This is all done of course as a means for me to delay working on METROPOLIS, which is staring at me the whole time I am working on this. LUV is done with silver point and I am already thinking of two other pieces I want to make, and then a smaller, third one as well, which will be my donation piece. I am working on horizontal lines, and the drawing varies in size, which from afar gives it a knitted/fabric feel to it that I really like. I started with about an inch done from the previous day, and by the end of the day I was halfway done with the whole piece of paper (I worked on it for about 7 hours yesterday, in blocks of 1 or two hours). Stealing a chair from the dining room and using the foam-core case I built to transport the paper as my angled table top has saved me much back pain, but of course the arm and shoulder are acting up, so tons of breaks, stretches, pressure point compressions, to alleviate the pain.
In the morning I sent a group email asking to borrow a tripod, and Cobi lent me his, though I have not used it yet. I need to shoot some video footage for METROPOLIS and still sketches for the new pieces. In the morning Agnes stopped by and asked me if I knew where the car keys were. Because I do not need to use the institute's car I told her I did not have access to it, and later I found out she had asked Cobi the same, and Ellen for a ride. She wanted to go to some Tesuque market, and I believe she eventually went with Myriel. Agnes has not done any work since I've been here, though she was gone for almost two weeks. Her arrival has caused a lot of tension, and in a way tension was the key word for the day yesterday.
I was trying to do laundry but other people were there with their stuff all over the place. I left a note and Ellen told me she was doing the laundry around John's stuff, which has been sitting there for days and really not going anywhere (the whole house noticed, along with the smell of cigarettes), but what can one do? I told her to take her time and let me know when I could jump in, and at the end of the day I got two loads done, which was great. At one point I ran into Charlie and Myriel having breakfast in the courtyard, they were chatting/flirting, hard to tell with those two. I asked them (initially) if they were doing laundry (no), and later (it was a long breakfast I suppose) if they had left the wet room door open (also no). Someone has been leaving the wet room door open, and this was the second time I found it that way, door open and light on. Every time I turn the light off and close the door. I do not want any one of us to get into trouble because it is connected to the Nancy Holt exhibit. Anyway, I had written Charlie an email earlier in the day asking him if we'd still be able to visit the place he was working on, some Dome video screen with a seven point surround sound system at IAIA, just outside town. He said we could all go around 7 pm for a bit, he could play his work and then we'd leave and he'd get back to it. I offered to drive, as this seemed like a cool thing to do on a sunday night.
After lunch some time I got a text message from Cris telling me he was in town and wanted to meet for margaritas. I told him I could meet them (he is in town with Annica, they are installing a piece for the Currents New Media festival at CCA, the place we watched the Jane Fonda movie the night before), but could not drink because it was a work day, and I also had to finish my report for Columbia College. After a few exchanges they came over to the institute at the same time Lisa arrived (she was driving one of the institute's car, weird). As they all knew each other (they were residents here, and in fact suggested me to apply), they talked for a bit outside and eventually we all went inside where the ran into John, and from what I could tell they were drinking buddies during their time here. This was actually the third of forth time I had hung out with them, so in a way the SFAI folks know them better than I do. As it has been pretty much my experience with Cris, it all starts well and eventually a series of minor digs, minor put downs begin to take place, which gets old very quickly, because I am never laughing with them. Because I had to write I left them to catch up, and got some writing done. Came back and they were still talking and laughing, and as they were getting ready to leave, there was a weird photo situation where both Cris and John implied (former) and called me (latter) a derogatory term. It was not funny. I decided not to engage and I think they realized, to some extent (alcohol usually turns that sensor off) that I was not too pleased. I never understood why he feels the need to always be this way around me, specially since we are not good friends, since we do not know each other well. They felt tired, jet-legged, and went to their place, I told them I'd text them about going to the Dome thing at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA,) even though I did not know if they could come or if I wanted their company.
Went back to my room and finished the report, which will need some revising on monday morning. I had wanted to revise it before going to bed but completely forgot. Went back to the studio and worked on the drawing a bit more. Aimee and Rita wanted to go to the Dome, Cobi and Ellen were skipping it. Aimee and I thought it would be a good idea to eat before going, and in the kitchen we ran into Marisa, who was going also (she had just returned from a dance class with Agnes). Agnes was going too, and Myriel, and Amy (the visiting artist) wanted to go as well. We all sat outside and ate dinner and talked. Not sure yet what the collaboration team will do, as they have a lecture and an art opening tomorrow/today, and the gallery is still empty.
We were all ready to go, two cars, when Charlie arrived telling us the Dome was not working, that one of the machines broke. I was glad I had not waken Cris and Annica from their jetleg nap, as the fieldtrip was not happening. Aimee and Rita decided to sneak out and get some icecream somewhere, so we ran to the back of the house and walked out through Rita's room, because we knew it would take for ever for the entire group to decide what to do next. We ended up at the plaza, and as we were walking to Ecco, the gelato store, Marisa called me and told me they were headed for Ecco for some gelato. By the time we got there they were officially closed but still serving, though the flavor option was low. Most of us had pistachio, which was nutty and yummy. While we ate outside Charlie called Marisa and said he had fixed the problem. He emailed me the address and after some snafu with the GPS, we were on our way. Because of the last minute nature I did not text C&A, and since they did not contact me either I assumed they were either sleeping or doing something else. As luck would have it the GPS directions were very convoluted, and at one point I made a mistake as well, but eventually, with some phone calls, we all got there.
Charlie met us outside, let us in, and we all laid down on these huge beanbags, under the Dome. The experience was actually pretty interesting, even if we watched a low-res version of the piece. After some time the apparatus really disappeared and we entered into this nebulous, organic place his images and sound created. The experience was relaxing (whale sounds at one point) but also slightly unsettling in a good way. It lasted a bit over seven minutes, but it really stretched time. We all clapped and talked a bit about it, took some pictures, and then walked outside to the most beautiful sun set I have seen here. This part of the campus had some very interesting architecture in its grounds, made up of circles as meeting points. We all took some pictures and then headed home, on a different path, as instructed by Charlie. A very dark path but much faster than the one we first took.
We arrived in one piece, though everyone looked exhausted. Aimee and I went to my studio, ran into Cobi, and parted our ways. Went to bed, exhausted, and forgot to coat two new sheets of paper.
- posted via iPad
Location:Alamosa Pl,Santa Fe,United States
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