clarkelane
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You are viewing the most recent 20 entries
July 18th, 2008
July 17th, 2008
July 16th, 2008
July 13th, 2008
July 7th, 2008
:
Today is one of those days when I could really use some focus, but it’s just not coming.
July 2nd, 2008
July 1st, 2008
June 14th, 2008
: Knitting Nation
My friend, Liz Collins, is doing the fourth Knitting Nation performance during RI Pride next weekend. Earlier versions of the work have been about the American flag, but this iteration is about the Rainbow Flag. She's seeking opinions as part of the piece. Her facebook site for the piece sent me this, and I send it onto you:
hey there,
thanks for joining the "How do you feel about the Rainbow Flag -- and WHY?" group...
so... next weekend... KNITTING NATION, Liz Collins' ongoing and collaborative performance and site-specific installation will examine complex feelings around the rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride.
Can you take a moment this weekend to:
1) answer the poll on the group site or at this link on survey monkey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5
2) invite your facebook friends to join our group -- or post the survey monkey link via email or other chat or networking sites.
thanks for promoting debate and complexity in the queer worlds...
My friend, Liz Collins, is doing the fourth Knitting Nation performance during RI Pride next weekend. Earlier versions of the work have been about the American flag, but this iteration is about the Rainbow Flag. She's seeking opinions as part of the piece. Her facebook site for the piece sent me this, and I send it onto you:
hey there,
thanks for joining the "How do you feel about the Rainbow Flag -- and WHY?" group...
so... next weekend... KNITTING NATION, Liz Collins' ongoing and collaborative performance and site-specific installation will examine complex feelings around the rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride.
Can you take a moment this weekend to:
1) answer the poll on the group site or at this link on survey monkey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5
2) invite your facebook friends to join our group -- or post the survey monkey link via email or other chat or networking sites.
thanks for promoting debate and complexity in the queer worlds...
: from spittin' image
I'm trying to catch up with documenting my recent studio work. And also trying to just plain get the website in shape.
I'm trying to catch up with documenting my recent studio work. And also trying to just plain get the website in shape.
June 13th, 2008
June 4th, 2008
May 30th, 2008
: It was twenty years ago today....
I was walking home from work, feeling a bit lonely, and it hit me. Twenty years ago today, I was hired by Brown to work at what would become the Swearer Center. I got the call at the RI School for the Deaf, where the kids had thrown a good-bye party for me. My decision to take he job was reflexive -- which caused ripples in my life. it was probably the first time I'd made a major decision taking my own counsel rather than relying on the decisions of others -- and the others were a little pissed.
Talking to a friend who's graduating from the graduate school tomorrow, I remembered how profoundly disorienting graduation was. The merging of the families for dinners and lunches, the emotion of parting with friends and those kids who were daily fixtures in my life, the sense of adventure ahead.... and the recognition that things would never be the same.
The loneliness I've been feeling this afternoon echoes the loneliness i felt twenty years ago. I have a sense that grand expectations are circling me and that I'm staring at the great unknown. I feel like I'm being called to make decisions based on my own counsel. I'm unsure whether I'm part of the family...
Oddly enough, I also feel like the cosmos has turned in reverse. In some ways I feel like I'm just arriving at RISD, a year after the fact, and that my arrival is somehow ushered from Brown. I'm stretching history to fit a scheme, but there is emotional resonance to it all.
So, I stopped in Frasier Terrace, grabbed a little wireless from the campus network and reflect. The sun is peeking through the trees and dappling my keyboard and skin. It's rather nice. If lonely.
I was walking home from work, feeling a bit lonely, and it hit me. Twenty years ago today, I was hired by Brown to work at what would become the Swearer Center. I got the call at the RI School for the Deaf, where the kids had thrown a good-bye party for me. My decision to take he job was reflexive -- which caused ripples in my life. it was probably the first time I'd made a major decision taking my own counsel rather than relying on the decisions of others -- and the others were a little pissed.
