the time has come the walrus said...

gone

2007-06-17T17:56:00.000-05:00

land speed...

2007-04-29T15:45:00.000-05:00

did i say i miss the mountains? this was actually pretty cool, very desolate.

who knew...

2007-04-22T16:23:00.000-05:00

went for a walk yesterday in the beautiful spring weather and to my surprise this is what i saw...about three blocks from my place.
Interesting...

new house

2007-02-25T09:38:00.000-06:00

here's my new home...not so sunny today but usually the light is awesome!

mmm philly cheesesteak

2007-02-14T22:02:00.000-06:00

when in philly.........

history....

2007-01-09T20:39:00.000-06:00

perhaps i should learn a little american history.....

R.I.P

2007-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

ring.ring.ring.ring.......Thank you for calling.
Our representative is currently busy redesigning the site .
Please continue to hold as your call is very important to us.
Thank you, a customer service representative will be with you shortly.
(all calls will be answered in the order in which they were received)

**i'm taking a short haitus but will return, new + improved once settled further south**

could i have done something...

2006-12-16T15:53:00.000-06:00

another good-bye...

so many branches...

2006-11-22T20:57:00.000-06:00

death is the road to awe....

(click on the photo for the artist)

pavlov's drool.....

2006-10-24T11:53:00.000-05:00

in honour of my 100th post, i give you halloween cupcakes!!!!!!!!!!!

(photo courtesy of the cupcake queen)

time

2006-10-14T16:22:00.000-05:00

I’m afraid of dying

Published on Saturday, April 22nd, 2006

My whole life, as long as I can remember, I’ve been afraid of dying. The fear seems to hit me in waves, but it’s always there, constantly reminding me of my mortality.

read the rest of the article here....

i find it interesting that really it's not so much about the act of dying but the fact that you are scared of time.....time running out before you can experience all that you ever wanted....the things that you will miss...the events and people but really it just comes back to time.

brought to you by the letter "G"...

2006-09-29T22:04:00.000-05:00

one of the comments made during my final presentation was that my drawings looked a little goreyish (i was very happy, i love his illustrations) so i stumbled on this quiz...what horrible death will you die ala edward gorey?????

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?

You will be smothered under a rug. You're a little anti-social, and may want to start gaining new social skills by making prank phone calls.
Take this quiz!

stiff + spook

2006-09-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

currently reading Spook by Mary Roach....same author as Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers.....both excellent reads!

afraid of the dark...

2006-09-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

there seems to be some interest in both my mind and the mind of others so i think i will continue posting once a week or so... (whenever i stumble across something interesting)
Death is all around us so i'm sure there will always be something to intrigue.
Thanks for the continued interest. Drop me a line if there are any suggestions you may have.

Men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other.
--Francis Bacon

the same ending....

2006-09-17T22:14:00.000-05:00

there is an ending to every story....

we all fall down.

When I Die, Scatter My Ashes...

2006-09-11T00:17:00.000-05:00

many different people, many different requests....

It may seem odd to some that, at only 32 years of age, I have already prepared for my eventual passing. However, I feel strongly that there's no time like the present when it comes to planning one's final resting place, particularly when one is still of sound mind and body. Therefore, I would like to be cremated, placed in a black lacquer vase, and then scattered on the body of a completely naked lady.

read original article...

more stones.....

2006-09-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

throwing stones...

2006-09-07T17:27:00.000-05:00

st.boniface cemetery

does it ever change?

2006-09-04T21:37:00.000-05:00

The dead are no longer lonely.
--Virgil Incanto

i guess it can....

culmination of efforts...

2006-08-30T16:08:00.000-05:00

after running around getting signatures for graduate studies forms the book has been handed off.......

this is the final chapter!

at the printers...

2006-08-29T22:04:00.000-05:00

so i dropped my hefty book off at the printers today and am having a little bit of anxiety about it. (what if there's spelling mistakes, like i didn't check it 5 times and had someone else check it twice, but still)
3 copies, 11x17 full colour, double sided ready for pick-up tomorrow at 11am and then off to bind them and finishing touches and after all of this to be dropped on the desk of the graduate student advisor just waiting for the required signatures and then.... OMG i'm done!!!!!

then what?

