On realness.

In other words, even though the lip sync is a form of pure artifice, there is an essential truth about the self to be conveyed through it — that by mouthing someone else’s words, you can give voice to your own. This, honey, is what we call realness.

Lip syncing as Baudrillardian simulacra.

From "The 10 Best Lip-Sync Battles From RuPaul's Drag Race," by E. Alex Jung for vulture.com.

2014 CAA Fellowships

I happened to come across the list of emerging artists who were awarded or received honorable mention for CAA fellowships for 2014, and there's a lot of great work amongst them. Here are a few who I personally responded to: 

Ann Bartges - http://annbartges.com
Liss LaFleur - http://www.lisslafleur.com
Jaime C. Knight - http://www.jaimecknight.com
Patrick Segura - http://patricksegura.com
Valentina Vella - http://valentinavella.net/main

A CAA Fellowship was something that I should have applied for in grad school, but never could get my shit together in order to do so, something I now regret. I highly encourage all graduate students to apply - it's essentially a big help towards your work and academic expenses. You can find out more information here

Liz.

"Somebody once asked me once what quality it was in me that made me a survivor. I think it's my passion - for life, for people, for everything. I've always been very aware of the inner me, that has nothing to do with the physical me. It has to do with a connection with nature, God, your inner being - whatever you want to call it. It's about being in contact with yourself and allowing God to mold you.

Because I'm not afraid. Life is just an adventure to me."

 

Elizabeth Taylor, who would have been 82 today. 

From a RollingStone article by Jonathan Cott.

(And here's Peter Travers recommending her best films for a freebee.) 

Links for taking the red pill. (Sunday, February 23, 2014)

SGCI!

With many thanks to Kelli Sincock and the Northern Virginia Printmaker's Guild, I have a print that is in a portfolio going to Southern Graphics this year. Super excited. It'll be my first time attending the conference, which is in San Francisco for 2014. Work hard, then play hard - and there's hardly a better place to do so than the city by the bay. 

Causeways, Pathways & Interfaces: Bridging The Unseen

Location: Academy of Art University,Print Studios at 60 Federal Street (3rdFloor)
Date: Saturday, March 29th
Organizer: Kelli Sincock
Participants: Meaghan Busch, Catherine Cole, Fleming Jeffries, Minji Myongsook Kim, Nahid Navab, Rae Ouellette, Norma E. Pfaff, Jorge Luis Porrata, Alice Quatrochi, Justin Raphael Roykovich, Kelli Sincock, Steven Skowron, Elizabeth Janis Sweeney

This portfolio is an exploration of the metaphorical and literal structure that facilitates or creates a causeway, pathway or interface between one physical form and another thus formulating a “bridge” between disparate systems. This bridge acts as a means of transferring information, thought, feeling, sound, and light – without it the sustainability of the “system” either fails or becomes vulnerable to external influences. This portfolio’s aim is to explore a variety of “bridging systems”, both seen and unseen, that form and inform the functioning of our daily lives.

Kelli Sincock is the founder and organizer of the NOVA Printmaker’s Guild which represents Printmakers, Book Artists and Paper Artists in the VA/MD/DC Metro area. Kelli is currently a Printmaking major at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia and she holds a Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary Art with an emphasis in Metalsmithing from the University of Washington, Seattle. Kelli’s artwork represents a blending of her interests in both 2D and 3D. Her art is heavily influenced by her interest in nature, physics, spirituality, literature and the human condition.

http://sgcisanfrancisco.org/causeways-pathways-interfaces-bridging-the-unseen/

In preparation for thesis . . .

For my upcoming MFA thesis, I worked with the wonderful Bearfort Paranormal to do an investigation of my childhood home in northern New Jersey. Below are a few outtakes from photos they took during the time we spent conducting the investigation.

Setting up equipment outside.

An orb in the attic?

Faces in the bushes? 

Not a ghost, but we apparently disturbed a poor owl just trying to live his life. He's in the middle left side, looking up, wondering what's going on.

Thesis countdown: 2 weeks to go!

Links for Saturday, January 4, 2014

The Incredible Story of Marion Stokes Who Single-Handedly Taped 35 Years of TV News.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3022022/the-incredible-story-of-marion-stokes-who-single-handedly-taped-35-years-of-tv-news

The Forgotten Giant Arrows that Guide you Across America.
http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/11/15/the-forgotten-giant-arrows-that-guide-you-across-america/

Scientists Are Searching For Time Travelers On The Internet.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/03/time-travelers-internet_n_4537683.html

The best piece of writing I read today:

Found this gem via Gothamist

"The occasions in which it's acceptable to wear a leather mesh tank top are few. It's not that it should never be done—your nipples are people, too, and they deserve to see the world through the crisp filter of a mesh lens from time to time.

The issue, then, with the $700 Roberta's leather mesh tank top isn't that it's a leather mesh tank top—it's literally everything else. $700 is the price I would pay to watch George W. Bush engage in a twerk-off against all six members of Rammstein. But Leather Mesh Tank Top Sharia Law dictates that one must never pay more than 89 cents for a leather mesh tank top, no matter how masterfully painted the pizza slice pentagram that adorns it.

But the most truly wretched thing about the $700 LMTT isn't merely its existence—it's that it's sold out. This means one of two things: Either real people, with real feelings and desires and skin, are walking around out there dressed in the most obnoxious clothing item since the pantaloon, or we've all fallen victim to some terrible mind game. Did the LMTT ever exist at all, or, like Milk Girl, is it just baiting us?

Roberta's is a high-end pizza joint located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It's known for its homemade mozzarella and not paying its interns."

By Lauren Evans in Food on Dec 20, 2013 3:25 PM