Genetically Modified Found Wind (Acquired)

This work is from the ongoing CRISPR series. They are GMAs (gen mod art), with their visual DNA — taken from multiple paintings — sliced and spliced together to create new works. They are also digital/analog hybrids, in that each of the 1000s of spliced elements are discrete, like a pixel, but they are analog (exist IRL, cut from paper). The component pieces are meticulously placed together to create a cohesive abstract with a complex and optically-shifting surface with a type of retinal rhyme scheme.

This particular work is actually made from found wind from various geographical locations; that is, the wind (mountains, a lake, a prairie, etc) was used to drift the paint on various flat substrates, which were then chopped up and intermixed.

(Acquired recently by Canadian art collector).

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A recent work in the series CRISPR BLU (50 x 40 x 3”) , acrylic on archival paper. Thousands of hand-cut units of paper, each entirely unique. This particular work presents hyper-blue from the front (with silver edging), but at oblique angles multiple colors are subtly revealed (magentas, purples, oranges, reds).

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EXHIBITION VIDEO - architectonic auras, unstatic art, wall jewels

Static photos don’t show the work well (nor does seeing the work online, the in-person person experience is much more transformative), so here’s some video walk-throughs… (CONTACT to see IRL)

The works are about ephemerality, instability, transformation and awe… (see web pages for more info)

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L.A. Art Collector: "No There There" acquired

“No There There / No Hear Hear” by K.I.A. as installed a at Los Angeles art collector’s home. 84 x 60” Oilstick on industrial reflective tape on aluminum. (Part of the Transformer series.)

The work is transtemporal (like much of my work) -- there is a complex bas-relief texture of a Victorian petit point motto that reveals beneath the 21st century material. This work fuses the silver palimpsest series, and my linear mandala/DNA spectrogram/sliced collage approach.

The text reads "No Hear Hear, No There There", expanding on the Gertrude Stein quote about unreliable memory and perception of place, and emptiness, to include 'here/now' and not just 'then/there' ('Hear' aurally sounds as 'Here'). The mirror tape is utilized for another layer of the palimpsest, forming an abstracted digitalesque map of Oakland, GS's hometown. (Re: a map is not the territory, never is the actual place, just like memory...)

The reflective quality of the work allows the colors in the room, or the viewer, to resolve/dissolve into the piece. It also creates a shifting or unstable optical appearance as one moves around the work, with the different textures or sections luminescing at different angles or time of day.)

No set Time. No concrete Place. No set Meaning* -- interpretation of the phrase shifts when using a different sense -- one hears "Here" but sees "Hear", so the text can simultaneously be understood as  "No praise, No comfort" (no encouraging claps of "hear, hear" from the crowd, no comforting pats of "there there" from Mom.)

*Final feint: the title of the work is actually "Here Her, There He"

Psychedelic Zen Garden

One option planned for Chromamunity is to add bench on site to turn the work into a place for contemplation and reflection — much like how one would ponder a zen garden. But a full-spectrum one.

The bench would need a sponsor… so please inquire if you’re interested (we’d put a plaque on the bench). Help the work get made at the GoFundme page HERE

Art Heroes from Private Industry!

2 corporate donations just added to all the private citizens helping the enormous public art project “Chromamunity”, officially supported by the City of Toronto, get made. More businesses needed — contact for benefits of contributing. The fundraiser is HERE

Wow! Support from L.A., London, Toronto + !

Fantastic support so far for my public art project Chromamunity (10,000 sq ft of exuberant outside-the-lines color!)

The project is scaled to create a feeling of post-pandemic joy, as well as awe & wonder — like the an earthbound aurora borealis…

Contributions have been flowing in from Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, London, and all across Canada - Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, St. John’s, Fort Saskatchewan, Prince Edward County…

The artwork, officially approved by the City of Toronto, is to created with a mix of funding from everyday individuals — so far, teachers, health practictioners, students, doctors, architects, collectors etc — and larger donations from foundations, organizations, patron groups and corporations.

But the work on the art can’t start until the materials and equipment part of the project is covered - so please donate at the GoFundMe page HERE: https://gofund.me/efcb7faa

Much more detail about the work HERE

Chromamunity - a 10,000 sq ft painting

Chromamunity is an ambitious public art project by K.I.A. officially endorsed by the City of Toronto. The work is to be funded by a combination of private and public sources (corporations, individuals, crowdfunding). Click the Banner above or Widget right to Donate and help Chromamunity get made.

The budget includes equipment rental, materials, assistants and so on (A detailed budget can be sent upon request). MoreDetails and images below..

CHROMAMUNITY - a 10,000 sq. ft painting, supported by City of Toronto

A massive area of vibrant color will completely transform a dreary 10,000 sq. foot cement and dirt site covered in thousands of grey rocks. Giant overlapping drifts of reds, purples, pinks and yellows will create a gorgeous shifting landscape across the site’s undulating topography…

LETTER OF SUPPORT, CITY OF TORONTO

City Hall 
100 Queen Street West 
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2N2 

 I am writing in support of the project Chromamunity, which has affectionately become known amongst our team as Rainbow Rocks. 

 ArtworxTO will provide new opportunities for both Toronto and international artists to play a leading role in the development of public art projects within the city. The program will work closely with artists and Toronto’s key arts institutions to deliver major public art projects and commissions for 2021. 

Embodying the three pillars of ArtworxTO Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021, this project will infuse the underpass by Canoe Landing Park with colour. The project was selected for support by a Peer Review Panel comprised of external advisors including artists, sector advocates, and community cultural champions. We are enthusiastic about the project's broad accessibility, creativity, and celebratory scale. 

We are working in partnership with K.I.A.'s team, community and public partners to bring this opportunity to life. The City of Toronto ArtworxTO team will be helping with site permissions, technical assistance, permitting, and promotion through our extensive marketing campaign. We hope that you will likewise support this proposal to help make this project possible. 

Joe Sellors 
Manager, ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021 
Arts & Culture Services, Economic Development & Culture, City of Toronto 

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“Awe is often accompanied by feelings of increased connectedness with other people. Experiencing awe often puts people in a self-transcendent state where they focus less on themselves and feel more a part of a greater whole” - “The Science of Awe” (2018), Summer Allen, Ph.D.

A massive area of vibrant color will completely transform a dreary 10,000 sq. foot cement and dirt site covered in thousands of grey rocks. Giant overlapping drifts of reds, purples, pinks and yellows will create a gorgeous shifting landscape across the site’s undulating topography.

Done at a scale to inspire awe, this hybrid of installation, earthwork, and abstract painting will turn a lifeless urban space into something celebratory and transcendent. It will make a must-see destination of an inconspicuous location under the Gardiner expressway.

This artwork will be easily accessible to all, situated alongside a thoroughfare that connects a densely populated condo district to the Waterfront. The triangular site is bordered by a wide sidewalk and broad paved path on two sides which will enable visual exploration of the ‘volumetric painting, with different vantage points and perspectives revealing unique color details.

The site is also situated between two attractions, Canoe Landing Park and the Toronto Music Garden, and so will capture and engage casual passersby as well as motivated sightseers. 

