And It All Comes Together

Finally, installation day! It never ceases to amaze me how a work is transformed as soon as you hang it on a wall or place it properly in a space. The workers that Alicia hires for installing were mad fast. In twenty minutes, my work was suspended over the stairwell. We lost a few beads on the way, but that was expected. Seeing we got this thing put together in under 2 1/2 weeks, a few missing beads is nothing. I LOVE THE WAY IT CAME OUT!! I've learned a lot working like this. Adriana and Valeria were wonderful assistants. I'm still not really attracted to having a team of people help me make my work, but it was definitely helpful. The punching bag heads look believable and as busy as the patterning is, it works. I wanted to have a kind of art deco design that abstractly formed a penis, but all that occurred were just the oval shapes. As Leslie put it, the penis is implied. I have extra prints of the bodies from tests, so I may recreate this piece in a second version. This first one has given me some ideas as to how I can improve upon it.

Today was kind of surreal because I didn't really do anything. I just uploaded pictures from my camera to my laptop, walked to the bank to get some pesos, had a great lunch of 2 kinds of vegetable pizza, drank coffee and surfed the net. Oh, how I suffer! I pretty much stayed out of the way while the employees did their thing preparing the studio for tomorrow's opening. I have to start getting my things packed, so I'm taking some supplies back to the apartment in small trips. I donated my glue to the studio. I gave the canvas that was left over to Adriana to use for her work. I left a cup full of beads for Patricia because she really liked them.

I am going to make one more print before I travel back to the states. It's about waking dogs. I'm a bit obsessed with the dog situation here. If Buenos Aires had a mascot, it would be a small, fluffy, white dog. They are everywhere! Occasionally, you'll see larger dogs, but most of them are small with big hair, curly hair or a curly tail. Even more intriguing are the dog walkers. You'll see some guy walking 20 dogs around. I'm impressed that the dogs are totally with the program and walk rather nicely as if they are a unit. Usually the dog walker has a bunch of small dogs and then one or two big dogs. And let me tell you, the dog walker is making bank. I asked Alvaro about. He said that a walker usually gets paid on average 800 pesos per dog a week. That really adds up! I joked that I should move here and just start walking dogs. Alvaro replied that it's not that easy. Dog walking is ran like the mafia. You have to be in the know in order to get the dogs. If you were to just show up with dogs that you were waling, someone will interrogate you (who are you, where are you from, how did you get those dogs) because you aren't familiar. You could get into a lot of trouble. So, I want to do a simple print of me walking a pack of little, fluffy, white dogs and title the print "Donda conseguis tes esos perros (Where did you get those dogs?" If I can't get it done here, I'll do it when I get home.

Sweet Louise!

Today, Cristina took the reigns and mapped out our journey for today. This time we were going to La Proa an art museum located in the area called La Boca. As last week, we started out our day with cafe con leche with 3 medianlunas - a very tasty, sweet croissant. Afterward, we hoped on a train and took it to the end of the line. From there, we got a cab to get to La Boca. We were dropped off in front of the most touristy area. There were lots of street vendors and restaurants who had very persistent waiters trying to lure you in. It was a pretty colorful place. There were lots of dancers there that were supposed to be performing the Tango. Most of them were just kind of hanging out. They reminded me of the Peony Park dancers that performed when the amusement park was open in a way. However, these dancers were not nearly as enthusiastic and the ones who were dancing seemed to be kind of phoning it in. Oh, well. I wasn't necessarily there to see some tango. That is for Thursday. We were there to see the Louise Bourgeois retrospect at La Proa.

