Food and Self-Portraits

Scott and Kim Anderson's Backyard, Hartford City, Indiana appeared in the Joyce Elaine Grant 2016 Exhibition in January. The theme? Food. The photograph? Cake. I was happy to share an award with Amelia Morris whose canned goods in the image above are making me hungry.

One of the self-portraits in this juried exhibition will be traveling to LightBox Photographic Gallery in Astoria, Oregon and the Griffin Museum of Photography in Massachusetts. Here is the text that accompanies the photograph:

I spent three weeks in the Fall of 2013 printing one page of all the fonts that featured a pound sign in Microsoft Word. During lab days when my students were working on their projects, I painstakingly cut each one apart, ending with an estimated 30,804 (my cat may have eaten a few). The goal was to draw attention to the overuse of the hashtag in social media by creating a photograph where they dominated, yet ultimately revealed nothing more than an element of disguise.

New Mexico Part 2: Santa Fe, Taos and the Rio Grande Gorge

The number one item on my Santa Fe list was Site Santa Fe and their celebratory 20th anniversary exhibition featuring old friends from Anderson Ranch, Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, in addition to Gregory Crewdson, Roxy Paine, and Jessica Stockholder. The above is a still from the Kelleys' The Syphilis of Sisyphus and below is the dress that the main character wears in the film.

Roxy Paine's diorama, Bastard Octopus, was so much fun to photograph and peer into from different angles. I would love to see more of these installed in other locations in the future. I could not help but be reminded of this article in the New Yorker when encountering the artwork itself.

On to Gerald Peters Gallery where I had Ed Ruscha Catalog Raisonné envy.

I may have purchased a papier mâché doughnut while wandering the streets of Santa Fe.

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum was next on the list. I was drawn to the old brushes, paint samples and tubes.

In addition to her objects, a quote displayed as wall text hit home in regards to color:

"The meaning of a word to me is not as exact as the meaning of a color. Colors and shapes make a more definitive statement than words."
Georgia O'Keeffe, 1976

The next day we took the High Road to Taos Scenic Biway. I had visited the town once a very long time ago in graduate school and think that my previous trip featured the Low Road as the scenery was not familiar. Lara wanted to stop in a weaving shop and here is a detail from that roadside attraction:

This sums up my experience at Chimayo.

The church that did maintain my interest was the San Francisco de Asis Catholic Parish. Georgia O'Keeffe painted it. Ansel Adams and Paul Strand photographed it. Dennis Hopper is buried in a grave nearby.

 

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the second highest in the U.S. Highway system, was a sight to behold.

One of my favorite group portraits featuring (Back L to R): Kyla Tighe, Grif Williams, me, and Alys Walbridge. Front: Trevor Campbell, Lara Kuykendall, Sarah Lassiter, Noelle Weigand and Lexi Musselman.

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).

Happy Birthday Ed Ruscha!

A couple weeks ago while walking through the neighborhood on a chilly fall day, I realized that I would be in California on Ed Ruscha's birthday. I thought about making him a fake cake, resurrecting the Styrofoam and caulk decorating experience. Unfortunately, I uttered this statement out loud to the two people that helped me in the past and they convinced me that it was a good idea. What follows is photographic documentation of what took place the first week of December (here's to hoping he opened the box delivered to his real address in Beverly Hills).