(i'll post a photo of the final product tomorrow and then there will be a short haitus on this site while i re-stablish my path)
thanks for all the support and kind comments on this journey...

book...

2006-08-19T22:48:00.000-05:00

i am in the process of trying to layout a final portfolio and program book for the past 7 months, i will post periodically the progress and in the end i will try and figure out how to put the pdf document here to view... (any outside input would be greatly appreciated!)
and now i hear the tv calling my name... (oh how easily i am swayed!)

one more document...

2006-08-16T15:50:00.000-05:00

only a little book stands between myself and my little piece of significant paper!!!!!!!
here's some photos from this morning...

calm before the storm...

the proof that i was conscious for it...

yay!!!

2006-08-15T21:36:00.000-05:00

this is a prototype of the urn that would be within the rusted crates...

wall with the crates installed (also retrieval interface)

just another shot of the wall...

tomorrow at 10:30 this will all come to an end! I will post a photo tomorrow once everything is wrapped up. I hung all the boards today and i think that i am quite happy with the way they turned out...

less than 48 hrs...

2006-08-15T07:36:00.000-05:00

these are the final boards for presentation on wednesday, i will be making a book of all the presentations to hand in at the end. It will be great to see everything in one document.(blows my mind at how much you can produce in 7 months, half of it i don't really even remember doing)

and so it is...

2006-08-13T23:37:00.000-05:00

morla, my friend i will miss you...

sticks are done....

2006-08-12T17:33:00.000-05:00

only a little bit of glue trama (as in gluing myself to myself and to my desk and to my clothes etc, crazy glue and i don't really mix!!!)
Now i have to put in the posts and beams and crazy detail stuff, hopefully by the end of tomorrow it will be done (but i have my doubts, always multiply by 2.5x isn't that the rule?)

ashes to ashes...

2006-08-11T22:33:00.000-05:00

i borrowed a camera and here's some shots of my cube/urn and the start of the section model with all the sticks that were responsible for bob the blister...

pilfered...

2006-08-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

something stolen, nothing new but all i have to say is
FUCK YOU!!!

**my camera from my drawer will no longer be my eyes to the world**

section finished

2006-08-05T17:28:00.000-05:00

here's the one section that i'm doing, i have decided that i don't want to do another one and really with the models and perspectives there should be enough information to fill up a booklet...(oh yeah and i'm LAZY MWAHHHHAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!)

364 pieces + one blister = ?

2006-08-03T20:07:00.000-05:00

FUN I TELL YOU!!!!!

better on screen

2006-07-31T16:46:00.000-05:00

i have come to the crappy realization that these images look much better on a computer screen than they do printed out (but i guess that was bound to happen) Here's another view from inside the little follies looking out toward the wall. They are pretty much open air enclosures (so no real walls, just shade from the beating desert sun)

so close

2006-07-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

well i'm coming to the end of this journey. It's so close i can taste it, but it also makes my stomach flip flop and my brain say. HOLY CRAP!!! Who da thunk that after spending so much time you start to think if you really can pull it off? (i mean i will finish but it's like pulling teeth, i just want to do other stuff like surf the interweb or read a book and i know that if i don't put the time in now i will regret it and kick myself for being the excellent procrastinator i am)
Anyway 19 days to go and i actually have some plans and sections to show for my grief (oh yeah and one hell of a sexy cough too NOT!)
anyway enjoy and i will continue to post sporadically in the next couple of weeks.
thanks for reading :)

even more

2006-07-22T22:09:00.000-05:00

i know that perhaps you may be bored of seeing the same things over again but there are in fact subtle differences in them.

bugging me...

2006-07-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

so something about computer renderings has always made me feel uncomfortable, maybe it's the fact that nothing ever really looks that good, or the fact that it's just too slick and you lose that little bit of humanity that comes from hand drawings. All in all i find them just too glossy. So i have photoshopped them and they make me feel all warm and fuzzy :) Let me know what you think. (glossy or not?)

more images

2006-07-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

slacker, that's me......

