physics and the quest for perfect burger ...

the first entry
to wash it down


My first short post on the Aferro Blog … and of course you all know me … lol … so you know you’re likely to hear from me again.

I must begin by singing the praises of the most excellent Emma and Evonne, warm, wonderful and smart women. Hopefully in the future this blog will find me more poetic and maybe more thoughtful … but for today we sing praises …

And speaking of today at Aferro -- today I met two of my fellow residents, Steve and Blyth, as well as the people who will be working “in the lab”. The Lab is a project curated by Nancy Mahl and I can’t wait to see what comes out of it. It looks like it has an angle on getting to work that is really fresh. In fact that’s something that’s attractive about Aferro, it’s programming is so open and truly willing to take some risks. I suspect that’s one of the benefits of their location and being a non-profit with very few strings. The place was humming with everyone working on things for the September 11 opening.

Got a look at what will be my art home for the next few months and ate an amazing cheeseburger. Those who know me well know that burgers aren’t my typical fare but today it was right on.

I went with Emma, Evonne, Dahlia, and Leigh Ann (I’m sure I’m misspelling her name) to Tops Diner in East Newark as the great Cheeseburger quest got underway. Initiated by Dahlia with encouragement from all quarters, the quest represents the search for the perfect artist’s cheeseburger and Tops has made a stellar first salvo in the battle. It will be a fight to the death I’m pretty sure as well as providing substance for some of this blog’s contributors. Stay tuned to see whose cheeseburger comes out on top … (tops..)

And just so you don’t think we were just self-indulging, the dialogue was all very erudite as the lunch conversation swirled around such topics as theoretical physics, boat rides, lasers, art and the perils and joys of facebook with a side of drooling appreciation for the proofs of Dahlia Elsayed’s forthcoming show catalog. It's going be beautiful.

All in all … this was not a bad day.

Bicycles!

http://brickcitybicycles.org/

Too much? Not enough.

To steal a great phrase, from Pinakothek, Luc Sante's blog, this blog, "like a vampire, is not wholly dead, but neither is it entirely alive."

It is difficult to get to what happens here in the studios. It believe that it is illusive, that it is very real but resists being branded...ie "The New Newark."

Artists come and go at different times. Walls change color, power tools sound, lights burn at odd hours. Things happen. See Bruce Nauman's spy-cam video, with footage of a cat chasing flies in his studio.

Alternate theory, one that I believe in sometimes: I just think that many artists are already so busy managing the necessary output of self promotional material for their own sites, blog, social media, that the burden of creating yet more digestible little bits of content is too much. Syndicate! Syndicate! Syndicate! Feed! Feed! Feed!

I guess I'm withholding?

I don't take many snapshots of my own life, which might be odd for a photographer. Like anyone else I sometimes wish I had, of people, places and situations that no longer exist, or exist for me. These snapshots that I don't have might even sometimes be appropriate for this blog: light coming into studio enviroments, cute handwritten communication between neighbors, atmospheric closeups of materials. You know, that sort sort of thing. Ambiance. And again, in my more cynical moments, raw material for the secondary market of lifestyle purveyors. There are even Taschen books!

But I do so sincerely enjoy taking snapshots of the studio detritus of artist colleagues. So here are some, in text tag format:

Buddha Statue/Big Elmers Glue/Air Freshener Spray

Ashtray/Video Editing Deck with big piece of tape saying don't unplug me

Rope/Panties/50 lbs Clay

Rolls of multi colored vinyl/copy of Huck Finn from Aferro free book room

Gold Paint Markers/Plywood/Course Schedule

Bleach/uplifting note to troubled youth being mentored/American Flag

Legal Books circa 1910/Razors/Hammers/Blue Paint