Talking to a friend who's graduating from the graduate school tomorrow, I remembered how profoundly disorienting graduation was. The merging of the families for dinners and lunches, the emotion of parting with friends and those kids who were daily fixtures in my life, the sense of adventure ahead.... and the recognition that things would never be the same.
The loneliness I've been feeling this afternoon echoes the loneliness i felt twenty years ago. I have a sense that grand expectations are circling me and that I'm staring at the great unknown. I feel like I'm being called to make decisions based on my own counsel. I'm unsure whether I'm part of the family...
Oddly enough, I also feel like the cosmos has turned in reverse. In some ways I feel like I'm just arriving at RISD, a year after the fact, and that my arrival is somehow ushered from Brown. I'm stretching history to fit a scheme, but there is emotional resonance to it all.
So, I stopped in Frasier Terrace, grabbed a little wireless from the campus network and reflect. The sun is peeking through the trees and dappling my keyboard and skin. It's rather nice. If lonely.
May 23rd, 2008
May 18th, 2008
: it feels like an eternity....
Been a while since I posted. And it's been a hellava few weeks. I'm fine and all the changes will be for the best, I'm sure.
Last Tuesday I was surprised by my boss, when he told me he was resigning. I spent the day wondering what it would mean. He hired me and established the ground for the work I'm doing. Interestingly enough I wasn't all that anxious about it. I really love what I'm doing, but unlike all the years I was at Brown I now know that there are other interesting things to do in the world. Still, when the announcement of the new provost was made on Wednesday, I found myself reinvigorated. The possibilities are profound.
My RISD class is done for the semester. I have another six weeks at Goddard. The summer program starts on 7 July. Somewhere in there I need to take a few days off. I'm on leave at Goddard next semester -- but this Goddard semester really crimps my ability to have a break. To be honest, I might be able to take a week around the new year. Then, if I take a second semester of leave at Goddard, I can have a real vacation a year from now. It's bizarre to contemplate this.... but it's the reality of starting this new thing.
I hit the studio this weekend and it felt amazing. I worked on nine new pieces and should have something to show in a couple weeks -- if I can get another couple days to work.
It will all work out well.
Been a while since I posted. And it's been a hellava few weeks. I'm fine and all the changes will be for the best, I'm sure.
Last Tuesday I was surprised by my boss, when he told me he was resigning. I spent the day wondering what it would mean. He hired me and established the ground for the work I'm doing. Interestingly enough I wasn't all that anxious about it. I really love what I'm doing, but unlike all the years I was at Brown I now know that there are other interesting things to do in the world. Still, when the announcement of the new provost was made on Wednesday, I found myself reinvigorated. The possibilities are profound.
My RISD class is done for the semester. I have another six weeks at Goddard. The summer program starts on 7 July. Somewhere in there I need to take a few days off. I'm on leave at Goddard next semester -- but this Goddard semester really crimps my ability to have a break. To be honest, I might be able to take a week around the new year. Then, if I take a second semester of leave at Goddard, I can have a real vacation a year from now. It's bizarre to contemplate this.... but it's the reality of starting this new thing.
I hit the studio this weekend and it felt amazing. I worked on nine new pieces and should have something to show in a couple weeks -- if I can get another couple days to work.
It will all work out well.
May 15th, 2008
: California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban
Interesting logic (from the AP):
In striking down the ban, the court said, "In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation - like a person's race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."
Interesting logic (from the AP):
In striking down the ban, the court said, "In contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation - like a person's race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights."
May 9th, 2008
: Michael Bhatia
I saw Michael about a year ago. He was so excited about his work -- and it was really great to learn about how much he'd achieved since graduating Brown. I'm truly sad that his life and good work has been cut short.
Former Brown grad, Watson fellow dies in Afghanistan
from the Providence Journal on line edition, 9 May 08
A Brown University graduate and former visiting fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies has died while working in Afghanistan, according to a spokeswoman at the Watson Institute.
Michael Vinay Bhatia, who graduated in 1999, was working as a social scientist in Afghanistan in consultation with the U.S. Defense Department, according to the institute's Web site.