2006-07-19T23:07:00.000-05:00

just a progress shot

tests of steel

2006-07-11T14:16:00.000-05:00

here's a couple of images of a test piece that i am starting for my final model...
(me thinks they be pretty cool!)

long time

2006-07-10T15:56:00.000-05:00

so it's been a little while since i've updated due mostly to procrastination and a little vacation to see the whales.
Haven't really produced much in these last couple of weeks but have been trying to figure out how to reproduce the effects of cor-ten/weathering steel on a piece of cardboard or wood but first have to find the right stuff...
here's a photo of some kick ass finnish architecture.(and i am taking new suggestions for music as i am bored of all my songs)

new painting

2006-06-22T09:42:00.000-05:00

so i'm starting a new painting to try and boost things along. It's not finished yet but i guess it is a good start...

2/3

2006-06-12T19:43:00.000-05:00

so second stage is complete and it went off with some MAJOR computer trauma... (hmm karma perhaps?)
i think it might be some faulty ram so i'll get it fixed once i crawl out of bed at whatever time i want tomorrow...
Just some images from my presentation.
good nite and talk to you soon

a mountain of work

2006-06-11T18:24:00.000-05:00

funny how it doesn't really feel like you have produced much until you lay it all out on the table...
umm yeah tomorrow @ 11:30am and then a mini-vaca with some reading material and a comfy chair in the backyard!!!!!!!!!

CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-06-10T19:28:00.000-05:00

ok so i had the model finished and i turned around and it fell off the table... miraculously only one small insignificant piece broke but that mean that i have to put it all back together again.
Man that sucks :(

sections not quite finished

2006-06-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

i think that i am only giving this piece two more hours and then i will be done for this stage. Have to start putting together presentation for monday and then sleep.......

materials galore

2006-06-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

2nd stage almost complete

2006-06-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

a little bit sinister?

2006-06-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

surreal or not surreal that is the ?

2006-05-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

boards

2006-05-28T20:48:00.000-05:00

change is in the wind

2006-05-24T11:22:00.000-05:00

+ bounds

2006-05-23T13:44:00.000-05:00

tiny leaps

2006-05-22T19:31:00.000-05:00

progress

2006-05-20T19:35:00.000-05:00

because...

2006-05-18T18:42:00.000-05:00

so today we had a group discussion/presentation and what came out of this you ask? Well i'll tell you, in all of my meandering expolorations and fragmentary ideas i have come to the conclusion (with the assistance of my omnipotent advisor) that this project is taking on elements of a city for/of the dead. There are some precendents out there and some pretty snazzy ones at that (aldo rossi and his cemetery addition is the big one)
I'm quite excited about this amalgamation of ideas, so much to think about in the coming weeks (2 to be exact for the end of may presentation date)
I'll keep you posted.

why?

2006-05-15T16:26:00.000-05:00

why is this so hard? i can't seem to claw my way out of my lack of inspiration!
I did however go back to my original texts and first presentation and have established that it is neither this nor that but more about what happens between the two. It is about the tension between life and death, we cannot exist in one half alone. There is the memory for the dead and there is the knowledge of death in either realm. Ok so what does that mean? I'm not too sure at this point in the journey, i am convinced that if i produce more 'stuff' it will expose itself and then i can complete the project and graduate! (yes i'm sure of it)
Any suggestions?

object...

2006-05-10T18:13:00.000-05:00

ideas

2006-05-09T18:47:00.000-05:00

space...

2006-05-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

hey jer this is for you :)

dark+light

2006-05-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

dark vs. light

light penetrates dark

starting to define space by user groups dark vs. light...
scenario 1. living (picnic, walk through, gather, festival, concerts, etc.)
scenario 2. living + dead (mourning, gathering, remembering, procession, etc.)
scenario 3. dead (memorial, storage, invisible programming)

these three user scenarios interact and intertwine but don't necessarily intersect. The dark is pierced by light and tends towards more subversive occupation. The light is life and public and everyday with glimpses into the dark, it becomes a regular part of the everyday. The divider allows for both "sides" to function individually or come together when the opportunity arises or is required.

earth moves...