How it supports the Year of Public Art pillars, vision and principles

Creativity

• The artwork is an ambitiously-scaled outdoor public installation/painting that embraces ephemerality, transformation, transcendence. The work:

• changes according to the viewer’s vantage point and movement

• will change over its duration, as new stones are added by public (more below)

• though analogue, is resonant with the digital era — the large work is made of discrete units (individual rocks) just as a jpeg is made of pixels; it uses crowdsourcing (co-creation); is open source (can be modified into the future); has a decentralized Option (can be expanded beyond site); it also has a virtual component that gives views of the work only available online (more below).

• is highly adaptable, with different iterative possibilities (size, duration, engagements etc) to accommodate budget, conditions, or situational changes if needed

Community

• The work is a metaphor: thousands of unique and colorful rocks as part of a larger artwork = individuals as part of greater communities. (See also “Awe” quotation, top.)

• is a public realm improvement for the local community (empty litter trap transformed to beautiful artwork)

• The public will be invited, on an ongoing basis, to participate physically in the making of work by painting their own stones to be added to the site

• Community talks and site tours about the work (from awe to zen gardens) will be done

• The public will be encouraged to add their own photos, selfies, hashtags to social media, with a “Best Photo” contest prize. (Social will be used to promote the work in progress, completed, and post completion — IG, Youtube, TikTok, FB, Vimeo etc).

Everywhere

• The site is a free public space, easily accessible to all via city sidewalks, near public transportation, roads, parking, accommodation and hotels, and:

• is accessible 24/7

• can be viewed even in inclement weather

• is near other attractions (Bentway, Fort York, Music Garden, Canoe Landing, Skydome)

• can be experienced or explored by everyone, from anywhere on the planet, via a Google Virtual Tour which will be created and posted online. Viewers will be able to virtually ‘walk in’ to specific points in the work and see it from perspectives not available physically onsite. To this same purpose, 360° videos will also be produced, and creative video (fly-throughs, bird’s eye view, slow tracking shots, bullet time, and so on) will be recorded by drone or extended stick and posted online for global and local audiences as another way to experience the work.

• Photo/video of the work over different views/times/conditions will be posted; twilight, night, full daylight, timelapse as rocks are added, etc. providing an evolving and durational experience

• Video and photographs will created as separate artworks to be exhibited in the future, extending the lifetime of the work (and event) reaching wider audiences post-event.

• there is the Option to execute the field as a distributed work (decentralized), expand it throughout the city to include other rock fields (ie. the one next to the Fort York library, or further ones— the Beaches, Markham, North York, underpasses near the airport…)

• could have an extended life; the work is easily maintained - dust or dirt can be cleaned off (spray wash, compressed air, manual broom). Rocks can be touched up, switched out, or even repainted, opening up the possibility of the work, at a low cost, possibly becoming ‘permanently temporary’.

Earlier works inspiring Chromamunity:

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PROJECT PROPOSAL

1. Description: 

Jubilant and outside-the-line swathes and clouds of purples, pinks, blues, reds and yellows will be painted directly onto thousands of dull grey rocks covering a large city lot under a highway downtown. The  landscape will transform from a dead space into an artwork inspiring awe, joy, and transcendence. (More detail in Letter of Interest above).

2. Cost:  

$26,000

3. Dates and Duration: 

Summer 2021-2022+  

• Creation - 2 weeks (flexible); site cleanup/prep (garbage, spray wash of stones, etc) 2 days, painting white, 2 days, color 8 days.

• Web Creation - 2 weeks (Virtual Tour, 360 videos, photos)

• Community Engagement - April-ongoing (rock painting at site, libraries, schools, community centers), rock placement, site walks and talks.

• Documentation - Ongoing, posting of light & seasonal changes, time-lapse, viewer’s photos, activities etc

• Maintenance - Ongoing, garbage, dirt cleaning/spray wash as needed (once a month?). Touch ups, repainting of areas, as needed, if needed. Until end of 2021 (at minimum).

• NOTE: The site could be then allowed to return its previous untended state, or a consideration could be to have the work become ‘permanently temporary’, with occasional light maintenance. A ‘Friends of the Park’ initiative could be created to continue some maintenance beyond the year if desired.The artist is open to touching up or repainting rocks/sections over a longer period (the rocks, painted in a durable exterior house paint, could last 5 years), the work evolving even further over time. Finally, the artist is also interested in others (individuals, or collectives) reinterpreting the color field in the future. (For example, one concept would be having the stones painted over by a dozen graffiti artists, and then the stones ‘remixed’.) A comparison could be the “Rainbow Tunnel” on the DVP, something ‘temporary’ that lasts over decades.

4. Audience
Everyone. Locals, tourists, and a worldwide audience attending virtually via the web.

5. Community Engagement

• Public participation - citizens, students, community groups, passersby (via outreach programs at site, schools, libraries, public centers, media messaging, calls, and so on), will be invited to paint rocks (found or provided) to be added to the site in and around the original painted stones. For example, at the nearby Fort York Library, Bentway, or Canoe Park, rocks could be painted and then walked over to the site. (Fun idea: international people could mail in a rock, could be ongoing story/blog posts.)

• Artist talks and walks, periodically, about the inspiration ideas, and philosophy behind the work (awe, Zen gardens, graffiti, prairie skies, coloring outside the lines, working en plein air, digitalism, Kirlian photography, ephemeral art, earthworks, crowdsourcing…), at site, schools, community centers, colleges, museums, podcasts, radio…

• Online engagements - hashtag posting of photos of the art or selfies at the work; a Best Photo of the work competition (with prize) run; see more under “Community” in Letter of Interest, above, and Communication, below.

6. Project Communication

• Dedicated website for the work, with information, Virtual Tour, videos, ongoing posts and documentation, comment engagement

• Social media posting: IG, FB, Youtube, TikTok, Vimeo for duration

• Traditional print, tv, radio media contacted locally, nationally, and internationally, targeting art, design, entertainment, To Do, tourist stories (artist has database)

• Online publications, blogs, podcasts, email lists (Akimbo, CARFAC, etc), artist’s own database of writers, patrons, curators, collectors, publications utilized

• Artist talks, on and offsite (details above)

• Competitions/Games with prize: 1) Best Photo of work 2) Spot & photo ‘the one green neon rock’ 3) small, hidden offsite colored rock placements, as Geocache hunt

• Liaison with all City of Toronto / Year of Public Art resources & promotional efforts

7. Location
A triangular space under the Gardiner Expressway, on the east side of Dan Leckie Way, and just south of Canoe Park Landing. A large sidewalk borders its west side, and a wide path on its north. Behind a barrier on the south edge of the lot is Lake Shore Blvd. The area is roughly 10,000 sq. feet (1000 sq m), and is entirely covered by thousands of melon-sized river rock or stones. The topography is an uneven surface, with shallow rises, slight valleys, and low mounds.

OPTION: the work could be expanded to other sites as a ‘decentralized’ work. For example the pre-existing rock field next to Fort York Library, stone fields at the Toronto Airport, or smaller ‘placed’ fields at other sites around the city could be executed. each with small didactic informing of other locations to see.

8. Accessiblity standards
Easily accessed and viewed from existing wide city sidewalk and paths. Interactive virtual tour 360 degree video online.

