Today is Christmas Eve and Christopher and I are celebrating it at home. It has been a very nice evening with a dinner of steak and potatoes (my personal favorite). I got one of the best gifts I have ever recieved. A vintage silver locket with pictures of Mojo and Little Dog inside. I cried when I opened it up.
Here is my beautiful locket.
Christopher kept the pictures that were in the locket for me
My Locket
Today is Saturday and Jerry left for Fayetteville in the morning. He sent me a picture of his mantle before he left. I had given him one of the sugar skulls from the installation.
Direct Quote from Jerry:
Here’s my winter holiday mantle. One for each season:
Green Hulk for Spring, a gift from my friend Andy years ago.
A touristy dragon toy from Salisbury Hill Fort from a summer trip to the UK (I call him "Steak").
One of the Day of the Dead "sugar" skulls from my friend Joey’s Tribute to Mojo and Little Dog installation, a gift from the artist, for Fall.
And for Winter, my favorite childhood ornament, the Christmas Gorilla.
You can see lots of other great pictures from Jerry at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/peatbogyeri/
Christopher and I spent most of the morning trying to get Christmas presents finished everyone. Last night we wound up hanging out with Jill for the evening so we were a little tired today and decided to stay home and watch a movie. The movie was excellent and I think I have another artist to add to my influences page. If you have a few minutes take some time to check out Daniel Johnston.
That’s about all I have in me today. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.
Cheers.
Today is the Winter Solstice and Jerry I spent most of the afternoon working on his Boken project. We decided to get some lunch before we started and met at Barrbaritos since this required going back to work even though we were off. Jerry had a "free gift envelope that wound up giving us free lunch for the day. Very Cool.
Erik was nice enough to meet us at the sculpture studio around 2 and let us use (did it for us) the table saw so that Jerry could cut the wood down into 3 separate pieces. He wants to take one to his friend Jeff for Christmas. Here’s some pictures of Jerry working hard on his new art project.
Getting Ready to Start
Measuring the Wood
Making Sure it’s Right
Erik Cutting the Wood on the Table Saw
Checking it Out.
After getting the wood cut we decided to go for a walk on the trail behind Earthfare since neither one of us had ever been on it before. It is a great trail that ends up at lot’s of great places. We wound up at Woodcraft where Jerry got a new canvas bag for his Boken project tools and got some food before heading back.
All in all a great day.
Today is Wednesday and it is officially the last day at work until January 2nd. I am very happy about this. I have spent most of the week trying to get the pictures from Kevin up, working on the poem submission for Polyphony, and getting my viewmaster slide film developed.
I decided to go ahead and ask the camera place to digitize the slide film before I cut it (in case I mess it up). Here’s what it looks like before it’s alll cut up and put into personal Viewmaster reels.
I finally found the Personal Viewmaster Reels at 3D Stereo and am waiting for them to come in so I can work with Margaret to make my own reel. This is very exciting. I will let you know if it actually works out. Here’s some pictures that I think may work from the digitized stuff.
Cheers.
The “Tribute to Mojo and Little Dog” installation was shown at the The Old City Jail (located at 21 Magazine Street, Charleston SC 29401) as part of the College of Charleston Visual Arts Club’s annual Cheap Art Auction & Show on December 15, 2006.
The installation is mixed media Day of the Dead installation created to celebrate the lives of Mojo and Little Dog. It includes life size sculpture based on the Day of the Dead, digital images from family pictures from 1999-2006 and music that was meaningful to our family. Mojo died of cancer on October 27, 2005. Little Dog died of kidney failure on November 13, 2006.
__________________
Photographs by Kevin Bourque (2006)
www.kevinbourque.com
Today is Sunday and it was spent moving everything out of the cars and trying to put stuff away. It was also spent sleeping. David, The Bride, and the boys have found a new home (which has required me to move and reorganize my inside desk) and I have saved one of the posters to take with me to Vermont. Tomorrow I go back to work.
Not really much to write today. Still trying to recover.
Cheers.
Today is Saturday and it started late. The plan had been to pick up the camera from Margaret around 9am. Since I didn’t get to bed until after 6am this obviously did not happen.
Chris and I got to Margaret’s around noon. She showed me how to use the camera and we got to the old jail around 1. I shot the pictures in stereo (it took about an hour) and then Christopher and I finished breaking down the installation. We decided to go to Kickin Chickin and get some food and then Christopher took the camera back to Margaret.
We met at home and decided to unload the cars tomorrow. It’s around 9pm now and I am so tired that I just have to go to bed.
Until tomorrow.
Shooting the Installation in Stereo for Vermont.
It’s Friday, and Welcome to my Nervous Breakdown. Jerry took off today to help me finish loose ends with my installation and I am grateful that he did. I wouldn’t have been able to put up the process or tribute stuff up without him. He also had to get really creative to fix my typos and grammar errors (I finished them late last night and did not do a good job at it) since I used Comic Life and he did not have the program. Go Jerry!
The books from John Hodgeman also came in late last night. I sent John Hodgeman an email thanking him and telling him that he was super swell. He is. Here’s a picture of the books.
The morning started at a break neck pace as I started trying to finish the PowerPoint I was going to use in the installation. Since I woke up late after only about 2 hours of sleep I was going bonkers trying to figure out how to pick up the keg before noon. Thank god Jeff came to the rescue! He picked up the keg and met me at the installation to help me finish up around 1.
