maybe i can print my face with "enemy of the people" over it. i dont know if that is too vague.

project

this project is giving me more trouble than i intended. at times, i feel like i have really good ideas that i think i can take further, and then other times i feel like im not ready to execute them. by ready i mean that i feel i should be more educated on the subject. i am also starting to feel like i am studying too narrow of a subject to create a whole body of work for.

the idea that i am thinking the strongest about would be a silkscreen. after reading alot about tibet and the chinese ocupation, i have realized that the 6,000 destroyed monestaries seems to be the most popular statistic. for some reason i came up with the idea to silkscreen something 6,000 times on a large canvas. the only problem is i do not know what. i do not want to print an actual monestary because i think that would be to literal. the image i am thinking of would be something along the lines of multiple monks meditating. here is an image that might work...


i dont know. i was also toying with the phrase "enemy of the people". this was a title given by the PRC to many buhdist supporters.

on the off chance that someone actually does read this blog, let me know what you think. i am kind of lost in this right now.

sand mandala

last week, i also had the privledge to observe the creation of a sand mandala in the brant gallery. early in the week i did not know what to expect. at first i was intimidated, and nervous to ask alot of questions. as the days went on, it became alot more confortable atmoshphere. i got a chance to talk to them, ask questions, and hear them talk about their culture. i think it is hard to say exactly what i took from the week. i think the majority of the things i leanred were not facts, or specific beleifs. i think i left the gallery with a different mindset. i think my thoughts may have not changed, but have just developed in a way that i can not understand. i dont want to go as far as saying this week was "life changing"; but then again, it sort of was. it doesnt change my outlook on life in any drastic manner. i just know that as i said before, what i got out of the visiting monks is undescribable, even though i know it is significant. that probably doesnt make sense.

artist talk

this past week i went to a lecture given by artist Brody Condin. condin is an artist from L.A, who is currently working in the Netherlands. when i was first introduced to condin, i must admit that i was not initially intrigued by his work. it was not until after he showed many of his pieces that i found it interesting. brody condin is most widely known for his game modifications. a game modification is taking an existing computer, or video game, and modifying it to do what you want. the first modification condin did was of the game "half life". he created a character that was his best friend, and filled an infinite room with the character. the piece was an instillation video of condin playing the game by killing his friends character over and over for 6 hours. another game modification that stuck out to me was a compilation of many violence oriented games. condin recorded a screen shot video of him playing each game while executing different ways to commit suicide. while he did not talk about his concepts or motives very much, i feel that they can be interpreted in many different ways. i think his work is sort of a social commentary on the violence that kids are exposed to on an everyday basis.