2006-05-04T21:42:00.000-05:00

earth moves...

light creates...

here's some things that i made today...(they are actually manipulated photos of a small folded model)

sock monkey...

2006-05-01T15:20:00.000-05:00

okay so as i'm trying to organize my mind to get back to work i have stumbled upon a new semi-obsession SOCK MONKEYS!!!!!!!!!! here's a friendly little gaggle of them. I think this stems from the fact that one of my studio companions has them all over her drawings. They rock! My goal? to find one that will sit next to my mr.potato head to keep him company.

cello stool

2006-04-28T19:39:00.000-05:00

here's a mock up for my final project in my furniture class... (i'm not sure how i feel about it yet, the smaller scale models looked more elegant, oh well what can you do?)

back 2 the grind...(not the coffee kind)

2006-04-26T01:04:00.000-05:00

so i took a little time off and went on an adventure (guess where)
Will be setting up new studio space for the third time this year tomorrow and then it is back to work as next presentation is aiming to be on 31st of may.

hey jer how did the presentation go?

first stage complete

2006-04-19T20:26:00.000-05:00

presentation was yesterday and in my mind it seemed to go allright! I had a couple of questions that were more general questions that focused more on the religious side of death which i didn't really want to look at, as well as why Las Vegas? (hmm perhaps if the person who had asked the question was paying attention during the presentation this wouldn't have come up) I love profs who like to listen to their own voices in oration...(but next stage will have a video to show "the other side" of vegas)
Anyway off to chicago for some r+r. See you in a few days.
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and feedback from the last few weeks.
m

first stage almost done

2006-04-16T20:13:00.000-05:00

presentation is on tuesday and then i will know if i can move onto the next stage in this game.
Here's the model that i made today. Last one for this stage!!!

scar

2006-04-15T23:22:00.000-05:00

operational space shaper (still just a conceptual model)

architectural scenes

2006-04-11T19:24:00.000-05:00

here they are as site intention sketches. Meh!

manipulation

2006-04-11T19:17:00.000-05:00

these are photo manipulations of my little models of chaos that i am turning into drawings

#1. time

#2. decay

#3. labyrinth

#4. absence

one week...

2006-04-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

one week to preliminary presentation day.

macabre+morbid

2006-04-05T23:19:00.000-05:00

i suppose the definitions are close to the same but it comes down to perception of the meaning... one is darker than the other, more sinister. (of or relating to the dark side)

final memories

2006-04-03T17:01:00.000-05:00

solid

transparent

decay

absence/memory

2006-04-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

these are in progress, will post again when complete...

solid/transparence

2006-04-02T20:57:00.000-05:00

decay

2006-03-27T22:07:00.000-06:00

'Tis but an hour ago since it was nine, and after one hour more twill be eleven. And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe, and then from hour to hour we rot and rot. and thereby hangs a tale.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

To decline from a state of normality, excellence, or prosperity; deteriorate.To break down into component parts; rot. An inferior state resulting from the process of decaying; "the corpse was in an advanced state of decay"; "the house had fallen into a serious state of decay and disrepair"

eisenman

2006-03-26T19:59:00.000-06:00

what are you afraid of regarding the future?
death. I'm scared to death, not to be forever.
I don't worry about money, work, anything else, but I can't come to terms
with the idea of going to sleep one night and not waking up.
It's the only thing I worry about, and I have to not think about it,
because I would go crazy.
being dead is an awful thought.
that's the only thing, everything else is fantastic.
life is unbelieveable, even things that go wrong, I don't worry about anything
because I know that I'll get to my coffin, I'll be able to get in, they'll put a lid on it,
and I know I'll get there and every morning I get up
and I say I have my whole life in front of me and it's true,
and that gives me great joy and great hope and happiness.
that's what sustains me.
-peter eisenman

talked to my advisor today, hurt my brain but i think that there is a direction now that has been lurking in the background of my rumblings... this is a park, one where you can have lunch enjoy the sun, read a book enjoy life while still interacting with the unknown.
Three concepts begin to emerge 1.meeting and acknowledging the unknown 2. articulate the unknown, begin to establish parameters 3. celebrate the unknown (name it and start to dissolve preconceptions into something new) ie. de-program, de-colonize

a big ball of chaos

2006-03-26T19:27:00.000-06:00

the underlying principle of chaos is order... You must not look for order in chaos but for chaos in order. The attention should not be directed on deterministic chaos but on chaotic order.
It's all a big mobius strip. You start again where you end and the situations along the path may differ but the end result will ultimately remain the same. Death is enevitable and starts with life. Life starts with death. (too simplistic?)

