la joie de vivre

“The mind cannot foresee its own advance.”

~Friedrich Hayek

Hit that Jive by Gramatik, who totally surprised and impressed me on Saturday night!

When did the world get so…

modern?

Every generation probably thinks of themselves as being “modern” ever since the word was invented.

Every generation feels that at their progressive day and age, they must be at the pinnacle of humanity, the best generation that has come yet. What more could we possibly learn and invent? What’s left out there for us to discover?

Modernity in some cases is moving towards rationality, organization.

Modernity is technology.

It’s about repetition, like the wheels of a train or the reel of a camera.

Modernity is conformity, regulation.

Everything in numbers.

Kicklines. Tapdancing. Anxiety.

At the same time, modernity is also about irrationality,

our dreams,

a mass movement towards a surreal world.

Modernity is the age where “anything is possible”,

for there has never been a better time to prove it than now.

The modern age is about creating spectacles and thrills,

trying to best capture our imaginations,

to excite our senses

The Joy of Living/La Joie de Vivre from 1934. Start from :40 w/o sound.

Modernity is about individualism,

eccentricity,

freedom to progress…

It’s pushing boundaries, changing perception, looking for what’s not yet there.

It’s about creating your own flavor of soda pop,

choosing the song you’re listening to, making plans to explore the world.

Modernity is a state of mind more than a time period, an optimistic account of moving forward,

and constant adaptation. Modernity doesn’t only create a rational world,

modernity changes what we once thought was irrational.

Modernity is, was, and always will be,

now.

(featured artist Wayne White agrees)

“Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible”

~Paul Klee

(artists include: Wayne White, Louise Bourgeois and Andrey Ev)

Not Forgotten

Having trouble uploading music, but here is this post's song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xka7-CBoTM

Depth Affect’s Not Forgotten

Back in the Windy City and thinking about the definition of the word “home”. Can you have more than one home?

Is home a temporary thing,

or can your true home never change?

I want to understand what home means to me,

since by no means is the definition of home universal.

Do you feel at home simply being with someone you love?

Or do you feel more at home inside your own head?

Can it be both?

Can one have an infinite number of homes?

It’s also a question of one’s origins, source…

I don’t know if we could ever separate that from who we are today.

The patterns and assumptions set in place by one’s origins are often so silent, so subconscious that we sometimes don’t realize they’re there.

Home is always with us it seems, holding us up,

or keeping us rooted. One can have many ideas of home, but what is universal is that it is with us constantly.

Home is where people you learn from are. It’s where you grow.

Home feels natural and comfortable,

but because we grow, what’s natural and comfortable evolves.

Especially because home isn’t just a physical place.

Home is a multi-dimensional object of our imagination, an idea we created to embody the feeling of somewhere, anywhere that our mind is at ease, temporarily protected from the outside world.

I’m lucky I can be at home almost anywhere,

but it’s the one I miss most when I think of the word “home”.

In any case, I’m glad I’m back in Wilmette. All of these prints have been featured from the Chicago Printmaker’s Collaborative where my grandpa has a studio. Below is his contribution to this month’s show. Pop etched this print of Wacker Drive and Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago. You can check out his other work on his blog.

I got a kick out of the fact that the one below is called “Perception”. I don’t really know why.

Also impressed by an out-of-the-box find, Sanya Glisic:

This year in particular has been a fulfilling Christmas break!

It must have something to do with this adorable dog, who my family decided to babysit for a woman indefinitely. His name is Gordie and I didn’t quite understand why people liked dogs till now. It seemed like all anyone else’s dog did was bark, bite, or jump on me (I suppose it would be comparable to how mothers like their own children but can’t stand others).

Gordie brings our family together and likes to spoon.

He doesn’t bite and his activities include finding new places to lay down and wagging his tail when I come home. He even gets excited when I wake up, almost more excited than me! It’s like I have a personal welcoming committee!!

I love the holidays, because everyone works extra hard to make it feel like home.

Hard to Find

Robot Koch’s Hard To Find. Unreal

 

 

 

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

~Albert Einstein

Featured Artist Brock Lefferts

It’s highly possible that all of us are geniuses at something. The only difference between a certified genius and you and I, is that they stumbled upon what they were good at, in the right time and in the right place. What if I were a genius at some foreign game, or art technique, but I never go to that foreign place? Just thinking about it makes me want to go everywhere, and try everything.

Check out this awesome…stair case! I keep wondering if people are stranded on one side of the staircase or the other, because of the upside down part ‘n all. I also wonder if you have to pay to get on it. Hm.

“Tiger and Turtle” on Magic Mountain in Germany

http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/featured/magic-mountain/

While you’re here, you’ve gotta check this out! I love the way technology can take people’s imaginations even further.

http://zoomquilt2.madmindworx.com/zoomquilt2.swf

Also, I don’t really do tumblr yet, but here’s one that I find to be quite inspired:

http://jacindamagnolia.tumblr.com/page/3

One of my favorites, surreal artist Rafal Oblinsky

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

~Pablo Picasso

Young Wavy

everyone has a piece of the puzzle

^stare at this for 10 seconds then watch my post start breathing

we’re all part of the same ocean called humanity. each of us represents a wave, helpless to the pushes and pulls of the waves around us. we’re all made of the same thing, but because of where we are and where we’ve been, each of us takes a different form.

how can we ever be held fully responsible for our effects on the waters around us, if we are only a part of a cause and effect chain in which we have little control?

each of our waves is a piece to the larger body

and we all have the ability to morph, to change shapes

but it’s only possible if we share the water

we can only learn who we are if we look at all the waves around us, after all, what could be a better reflection of oneself?

……

…they’re coming