With the exception of Agnes, whom I saw early in the morning before she went to get her rental and leave town, everyone was in the meeting, in the courtyard. The usual stuff was said, strawberries were delish and I successfully avoided the donut box on the table. At the end of the meeting I mentioned that some of us were going into town to look/walk around and Chris mentioned doing an informal get together/studio talk on Sunday. After several email exchange we decided to meet at 3:10 to go to town and do the get together at 8 pm on Sunday night, followed by a screening of the new Mad Men episode (yay).
Worked in the studio for a while, finished two large drawings (phase one) and did a self portrait using a webcam as a mirror. I think the idea was better than the result, I used conte crayons, red and black, which made for an interesting look, but the drawing itself sucked, as the proportions were all wrong (I moved too much, cam was too dark, etc), and because I was wearing my headphones it looks like I have these two very large and distorted ears. I also added another layer on the small paintings, which is going slow, as it usually does, so I hope the other 8 canvases arrive soon, so that I can work on multiple pieces at the same time. I'll be done with the large drawings in three days as well, so then the more complicated phases will come. I have to decide if I will make it as one long piece (220" wide) or shorter one (110"), either one row of ten drawings 22"x 30" or two rows of five with the same measure. Actually got an email from the gallery director, asking for promo picture and title of show (in October), which made this upcoming solo experience very real all of a sudden. I'm confident it will be a good show, I just hope I get to finish everything I want to do, which is this large drawing/projection piece, one more video piece (for a diptych), finish two paintings I started in my studio at home, and do at least two more paintings. I actually hope to do two more in the Fall, after this show opens, for the same series, just in case I get to show these again in 2013.
Ran into John at lunch time, and he told me about a BBQ at a friend's and asked me if I wanted to go. I said sure, but told him of the plans we had, so at the end he told me he'd text us around 5 to see where things were. He never did text but showed up in my studio later that day, closer to 8 pm, and I had just woken up from a nap, so I ended up not going with him (he was also gonna bike there, and I was just heat and altitude exhausted by then). I feel bad, I hope he was not offended, he is such a sweet guy, I hope other invitations arise.
So, backtracking a bit, we all met at the lobby at 3:10, everyone showed up with the exception of Charlie, who had gone see the location for his surround sound and image piece he is here to work on. I think he is very much into spending time on his own, which is fine, but he is an interesting guy to talk to. Chris offered to drive, nobody really wanted to drive, because everyone who had their car here drove for at least two days to get here, so the last thing we wanted to do is sit in front of the wheel (I'm glad I wasn't the only whiner lol). Chris used one of the SFAI cars (an awesome deal, one can borrow their cars for $30 a month and use it for 3 hours at a time, and fill up the tank each time). I ended up driving the second car (good ol' Fiona, who proved to be an asset in U turning in the narrow streets of the downtown area, great for parking). There were 8 of us, four artists and four writers, and funny enough this is how the cars were divided. Aimee sat in the front with me with a map and Cobi and Ellen sat in the back - they were so cute, like kids, having their own conversation in the back, giggles and all - and Aimee and I like the parents, stressed, trying not to lose track of Chris, whom I followed (though he wasn't sure where we were going).
Our first stop was Canyon Road, a very narrow street with tons of galleries and shops, all in the Adobe style, though most looked authentic. It was hot as hell and this morning I noticed I sunburned my scalp, not a flattering look, even worse when it starts to peel. I really need to get that cowboy hat. Canyon Road was exactly what I expected, a mix of bad art (wolves and moons, metal cut out silhouettes, touristy stuff, most of it highly entertaining actually), and some high art (surprisingly very pricey, very common seeing stuff in the $20,000 range). Please note that "bad" and "high" were here used very tongue-in-cheek. As I talked to Cobi, if someone makes something that I may not like, but it sells for a bundle of money, good for them. Likewise, if someone likes to make art that does not appeal to me, that is awesome as well, because as long as the creator gets something out of it, who cares? I also thought that some stuff, if we had better context, might be consider very good art, but that walking into a touristy area with a gallery with one piece by one artist, in a room filled with 20 such pieces, is not the proper context either. Maybe if the town offered only solo shows we could get a better sense of each artist's journey - I imagine a group show with the residents, where each person had only one piece with no explanation might come across just as problematic. This actually might happen in the future, as the works we donate to SFAI at the end of the residency, if not sold at a fundraiser, might get curated into exhibitions elsewhere (they do it from time to time, we were told). But back at Canyon Road, there was indeed a lot of schlock there, tons of large scale realistic metal sculptures (from bears to naked couples embracing), everywhere - public art or pubic art, New Mexico style?
People were getting bored, and overheated, so we got into the car and drove to the Plaza, and were lucky enough to find parking right away. Walked a bit around the area, also very cool and very kitschy and touristy all at once, and ended up in a gelato store (I know, I broke the diet, but could not resist the sea-salted caramel and the chocolate-hazelnut flavors - ordered a small). we all sat there and talked. I tried to talk more to the writers, like Rita and Marissa (whom I really like), because I figured I'd be spending all my time with the artists. everybody looked spent, so we walked towards the cars, with a brief stop at the church (beautiful on the outside, people laying around on the lawn like it was a park or Notre Dame in Paris, cheesy on the inside) and divided into the same groups again, as all the writers needed to go food-shopping. I definitely have to go spend a whole day out there, or several days, and visit every single gallery there is (and not the three or four we went to), on both locations, probably on my own, with a cowboy hat and a camera. Also want to take advantage of all the free passes we get to go to the museums in the area, even if they are tacky and not of my particular interest, just because I should take advantage of it all, because who knows when I'll be back (sadly enough SITE is in between shows, but I am hoping Nancy Holt shows up to deinstall her show at the end of the month, before I leave.
By the time we got back here I was exhausted, and decided to take a nap in my room. I'm not sure I actually slept much, maybe 15 minutes total, but I laid in bed for a couple hours, completely spent. Maybe the altitude and heat are affecting me more than I thought. After working in the studio for a bit, and writing a report in the library for about an hour, I eat some dinner in the courtyard - so quiet and nice - watched some Netflix, and went to bed. Thinking of Nancy Holt's "Boomerang" piece, in the gallery, I felt that time at time stretched and stayed still, as if we were all suspended, and only thoughts floating and bouncing back as a means to understand these new surroundings.
- posted via iPad
Location:Santa Fe, NM
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