pull the lever

2006-03-24T16:13:00.000-06:00

Las Vegas seems perfect for the mortuary crowd -- a metaphor for the vexed, late-century American soul that seems these days to run between extremes of fantasy and desolation. Vegas seems just such an oasis: a neon garden of earthly delights amid a moonscape of privations, abundance amid the cacti, indulgence surrounded by thirst and hunger.

Or maybe it's that we undertakers understand these games of chance -- the way life is ever asking us to ante up, the way the wager's made before the deal is dealt or dice are tossed, before we pull the lever. Some people play for nickels and dimes, some for dollars, some for keeps. But whatever we play for, we win or lose according to these stakes. We cannot, once winning is certain or losing is sure, change our bet. We cannot play for dollars, then lose in dimes or win in cash when we wager matchsticks. It's much the same with love and grief. They share the same arithmetic and currency. We ante up our hearts in love, we pay our losses off in grief. Baptisms, marriages, funerals -- this life's casinos -- the games we play for keeps.We undertakers understand winners and losers. Our daily lives are lessons in the way love hurts, grief heals, and life -- always a game of chance -- goes on. In Vegas we get to play the game as if there's no tomorrow. And after a long night of winning or losing, it's good to have a desert close at hand into which we wander, like holy ones of old, to raise our songs of thanks or curse our luck to whatever God there is, or isn't.
-thomas lynch

einstein's body

2006-03-20T15:29:00.000-06:00

His tomb- if it is to house his remains- must "not only honor his memory" but must also embody his ideals. the Tonb is a vessel hourneying outward on a beam of lght emitte from earth, folowing an immense and subtle arc through the stars. For eons it will inhabit the dominions of space, until in a distant time it must return to the world of its beginning. Thus a cycle, the epicycle of Space and Time will close. On that remotest day the dark corridors of the infinite will again become thresholds for departure, fading shores on the dark gulf of eternity.
-lebbeus woods

the answer is both here and there...

2006-03-17T12:39:00.000-06:00

I think in our society that sometimes we fear or we avoid anything that is ugly. I'm not sure we're obsessed with death; I think we're obsessed with beauty and desire and the comfort that is inherent with both of these when obtained. When people are dying, they become ugly in a physical sense, they become helpless, they suffer. And when people are grieving, they become ugly, physically ugly-their faces contort, they feel the pain, and they express that pain. And we want to avoid the discomfort and the ugliness that's a part of life. But I think we need to accept ugliness as part of life, that that's how it works, and we're not always happy and beautiful, and we cannot be.
We have found no medium with which to portray this ugliness. Virtually all of our life rituals are built around idealizations, that we're always prettying up life, whether it be at birth, at birthdays, at weddings and so on. This is not to say that we should, somehow, pretty-up these ugly moments but on the contrary find some aesthetic that does not rely on beauty alone, but honestly confronts and represents, that which in our day-to-day lives we're not facing either. We're very practiced at this perfectionism, at this idealization. And it's not at all surprising to find the end of life so problematic.

it's about absence or "negative space" (archibot speech); and it is about silence and the liminal. It is about lacking and fulfillment, it is all these things and none of these at the same time. It is what you need it or want it to be. It is something that can't be figured, it is a vanishing point as well as a point of mediation. It is the one thing you can't control. (physically or mentally) What is the difference between feeling and seeing? embalming = the last 'beautiful' look = a situation of denial. We beautify life instead of being comfortable in the 'ugliness' of it.
What do we see when we look at the dead? What is the function of this seeing, for the dying and for those who survive?
If death is an 'open door,' what is that space that we want to peer into, that place whose image we both desire and dread?
It's about things falling apart and things coming together again.
It is about consciousness of death and eroticism which are intimately connected.(ie.classical paintings, modern photography etc...)
it is a connection between here and there, wherever there is.

