I’ve updated my now very-easy-to-update website with some brand-new work, along with a couple of older projects that are finally being realized. Check it out, let me know what you think. I guess this is the contemporary version of a studio visit. It’s OK if your responses are more than 140 characters, though…
Also, today’s wiki-how made me laugh: How to Photograph a Sunset.
I miss the animal companions I had in Minneapolis. Don’t get me wrong–I love watching rats and mice while waiting for the train, and the random birds and squirrels that visit my ‘back yard’–but they just don’t compete against Esther Eve and Max/Meowx (the best cat ever). If you’re in MPLS and you come across either of these fine animal specimens, give them a scratch under the chin for me.
Wednesday nights were unofficially ‘dude nights’ for the longest time. We’d celebrate by going to the Town Talk Diner, hands-down the best drinking establishment in the Twin Cities. Proof is below.
This all happened behind the bar. I think I’ve proved my point.
Minneapolis = lots of time wasted. Not wasted in the bad ‘I didn’t get anything done’ sense, but rather in the good ‘I can’t get anything done because my blood alcohol level is waaaaay too high, so I’m just going to laugh and dance with my friends’ sense.
Remember when we’d go dancing at First Avenue pretty much every Saturday? That was fun.
Or better yet, remember when we’d have our own dance parties at home? That was fun, too.
The best was a party at someone else’s house–no clean up! My favorite part of this video is yelling ‘YOU SUCK’ at a failed limbo. I believe this was at Jen’s house. I also believe Tucker passed out along the side of the house, on a patch of ice.
Sunday dinners, oh how I miss thee. I tried them out for a bit in NY, but I realized it works a lot better when you have a master chef and a 3,000 square foot warehouse to entertain in…
On the 8th day, Tucker and EC begot an awesome warehouse space, for pennies.
We knew at once it was going to be the future home of Tucker’s ramp.
And thus the winter began, dominated by construction.
The majority of work was finished by New Year’s, in which Tucker and EC opened their home to the public with a New Year’s party. It was mildly attended.
I’m gonna go straight for nostalgia this week–I’m currently missing the hell out of my friends and family in Minneapolis, so I figured I’d share some choice gems from the archive. First up: Chicago trip, completely hung over. Enjoy.
Ryan McGinley (from ‘Moonmilk), 2009
Ryan McGinley’s ‘Moonmilk’ project in TAR magazine reeks pretty strongly of one photographer’s past. If this was a conscious riff, McGinley gains a little respect in my book. Otherwise, just another case of style over substance. I’d link to the magazine, but as soon as the page loads it starts blasting reggae music. Find a print copy–the paper selections are quite nice.
F. Holland Day - Youth sitting on a stone (1907)
I kept myself busy over the long winter writing about my muse–photography. As previously noted, the kind Shane Lavelette published my essay ‘The Crisis of Experience’ in the inaugural issue of Lay Flat. If you haven’t got a copy yet, pick one up. There’s no reason not to (seriously, you can pretty much get it anywhere). At a pace slightly slower than the speed of light, Ian Aleksander Adams wrote a piece in the latest issue of Ahorn Magazine responding to some of the ideas in my essay. This is the digital age doing what it does best: Enabling a rapid fire conversation which is not only thought provoking, but also worth revisiting.
I also churned out another essay which can be found in the latest edition of ARP!, which, if you haven’t heard of & you live in the Twin Cities, you really need to check out. Even if you don’t live in Minneapolis/St. Paul you should pay attention to this zine/journal/newspaper. Seriously, they’ve got some of the best writing & arts coverage in the Midwest–both sides of the Mississippi. If you’re a local you can find a print copy at most arts-friendly businesses. If not, they put their archives up on the web. Their current issue is all about appropriation (titled the ‘Cut & Paste’ issue). My essay deals with how the Internet has changed photographic appropriation for better and worse (works discussed include Mandel and Sultan’s ‘Evidence’ and Penelope Umbrico’s ‘Suns from Flickr’, among others). Grab a copy and let me know what you think–or better yet, craft a well-written, essay-length response!