I've never seen a full on exhibit of Bourgeois' work, let alone retrospective one. It's always been a piece here or a couple there in a permanent collection. It was a WONDERFUL exhibit! Not only was there one of her ginormous spiders outside the musem doors, they had several full on installations of her work. The whole museum was dedicated to her work alone and who ever curated it did a fabulous job. It was really excited to see pieces that I've only seen via Art21 or Art City. One of my favorite pieces of hers is "Arch of Hysteria" - a headless, figurative bronze sculpture in a backward arch suspended in the air. Beautiful! They had quite few of her works on paper, but what was more intriguing were her soft sculptures. They were pretty freaking cool! I kept wondering if she ever made peace with her demons before she died. Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of her work gave me the impression that I was looking at the work of a woman that never really felt truly comfortable with herself as a woman and struggled with her relationship with her father. Perhaps that is why her work is so strong. It's good to have something to push up against - something that drives us to keep confronting and exploring whether painful or pleasurable. Some of her work was very straightforward while her installations were more ambiguous. I have to agree with Hennessy Youngman - I don't necessarily understand all of her work, but she kept doing her and that's all that matters. I felt truly inspired being surrounded by a lifetime of her work. I hope that I am able to live a long productive life of producing work that is meaningful and work that influences others like her work as done for me.

Missed Opportunity

Yesterday, it was a loooooong day at the studio. It was my own fault because I stayed up working on part of my piece until 2am that morning. I was a hurting unit coming in and all the coffee in the world wasn't helping me at all. By the end of the evening, all I could think of was how tired I was and how I was dreading walking to the station because my feet were hurting as well as my back. I just wanted to go to bed. As Christina and I rounded the corner to go down the stairs of our stop, I heard "Hola...." I turned my head and replied "Hola", but wait, something was different. I did a double take and standing there was this really hot guy with dreads. He was leaning against wall of the corner shop with a smile on his face while looking.....at me.

I went down the stairs thinking that I was misreading his look, but Christina confirmed it. He was definitely checking me out. Damn it! I should have stayed up there and, I don't know, see if we could even talk to each other. I'm keeping my eye out for him on the off chance he is at the station stop again. The thing that gets me is that I live in a place where I am so used to not being seen romantically by men, that when it does happen, I don't recognize it until it's too late. I have to start being more alert.

No hot guy today at the stop today.

Not American

In Buenos Aires, no one thinks I'm American at first. Here's what I am passing for in no particular order:

Cuban
Brazilian
Dominican
African

If any one thinks I'm American, I'm a New Yorker.

If I reveal I'm from Nebraska, I'm asked if I know Warren Buffett.

Sticky Fingers

Today, all I did was glue. Glue tiny little glass beads to an un-primed canvas. Tiny little beads that did not want to stick to the canvas. They got stuck to my fingers, my face, my forearms...Needless to say I have a more profound respect for anyone who works with tiny particles of - anything. I tried gluing some really sparkly colorful beads to this ring pattern I had drawn. It took me 30 minutes to just get them down on 1/6 of the ring. My piece needs to hung on either Monday or Tuesday. If it's Tuesday, I'll be very happy because there are few things I'd like to do. If it's Monday, then the piece needs to be resolved enough so that I don't feel totally embarrassed by it at the opening on Wednesday. I am so glad I decided to do something of this nature, though, no matter what the end result. Maybe I'm trying to be too craftsy, but there is a certain amount of satisfaction I feel towards the piece. Some things going through my head while I'm working -

"Why not just paint the thing?"
"Why aren't you taking the time to make some straight forward prints"
"What am I going to eat tonight?"
"Is that hot guy going to be by the subway stop again?"
"Why the hell isn't this sticking?!"
"Did my irises open?"

