Old Potatopatch

So I have been unable to do anything this past week due to what I believe was H1N1 and many numerous other miserable factors. Let me tell yall the story.

Since my last meeting with Jeff on 9-10-09, (I missed my tuesday meeting with Tom because that was the first and worst day of being sick) I had decided to take 4 images with my 4x5 so Arlie and I travel all the way to the mountains for a photoshoot at waterfall. I get my film back and it was fogged. I then reshoot, 35mm, the next weekend in Buckingham County at the James River State Park and CVS ruined that film. So Monday I create another collage piece since I had no film/images to show, but that night got a fever. Had a fever all day Tuesday, missed my meeting with Tom and missed an astronomy exam. Not only was I sick, but I had gotten chiggers again in Buckingham and my last wisdom tooth coming in is impacted. Its been a bad week.
While sick I obsessively looked at google maps on terrain and satellite views and discovered that if I zoomed in close enough it gave me names of all the mountains/ridges/hills back home.
For example, I always thought that the Wintergreen Ski Resort was on Wintergreen Mountain, but it's actually called Potatopatch Mtn. This triggered memories of dad talking about the mountains and hearing him mention potatopatch.
I want to explore this further. The names of mountains. I want to photograph the individual mountains from numerous views and angles introducing others to the mountains I know and love so well for their distinct character and their iconic ridgelines rising into our Horizons.

Another thing was the dreaming that came along with being sick. Monday night when I developed the fever I was buried deep in my covers, I was a MOUNTAIN. The folds of the blankets were my peaks and hollows and I was the core of the Mountain. I was being blasted by dynamite to build another Ski resort like Wintergreen and that was why I was sick. I dreamt I was old Potatopatch. I believe my next piece will illustrate this dream.

Michel Gondry

http://www.director-file.com/gondry/
www.michelgondry.com

Michel Gondry is a french filmmaker who has made numerous hit films such as Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep, Be Kind Rewind, etc. His work is important to me because of his ability to create these false realities, dreams, through his manipulation of mise-en-scene. Also Gondry's works/films tend to be loosely centered around dreams which is a big focus of my own work. Since I have been extremely ill with what I can assume is H1N1 I have been bed-ridden for days now and have proceeded to watch Eternal Sunshine and Science of Sleep again each for the hundredth time while being drugged up with nyquil and just being out of it due to the prolonged bedrest my mentality is out there...anywho it is a good mindframe to be in when viewing Gondry's films.
Gondry's ability to construct props and through his filming techniques has manifested his own dreams into reality. He has inspired me to continue thinking outside of the box of conventionality and to continue exploring alternative techniques. I am considering creating movie stills for a movie that was never made....

Doppelgänger

The word "doppelgänger" has come to refer (as in German) to any double or look-a-like of a person. The word is also used to describe the sensation of having glimpsed oneself in peripheral vision, in a position where there is no chance that it could have been a reflection. They are generally regarded as bringers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of death or results in immediate death upon the two coming face to face. In Norse mythology, a vardøger is a ghostly double who precedes a living person and is seen performing their actions in advance. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger)
This term is related to superstitions and can possibly be scientifically explained as an eye malfunction. I am interested in this term because it deals with the Twin which is in relation to Gemini which is my zodiac. On the Wiki-site related to "Doppelgänger" there was a story of Abraham Lincoln and seeing his own Doppelganger as an omen of death..
More importantly Doppelganger is realted to duality for me. There are dualities throughout nature and even in the human mind.
Is the sub-conscious the Doppelganger of the conscious? or the other way around?
I want to explore this and other superstitions that play into fear as psychological form of manifestation. I am very interested in the powers of the mind and how I can relate that into my artworks. I have also seen numerous shows on Abraham Lincoln and his superstitions, prophetic dreams, ghost stories, psychic premonitions, which I want to research LINCOLN now..

Also

I have come across a Griffin Davis who is a commercial Photographer in DC. He is technically skilled when it comes to lighting and his work is very clean and professional.
So, here is my dilemma... A talented successful working photographer in DC has pretty much stolen my existence.
Should I change my artist name? a psuedonym? an alternative identity? the evil twin..
I was thinking about protecting my name before I discovered my DC Doppelganger. I considered going by my middle name of Drew; Drew Davis.
I could keep my true identity of Griffin Davis more private.
For example, if someone called asking for Drew Davis I would know it was business related, but if someone asked for Griffin I would know they were someone I actually knew..
Griffin is a unique name and Griffin Davis is a very strong name, however I don't want to stomp all over this other Griffin Davis' namesake either. I will probably work out of DC in the future considering how close to home is...He was after all Griffin Davis before I was..
Check him out though. I want to contact him

http://griffindavisphotography.wordpress.com/

Roger Ballen

http://www.rogerballen.com/

Roger Ballen's work speaks to me because it is off kilter and it makes me uneasy. I am reminded of nightmarish dreams where nothing scary really happens it was just disturbing. After researching into dreams I came across Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder which talked about soldiers who returned from war and had recurrent nightmares of battle which could possibly lead to schizophrenic behavior (schizophrenia being talked of as a "waking dream") and noticed that I am showing symptoms of mild post-traumatic stress from the events of the summer which are currently still haunting me in my dreams almost nightly. I have not been to war, literally, but I believe I have been fighting, and currently am still in a psychological war against my enemies. Maybe not so much "post" traumatic, as it is "Traumatic Stress Disorder"
A person dreams during REM sleep and before waking goes into a short rest(no dreaming) where most of the time the sleeper will forget the dreams of their night, but when under stress one will awaken straight from REM with the dream still fresh. I have to tell myself it was just a dream because for a second it was real. That's the feeling Ballen's photographs give me, the uneasy feel. His images hit that dreamy dark note that doesn't make sense, border-line scary.