NOTE: a simple cleared path into the central area rocks is a consideration. However, as the work can be experienced from the sidewalk, the path or clearing is not integral to the concept. If a path or pier ’into the work’ is seen as highly desirable, the artist is not certain if the work would be considered equivalent to the Winter Stations at Woodbine — that is, visible to all but without constructed paths to each work — or if a wooden platform re: accessibility would need to be constructed, so this has not been included in the Budget.

OPTIONS for the work: 

• at chosen site, full-sized, or smaller painted surface (re: budgetary restrictions)

• shifted to alternate site, similar settings

• with a path allowing entrance into interior

• decentralized, with additional sites in the area or throughout the city (pre-existing stone sites or created by placing stone), of scale or small nodes

• duration expanded beyond 2021

Final Notes:

The artist will create the work with two assistants (artists). The stones will be painted as found in place, with soft-edged clouds of overlapping colors flowing across occasional linear forms. Some colors will only reveal from certain directions. The artist will use a spray gun with an extension to create the large swathes of color. (Artist has experience with spray gun equipment.) Local power from nearby outlets (already researched) will be used for the airless compressor, and 50’+ hoses for reach. Low VOC latex house paint will be used.

The artist has a history of doing ephemeral and permanent works, in Tokyo, LA, Calgary and Toronto. This has included 10 storey projections over the busiest intersection in the world (Shibuya), yearly 50’ earthwork ‘paintings’ on frozen lakebeds (Ontario), a 200 kg. artwork for a lobby (Calgary), a 40’ installation composed from 800 discrete painted units (Banff residency). He has also done various crowdsourced and distributed artworks (see website.)

The artist lives near the proposed site, and has considered this location for years for a large work of art that synthesizes his ephemeral outdoor art, ambitious-scale,  while combined with the works made from discrete units. He also has experience (through both art and music careers) with timelines, planning and problem-solving, negotiating prices and contracts, (over) delivering within a limited budget, promotion and getting press, shooting and editing videos, creating websites, email and social media campaigns, and so on.

What An Artist Does, reboot

Here’s a re-post from K.I.A. website 3.0 — it’s of an example of a week or so of what an artist does daily, as an FYI of a living artist’s life; it had thousands and thousands of views at the time:

———————————

2016

For my own record, I kept a list of daily tasks this last few months. as I wrote proposals for grants, residencies, public art projects, and so on.

The enumeration of effort shown below was both to keep me on deadline, but also to relay what an artist does. A peek into the sausage factory.

Ironically, the more I proposed, the less art I actually made. (And I’ve been making, making, making my whole life.) You know why many institutional or academic shows come across as so visually uninteresting or uninspiring? A lot of research and explanation, not a lot of aesthetic experimentation. (The Didactic can actually be easier than the Decorative.) The text that accompanies these types of exhibitions would make a great article in a magazine or textbook, or as done as a lecture — insights into social justice, migration, colonialism, human behavior, data, finance, governments, 80’s records.  But for the eyes it’s a big meh. And so many artists now looking backwards: Modernism; the archive; documentation of a collection, colonialism… tweaks or versions or revisions of the past, not looking forwards. (Perhaps because the work is arrived at analytically — with a thesis defense in mind — and not intuitively.)

The below doesn’t include regular-life stuff — like doing dishes, paying bills, etc.

There’s no poetry below: it’s a listicle, and probably typical. Also likely TL; DR. So gestalt the length, not the details.

Sunday - Monday previous week — Proposal for subway station public sculpture. Research and many trips to stations, looking at all the public art there already (mosaics, wall scullptures, etc etc and reading about the artist who got them, and what the budgets were, and the receoptions); going to 7 different stations, taking photos, thinking of ideas for each, including materials research on ceramics, cement casting, enamel tiles, etc. Multiple readings of the contracts and specifications; using 3D rendering program and photoshop to do idea sketches. Creating a single mockup in photoshop involves photo croping, color manipulation, FX (making a chair disappear), placing accurately images into other layers & looking proportionate and perspective correct, etc etc.; Sketchup involves creating 3D models, which means drawing models, making walls, etc Also, many images have to be edited — 50 paired down to 12, which means editing them, going back in files. CV has to be updated, statement rewritten for Call. Reading of questions to TTC. Getting ink for printer, proper photo paper, USB stick.

-photographing of work. posting of work on various social media. 

-website: always tweaking: writing a newsy blog (“Art installed at collectors” ) photo editing, hashagging, then posting on Linkedin, FB, Twitter.  (FB has my page and artist page.)

-maintaing website means changing pages, addling links to new/old ones, changing format, rewriting stuff

-going out to opening at PP re: artists reception, to network w//director & new curator

-email new curator

-party Fri at our place. Cleaning studio, lighting, installing works: new remixed sculpture (3 days); added 9 paper works to wall (unframed, magnet); brand new painting involved learning how to metal leaf (youtube videios), including archival concerns;  buying materials (2 different art stores) and use of spray acrylic with them; also got real gold leaf to add to another painting, which involved more reasearch. Both paintings took about a week.  Bought vitrine for chromed wood/web object; got booze, food. sent out first emails 3 weeks prior, sent follow up emails 3 days before

-found out did not get to second round of public art at ceramic museum. That proposal took 2 or three weeks (from writing, research, doing computer mockups and rearward tests — clay tests, getting, squeezing painting; laser cut tests (prepping files: 1 week), etc etc.

Sunday May 29

9:00 Social media to read art articles, etc. LinkedIn, Facebook. Tweak by changing images and commenting on posts released to art

10:30 re re-read artist call; see one sentence where they need reference for work; write email to 2 different reference asking to use them as reference, explaining what might be asked, etc.

11 am - 2 pm Photo edit — crop, size, brighten, place and format 18 images into pdf.

Monday

8:00 Social media — read relevant articles re: events (lectures, openings). Look at various critical articles (Canadian Art, Momus). Check google analytics to see how people found my website, what pages they looked at. Tweak my website, add information relevant to their searches. 

9:00 Edit photos from portfolio for public art ttc. Rewrite final descriptions and details for each and relevance. Proofread bio, statement, 1 page proposal. Must edit down one more sentence to fit on one page. Must add image notations to paragraphs, which means more rewriting for size.

12-2:00. Final proofing of public sculpture proposals. Formatting for PDF, printing onto photo paper, prepping USB (deleting old files), making title page, signing contract, checklist, 

2:00 Leave to drop off public sculpture proposal by subway.

3:15 drop off proposal at office, get receipt. Walk through main hall, seeing how the public art vinyl posters were suspended, what size, image use, how much would have cost.

4:00 google ‘public sculptures North York’ to investigate. Douglas Coupland’s work for large developer is another bus ride away, decide not to go. Walk around studying architecture, 

5:00-6:00 research Call for collages for survey exhibition. Source negatives of images, research the space (location, history) and magazine released to exhibit. Track down the director’s name; write email w/history of the piece for inclusion, including jpeg that had to be cleaned up in Photoshop.