There's a whole lot more that was going on in me mind. It's interesting what you think about when you are silently working alongside someone. Adrianna is the master printer here. She's fabulous and doesn't speak a lot of English. So between that and my less than minimal Spanish, there isn't a whole lot of talking. We tend to communicate through brief sentences or body language. Alvaro works administatively in the office. He met me at the bus station and pretty much takes care of all our questions. He is totally charming and quite silly. He is always joking with us. He's very up on current events and we have political discussions during lunch intermixed with questions about what we've seen since we arrived. Alas, I haven't seen a lot because I've had a lot to work on for my piece. I set myself up for some seriously learning. I not only sewed the mask type pieces for my work, I made up the pattern for them as well. All the times I watched my mom sewing, SOMETHING had to have rub off! I can't wait to show her. She'll probably say "What's that?', then,'That's different' - her way of saying I don't like it. Before I left, mom said she wanted something for a wall she was redecorating. She wanted something pretty. I said I'd could make her something pretty. She replied 'Then why don't you?'. I guess my work has been a little too sexy or angsty to put up in the house. I told her I'd make her something pretty while at the residency......what can I make that's pretty.....FUCK!

I just glued a punching bag head to the wrong body.

Today's thought......

THIS %?%##@&* HAS GOT TO BE ART BY MONDAY!!

Eye of the Tiger

This is a perfect day to do nothing but write, read or draw. It's rainy with a cool humidity. I've been thinking about my project so much that I have had a bit of anxiety. It's more about the time I have remaining to get it finished which is a week from Monday. We're loosing a day this week due to a national holiday. That's one less day to work. Ugh! Anyway, I need to buck up and practice what I tell my students. So what if I don't sew and my project involves sewing? I need to channel Tim Gun and make it work!

My flatmate Christina and I ventured out last night for her project. What she's working on involves her romancing the city of Buenos Aires by offering romantic meals she cooked. She's been going around the city setting up plates of food on a table in various locations. She asked me if I would assist her in some night time shooting. It's really not safe to be out by yourself especially if you're an attractive woman, so I was happy to tag along. We wound up outside the main concert hall where the symphony performs free concerts. It was fun being her assistant and watching another artist at work, observing their process. It was a really nice night. There were lots of people out walking, biking, jogging, walking their dogs....I'm a bit obsessed with the dog situation here, but I'll write about that later. We ran across the street and took photos in a park that had some skateboarders flying down the hill coming to abrupt stops with a long, loud skaaareeeeeeeeeeetch.

When we were ready to call it a night, we flagged down a cab driver. I must admit, that is one thing I rather enjoy doing despite the stereotype of how cab drivers won't pick up black people. Whenever I'm in a big city, I LOVE stepping out onto the side of the street with my hand held up. Some go by, but eventually you get picked up. Maybe my romantic life would pick up if I held my hand up more.....Anyway, we got a cab and this guy was AMAZING! I have never been driven anywhere so fast in my life. We were going so fast it felt like the car wasn't even touching the street. Earlier in the week, I witnessed an collision at an intersection a few blocks from where I am staying. An ambulance smashed into a car that was trying to cross. The driving around here is pretty freaky because although there are street lights, they seem more a suggestion and not necessarily mandatory.
People drive like it's the Wild West and everyone is for themselves automotively speaking. Driving in Buenos Aires makes driving in New York look like afternoon bike ride. So, ever since, I get really nervous when in a cab or car because the intersections are largely blind and you just have to go for it. Our Indi 500 driver was in his 60's and he was not messing around. He was blasting songs from the 80's on the radio. Christina thought he was on drugs. Seeing that he started to make a left-hand turn on a red light 6 feet out from the intersection, I understand her logic. Where she was wanting out, I wanted this guy to drive me everywhere. If you were a contestant on Amazing Race and had to come here to complete a task, you would want this guy driving you around because you would definitely come in first. As we weaved between other cars, Eye of the Tiger started playing on the radio. It was a great fit as we flew through the night, going for "it".

We made it home safely. We also got to see a whole new awesome area that is only a couple of blocks away from us. Definitely have some exploring to do there.

Read The Fair, Go To The Fair

Before I left for my trip, my friends Laura and John lent me three books to read. One of which I started and read about half on the plane - Seven Days In the Art World. This book is so great! I am not offended by the fact that this writing could be accused of demystifying certain aspects of the art world. I don't care. I look at it as a way to compare what I've personally experienced in the art world from the aspect of being a student, an emerging artist, working with galleries, etc. It's fun. There were definitely moments when I actually laughed out loud because what I read was just that funny (The Crit) or painful (The Prize).