As I want to capture or portray this romanticized dream, I also want the full spectrum of dreams represented in my works including the prophetic dream, nightmare, symbolic, uneasy dream, and even wet dreams.

Ballen's work also contains hints of the psychological. A weird commentary on strange childplay or perhaps representative of those dark fairytales..

I am also reminded of Richard Billingham with some of his documentary work.

Dualities, Circular Logic, and Selfishness

So I know that I tend to run in circles and flip flop my opinions but I believe it is because I am a classic Gemini seeing both sides. Now this semester I want to focus on dreams and the workings of the subconcious mind. A sub-theme that will most likely appear in alot if not all of my works will be centered around the classic concept of Man vs. Nature.

Cassie Meier quotes in a comment from my last class critique blog,
"You say that your prophetic dream, and the piece depicting it, was based around the advancement of technology ultimately leading to our demise. Yet your second piece depicts a loosing battle against nature, both literally with the kudzu vines, and symbolically with your fathers unfortunate onset of alzheimer's. The contradiction between the two is interesting, as advancements in technology will eventually lead us closer to a cure for alzheimer's. Responsible pleasure in the mixing of boundaries between the natural and the artificial. There is the argument that technology will be our demise, and the argument that it is a helpful tool and an extension of the self. Is it the medium that is good or bad, or is its value more or less determined by its use..."

Her comment intrigued me because I didn't notice the relationship between my first and second piece yet. They contradict, but that is perfect because in the battle between Man vs. Nature we do not yet know the outcome. Will man prevail in destroying his eden? or will mother nature get her revenge? or even a harmony of the two, a Eutopia?

Amber O'Hara commented,
"I think that the content of your work and the motivation behind the work is connected. To me, you obviously seem concerned with the subconscious, even unconscious affairs of the mind, from dementia to dreams to the subliminal messages that the symbols you insert into your work sends out to your viewers. It seems like you're recording YOUR states of mind (even though it's your father's mind to be concerned about)...are you afraid you're going to forget them if you don't? Are you trying to decipher the truth amid fantasies, dream worlds, lies, disease...? You are a Gemini, ruled by thought. I like where you are going. But like I said before, they should be bigger, you're using a 4x5!"

I think she might be right. Am I afraid of forgetting? Perhaps this is what drives so many people to obsessively photograph their children growing up?..the fear of forgetting...?
I really think that she is on to something when she says I might be trying to decipher the truth amid fantasies, dream worlds, lies, disease, etc. This is what I feel as though I am trying to do.

After the tumultuous upheaval of the foundation of lies my past was built on, I am now left to clean up the rubble and put the puzzle back together except things still aren't right.

So then my artwork is is about me trying to figure out my life while trying not to forget it.
So then my artwork is SELFISH and geared towards myself. Perhaps this is the reason Jeff could only ask me "why?" maybe because it is all about me. I am selfish.

IS IT WRONG TO MAKE SELFISH ART?

I can't really expect to change the world with my art. I can't even really expect to make any money. So what is the point of making art other than for myself? before I can change the world shouldn't I figure out what exactly is wrong with it?
Gosh I am just so confused, yet pushing forward with my work. I believe that I am heading in a direction, a progression, but I also plan on looping back around circles because I may have missed something the first time....

Jedediah Hotchkiss (November 30, 1828 – January 17, 1899)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Hotchkiss

So most of you know that I am obsessed with my home, the Shenandoah Valley. I have been doing historical research when at home and have plans of getting involved in the Historical Society for the area ideally photographing and documenting historically places, etc.. someday.
So I have been introduced to Jedediah Hotchkiss who lived not far from my home, over in Churchville. Firstly I am obsessed with maps, and have a collection of them. I am also very good with directions and this comes from being raised on the road, in a car, in a tractor trailer, driving is just what we did as a family. Riding around on backroads was our bonding time.
Being obsessed with maps as I am I have fallen in love with Hotchkiss' hand drawn maps of the Shenandoah Valley. His maps were hand-drawn so well that they were used up until the technology allowed for accurate mapping capabilities. Please just go to wikipedia and read all about him instead of me having to rephrase everything said on there...his story is really quite remarkable and his maps are what made Stonewall Jackson such a successful general for the Confederacy

Anywho, I want to create hand drawn maps and figure out some way of pushing them further from being just maps through collaging or alternative techniques of which I am not yet sure. Perhaps photographic compositions which include maps? photoGRAMic maps? Maybe treasure maps that lead to nowhere or just a really cool spot? Kind of like an artsy way of Geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com/) I was also thinking since I love riding around backroads I could map out driving routes, name then funky names, and create compositions on the maps through the lines on the map of which I have traveled then print them out give them away so people can drive those routes. An artsy way of perhaps giving people something fun to do or somewhere to go.