"he wasn't there, but he was there. And his thereness, his presence at the center of massive absence, was what made death plausible, what flung it open like a door into an all-too-easily accessible space or like a black umbrella defining and indisputably real circle of shadow into which it would be astonishingly simple to step."
- Sandra Gilbert

The implausible feeling of death must account for traditional images of dead people "living", as it were, on "the other side" of a sometimes permeable, at least semi-transparent barrier. So and so is "gone", we say. But gone where? When one "goes" one goes somewhere. Somewhere plausible, which is to say feasible, predictable, indeed liveable. Death opens - and one goes into it, as into a place. The kingdom of the dead, the underworld, the "other side": it doesn't matter how one imagines the place, what's important is that it's a place and that, given the weird familiarity of the body of the dead one - its quality of both being and not being the beloved- the place where the dead one has "gone" must also be weirdly familiar.

"restorative art" = embalming not so much a denial of death but rather a safe humane confrontation with its undeniable reality.
so matter of factly
"i have seen and done many wonderful things by resorting to demi-surgery, such as making a new upper lip, cutting out a cancer on the face and filling it in to match the other side, but if the head is crushed, nothing can be done and it is better that the body not be viewed."

timelapse

2006-03-15T16:22:00.000-06:00

today is wednesday, it seems that the whole week is going backwards. I thought that monday was friday and that yesterday was saturday... (maybe in a parallel universe)
Found some interesting satellite photos today, growth is too much to handle sometimes.

city of the silent

2006-03-13T19:43:00.000-06:00

Once they walked among us, laughing, yelling, whispering, keeping watch. We knew them. We spoke to them. We took them by the hand. We loved them. They were our friends, our families, our heroes. Now, in the crumbled earth, they are our memories, remaining in this world if not visible to it. They wait for us along their shaded avenues; secluded as only urban dwellers can know seclusion among the many, within the perplexing grids laid out by those in whose care the remembrance of their history -- of their existence -- we have entrusted our dead. As we walk among the temples, towers, and stone blocks which are their witness in this time after their time, a rushing wind may stir their voices. The voices come not from the grave, but from within our own, quick, flesh-encased bones. The murmurs we hear are the murmurs of those we have lost made part of us....
found on the following website www.alsirat.com/city.html

something special

2006-03-13T18:39:00.000-06:00

and the bronze goes to...

2006-03-12T00:59:00.000-06:00

ME!!!! so after a year literally laying on my back and cursing my genetics i have returned to the world of the pokers. Lightning Fencing Challenge and i came in third. Yeah i'm very proud of myself, the guy who beat me ended up winning, unfortunately there aren't enough women in this province to have our very own event so it was mixed.
Just thought i would express my gratitude to my healing body and hope that it lasts a little longer.

texture

2006-03-11T10:45:00.000-06:00

how to make a texture map of las vegas? Oh i wish i knew, i have a few ideas but not quite sure how to do this without the help of the laser cutter. Hmmmm the thought of cutting a million pieces by hand (oh how fun!)
Anyway that's what is on today's agenda along with a local fencing tournament, will post photos once the model has begun to take form. Should be interesting with the mountains that lie on either side and the difference in scale between the strip and the surrounding neighborhoods...

drive in/through

2006-03-09T20:47:00.000-06:00

as i go back to some thinkings that i had in the very beginning of my thesis thoughts, i keep seeing the image of a drive thru/in popping into my minds eye! Could it be a theatre combined with a diner? You can eat your supper while the body of your loved one goes by on a conveyor belt through the different processes required to prepare it for eternity. Cemeteries used to be a place where you would picnic with the dearly departed, and there does in fact exist a few drive through funeral homes in the States where you drive up to the window and tell them who you are there to see and behind the picture window next to your car, the scene revolves to bring the correct specimen forth.(kinda like the secret passageway doors)
I know it's kinda gross but i keep thinking the joy i get from the simple action of watching the doughnuts being made when standing outside the ever delicious Krispy Kreme store. (the best part is the icing waterfall!)
I mean would it really be that bad to find out what really happens to you after you depart and your body becomes this hollowed out hull?
There is a fascination with the forensic field at the moment with all the CSI's,Crossing Jordan, Dead Like Me and such.
Just think how popular your joint would be if both the living and the dead could enjoy it? (i think my brain may be a little bent!)
Sorry to offend.
talk to you later
m

utopia of clowns

2006-03-08T15:58:00.000-06:00

excerpt from The City in Mind; Notes on the Urban Condition by james howard kunstler