7:00 choose image to upload to Instagram (Mon. night best). Crop, brighten, etc. Send to IG and social media (FB, Twitter, Tumble) so add hashtags and carefully think of description. Send directly to certain VIPS on IG. “Like” various others, for “likes” momentum.
8:00-10:00 add tags, likes, etc to IG image, trying to get on radar of collectors, curators etc

10:00 researching google & FB about Artist Reception party at AGO for new Director. (wasn’t invited. trying to find out who was, and why, and if museum has a list of artists). Send messages to 2 people (one artist, one curator) asking how they got invited.
11:00 reading articles on Magenta, re: what artists written about & why; also technical information they impart re: concrete sculputre.

11:30 pm tagging instagram upload

Tues

6:30 to jot down idea for sculpture

645 read CBC article about arts funding

7:00 check social media see if any reactions to the work, who looked at. Research art collector in France.

7:15 write this journal as record, because no one will believe amount of work involved.

730 - jot down questions for AGO artist liaison re: database, curatorial interests, etc.

8:30  -10: 00 read article on ideas behind Object Oriented Ontology & various proponents of.

10 am - 3:3o pM. Researching grants — who is on juries; who has one, for what type of projects, Canada Council, Ontario Arts. Research OAC Chalmer’s project grant, d’load & read voluminous application, check support materials, qualifidicaitons, 

4-530 walking outside break, thing kind

530 emails. Get email from AGO (after 3 years of NO responses to periodic updates) saying curator wants to set up studio visit. This occurred ONLY because I had posted on social media that AGO is very bad at artist outreach, and that the PowerPlant is much better. (In fact, 6 hours after that post i got an email from the curator saying will get her assistant to contact me.) 

Wed

6:00-730 am wake up to email ideas re Chalmer approach, then start writing grant, researching costs of car chassis, 3d printing etc.

8:00 social media — events, posts, analytics, website tweaking, IG tweaking

8:30 research how to cut enginenin half youtube.. researching giant saw blades, etc.

9:15 check instagram, see that Roberta Smith, critic for NYT, ‘loved’ my turbine remix of sculpture on instgram in a direct message to me. So then post that on FB
930 continue researching saw blade slicing on youtube. watch many videos, at 2x speed to save time

10-1200 searching fabricating co.s toronto used airplane/car engines

12-2 phone calls: auto body shops, metal fabricators, scrap yards, airplane museum, canadian forces, all trying to find if can get: engines, car shells, if horizontal band saw cutting is done (of outside materials), also rental places, also workshop tool clubs

2-4 sketchup 3d modeling to determine how many chairs re: 3d printing for budget for chalmers

4 reading of social media discussion of artist fees vs. admin fees and links to CARFAC 

430 phone calls re: metal fabricating breaking, and with water jet cutting of engine, costs, can be done, kern, etc.

530 exercise

nothing till 9pm (kid soccer, visit brother)

900 bit of social media — IG message a collector, read an article on FB re: art, not much

Thurs

715 get up to write Chalmers write till

10:15 call AGO talk to curatorial manager re: does AGO have a database of artists for curators to refer to?, etc. 20 minute call.

10:30: tweak website re: projects to clarify. 

11:00 follow up email w/links to manager above.
11:30 calls re: pricing of water jet and laser cutting of metal, wood materials & sizes.
1230 messages w/curator artist re: institutional databases

1-2lunch

2 re-reading of chalmers guidelines and writing statement.

3:44 read article about Sobey shortlist; research jurors. Friend PEI museum curator on FB.

400 call think2thing for pricing. research types of prototyping, esp. Rapid Freeze, which uses water. Jot down idea to use as ice sculpture maker!

530 still researching. Maker organizations re: CNC, lasercut, 3d printings, programs needed, costs, equipments. 

6pm out for kids soccer.

chill till 11

11:00 sketch 3d rendering fractal chair

1130 done

FRI

8 start writing outline for chalmers grant.

830 see IG & FB re: notices or info re: art world 

845 writing chalmers

930 jot down idea re: etching/3d printing ice panels for under a skating rink ice.

11 calls to water jet & laser cut companies (3). 

1130 tweak illustrator file, send to water jet co’s for quotes.

12 call 2 3d printing co. re: renting scanner; costs of scanning, printing, sizes, materials.

12 research costs of cowboy hats, vitrine fabricating, acrylic costs, costs of plastic or metal car or airplane models. 

12-2 budget of chalmers re: costs of projects. calculate how thick metal would need if metal; costs of sheets, how much hat project, word wall project, 3d collage project, and 3d printed sculpture/painting costs, try to bring to reasonable (i.e. 1/4 size fractal chair, etc.) lots of calculations

1:55 jot down idea for laser cutting very thin metal sheets, complex layers, and chroming? electroplating?

2-2:45 lunch.

245 answering emails, glance at FB & IG etc re: messages. check out photos fro PowerBall party at PP I refused to pay $400 for. See someone checked out by CV/bio, probably TTC re: my proposal.

4:30 read Saltz critique about LA show, post comment leading back to site for some reason.

500 go outside.break till

11:00 jot ideas, only 15 minutes & quit

SAT

7:45 write down thougths/ideas re: chalmers that have dreamt

9:15 jot down idea of large laser cut detail works thin metal to be hung in view-through layers in a celestroy or ceiling. like the conduit canopy idea but more complex. Different views of heaven?

930 continuing chalmers; writing, rereading application

1145 break. in fact, give up.

SUN

930 write ideas re collage as digital way of thinking re: Chalmers profile.

1130 tired, break. nothing tis

200 research subway station art in sweden

230 stop, chill till

945 write some grant materials

MONDAY

8 am social media : instagram re: edit images, look at art; FB read relevant links re: art events, reviews, ; 

9 start grant writing.

10 read info re: art director interview Liste alt art fair Swiz. artist chosen

1030 write till 

230 then daughter dislocate knee hospital no work till

1030pm cut paste paragraphs grant proposal

Tues

8 am social media re: art events, posting

9 jot down ideas for laser cut complex suspended sculpture and grant writing ideas.

11 research re: remediable sculptures and 3d collage sculptures see if anyone using that term

12-1 eat, help aira

1-630: writing chalmers 

Wed jun 8

8-830 social media reading

9-4 research & wrirint on grant parts 2 Goal. 20 min break at one to get daughter library book & some breaks in there to help her w/splint & knee pain etc

lunch bath chill break

8-11pm writing part 3 viability

(3am daughter up w/pain from knee)

(5 am daughter up w/bloody nose.)

Thurs

5 am email myself idea for institutional intervention at AGO

530 more ideas: sliced on rung sculpture for large atrium; matte cut outs image.

7:15 up.

830 social media and prepping writing. Write till 5. Go out because Z has clients.

730 while out post & multiple tag image of painting on IG. this always takes 1/2 hour

Fri

9 social media

930-5 writing grant.

Sat

745 social media

8 am grant. now workplan/budget stage.

Sunday

8-230 writing

go out w/aria

5-9 writing, researching prices, writing, budget. 

Monday June 13

715 am grant proposal ; project description, work plan, budget, image importance, image choice & editing, forms filled out, signed, phone calls made re: cost of materials, space share, tools available, cnc, lsercut etc etc etc.proofreading,  printing out, collating USB key

STRAIGHT THROUGH UNTIL; lunch eaten at computer, 2 pee breaks

11 pm (Yes, 14 hours straight)

Tues

8-1030 proofreading, fine tweaks, change some wording, prep USB and folder for printing

[1030-130 ]doctor daughter re knee

130-330 photocopying 11 sets, collating, numbering, stapling, of grant

330 - 430 ride up and drop off grant in person

Wed: break. when out to waterfront all day. Thurs

8-12, researching, reading new.

