of these fantasies, creating what I call, with some hesitation, a very rough draft of a universal consciousness- of our thinking, of our memories and of our longing.
9.18.2007
to read
"This is not to say that there are no brilliant, world-changing young architects and designers out there at this very moment developing the ideas that will transform the way we build and live in cities for the next 100 years. But add to the paradoxes raised by Glazer the paradoxes of working in the 21st century: Technology and global culture allow a limitless exchange of ideas, but they also facilitate instant cooptation and manipulation of those ideas. Never has the world been so ready for grand new ideas—and so willing to convert them into high-priced styles."
From "A New Social Construct" on The Morning News.
From "A New Social Construct" on The Morning News.
visual update
I know this is a bit redundant, but here are some recent pictures of the current endeavor.
9.11.2007
David Aron
So I decided to check back with a gallery that I consider an indulgence(with an odd sense of guilt) Little Cakes and checking through some of their old shows I saw Mr. Aron. I don't feel at all thoughful enough to actually say why I liked it. I could say something about color and patterning and it relating to my interests in native and folk art....but we'll just omit all of that . There was no statement available and I can't find any information on him, but check out Little Cakes. They seem like a good bunch.
Though I have to say on a side note, I am really tired of artists turning their work into t-shirts and action figures. It just seems to cheapen the whole thing, lowering art to the level of chuck norris or something. Or am I being anal?9.10.2007
Sneak Preview
I've been stupidly distracted with laundry and writing and avoiding sending out my resume. But here is a sneak preview of a hanging piece I'm working on right now. Aprox. 40''x90''
8.09.2007
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