The CragBaby

“Everybody has their own America, and then they have pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there but they can’t see. When I was little, I never left Pennsylvania, and I used to have fantasies about things that I thought were happening in the Midwest, or down South, or in Texas, that I felt I was missing out on. But you can only live life in one place at a time. And your own life while it’s happening to you never has any atmosphere until it’s a memory. So the fantasy corners of America seem so atmospheric because you’ve pieced them together from scenes in movies and music and lines from books. And you live in your dream America that you’ve custom-made from art and schmaltz and emotions just as much as you line in your real one.”

(more…)

I luckily ended up with some free tickets to the Peking Acrobats (somehow I keep ending up with free tickets … schweet! ). It isn’t something that I would buy tickets to attend, but how can you pass up a free show, another chance to get dressed up and another night of hanging out with a good friend? All I know is these gymnasts need to start climbing as I truly believe they could seriously push the grades to a whole new level. I think they would give Sharma a run for his money.

Welcome to the new CragBaby site. There are still some tweaks to be made (for instance the weird indentation due to the date graphic), but for the most part I think this site is ready to rock and the posts will begin to roll once more. WoOot! Thank you Shaft for your many hours of help.

Yesterday National Public Radio reported a story covering the photographer Chris Jordan and his artwork collection titled Intolerable Beauty of Consumerism. After listening to the story, I was intrigued to see his artwork and located his website. Not wanting to infringe on the rights of his artwork, none of his photos will be posted on this blog but I would encourage you to view his work.

In the statement section of his site he explains the motivation behind his Intolerable Beauty of Consumerism. I found his thoughts to be well written and contemplative, thus sharing with you here.

Exploring around our country’s shipping ports and industrial yards, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed to view like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.

The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.

Early I posted a quick blog about the then upcoming 337 project. I ended up visiting the 337 project on its opening night with the Mr. Math as KNB gave us his tickets, allowing us to avoid the 3 hour wait.

The project was utterly astounding, and just as astonishing was the Salt Lake community’s interest. The 337 project was a gallery “exhibit” I would expect to see in Chicago and New York, not in conservative Utah. Yet on opening night the wait to get in was 3 hours and I heard rumor that the next night was just as popular.

Word on the street is that some folks are lobbying to keep the project open. I have mixed feelings on the topic as I believe part of what makes the project so special is it’s finite life and I have to wonder if the artists created these pieces with the life line in mind. On the flipside, it could be a great tourist attraction and could be a monumental hangout for each gallery stroll. It have also heard that the deciding organization has chosen to keep the building open for a longer period of time due to the popularity, but I haven’t seen any confirmation on this fact either.

This was probably my favorite piece. The artist had full reign over one of the bathrooms and on the mirror had created a collage of all the fears that people worry about, cutting out the shape of a person within the collage.