THURS 

sporadic research & materials testing (dyes on canvas). not productive. social media crap.

6pm Go to AGO to meet new director talk., 2 hrs.

FRI

8-12 reasearching.  burnt out so saw movie. 630 go to Diaz opening to facetime, then

1 try to add color to an artwork, decide against it, rehang works and prep canvas. go to Photographer party.

Sat

8-12 studying via internet info on public sculpture, then break 7 ish Social Media stuff re: Toronto Art History 

Sunday

8-11am. fathers day. minor social media crap (instagram) but stayed away so only an hour or two of work

Monday 20

8 am -630 start researching for New Chapter grant. Ice skate building, painting; costs. phone calls to ice rink companies & specialists, lots of questions, pricing, possibilities (rooftops, abandoned buiildings, parking lots, temperatures, grading, refrigeration, naturalized, subfloor, first ice, refolding — also in this time researching technical means re: software due to seeing edmonton public art commission, so researching software, metals, laser cutting, NURBS vs. polygon programs, stainless steel fabricator outside toronto, etc etc. then back to writing grant, right up till. lots of phone calls and note taking and strategizings

Tues

8 am social media. then waste an hour reading MJ stuff

9 am start writing Bold canada council. Emails, phone calls to city re: use of space, costs, problems. at least 6 calls to different city people

10 am start reading more about public sculptures & Luminato disco ball sculpture similar to my panel pieces so investigate infrastructure & how made,  find leads on metal fabricator in ontario who did it, investigate sites & technique for couple hours, write an inquiry email

12 get call from city guy, then write email & images re: skate painting idea then more CC grant

530 stop for a bit

8-10 read article in NYT about influential french gallery, try to track down emails of the directors, send off emails. all 3 returned, manage to find one other & sent off again. 

Wed june 21

715 jot down idea for aluminum poured then crushed sculpture

800 watch videos see how christo floating piers were made & the described

815 social media reading of art articles, events upcoming

830 writing Canada council grant for Bold projects

11. waste time posting non-art stuff on social media. 1hour lost.

12-4 writing ice rink art idea. 

4-5 talk to art fabricator, many questions re capabilities, techniques, costs, what projects done, can do, etc. write notes about.

5-630 write grant.

630-7 eat.

7-1030 write grant.

1030-40 write this daily task.

Thurs

8 am socia media article reading

9 writing Canada Council project grant re: skate able painting.

11 arrange studio paintings (hainging 3 large ones, drilling, etc.) moving many small works, etc for AGO curator meeting

4 read and email that didn’t get to next round of TTC public sculptures. thought had a good chance, but there’s another 3 weeks lost to writing a proposal. leave to go buy ink & USB for curator takeaway. 

5 go to AGO see painting exhibit.

6 listen to podcast w/AGO curator going to meet tomorrow

7 eat dinner

8 compile images & ideas to make package for curator takeaway

12 midnight still compiling. stop to read article about new MOCA curator quitting after 8 mos. I think: “at least she can quit.”

FRI

730-10 — continue prep for curator visit. install version of NDF installation. Print out images & cv and ready USB for her takeaway files.

10-1230 curator visit, lead her through the works, history, ideas, future plans, putting me on the ‘call list’ for ideas, chat about the gallery & state or canadian art. great meeting, like the curator, who had an interesting insight (i was talking about my interest in parallel time… she mentioned that Land is a constant, even if Time is interleaved & how I shouldn’t shy away from that aspect that creeps in to my work — even tho i’m leery because its a canadian cliche. well said.)  ask if she’s working on any new shows or putting together: she says all the shows are planned out for the next 2.5 to 3 years… and because of the new Director hire, there is a hiatus on new shows (the next one being a rehang of the collection.) so that means this curator wouldn’t even be doing a show for at least 5 years. 

1:00 eat lunch, process the meeting. try to get motivated to write the Canada Council grant. Waste an hour. See an artist do something very close to an idea i’ve had for 2 decades — cut a car into sections. (mine is slicing.) hope he doesn’t do next step — interleaving cars & objects before i do. he cut a car into four quadrants. that’s all. Fuck. My idea is bigger , better, but don’t have money to do it. 

3:00-5 start to at least reread/ edit some paragraphs. Write for couple hours. break for couple  hours, have a meditation nap.

730 walk to PowerPlant opening. Point out public art on the way, look at how it was made, to my wife.

800-11:00 at the opening, networking w/the critics, curators, directors, collectors. excruciatingly hard, because of the power dynamic / imbalance. (if there is nothing to gain from you, the general feeling you get is “i don’t need to talk to you. why are you talking to me”. not helped by seeing art that is not inspiring — i.e. objects that look purchased, arranged on a plinth. cloth sculptures that don’t look to different form ikea garment bags. Drink some red wine. Get a face rash, probably from the wine, but just as likely from the people. (Diary note: very odd to have no prententions and just talk to people because they are people, not knowing their status in the art world or economically… but later feel that the huddled groups are all and only about that.)

Sat

10 write this daily task, trying to get the motivatin/discipline to write yet another fucking grant that takes weeks to do, research, write, etc. then months to find out you didn’t get it. Very very hard to do when tired, not making art because of grant/proposal declines and as try to go the ‘official’ route instead of my indie route, and see all these hours & efforts end up in zero advancement. yet, here i am, writing again. (insanity, doing the same thing over & over expecting different results, or determination? my head is bleeding, my skull is fractured, and that brick wall that its slamming against is showing no dents.)

1030 phone call to price out projector

11-1230 just cant do it. read on internet. listen to putin, of all things.

1230 try writing again 

2 quit. try watching netflix. go to a hotel pool party at 530. talk to some people, explain to some woman why it’s alright to fund artists, not just engineers or doctors or scientists “who do so much for society”. try to explain that computers and tv came out of things like weaving and pointilism, but she’s the expert. talk to some other women who all love alpha males; try to explain that we’re all a bit of both, that a gardener could be an alpha (determined to be the best gardiner, disciplined, hardworking, etc.) or say a poet,  but they say no if he’d do something else. jeebuz. 

Sun jun 26

730-300 write CC grant re 17K size skate able painting. get a lot of good writing done. write this damn task thing at 9 pm. must finish writing tomorrow & do forms to put in grant for tues. go to cottage for 5 days on thurs; usually make art there but have no plans asof yet.

Mon 

730 am - 730pm  writing researching skating rink CC grant writing and filling out forms. Need to turn in tomorrow. Have to do budget & timeline & pdf tomorrow. Literally ready to give up. It’s now been 18 months of writing grants proposals for almost 20 different projects all which take 5 months to find out you didn't get. In the meantime i’ve nearly stopped making art… a couple tweaks on old paintings, but nothing new really in 6 months, nothing major for the last year. I can see why the people who do get grants seem to produce researchy shows that work better as an essay than as visual art…. because they dont’ actually make art they are too busy writing & researching.

11 pm try writing , just cant do it.