As an artist I cannot focus entirely on one concept for my whole body of work. I will need to take a break to make something completely unrelated to my other works. A kind of side project...

Arturo Herrera

www.pbs.org/art21/artists/herrera/index.html

"Arturo Herrera was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1959, and lives and works in New York and Berlin, Germany. He received a BA from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Herrera’s work includes collage, work on paper, sculpture, relief, wall painting, photography, and felt wall hangings. His work taps into the viewer’s unconscious, often intertwining fragments of cartoon characters with abstract shapes and partially obscured images that evoke memory and recollection. Using techniques of fragmentation, splicing, and re-contextualization, Herrera’s work is provocative and open-ended. For his collages he uses found images from cartoons, coloring books, and fairy tales, combining fragments of Disney-like characters with violent and sexual imagery to make work that borders between figuration and abstraction and subverts the innocence of cartoon referents with a darker psychology. In his felt works, he cuts shapes from a piece of fabric and pins the fabric to the wall so that it hangs like a tangled form resembling the drips and splatters of a Jackson Pollock painting. Herrera’s wall paintings also meld recognizable imagery with abstraction, but on an environmental scale that he compares to the qualities of dance and music. Herrera has received many awards including, among others, a DAAD Fellowship. He has had solo exhibitions at Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva; Dia Center for the Arts, New York; Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, among others. His work appeared in the Whitney Biennial (2002)." (Biography: Art21)

Arturo Herrera's work epitomizes what I hope to achieve this year in my own work. His work overlaps mediums and creates it's own place in the world. He uses photographic images with collage, painting, and sculpture techniques.

I am looking at his work because he focuses on the topic I want to explore: the subconscious. In the previous post I talked about dreams and wanting to re-create them in artworks, but I also want to explore memory, recollection, disorders, etc which all fall into the larger category of the subconcious. I think that focusing on dreams is too specific and want to get to the base of my thinking because one needs a solid foundation to build upon. I feel that in my recent work my symbolism has been too literal and specific which in artwork feels amateur or immature. I really admire Herrera's ability to take these icons from childhood, disney characters, and re-contextualize them into something completely new. What I most admire about his work is that it almost becomes scientific like one of those ink blot tests hanging in a psychologists office. I thought that focusing on my dreams would lead me into uncovering why these images and symbols are haunting my thoughts. I think that these symbols my mind brings forth are clues or answers to questions I have not yet realized. I think that Herrera's work is the same in that it provides the viewer with an answer which will bring one to ask questions from their subconcious leading to a revelation. What I have learned and hope to achieve from Arturo Herrera, a revolutionary visionary, is the ability to take my work further while having it's own voice and have it be open enough so that viewers may obtain knowledge or ultimately have their own revelation.

Your work looks good. Make sure to review the guidelines I sent out over email/Bb. Also, I think you are missing your first blog entry. At this point you should have three done.

"The Knights Dream" by Antonio de Pereda

I go through periods of dreaming like tides being pulled by the moon. Perhaps the moon controls my dreaming schedule affecting the neurological sparks in my brain as well?  

I used to not be able to recall my dreams the next day, unless it was for some unknown reason I carried them through the day.  Lately they have been following me all day long in my thoughts distracting me.  Not only will I remember a specific dream, but all parts of the many dreams throughout the night.  

Vividly recalled dreams mostly occur during REM sleep

REM sleep in adult humans typically occupies 20–25% of total sleep, about 90–120 minutes of a night's sleep. During a normal night of sleep, humans usually experience about four or five periods of REM sleep and they are quite short at the beginning of the night and longer toward the end.  Each individual dream typically lasts 5-20 minutes.  

So an epic dream may only consist of about 20 minutes in length.  

I have noticed that my dreams tend to lead into one another kind of like a fade technique in a film or the dream will just shift into a new one.  I am reminded of Alice and Wonderland and  how her adventures lead into one another.  

Usually before waking one enters into a  short period non-REM state of rest, however if one is sleep deprived they may have REM sleep until waking.  If I am waking directly from REM sleep than I cannot have time to forget the dreams in the short period of non-REM.  

Here's the catch...

I am not sleep deprived.  I am getting on average 12 hours of sleep a night.  I toss and turn frequently through the night? 

There was an article on recurring dreams and frequent dreams being related to post-traumatic stress disorder.  

My dreams from over the summer up until now have been littered with recurrent themes and symbols.  

I plan on using these same symbols in my works.  My goal is that by culminating my dreams into physicality through artwork that I can piece the clues together to figure out the paths into the parallel universes in the mind.  Create realizations into what makes me tick and perhaps others will be able to identify with the work personally leading them somewhere.  Perhaps I could unlock hidden psychic powers, or if im not careful become schizo, just kidding.

IDEA: What if I interviewed other people? got their dreams down on paper, used their symbols, and themes and created a narrative that concluded their dream into physicality thus introducing strangers to the dreams of others?