Belated San Diego Post

I am slowly knocking out the last of the U.S. destinations in the Autobiography in Water series. Last August, I visited my parental homeland, floated giant photographs in La Jolla, Del Mar, and Coronado, collected water samples and buried a chunk of Camden's Rock. I spent my birthday with my cousin Mark visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego to see the Nicole Eisenman exhibition and the expansive sculpture garden.

Nancy Rubins, Pleasure Point, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Ed Ruscha, Detail of Brave Men Run in My Family, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Detail of Nicole Eisenman's installation in the exhibition Dear Nemesis, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Detail of Robert Irwin's installation 1º 2º 3º 4º, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Pre-float with my Uncle Paul and cousin Mark (I cannot thank my family enough for their assistance during this task)

 Camden's Rock was buried here at Coronado.

Water sample on top of the mound where Camden's Rock was buried, Coronado Beach

Neptune Pool, Hearst Castle, San Simeon, California

Last December, I took this photograph of the drained and dirty Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle on a drizzly, cold day. It was an ideal subject for the cyanotype process because it was anything but what I remembered it and making it blue would correspond with that memory. I spent many Fridays in February creating the digital negatives and the first "draft" above. However, it was not right.

The scale was off and I wanted more of an abstraction. After some brainstorming with Brent, the above work prints were made. Ironically, I had a little help with the texture in the reflection from the Riverside Hotel in Garden City, Idaho.

Fast forward to July and the digital negatives were made and the next round of cyanotypes, as seen drying on the racks below. The new dimension is 50" x 40".

Yet a third round was created to perfect some of the inconsistencies in exposure and a mock-up was documented in the Atrium Gallery at school. I have the highest hopes of creating a glass version of this prior to Brent's and my collaborative exhibition, Treading Water, in January.

Adios California

Funniest little hot tub in Palm Desert

View from the Palm Springs aerial tram at twilight (scary)

Vik Muniz's Pictures of Cars (after Ed Ruscha) at the Imago Gallery, Palm Desert

The Cabazon Dinosaurs through the front window of the Corolla (remembering Pee Wee's Big Adventure)

 Adam's birds stored on top of the refrigerator

View from Griffith Observatory at sunset (amazing!)

Jim Hodges' The Dark Gate at the Hammer Museum

From Jeff Koons' Banality series or custom made gingerbread houses at Gelson's in Pacific Palisades

Shadow Mountain Resort - Palm Desert, CA

In December 2007, Adam took me to a pool in December in Los Angeles and I was able to swim laps outside. It was especially gratifying because my leg had been encased in an air cast for a torn ligament for three months. It was at that moment that I established that swimming outdoors in the winter was a future goal (hello, giving snowbirds a good name). Last fall, I determined that the specific pool did not matter, it was the act that was important. Even though I have no previous history with the Shadow Mountain Resort swimming pool in Palm Desert, it became a source of inspiration over the course of 2.5 days.

It was difficult to convince oneself to dive in despite the 80º temperature of the salt water since the outdoor air was hovering around 65º most of the time. The most significant thing about my first California December lap swimming experience was watching the sky while doing the backstroke. In the images, it was important to include evidence of what lay above in addition to what was below. Anyway, these are the three I am thinking about (yes, there is repetition but it will be narrowed down).

As with everything in this series, none of the images are final. They are part of a greater whole (installation, book, sculpture, sound piece, video, mail art, etc.) that I hope will start to materialize once documentation from all the locations is collected (at this rate there are only five more - I may have added yet another one, damn it).

Coincidentally, the swimming pool opened in December (the 10th) in 1948. Above is a terrible photograph of it in a display case next to the clubhouse. Twelve people on surfboards is a good indicator of scale.

This postcard had my name on it (and will probably be featured in the end product in some fashion). Oh the times of dangerous ladders and pool toys that will never see the light of day in the 21st century and when Palm Desert still looked like a desert rather than an over irrigated, environmentally problematic oasis.

Failure and Success at Hearst Castle

Let's go back in time to a post from June 2010 in which I stated that there was one pool I would do almost anything to float a cake. The Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle is the epitome of excess and therefore, most desirable to obtain in some form or another.

For months, I wondered if I could collect a clear water sample but in November, I learned the pool was drained. That dashed my hopes and I set my sights on the indoor Roman Pool. I try very hard not to break any rules or trespass with the Stalking Artist series and that philosophy was important here. The Hearst Castle website has a long list of tour rules and the one that required the most navigation was this:

11. Fountains & Pools
The fountains and pools are part of the historic elements of the estate and visitors are not permitted to contact the water by wading, jumping or placing any part of their body into the pools or fountains.

A week before, while visiting the Museum of Jurassic Technology, I bought a string (part of the string exhibition to be used to practice Cats Cradle, etc.). I tied it around a clear water sample and practiced in the Madonna Inn jacuzzi. It worked perfectly in terms of dropping in smoothly and filling quickly. 

What follows are photographs outlining the anatomy of failure - not only was the pool drained, it was full of dirt and scaffolding. It looked awful (and it was raining when I took the photographs).

What lies below is how fear and trepidation turned into panic and ultimate success (what a surprise).

I remember visiting this pool c. 2003 but I had forgotten that the iron gate to keep people at bay was 2-3 feet away from the water. There were several dozen tourists and a couple guides in the room and only a couple faced me. I threw the specimen bottle into the water and to my horror, it did not fall in smoothly like the practice run. It floated on top of the surface. I nearly panicked but pulled it up and tossed it in again, trying hard to ignore the fact that the water was no longer smooth and noticeably rippling. I yanked it out of the pool the moment it filled, taking care not to let it crash on the iron gate. Shockingly, I was not caught (and to this day, I still wonder how). I don't think I broke the rules as my body did not touch the water but I am sure that would be debatable.

Moments later, I photographed my most difficult to obtain water sample (and therefore the most coveted) on the bus ride back to the entry. There is no documentation of this event except perhaps on one man's camera who was photographing in my direction from the other side. This exists as a story that someone might believe - therefore it is the first piece I have begun to work on since my return to Muncie earlier this month.

Second choice isn't a bad replacement. I may use the "failure" photographs to construct an artwork that documents this story. I love it when ideas strike while writing blog posts.

Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo

It looks like I fell in love with this pepto bismol pink palace. Here are some highlights. Key card for the Swiss Rock Room.

Swiss Rock Room lamp (in general this space was too dark to obtain a good photograph).

Wall paper in the main building's women's bathroom (shiny).

The restaurant decorated for the Christmas season (enter people gathering for every holiday party within 20 miles).

The quest for odd landscaping continues. A fountain directly across from the famous men's bathroom.

Postcards of all the themed rooms.

Wandering around at night looking at them became a favorite pastime.

Red carpet treatment heading toward the Buffalo Room.

Two doors down from the Cave Man Room.

The infinity pool at dusk (80º all the time = even though it was cool and no higher than 63º, it was a must swim visit).

The pink glow emanating from the pool at night.

One of my favorite details - the bath soap was packaged in a container resembling cake ...

... which produced a photograph of a cardboard box "cake" float.

My favorite image from the Madonna Inn - the tennis courts.

I was also on the hunt to find the ugliest possible decor. I thought it was this photograph of a payphone surrounded by glowing pink but then...

I saw this floral carpet clash. I finally settled on this...

... fake grape chandelier with a sparkly, green foam ceiling.

I hate to say it but I may have aspirations on staying at the Madonna Inn again (perhaps next time on a higher floor in a lighter room that isn't covered with rock walls, though they were ideal for hanging the pool towels).