The Red Menace

"The Red Menace" comes from this week's game of image ping-pong that Steven LaRose and I played over at Ten Thousand Pixels.

Well, Fuck.

'Older' sounds a little better than 'old,' doesn't it? Sounds like it might even last a little longer. ... I'm getting old. And it's OK. Because thanks to our fear of death in this country I won't have to die — I'll 'pass away.' Or I'll 'expire,' like a magazine subscription. . . "

-George Carlin

If-Then at 10,000 Pixels

Steven LaRose and I had a fun week over at 10,000 Pixels, tossing images back and forth. He would post an image, the next day I would post something responding to it, and so on. The animation above is a compilation of one of the two resulting image threads.

We'll be doing something similar next week, so keep your eyes open for that.

One Man Band

When everything goes just right in the printshop, it feels kind of like this:




Gus makes me want a ukulele.

Toddler Taunts Termites.

My two year old daughter continues her exploration of sculpture with this piece, her first truly site-specific work. What at first appears to be a fairly decorative effort, a simple arrangement of carefully chosen twigs, becomes more complex when the site itself is taken into consideration. A full appreciation of this piece depends on the viewer recognizing those three white circular patches of cement for what they are - the evidence of a recent battle with a termite infestation. The placing of twigs directly over the holes where the underlying soil was drenched with pesticide designed to kill wood-eating insects creates a powerful tension - a juxtaposition of food and poison. Is she taunting the termites, or is this some kind of peace-offering? Is she acknowledging that termites have a rightful place in the world, as long as it isn't in our basement?

Her preliminary studies for this piece, one of which is seen below, shed little light on her intent. They seem to focus primarily on the formal qualities of the work, giving little hint of the complex content in the finished piece.