Tues

730-4. Grant writing, phone calls to city parks, quadcopter, crane rentals, also online research, an starting to get PDF for online submission to aether so writing writing wearing.

6-830 Hop on my bike and o to Mercer Union Gallery artist member mixer at 6. Meet artist, talk to co-director about biz of raising money, listen to artist talk, chat w/ex Director MOCA. Only about 30 people showed up… but was actually easier to talk to people.

Wed

8am 930 PM. 30 minutes for dinner, only break. write grant, finishing sections, rewriting others, going through 10 different essays making sure all match up, calling to confirm rental prices on weekly rates, projector possibilities, calling city hall again for permit information, researching more prices on web re: projector, then doing final budget, filling out form and doing detailed budget, adding all up, connecting prices, doing a per show/per all events costs… checking air b  n b for rates in 5 cities, etc choosing, collating, formatting all images, writing about why each chosen, converting all docs to pdf, then start uploading, reread all guidelines, then after upload reread all submisisons, all covered. HIT SUBMIT. (now wait 5 months… )

Thurs

to cottage for ‘vacataion.’ will actually make art (painting or sculpture). 2016

For my own record, I kept a list of daily tasks this last few months. as I wrote proposals for grants, residencies, public art projects, and so on.

The enumeration of effort shown below was both to keep me on deadline, but also to relay what an artist does. A peek into the sausage factor.

Ironically, the more I proposed, the less art I actually made. (And I’ve been making, making, making my whole life.) You know why many institutional or academic shows come across as so visually uninteresting or uninspiring? A lot of research and explanation, not a lot of aesthetic experimentation. (The Didactic can actually be easier than the Decorative.) The text that accompanies these types of exhibitions would make a great article in a magazine or textbook, or as done as a lecture — insights into social justice, migration, colonialism, human behavior, data, finance, governments, 80’s records.  But for the eyes it’s a big meh. And so many artists now looking backwards: Modernism; the archive; documentation of a collection, colonialism… tweaks or versions or revisions of the past, not looking forwards. (Perhaps because the work is arrived at analytically — with a thesis defense in mind — and not intuitively.)

The below doesn’t include regular-life stuff — like doing dishes, paying bills, etc.

There’s no poetry below: it’s a listicle, and probably typical. Also likely TL; DR. So gestalt the length, not the details.

Sunday - Monday previous week — Proposal for subway station public sculpture. Research and many trips to stations, looking at all the public art there already (mosaics, wall scullptures, etc etc and reading about the artist who got them, and what the budgets were, and the receoptions); going to 7 different stations, taking photos, thinking of ideas for each, including materials research on ceramics, cement casting, enamel tiles, etc. Multiple readings of the contracts and specifications; using 3D rendering program and photoshop to do idea sketches. Creating a single mockup in photoshop involves photo croping, color manipulation, FX (making a chair disappear), placing accurately images into other layers & looking proportionate and perspective correct, etc etc.; Sketchup involves creating 3D models, which means drawing models, making walls, etc Also, many images have to be edited — 50 paired down to 12, which means editing them, going back in files. CV has to be updated, statement rewritten for Call. Reading of questions to TTC. Getting ink for printer, proper photo paper, USB stick.

-photographing of work. posting of work on various social media. 

-website: always tweaking: writing a newsy blog (“Art installed at collectors” ) photo editing, hashagging, then posting on Linkedin, FB, Twitter.  (FB has my page and artist page.)

-maintaing website means changing pages, addling links to new/old ones, changing format, rewriting stuff

-going out to opening at PP re: artists reception, to network w//director & new curator

-email new curator

-party Fri at our place. Cleaning studio, lighting, installing works: new remixed sculpture (3 days); added 9 paper works to wall (unframed, magnet); brand new painting involved learning how to metal leaf (youtube videios), including archival concerns;  buying materials (2 different art stores) and use of spray acrylic with them; also got real gold leaf to add to another painting, which involved more reasearch. Both paintings took about a week.  Bought vitrine for chromed wood/web object; got booze, food. sent out first emails 3 weeks prior, sent follow up emails 3 days before

-found out did not get to second round of public art at ceramic museum. That proposal took 2 or three weeks (from writing, research, doing computer mockups and rearward tests — clay tests, getting, squeezing painting; laser cut tests (prepping files: 1 week), etc etc.

Sunday May 29

9:00 Social media to read art articles, etc. LinkedIn, Facebook. Tweak by changing images and commenting on posts released to art

10:30 re re-read artist call; see one sentence where they need reference for work; write email to 2 different reference asking to use them as reference, explaining what might be asked, etc.

11 am - 2 pm Photo edit — crop, size, brighten, place and format 18 images into pdf.

Monday

8:00 Social media — read relevant articles re: events (lectures, openings). Look at various critical articles (Canadian Art, Momus). Check google analytics to see how people found my website, what pages they looked at. Tweak my website, add information relevant to their searches. 

9:00 Edit photos from portfolio for public art ttc. Rewrite final descriptions and details for each and relevance. Proofread bio, statement, 1 page proposal. Must edit down one more sentence to fit on one page. Must add image notations to paragraphs, which means more rewriting for size.

12-2:00. Final proofing of public sculpture proposals. Formatting for PDF, printing onto photo paper, prepping USB (deleting old files), making title page, signing contract, checklist, 

2:00 Leave to drop off public sculpture proposal by subway.

3:15 drop off proposal at office, get receipt. Walk through main hall, seeing how the public art vinyl posters were suspended, what size, image use, how much would have cost.

4:00 google ‘public sculptures North York’ to investigate. Douglas Coupland’s work for large developer is another bus ride away, decide not to go. Walk around studying architecture, 

5:00-6:00 research Call for collages for survey exhibition. Source negatives of images, research the space (location, history) and magazine released to exhibit. Track down the director’s name; write email w/history of the piece for inclusion, including jpeg that had to be cleaned up in Photoshop.

7:00 choose image to upload to Instagram (Mon. night best). Crop, brighten, etc. Send to IG and social media (FB, Twitter, Tumble) so add hashtags and carefully think of description. Send directly to certain VIPS on IG. “Like” various others, for “likes” momentum.
8:00-10:00 add tags, likes, etc to IG image, trying to get on radar of collectors, curators etc

10:00 researching google & FB about Artist Reception party at AGO for new Director. (wasn’t invited. trying to find out who was, and why, and if museum has a list of artists). Send messages to 2 people (one artist, one curator) asking how they got invited.
11:00 reading articles on Magenta, re: what artists written about & why; also technical information they impart re: concrete sculputre.

11:30 pm tagging instagram upload

Tues

6:30 to jot down idea for sculpture

645 read CBC article about arts funding

7:00 check social media see if any reactions to the work, who looked at. Research art collector in France.

7:15 write this journal as record, because no one will believe amount of work involved.

730 - jot down questions for AGO artist liaison re: database, curatorial interests, etc.

8:30  -10: 00 read article on ideas behind Object Oriented Ontology & various proponents of.