I had just finished reading the chapter "The Fair" and wouldn't you know it, last night we were given tickets to attend ArteBA 2011, Argentina's major art fair of Latin American Art. I've only been to a couple of art fairs and really enjoy them. I really dig seeing what contemporary artists are doing especially ones from other countries. It was quite the to do! I've never seen so many stilettos in one location, my feet felt frumpy! However, I had the foresight to wear my bright red, Anthropologie jacket, so I was not too de-classe. The fair was what I expected, a maze of booths as far as the eye can see. Our group made a plan to meet in 2 hours at the entrance and we all splintered off. Not more than 20 steps in, I was ushered to the side because camera men and reports were following some one clearly very important. I felt like such an American. I thought it was a celebrity. Turned out it was the mayor. As I wondered around, I couldn't help to think about how things really weren't all that different from the states. All the types of art were represented with varying degrees of strength. I think a challenge artists have today is that you can do what you do and you will always be compared to or remided of someone else's work. Originality is tricky because everything, in my opinion, has been done. I managed to talk to a few vendors. I guess my accent is getting better because most people I attempt to communicate with think I can speak Spanish because I am getting really good at saying the same phrases. One vendor gave me his last catalog of an artist I liked. His work reminded me of Amy Cutler (see? Comparing...). It was very kind and they were vary patient. I went to another book and saw an ArteBA catalog lying on a table. I picked it up and started looking through it. Immediately it was snatched from my hands by someone who clearly worked there. No stress. I understood. It's an expensive catalog and you have to buy it.
From then on, I kept my eye open for stray, unattended catalogs. I had fun. I got a glass of champagne, meandered until I was worn out and then sat and people watched. Oh, the people watching! I love these types of events. You cannot beat an artsy crowd. I might have to invest in some stilettos before I return.

Starting Out A Day Late

Finally, I made to the city of Buenos Aires. The funny thing is I could have been here as scheduled but I got an automated voice mail from the airline I was traveling on saying my flight was canceled and that I was re-booked on a different flight scheduled the next day. I was brunching at Amy Matheritaville when I got the call. I was a little bummed, but took advantage of the time and cleaned up my house some more and re-organized what I was taking with me. What the airline didn't tell was that my flight was re-scheduled on a different plane for that day. So, I show up to the airport not booked on anything - not even the re-booked information could be found. Kudos to the very nice agent who probably thought I was going to really pitch a fit (I wasn't, but she probably thought I was going to get all angry black woman-no-you-did-nnnt!! on her). So, she not only got me on a flight, it was business-class all the way baby! Things just tend to work out.

I arrived Tuesday morning and after getting through customs, got on a bus that took me into town to meet Alvaro who works at the studio. We grabbed a cab and zig-zagged through some crazy traffic to the apartment I will be sharing with another resident. She's from Miami. She's adorable. She's twelve. After I was able to drop my stuff and change my shirt, we cabbed it over to the studio. It's pretty fantastic! More to come about the space for sure. Right now, I'm just waiting for the director and taking in my surroundings. Tomorrow we are going to a huge art fair. I can't wait!

Still Fun - ding

I must be thinking about my up-coming adventure more and more.  I've been having the craziest dreams the last couple of nights.  In one, I dived out of an airplane into the ocean.  I hit the bottom, but sprung straight up into the air.  While airborne, I made my body as pointy as a could and hit the water again with very little splash.  When I emerged, I was in a swimming pool.  I was in the deep end.  I made one kick and it propelled me from one end to the other.  Last nights dream involved Neil Tennant from The Petshop Boys being invited to collaborate with Jay Z at some night club.  I watched the entire event unfold from the bar.  Crazy!

Well, I'm still accepting any contributions to my project.  I've received a lot of support, but any amount I can bring in will not be wasted.  Just follow the link -

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