... to the casual observer, Las Vegas has used up its future like the profligate young heir to a fantastic fortune. Its whole, short history has been dedicated to the extravagant idea that it is possible to get something for nothing, or, at least, to get all the goodies of life easily:wealth, sex, fame, a great meal, a good mood, lodging at once luxurious and cheap, and a lifetime's of free parking. These wishes are present in all other quarters of the nation, and throughout our history as well, but in Las Vegas they were refined to their purest essences of avarice and venality. The pretensions of the kitsch-lovers aside, there was never anything innocent about Las Vegas. It has always been a product of the purest cynicism, real gangster cynicism, headless-corpse-in-the-desert cynicism...
to me, the most plausible future for Las Vegas is as a ghost town, an atomic-age Teotihuacan, viewed, say, two hundred years from now, a scene of silent desolation, the ancient Strip empty of cars, the once-lush medians devoid of plam trees, the Bellagio's fabled lake a cracked concrete shell with the plumbing long stripped by salvage scavengers, the great hotels concrete skeletons, their spray-on stucco and foam insulation panels long since granulated under the relentless ultraviolet rays, the casinos gutted, here and there a tarantula, a buzzard, a rat...the excitement...over.

broken bulbs+ tin cans

2006-03-07T22:36:00.000-06:00

movies?

2006-03-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've been reading lately on funeral homes and their history and have found that they were introduced to give the families a place to 'view' the deceased and create a memory. Funeral homes and the way the living interacts with the dead is controlled to the full extent by the funeral director and in this way is similar to that of the director of a film. The scene is staged and only the appropriate views are allowed to be seen, much like that of a movie. The director controls everything from the music to the lighting.
I've been looking at photos by sugimoto and find the cinema series quite interesting and i wasn't entirely sure why, until now.
The stage is set, the experience is ready. Remember what you must, Roll film!!

back to the real world

2006-03-04T16:28:00.000-06:00

well i have returned to the land of the snow and the bare trees. So strange to think that yesterday morning i was enjoying the sight of palm trees and the warmth of the 'warm' pool. I am in the process of organizing my 1053 photos and will post some as soon as they are suitable along with photos of my 'site' for my project. There are in fact two that i am debating so i would welcome any suggestions...
stay tuned!!!

difficulty

2006-02-22T14:56:00.000-06:00

so trying to find wireless is a little difficult... i am standing in the apple store in vegas writing this. I will post more from phoenix when i get there. I have found a potential site, and i'm really excited to post the photos. It's an old abandoned drive thru restaurant/auto parts store and it just so happens that the majority of the mortuaries and cremetoriums are in the vicinity. (didn't realize until continuing up the street, there is also 2 cemeteries that are in the block behind) It is a triangle of land between the strip (las vegas blvd) and main street.

Stiff

2006-02-18T13:36:00.000-06:00

you are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place... one's own dead are more than cadavers, they are place holders for the living. They are a focus, a receptacle, for emotions that no longer have one.
- mary roach "STIFF-the curious lives of human cadavers"

this reminded me of the photo that i had taken of Gregory Peck (in his final resting place) it's kind of strange to think that there is in fact this disconnected body behind the thin slab of marble. (creepy) But it is no longer the person that everyone remembers from his movies and such, it's just a cadaver. A hull in a sense, a casing for what once existed that has now dissipated into the memories of others.