10 am - 3:3o pM. Researching grants — who is on juries; who has one, for what type of projects, Canada Council, Ontario Arts. Research OAC Chalmer’s project grant, d’load & read voluminous application, check support materials, qualifidicaitons, 

4-530 walking outside break, thing kind

530 emails. Get email from AGO (after 3 years of NO responses to periodic updates) saying curator wants to set up studio visit. This occurred ONLY because I had posted on social media that AGO is very bad at artist outreach, and that the PowerPlant is much better. (In fact, 6 hours after that post i got an email from the curator saying will get her assistant to contact me.) 

Wed

6:00-730 am wake up to email ideas re Chalmer approach, then start writing grant, researching costs of car chassis, 3d printing etc.

8:00 social media — events, posts, analytics, website tweaking, IG tweaking

8:30 research how to cut enginenin half youtube.. researching giant saw blades, etc.

9:15 check instagram, see that Roberta Smith, critic for NYT, ‘loved’ my turbine remix of sculpture on instgram in a direct message to me. So then post that on FB
930 continue researching saw blade slicing on youtube. watch many videos, at 2x speed to save time

10-1200 searching fabricating co.s toronto used airplane/car engines

12-2 phone calls: auto body shops, metal fabricators, scrap yards, airplane museum, canadian forces, all trying to find if can get: engines, car shells, if horizontal band saw cutting is done (of outside materials), also rental places, also workshop tool clubs

2-4 sketchup 3d modeling to determine how many chairs re: 3d printing for budget for chalmers

4 reading of social media discussion of artist fees vs. admin fees and links to CARFAC 

430 phone calls re: metal fabricating breaking, and with water jet cutting of engine, costs, can be done, kern, etc.

530 exercise

nothing till 9pm (kid soccer, visit brother)

900 bit of social media — IG message a collector, read an article on FB re: art, not much

Thurs

715 get up to write Chalmers write till

10:15 call AGO talk to curatorial manager re: does AGO have a database of artists for curators to refer to?, etc. 20 minute call.

10:30: tweak website re: projects to clarify. 

11:00 follow up email w/links to manager above.
11:30 calls re: pricing of water jet and laser cutting of metal, wood materials & sizes.
1230 messages w/curator artist re: institutional databases

1-2lunch

2 re-reading of chalmers guidelines and writing statement.

3:44 read article about Sobey shortlist; research jurors. Friend PEI museum curator on FB.

400 call think2thing for pricing. research types of prototyping, esp. Rapid Freeze, which uses water. Jot down idea to use as ice sculpture maker!

530 still researching. Maker organizations re: CNC, lasercut, 3d printings, programs needed, costs, equipments. 

6pm out for kids soccer.

chill till 11

11:00 sketch 3d rendering fractal chair

1130 done

FRI

8 start writing outline for chalmers grant.

830 see IG & FB re: notices or info re: art world 

845 writing chalmers

930 jot down idea re: etching/3d printing ice panels for under a skating rink ice.

11 calls to water jet & laser cut companies (3). 

1130 tweak illustrator file, send to water jet co’s for quotes.

12 call 2 3d printing co. re: renting scanner; costs of scanning, printing, sizes, materials.

12 research costs of cowboy hats, vitrine fabricating, acrylic costs, costs of plastic or metal car or airplane models. 

12-2 budget of chalmers re: costs of projects. calculate how thick metal would need if metal; costs of sheets, how much hat project, word wall project, 3d collage project, and 3d printed sculpture/painting costs, try to bring to reasonable (i.e. 1/4 size fractal chair, etc.) lots of calculations

1:55 jot down idea for laser cutting very thin metal sheets, complex layers, and chroming? electroplating?

2-2:45 lunch.

245 answering emails, glance at FB & IG etc re: messages. check out photos fro PowerBall party at PP I refused to pay $400 for. See someone checked out by CV/bio, probably TTC re: my proposal.

4:30 read Saltz critique about LA show, post comment leading back to site for some reason.

500 go outside.break till

11:00 jot ideas, only 15 minutes & quit

SAT

7:45 write down thougths/ideas re: chalmers that have dreamt

9:15 jot down idea of large laser cut detail works thin metal to be hung in view-through layers in a celestroy or ceiling. like the conduit canopy idea but more complex. Different views of heaven?

930 continuing chalmers; writing, rereading application

1145 break. in fact, give up.

SUN

930 write ideas re collage as digital way of thinking re: Chalmers profile.

1130 tired, break. nothing tis

200 research subway station art in sweden

230 stop, chill till

945 write some grant materials

MONDAY

8 am social media : instagram re: edit images, look at art; FB read relevant links re: art events, reviews, ; 

9 start grant writing.

10 read info re: art director interview Liste alt art fair Swiz. artist chosen

1030 write till 

230 then daughter dislocate knee hospital no work till

1030pm cut paste paragraphs grant proposal

Tues

8 am social media re: art events, posting

9 jot down ideas for laser cut complex suspended sculpture and grant writing ideas.

11 research re: remediable sculptures and 3d collage sculptures see if anyone using that term

12-1 eat, help aira

1-630: writing chalmers 

Wed jun 8

8-830 social media reading

9-4 research & wrirint on grant parts 2 Goal. 20 min break at one to get daughter library book & some breaks in there to help her w/splint & knee pain etc

lunch bath chill break

8-11pm writing part 3 viability

(3am daughter up w/pain from knee)

(5 am daughter up w/bloody nose.)

Thurs

5 am email myself idea for institutional intervention at AGO

530 more ideas: sliced on rung sculpture for large atrium; matte cut outs image.

7:15 up.

830 social media and prepping writing. Write till 5. Go out because Z has clients.

730 while out post & multiple tag image of painting on IG. this always takes 1/2 hour

Fri

9 social media

930-5 writing grant.

Sat

745 social media

8 am grant. now workplan/budget stage.

Sunday

8-230 writing

go out w/aria

5-9 writing, researching prices, writing, budget. 

Monday June 13

715 am grant proposal ; project description, work plan, budget, image importance, image choice & editing, forms filled out, signed, phone calls made re: cost of materials, space share, tools available, cnc, lsercut etc etc etc.proofreading,  printing out, collating USB key

STRAIGHT THROUGH UNTIL; lunch eaten at computer, 2 pee breaks

11 pm (Yes, 14 hours straight)

Tues

8-1030 proofreading, fine tweaks, change some wording, prep USB and folder for printing

[1030-130 ]doctor daughter re knee

130-330 photocopying 11 sets, collating, numbering, stapling, of grant

330 - 430 ride up and drop off grant in person

Wed: break. when out to waterfront all day. Thurs

8-12, researching, reading new.

THURS 

sporadic research & materials testing (dyes on canvas). not productive. social media crap.

6pm Go to AGO to meet new director talk., 2 hrs.

FRI

8-12 reasearching.  burnt out so saw movie. 630 go to Diaz opening to facetime, then

1 try to add color to an artwork, decide against it, rehang works and prep canvas. go to Photographer party.

