Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Post Graduation

School is over and I'm trying to decide where to take my next step. I now have a Masters Degree in Fine Arts with a concentration in metalsmithing and jewelry. Graduation was May 15 and in the month that has passed since then my girlfriend Burcu (pronounced Boor' ju) and I spent some time in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and the car. Lots of time in the car. It was a bittersweet time, because we knew she was leaving the country and I was not. On Saturday, I put her on a plane to Turkey where she lives. That was one of the harder things I've done in recent years. Skype is looking to be one of my new best friends. Here is a picture of us in the Adirondacks with my niece Ellie. Both of these girls are truly amazing.



In other news:

I just heard from a college friend that my work was pictured in the recent issue of Skidmore Scope for the Alumni Art Show. I know it's not much but there were only three photos out of 90 works!



The review was good as the intention of the show is to promote grads-- they are not overly (read: at all) critical. But I'll take it either way. It's always great when someone else writes about your work (see paragraph five).

I am looking at some jobs in New York City and Hanover, NH. I'm back in Hanover for at least a little bit now while I figure out some things. Hopefully something blogworthy happens so I can write about it--I will update when things look a bit more solid.

As David Halberstam, may he rest in peace, put it in his address to my undergraduate class of 2004, (and Hugh & Lyndsay reminded me of this past weekend):

(and I'm paraphrasing here...)

"Try to revel in the time spent in the air, between trapeezes, where uncertainty lives and the possibilities are endless."

Workin' on it, David.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Graduate Thesis Exhibition 2009

Installation View




Wiffle Eggs




Wiffle Eggs (detail)





Cigarette





Cigarette (detail)





Ruler






Shovel







Cane





Ladder






Ladder (detail)







Banana Peel Warning Stamp







Banana Peel Warning Stamp (detail)






Indemnity


Indemnity (floor sticker)

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Banana Peel Warning Stamp




Here is my Banana Peel Warning Stamp. I just about pulled my hair out trying to format this picture properly for a postcard. That might have been ok though because I had planned on getting a haircut today anyway. But I didn't get my haircut because I was so busy formatting this picture. Grrrrrr. I need lunch.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Slippery when....


Here is something that I've been working with. I appropriated the imagery from the internet and janitors' signs and put it together. Come to my thesis show on May 8, 2009 and you'll see some related work. I'm working on my thesis paper right now and anything I can do to NOT write it is great. Hence this post.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Friday, April 3, 2009

For Robin



When I left UMass in 2007, I told my good friend that I would never visit her because I hated it there. But I also made a promise that I would come back for her Graduate Thesis Exhibition. That day is upon us-- the opening is tomorrow and I am going to drive 4 hours each way to keep my promise.

Robin is a great friend. I didn't like her when I first met her because she has a HEAVY Michigan accent and I am notorious for not liking people for really dumb reasons (another of my closest friends Steve and I had a similar start. I know I'm unreasonable and weird, lay off.) But soon after she became my best friend and remains so to this day (despite not having seen her for 2 years). I'm going to see her tomorrow and I'm super excited.

I was indulging in a mindless activity of slicing up a dollar bill with an X-acto knife the other day at my bench and I realized how close my visit was coming. I needed to make a present for my dear friend and I also wanted this bill to become something besides a bunch of cut up paper. Now two more things about Robin: She's SO money and she's a baller (both very important). So after a bit of messing around and a little thinking and way too much time spent on such a tiny thing, I came up with this piece. I only hope she doesn't read this before I get a chance to give it to her.



Sunday, March 29, 2009

Stamp

Bananas are funny. They just are.

They're phallic. They're slippery. They're yellow. You know...Funny!

That's where this idea began. That and they are essential to a good smoothie.

They also bruise easily resulting in a luscious brown mark. If you dig your fingernail into the peel you can control this mark a bit more. Using an X-acto is even better (see below)



OK so that's that banana component.


It's also funny when people fall down.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Wiffle Eggs, 2009
Eggs, Enamel Paint

Friday, February 27, 2009

Ladder Update


Here's the ladder. It's still in progress but I'm getting close! I'm going to leave it alone for a few days (more likely a few hours) and then go back and fix a few small things (not visible in the photo). But it's a real thing and not just an idea now so I'm happy.

Monday, February 23, 2009

James Forsythe Sachs, Anonymous

I was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last Wednesday. I was standing in line at the coat check looking at the donor names posted on the wall. As I was scanning them I noticed something that reminded me of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ted Danson donates money to build a wing of museum as "Anonymous" but tells everyone it's him (and no longer anonymous) and Larry David gets pissed. This was sort of like that. Well not really, but sort of.

Then the most peculiar thing happened-- I saw a Sachs name. That wasn't even the weird part. I looked closer to take a picture... WHOA!




The Simpsons

For those of you who know me, you've undoubtedly heard me make reference to The Simpsons on more than one occasion. If you don't know of The Simpsons, it's the longest running primetime cartoon of all time appearing on FOX at 8 pm on Sundays. And welcome to Earth.

I find The Simpsons relevant to many aspects of life and am constantly amazed at how new episodes and content are generated each week. The introduction and opening credits have remained the same throughout the show's 20 seasons save Bart's chalkboard message and the couch gag which are changed nearly every episode*. And I suppose they also do a new one for the Treehouse of Horror episode each year. But the point is over 20 years they have stayed with the same intro with only minor variations. That's pretty cool. They like to keep it real. Here's one of the more recent couch gags that really exercises the breadth of characters and ideas developed throughout the life of the program.

*Lisa's sax solo also changes but much less frequently.





Due to the advent of HDTV, something big has happened.

I have long talked about this day with my fellow Simsonians, Kyle being the first to comment on the staid genius of the classic intro. I argued that an updated version, tastefully done mind you, might just be the best present a Simpsons fan could ask for. While paying my full respect to the unflagging lead-in of the last 20 years, I am thrilled to see a new, re-tooled intro complete with chalkboard, sax, and extended couch gag. And it's all in HD or so it says. I wouldn't know, my TV still has a VCR built into it.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Ladder

Here is a rendering for a piece I've been working on. Likely only one of these will be made but I did three to give a reference for comparison. I'm partial to the one on the far left.








This is a picture of the gluing up of the stringers (sides of the ladder). It took 56 clamps and many feet of rubber tubing to get it just right.






In this shot you can see the rubber tubing used to hold the plies together between the clamps. The top stringer is being glued (the bottom one is dry already) and tied to the bottom one to ensure that the curves match exactly. I really hope they didn't get glued together too badly. On my way to the shop now to check.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Here are images of some recent work (Fall 2008). This is a continuation of an idea I had during my undergraduate studies involving everyday objects and hinges. By adding a piece of generally useful hardware (hinges), these objects quickly lose their prescribed utility.

Cane (Foiled), 2008
Found Cane, Brass
26"x4"x1"


Cigarette with Hinges, 2008
Found Cigarette, Sterling Silver
3"x.25"x.25"



Metric, 2008
Found Yard Stick, Brass
36"x3"x3"

Sunday, February 15, 2009

This is blogging?

So this is blogging? Somehow I thought it would be more exciting. I guess I felt like I'd be higher tech if I had a blog. And now I have one and I don't feel like I've climbed the tech ladder all that far. Guess I need to keep teching out for it to take effect.

Here's hoping,

Jamie