Roadside Attraction is an installation I thought of several years ago as an all American, amusement park type of work, a show on the side of the road or a trailer that could be part of a country art fair. Could be even setup on a remote country road, away from traffic or even in a field. Without and far removed from formal art experiences but using the materials and methods that belong in an artist's studio, and, of course, the provocation. Roadside Attraction was conceived as a spectacle at a truck stop. I have always been fascinated by American truckers, hauling large trailers on American highways. Last year I drove solo 3000 miles from Florida's Space Coast to the Silicon Valley in California where I spent a large portion of my life in a not so distant past. While on the road I had plenty of time to think, especially driving through West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. I am convinced that at that moment I had the tiniest car in all of Texas, In one small dusty town I suddenly feared that cowboys, who were prowling the nearby hills hunting boar, may actually decide to shoot my tires for fun.
So Roadside Attraction has probably lingered on the back of my head ever since I started moving across the Untied States - I once crossed the States along highway 80 ( Kansas, Colorado, etc) and once along 10 ( Mississippi, Texas, etc ), of course not counting flying. Mississippi had absolutely the worst roads I had ever come across as far as Federal Highways go. I thought I had broken an axel - my little Hyundai was shaking so bad and I was in the middle of nowhere in the deep south with a tiny car full of stuff.
Month-long, site-specific installation in Beacon, NY, created illegally inside Dennings Point Ruins. Due to the fact that it was created in a State Park - I had to setup from scratch every morning and fold everything every evening, leaving no trace. Hence its ephemeral, and inherently mobile and shifting nature. I apologize to the state of New York for not applying for the permit they would have never given me anyway. That's why I didn't ask. ..................
While hiking in the area I found the most beautiful space - abandoned brick factory which has been taken over by nature.
While passing by I only saw a brick wall, partially collapsed and had no idea the area just around the corner held this amazing environment.
I walked by, the place called me and I answered. It's my magical forest sans the mushrooms. I was in love and spent much time here.
They call the place Dennings Point ruins, I found them much improved though, and much more beautiful. imagine the sheer mundanity of a brick factory building with all the brick making stuff in it. Now it has been beautifully rearranged by nature and you have the most lively soundscape too.
It was made so much more beautiful. …
Art is about a punch to the stomach. I figured what the difference is between art and art, art gives you a punch so when the art is absent and the artist is absent you still hold the image in your head. You say ah!
If there’s no ah it is just making stuff, or being creative which is of course absolutely valid too it just isn’t all that interesting.
I loved being in this place, in the company of bushes, crickets, birds, wind, greenery, ruins, graffiti, and random humans.
To create a brand new visual experience, and fleeting.
I loved the sounds of the space as well, it's like nature was pushing its way into the building but couldn't take over and get all in.
Plus I had the local bullies come in and complain about the yuppies coming to their town, and to be honest I was scared but not terrified but my friend freaked out so i had to start folding. I will make sure to come alone next time because I do not care to "burn with my art" - this was the only time I have been threatened to be burned with something I created so I feel it was quite special.
And then the cops showed up, they were really nice.
On the other hand the local shuttle driver for the college took us to the bar up the hill completely free and out of the goodness of their heart which was great, and the bar was great too - I loved the food and the ambiance because there was nothing pretentious about it, and with great tasting beer.
Not affiliated by any stretch - but would love to be - Meyer's Olde Dutch Food & Such.
Happy Thanksgiving!! I am thankful for all of you who painted and for all of you who will paint on the 200x.
I had a bit of a calm this thanksgiving to think and plan and as always reflect on what was and what is coming. One of the greatest insights I had in the Silicon Valley is that reproducible work, even work of the highest quality, diminishes in value very quickly. One of this things I wanted to do is work that is highly irreproducible. A mix of materials, quality, process, ideas, actions and results that may not be easily reproduced. Even work of ephemeral nature which requires a special set of circumstances rises in value owing to its rare nature. I am very grateful for that insight, as well as for being able to follow up on these ideas, and which I have been able to further with the graceful and generous participation from all of you. Thank you.
Memory Replacement - Roaming Installation and Performance with Public Participation at the World Trade Center Memorial site in New York city. Making of Leftovers.
Memory Replacement - Roaming Installation and Performance with Public Participation at the World Trade Center Memorial site in New York city - Final look of the Dress
Hands Dry Waterfall
First of three site-specific installations I created in Central Park.
Named this installation after a poem from Hyakunin isshu that read: “Though the sound
of the cascade
long since has seized
we still hear the murmur
of its name”
Did three installations yesterday, started 6am on the south east side of central Park and hung the last in the middle, didn't want to annoy the central Park staff as I worked without a permit so I let installations stay for an hour or so/ let people take pictures before I took them down and moved on. Had great conversations with people's from all walks of life, ages, and corners of the world including fishing for caper s with a 10 years old.
The first in a a series of impromptu efimero structures around Central Park that I did yesterday, I haven't really picked locations prior so when I saw something that looked interesting I decided to throw the hands in, with the generous non interference from the park staff, it was a very peaceful day with a lot of energy and interaction with a lot of people.
I did not have a permit so very glad Central Park staff did not really harass me but they did start cutting grass at some point so I had to leave. I wouldn't really know what to ask a permit for since I don't work with a plan I basically decide on the spot what to do with the environment based on that very environment so the work is very spontaneous and efimero and I'd like to keep it that way I don't want to plan it and I don't want no execute a plan it's just not interesting.