The Web site didn't have any details on the cause of his death.
Bhatia, of Medway, Mass., was a doctoral candidate at Oxford University, according to his biography on that school’s Web site. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown in international relations, he was a fellow at the Watson Institute from July 2006 to June 2007.
Bhatia had done humanitarian work in areas of conflict across the world, including in East Timor, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, where he interviewed hundreds of combatants for his dissertation: “The Mujahideen: A study of Combatant Motives in Afghanistan, 1978 to 2005.”
The author of several books, Bhatia was also a photographer and has published photos from his essay "Shooting Afghanistan -- Beyond the Conflict" on the Globalist Web site.
Frederick Melo, a fellow Brown University alumnus and Bhatia’s former roommate, called Bhatia brilliant, but without the sharp edges.
“He had heart. He was rarely not smiling, not laughing, not recognizing the beauty in people and in the world,” Melo said in an e-mail.
“I love him and I miss him and I can’t stop crying. The world is such a colder place without him.”
I saw Michael about a year ago. He was so excited about his work -- and it was really great to learn about how much he'd achieved since graduating Brown. I'm truly sad that his life and good work has been cut short.
Former Brown grad, Watson fellow dies in Afghanistan
from the Providence Journal on line edition, 9 May 08
A Brown University graduate and former visiting fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies has died while working in Afghanistan, according to a spokeswoman at the Watson Institute.
Michael Vinay Bhatia, who graduated in 1999, was working as a social scientist in Afghanistan in consultation with the U.S. Defense Department, according to the institute's Web site.
The Web site didn't have any details on the cause of his death.
Bhatia, of Medway, Mass., was a doctoral candidate at Oxford University, according to his biography on that school’s Web site. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown in international relations, he was a fellow at the Watson Institute from July 2006 to June 2007.
Bhatia had done humanitarian work in areas of conflict across the world, including in East Timor, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, where he interviewed hundreds of combatants for his dissertation: “The Mujahideen: A study of Combatant Motives in Afghanistan, 1978 to 2005.”
The author of several books, Bhatia was also a photographer and has published photos from his essay "Shooting Afghanistan -- Beyond the Conflict" on the Globalist Web site.
Frederick Melo, a fellow Brown University alumnus and Bhatia’s former roommate, called Bhatia brilliant, but without the sharp edges.
“He had heart. He was rarely not smiling, not laughing, not recognizing the beauty in people and in the world,” Melo said in an e-mail.
“I love him and I miss him and I can’t stop crying. The world is such a colder place without him.”
May 6th, 2008
: not dead yet
I did work a bit this weekend. This one's coming close to being done.
The Boy Mistook for a Girl (he's a super boy), 1976; oil on panel, 48 x 60 inches, c. 2008
I did work a bit this weekend. This one's coming close to being done.
The Boy Mistook for a Girl (he's a super boy), 1976; oil on panel, 48 x 60 inches, c. 2008
May 5th, 2008
:
I took the weekend for myself -- chores on Saturday and studio on Sunday. Now, of course, I'm completely swamped.
Didn't we fight for the five-day work week?
Didn't we fight for the five-day work week?
April 30th, 2008
:
Last night I gave a talk on Art and Social Change as part of a week-long series on Human Trafficking. I was stressed about it for days, but learned a valuable lesson when only ten students showed for the event.
Indeed, given my own sense of the weight of the event, I over-prepared by both writing a lecture and preparing a slide show. My anxiety disappeared when I realized that the size of the group required that I speak extemporaneously. While I referred to my script in some places, it was a better talk for speaking from what I know, what I'm passionate about, and what I believe.
In any case, I'm posting the prepared text here.
( it's pretty long.... )
Indeed, given my own sense of the weight of the event, I over-prepared by both writing a lecture and preparing a slide show. My anxiety disappeared when I realized that the size of the group required that I speak extemporaneously. While I referred to my script in some places, it was a better talk for speaking from what I know, what I'm passionate about, and what I believe.
In any case, I'm posting the prepared text here.
( it's pretty long.... )
