Thesis Pieces - PART SEVEN

 

SALUTE THE UNKNOWN

The foreign is an uncontrollable force the traveler steps in front of when leaving home.  They expose themselves to the potential of the unknown, good or bad.  

Once the variable of context is removed, what remains is our reaction to the exterior as it collides with our interiors.

Do we flinch, hide, duck 

or choose to face the converging forces head on?

To seek the foreign is to relinquish the control of knowing.

 A graceful surrender.

Thesis Pieces - PART SIX

THE FOREIGN

 Travel is potential.  

A malleable, ephemeral hope of change and transition.
In that, it is inherently temporary.  Uninhabitable for longer than a brief period.  Materials made for travel are often of plastic and paper.  Lightweight for function and cheap for single use. 

The temporary state requires the mind to be more alert than when in a habituated space.  In travel the mind is hyper-alert, searching for patterns and familiar sights.  It is trying to make sense of and eventually neutralize the foreign.  No mind wants to be constantly lost.  Without a few points of understanding, nothing has meaning. 

Using the language of to-go objects, souvenirs and disposables, I altered their implied use or value to create a foreign moment.  The mind can understand elements of the material or form, but the shift is just enough to create the discomfort of the unfamiliar.

Thesis Pieces - PART FIVE

The forecast.

Thesis Pieces - PART FOUR

ANTICIPATION & FANTASY

Traveling is often more for the benefit of the rose-colored daydreams we create before the trip than for what the actual place can offer.  We often find what we seek in an adventure in its anticipation while the true landscape of our destination is as humble as home.

...But maybe with a few bells and whistles attached.

The postcard became an intriguing structure of romance and simplicity.

The 4 x 6 two-dimensional box that halfheartedly attempts to encapsulate a fluid locale.  

What's included and excluded on that flat glossy plane dictates opinion and perception as far as the postage will send.

Thesis Pieces - PART THREE

 Using my new set of symbols, I began sketching scenes of restraint and release. The perceived constriction of home, work, community, etc. are often the catalysts of travel. Without the contrast of home freedom doesn't taste as sweet. And the transformation is less profound.

I also began to study the shift of perception that occurs in daily and vacation life. Depending on how you look at things, you might be covered in flowers or buried in thorns.

If pattern represents a culture as a whole, is there a way to show the individual within?

At times, I had to stop thinking and just mash symbols together.  Here, phenomenology might determine the image's meaning rather than tradition.

Thesis Pieces - PART TWO

I started researching symbols- personal, global, historical - as a way to try to understand culture. 

I looked for common icons as well as abstract ones, 

working to build a visual language.

These icons of the human network can describe the exotic, the hearth of comfort and kin, and a panorama of emotional states.  

As pictographs, ranging from the stop sign to constellations, they communicate on a level more basic and instinctual than words, towing along the history of its origins and appropriations.

Seeking or fleeing from culture is one of the great motivations of every adventurer.

Thesis Pieces - PART ONE

I have been hard at work on my thesis project.  

The theme is travel.  

Mainly why we travel and what sensations occur along the way.  

When you go, are you running away, finding home or trying on a new version of yourself?

101 OZ

Amber bet me 5 dollars that she could drink 101 ounces of pure mountain spring water in the two hours remaining of our Pagosa Springs road trip.  

She won, painfully, and payment was long overdue.

For The Silver Screen

I was recently commissioned to make a prop for the movie The Brass Teapot.  It involved some old techniques and learning a few new ones. I'm quite pleased with the result and hope to try my hand at propmaking again.

  Thanks to Ellen for throwing this my way.

On a Lighter Note

Britty's birthday was on the 2nd of July.
She has lots of Polaroid photos and needed a place to keep them safe.  I made her this.

I hope...

... the guy gives it to his girlfriend and she breaks up with him.  But only after she crashes his car, smokes all his meth, and sets his apartment on fire.

Dear Thief, I curse you. Sincerely, Ava

I have always loved the look of embossed leather.  The way it feels running your fingers over the texture and watching the pattern change in shifting light.  The process, in the industrial sense, is expensive- requiring large metal plates and heated embossing units.

I am poor and not well-connected so I began scheming another way to make my dreams come true.  After a few tests and some failures I concocted a method using photo-polymer plates and a nipping press.

The result: My ridiculous drawings mashed into leather for eternity.

While this may not seem monumental to all (7) of you, it is a great victory for me.  It means achieving a product that looks finished and professional- even though I am not. 

 From the pressed leather, I made a clutch with two molded sides (the teardrop shapes pictured above) and a riveted closure. 

My first attempt was made from an emboss that didn't turn out well. The design was hard to see and completely missing in some areas.  I realized how time consuming leather work can be when D and I set out the assemble this thing.  Each piece must be trimmed, beveled, moisturized (yes), sealed and burnished.  The sides are first glued in then all the holes are pre-punched with an awl. Hand sewing takes about 5 hours if you're Dusty and an alum of 4H.

I was pleased but knew it wasn't quite complete.  The finish was wrong, the emboss weak, and the closure unruly.  So I started the whole process over again. 

Four days later I had a winner.  The impression of my design came out perfectly after leveraging the nipping press with a crowbar and throwing all my weight into it.  The finish- classic black -brought out the fighting monsters in all their glory and had the promise of aging more gracefully than the tan version.  I bought a sam brown stud to improve my closure. The picture above is the clutch pressed, post glue, pre stitch.

I finished it yesterday, having hand-sewn the damn thing for two days.  

It was beautiful and I was so proud of myself.

I'd love to show you a picture. 

But it was stolen. 

Yesterday.

Non-Zero Possibility

A story about the titanium screws that used to be in my back.  

I mailed one to my buddy Will but he received an empty envelope instead.  

I've always wondered about my screw's second life.

( photocopy and silver pen illustration )

Sometimes Sleep is Just a Shortcut to Tomorrow

March's print club edition is an experiment I wanted to do with process colors.  Essentially you take an image and dissect it into four layers of color: cyan, magenta, yellow and black.  Each layer is printed in these basic colors -a little transparent- and the way they overlap creates the whole range of color. I added a white layer to make the neon pop.

For those of you who know Lakeside, you'll recognize this kiosk. 

He stands guard in front of the Cyclone and makes sure you have a damn great time.

( five color screenprint )