I wanted to thank nature for allowing me to do this, because it could have been much more difficult for me - I have a phobia of bugs, insects etc so any sort flying things like bees, wasps, bats ( other than mosquitoes ) would have sent me off. Also wanted to thank the local police and the local bullies for only showing up one time.
.
Giant Hands in Beacon - it is getting dark, a bit more loud and the hands are slowly turning. As evening approaches in Beacon - i have to fold everything up before it gets dark, and all the hooting starts.
The paint is not looking right because it is almost 4 years old paint. The yellow paint is still great and the pigment suspended - but the red and blue is little separated. I just laugh it off - old paint is okay. Better than no paint.
I loved the look of this space - so well proportioned, special, abandoned - meaning it was no longer used by humans which is a great thing. Use implies purpose and I do not wish to put purpose in what I do. Things that have purpose cannot transcend everyday life.
It has no purpose other than to create a brand new visual experience, and fleeting.
I loved the sounds of the space as well, it's like nature was pushing its way into the building but couldn't take over and get all in.
Plus I had the local bullies come in and complain about the yuppies coming to their town, and to be honest I was scared but not terrified but my friend freaked out so i had to start folding. I will make sure to come alone next time because I do not care to "burn with my art" - this was the only time I have been threatened to be burned with something I created so I feel it was quite special.
And then the cops showed up, they were really nice.
On the other hand the local shuttle driver for the college took us to the bar up the hill completely free and out of the goodness of their heart which was great, and the bar was great too - I loved the food and the ambiance because there was nothing pretentious about it, and with great tasting beer.
Not affiliated by any stretch - but would love to be - Meyer's Olde Dutch Food & Such.
Today, Sep 2nd, and Wednesday, Sep 5th, I am working on a giant hands installation at Dennings Point State Park in Beacon, NY.
Like most installations this has not been planned but happened spontaneously on the spot. When i discovered this abandoned brick factory i started working with the space without much deliberation just made a few hands and hung them. I really cherish the spontaneity of the process where things happen naturally, especially that the space is situated in nature.
The space is understated beautiful, I discovered it while hiking in the area and had the effect, and the pull of a magical forest.
A journey into zen - a year after I returned from Japan I left my six figures job and the beautiful apartment by Golden Gate bridge, donated my car & sold my possessions and moved to New York. It is not that I decided, upon returning to America, to throw away everything out of the windows, instead the ideas and images of zen reverberated and made me ask questions.
I started asking what it is to have? Which became part of the I have everything project and questions.
You are not going to find Nirvana if you get rid of your possessions. But you are going to find out everything about yourself and the people around you. Guaranteed. I personally did not want to find Nirvana, the best things can’t be said, can’t be had - but I sure didn’t want to spend the precious moments given to me by whatever process is responsible for self-awareness, I didn’t want to spend these moments worrying about particle board.
So here's me getting rid of the rest of the particle board I own, in the dumpsters somewhere in central Florida.
……………
I have been working on my Japanese Garden book on the train and someone asked me if I am into horticulture. I am not into horticulture, I have had plants in the past but never really invested my time into the care and observation of plants. I like people, and that area I find extremely interesting. I realized that in Japanese gardens there is the absence of horticulture, there all seems to have been carefully arranged to invoke a natural feeling.
………….
You are not going to discover yourself if you sell your couch, but you will discover yourself if everything you have is yourself. It all ties back to Thoreau and goes all the way back to ancient times. You don’t sit on the couch for Nirvana, it is human nature to seek comfort from the unknown in possessions.
This is not a recipe for happiness and often is the recipe for all kinds of disasters, but is the recipe for truth.
……………..
I have always been fascinated with objects, they are to me artifacts and I study them like an archaeologist would.
Objects are like little octopus, it holds strings that reach back to the very moment it was made. The strings wrap around various objects and spaces and hold tightly onto the owner. Then they create memories and experiences for the owner and grow more attachment strings. The octopus can move between owners and spaces and its filaments reach further and wide. Until discarded. The lives of objects are fascinating to me, I imagine that in the grand scheme of things in the universe each object we humans create is quite special. An artifact of a civilized existence. I realized that my I have everything project is not really about getting rid of objects per se but rather about the fascinating lives of objects and their termination and conversion into other matter.
………………
I highly recommend poverty for a little while.
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You have to remember that there are very few people that would understand, there is one thing you need to know and that is that you will need to take the journey alone, very few people would be willing to willingly come along. Don't force them.
My dad never really forgave me, leaving behind everything anyone ever really wanted, six figure salary, beautiful home, great job, beautiful area to live in. All this on the surface sounded great but
I was oppressed by possessions and the bourgeois way of life.
In the greatest city in the world art just happens :)
New York's MTA - Metropolitan Transportation Agency which is in charge of the subway is making art too. Currently the MTA is under a lot of pressure and this took place at the Columbus Circle subway station around 11pm. The workers probably thought I am photographing them to complain. Nothing of that sort.
Inspired by the NYC subway, where various characters perform various routines, from simple getting from point A to point B - to the theater of the Absurd. There are all kind of objects, and hands.
A performance I created over four hours, without a script and working spontaneously with various objects, including paint, ink, food and found objects:
1. Strings
2. Brushes and paint
3. Old singing clock
4. Apple peels ( I love apples, usually consume a tall bag of it daily )
5. Spinach
6. Juice
7. Juicer
8. Toy Cars
9. Ball
10. Coins
11. Wood shavings
12. Walmart Flipflops
13. Staple gun
14. Belt
15. Umbrella and many other objects
The installation room and wearables were created over several days using a drawing of the same name, re-arranged and transferred on paper.