Sat

8-12 studying via internet info on public sculpture, then break 7 ish Social Media stuff re: Toronto Art History 

Sunday

8-11am. fathers day. minor social media crap (instagram) but stayed away so only an hour or two of work

Monday 20

8 am -630 start researching for New Chapter grant. Ice skate building, painting; costs. phone calls to ice rink companies & specialists, lots of questions, pricing, possibilities (rooftops, abandoned buiildings, parking lots, temperatures, grading, refrigeration, naturalized, subfloor, first ice, refolding — also in this time researching technical means re: software due to seeing edmonton public art commission, so researching software, metals, laser cutting, NURBS vs. polygon programs, stainless steel fabricator outside toronto, etc etc. then back to writing grant, right up till. lots of phone calls and note taking and strategizings

Tues

8 am social media. then waste an hour reading MJ stuff

9 am start writing Bold canada council. Emails, phone calls to city re: use of space, costs, problems. at least 6 calls to different city people

10 am start reading more about public sculptures & Luminato disco ball sculpture similar to my panel pieces so investigate infrastructure & how made,  find leads on metal fabricator in ontario who did it, investigate sites & technique for couple hours, write an inquiry email

12 get call from city guy, then write email & images re: skate painting idea then more CC grant

530 stop for a bit

8-10 read article in NYT about influential french gallery, try to track down emails of the directors, send off emails. all 3 returned, manage to find one other & sent off again. 

Wed june 21

715 jot down idea for aluminum poured then crushed sculpture

800 watch videos see how christo floating piers were made & the described

815 social media reading of art articles, events upcoming

830 writing Canada council grant for Bold projects

11. waste time posting non-art stuff on social media. 1hour lost.

12-4 writing ice rink art idea. 

4-5 talk to art fabricator, many questions re capabilities, techniques, costs, what projects done, can do, etc. write notes about.

5-630 write grant.

630-7 eat.

7-1030 write grant.

1030-40 write this daily task.

Thurs

8 am socia media article reading

9 writing Canada Council project grant re: skate able painting.

11 arrange studio paintings (hainging 3 large ones, drilling, etc.) moving many small works, etc for AGO curator meeting

4 read and email that didn’t get to next round of TTC public sculptures. thought had a good chance, but there’s another 3 weeks lost to writing a proposal. leave to go buy ink & USB for curator takeaway. 

5 go to AGO see painting exhibit.

6 listen to podcast w/AGO curator going to meet tomorrow

7 eat dinner

8 compile images & ideas to make package for curator takeaway

12 midnight still compiling. stop to read article about new MOCA curator quitting after 8 mos. I think: “at least she can quit.”

FRI

730-10 — continue prep for curator visit. install version of NDF installation. Print out images & cv and ready USB for her takeaway files.

10-1230 curator visit, lead her through the works, history, ideas, future plans, putting me on the ‘call list’ for ideas, chat about the gallery & state or canadian art. great meeting, like the curator, who had an interesting insight (i was talking about my interest in parallel time… she mentioned that Land is a constant, even if Time is interleaved & how I shouldn’t shy away from that aspect that creeps in to my work — even tho i’m leery because its a canadian cliche. well said.)  ask if she’s working on any new shows or putting together: she says all the shows are planned out for the next 2.5 to 3 years… and because of the new Director hire, there is a hiatus on new shows (the next one being a rehang of the collection.) so that means this curator wouldn’t even be doing a show for at least 5 years. 

1:00 eat lunch, process the meeting. try to get motivated to write the Canada Council grant. Waste an hour. See an artist do something very close to an idea i’ve had for 2 decades — cut a car into sections. (mine is slicing.) hope he doesn’t do next step — interleaving cars & objects before i do. he cut a car into four quadrants. that’s all. Fuck. My idea is bigger , better, but don’t have money to do it. 

3:00-5 start to at least reread/ edit some paragraphs. Write for couple hours. break for couple  hours, have a meditation nap.

730 walk to PowerPlant opening. Point out public art on the way, look at how it was made, to my wife.

800-11:00 at the opening, networking w/the critics, curators, directors, collectors. excruciatingly hard, because of the power dynamic / imbalance. (if there is nothing to gain from you, the general feeling you get is “i don’t need to talk to you. why are you talking to me”. not helped by seeing art that is not inspiring — i.e. objects that look purchased, arranged on a plinth. cloth sculptures that don’t look to different form ikea garment bags. Drink some red wine. Get a face rash, probably from the wine, but just as likely from the people. (Diary note: very odd to have no prententions and just talk to people because they are people, not knowing their status in the art world or economically… but later feel that the huddled groups are all and only about that.)

Sat

10 write this daily task, trying to get the motivatin/discipline to write yet another fucking grant that takes weeks to do, research, write, etc. then months to find out you didn’t get it. Very very hard to do when tired, not making art because of grant/proposal declines and as try to go the ‘official’ route instead of my indie route, and see all these hours & efforts end up in zero advancement. yet, here i am, writing again. (insanity, doing the same thing over & over expecting different results, or determination? my head is bleeding, my skull is fractured, and that brick wall that its slamming against is showing no dents.)

1030 phone call to price out projector

11-1230 just cant do it. read on internet. listen to putin, of all things.

1230 try writing again 

2 quit. try watching netflix. go to a hotel pool party at 530. talk to some people, explain to some woman why it’s alright to fund artists, not just engineers or doctors or scientists “who do so much for society”. try to explain that computers and tv came out of things like weaving and pointilism, but she’s the expert. talk to some other women who all love alpha males; try to explain that we’re all a bit of both, that a gardener could be an alpha (determined to be the best gardiner, disciplined, hardworking, etc.) or say a poet,  but they say no if he’d do something else. jeebuz. 

Sun jun 26

730-300 write CC grant re 17K size skate able painting. get a lot of good writing done. write this damn task thing at 9 pm. must finish writing tomorrow & do forms to put in grant for tues. go to cottage for 5 days on thurs; usually make art there but have no plans asof yet.

Mon 

730 am - 730pm  writing researching skating rink CC grant writing and filling out forms. Need to turn in tomorrow. Have to do budget & timeline & pdf tomorrow. Literally ready to give up. It’s now been 18 months of writing grants proposals for almost 20 different projects all which take 5 months to find out you didn't get. In the meantime i’ve nearly stopped making art… a couple tweaks on old paintings, but nothing new really in 6 months, nothing major for the last year. I can see why the people who do get grants seem to produce researchy shows that work better as an essay than as visual art…. because they dont’ actually make art they are too busy writing & researching.

11 pm try writing , just cant do it.

Tues

730-4. Grant writing, phone calls to city parks, quadcopter, crane rentals, also online research, an starting to get PDF for online submission to aether so writing writing wearing.

6-830 Hop on my bike and o to Mercer Union Gallery artist member mixer at 6. Meet artist, talk to co-director about biz of raising money, listen to artist talk, chat w/ex Director MOCA. Only about 30 people showed up… but was actually easier to talk to people.

Wed

8am 930 PM. 30 minutes for dinner, only break. write grant, finishing sections, rewriting others, going through 10 different essays making sure all match up, calling to confirm rental prices on weekly rates, projector possibilities, calling city hall again for permit information, researching more prices on web re: projector, then doing final budget, filling out form and doing detailed budget, adding all up, connecting prices, doing a per show/per all events costs… checking air b  n b for rates in 5 cities, etc choosing, collating, formatting all images, writing about why each chosen, converting all docs to pdf, then start uploading, reread all guidelines, then after upload reread all submisisons, all covered. HIT SUBMIT. (now wait 5 months… )

Thurs

to cottage for ‘vacataion.’ will actually make art (painting or sculpture).