rituals

2006-02-15T16:51:00.000-06:00

Throughout history, humans have been led in a dance with death that is both fearful and romantic. Digging through the tomes of religion, myth, anthropology, folklore, and literature, we find the grim examples of death’s shadows cast over all cultures like the shrouds within dusty sepultures.
Customs of the Dead are still practiced today by our so called “modern” cultures. What driver hasn't experienced the long fleet of illuminated cars led by the dark hearse. It is still considered to be extremely bad luck (and rather poor taste) to break this solemn procession. The dead command great respect, even in today’s “enlightened” world. You can still visit a cemetery to find offerings of flowers, candles, and yes, even food. This communion between living and dead shows how connected we all are by the true language of spirit.
By researching the various preparation rituals performed by different cultures and relating them back to various living rituals i hope to find a connection that will inform the next phase of my investigation.
What can be created from this?
Talking with a fellow classmate yesterday i revealed my lack of direction and was hoping to find an answer from this... (not too successfully) but i do think that i would like to focus a little on decomposition (which relates directly to the dead body and the historic culture of las vegas: before the influx of investors vegas was slowly decomposing into ruin) and also look at the way the deceased is remembered. Memory in a way decomposes through time as well, varying external influences prolong or cut short the intensity of the memories that may remain in the mind of the living.
I keep thinking about the forgetting room by nick bantock... Perhaps my project will become something in relation to this... I like the idea of creating a construct that will allow the user to remember or forget or come to terms with what has happened. I know in previous discussions with my advisor this concept of memory has come up and somehow it keeps coming back. Hmmmmmm (time to read again)

ways of seeing

2006-02-14T20:22:00.000-06:00

adults and children sometimes have boards in their bedrooms or living-rooms on which they pin pieces of paper:letters, snapshots, reproductions of paintings, newspaper cuttings, original drawings, postcards. On each board all the images belong to the same language and all are more or less equal within it, because they have been chosen in a highly personal way to match and express the experience of the room's inhabitant. Logically, these boards should replace museums
-john berger 'ways of seeing'

So what does this mean for my project? I'm not really sure but i could hazard a guess...
I watched Final Cut the other day with Robin Williams where he is responsible for creating 'rememories' for the families of the 'lost' one. The Zoe implant records every moment of the person's life: good, bad, and otherwise. The family members decide which memories are to be spliced together to create the ultimate memorial. By combining the footage anyone can become a saint in the world of the living regardless of what happened in their past. In a sense this memory becomes a personalized memorial and not a true presentation of who the person was. In a sense the original message has been adjusted to match what the family wants to express. It is no longer the life of the deceased but the creation of the living...
The original essence begins to decompose in the minds of the living just as the actual body decomposes into eternity/ifinity.

morphosis

2006-02-13T23:29:00.000-06:00

diamond ranch high school (cali summer 2004)

random photo

2006-02-12T23:04:00.000-06:00

walt disney concert hall (summer 2004), wish it had been a little bit sunnier but the reflections aren't too bad.

new+improved

2006-02-12T22:52:00.000-06:00

i am going to post once a day for the next couple of weeks to keep track of my thesis research and site stuff...
wish me luck!

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

2006-02-07T19:57:00.000-06:00

so proposal was approved, ticket to vegas is booked and studio space is almost ready to start working in... (i guess this means that i have to work, FUN TIMES!)actually i'm kind of excited to start and finish and go back to work to pay off the last year (ouch!)
here's a new photo of my nephew

CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-01-28T23:26:00.000-06:00

i just deleted all of my bookmarks and my old browser... just one of those things that i happen to do on occasion (delete things that i think i don't need, duh!!!!)
oh yeah, and that of course includes all of my thesis research etc... DOUBLE CRAP!!!
well back to trying to find them all.
ps. i so have to start working in studio again as i really don't accomplish anything at home.

two very long weeks...

2006-01-23T23:00:00.000-06:00

ok maybe it hasn't really been two weeks, but it sure does feel like that long!
My topic proposal has been put to bed and is enjoying its' well deserved rest.
Here's some photos that adorned the pages and one great quote!
see y'all later

It is odd, but I don’t think I understood he was dead until that point. It was being in his studio without him, with all his equipment laid out ready for work and no one to use it.
-Nick Bantock “The Forgetting Room”

new work space...

2006-01-18T18:35:00.000-06:00

so to jump start this whole topic thing i decided to create a 'work' space in my room so here it is and so far so good...
wish me luck