We set up the projector and laptop and got the music and the show running and all the flowers, vases, and skulls placed just in time for Kevin who came by and shot amazing pictures of the installation for slides and my portfolio. Thank you Kevin! We had originally planned on shooting the installation in Stereo for me to take to Vermont but Kevin could not find the camera. On a last minute hope, I phoned my friend Margaret to see if she still had her Viewmaster stereo camera. Score! She did and she was willing to let me use it on Sunday. Hooray! Hopefully I will have the installation photos on Monday and can post them then.
I took about an hour and video taped different views of the installation with the video camera so that I could use it to make a movie with the footage. Then it was time to pick up the coffee from Starbucks and the soup from Yo Burrito. Jerry came down to the installation with all my stuff I hadn’t been able to print and went with me to help me carry the coffee and soup back to the show. I was, as usual, grateful for his help.
Jeff and Jennifer happened upon us as we were walking back to the jail with the coffee and took it to the jail for us. Now just the soup was left. It was heavy and hard to carry. Jerry was great and I wouldn’t have been able to get it there without him. He also made 15 trips to the bathroom to fill up the hot plate with water with small Starbucks cups and finally a Nalgene bottle.
After all of this work Jerry needed a break from the confusion and the people and I was going to have to tend the bar very soon. He decided to leave for awhile and get some dinner in a quieter location. I don’t blame him I think I had completely worn him out.
About 30 minutes later I had to go pretend to be a bartender. I did not do a good job. The keg ran out and I had to find someone to replace the tap for me since I have never done this. In the midst of the confusion Jill called to see if I wanted to hang out and I had to tell her that I was in the middle of tending bar and unable to talk on the phone. Man. The bar went bonkers, I needed help and hooray! Jared came to rescue me. Thanks Jarod!
Then, Christopher finally made it (he has been in major overtime for the holidays) and Jarod tended the bar while I hung out with him and showed him around for awhile. He left about a half an hour later to go home and after I walked him out to his car I went back to the bar which was completely depleted of alcohol by this time and very easy to run now.
Finally the show ended, I grabbed a ladder and got the projector and laptop down and packed it up. Jerry came back to see if I needed any help finishing anything and since I hadn’t really eaten anything today he went with me to Denny’s to get some food and try to chill out for awhile from the day before I went home.
Now I am home and trying to write about the day. I haven’t really been able to digest the whole experience yet but am sure that I eventually will. I do know that I am amazed at how many people helped me with this (Christopher, Jerry, Jeff, Jarod, Jennifer) and I want to thank them all again.
I failed to mention that one of my favorite prizes of the day is a great print from Jeff that I am going to frame and put up in the house. Here’s a picture of it I took with my phone.
Black and White Photograph
Artist: Jeff Duke
Tomorrow I have to pick up the camera from Margaret to shoot the installation in stereo and break everything down. Christopher is going to help me and Jerry and Susan both told me that they are willing to help if needed and again, I am grateful. I am exhausted. I have to go to bed.
Cheers.
Technically it is still Thursday. I have decided that unless I actually sleep the day does not change, even if the clock says it did.
Today was eventful. Let’s see if I can just recount by activity. Everything has started to fuzz now and I really can’t tell what happened when…just that I am trying to meet the marks and I don’t think I am doing so well this time. If this seems a little incoherent try looking at from inside my head…there is no rhyme or reason to it anymore…
I woke up – late – AGAIN
I loaded David, his Bride, and the boys into the car (this was more difficult than expected and I found yet another use for the hulk hands…holding up David’s head)
I went to the ATM machine to get money to pay for the flowers and it ate my card. I just didn’t care anymore.
I went to the florist and picked up the flowers (and was told my sculpture looked like Nightmare before Christmas…Tim Burton does NOT have rights to everything loosely associated with Day of the Dead!
I left the florist irritated
I went to the Jail
Jeff and Jennifer were working on hanging the screen when I arrived (I am blessed)
I unloaded everything that was left (with help for Jarod and Jeff – Thank you!)
We unwrapped all the flowers and put them in water
Jeff
hung the projector, and stand (Thank you again)
Jarod located power outlets and helped me run the extension cords (Thank you Jared)
We set up David, his Bride, and the Boys
We realized what we had forgotten to bring and what else I had to find (lots of stuff)
I went home
I painted sugar skulls all night long and prayed that the fans would make them dry
I went to sleep knowing that I had to finish the Power Point in the morning.
That’s it for tonight.
I didn’t work on the project yesterday in the hopes of recovering a little bit from my weekend. Today is Wednesday and I took a half day so that I can get started at the Jail. I tried to take the whole day off but I had to come in for a meeting in the afternoon. Susan and Jerry met me for lunch at Vickery’s and that was great. Jonathan came along too who I had not seen since the last jail show.
David, his Bride, and The Boys are ready to go and patiently waiting at the door to leave.
The sugar skulls however are still not dry. I have been cursed this entire project with this. This is a real set back and I am positive that I am going to be painting sugar skulls on Thursday night. I also haven’t finished the slide show. Most of the beveling was spent trying to find the music. Time is running out and I am starting to feel sick. I have to remember to never do an installation this fast again.
But, back to the task at hand. Today I loaded up the now showing sign, the posters I had made to put in them, the table, bouquet, chair, extension cords, etc. and made my first trip to the jail in the morning. It took a lot longer to load the trooper than I had thought. Christopher was very nice and put the now showing sign in the car for me last night. I thought I was going to kill myself moving it from the studio and into the house.
Jeffery Duke met me at the jail in the morning and helped me get all my stuff from the first load into the jail. I have to say now and I am sure that I will repeat this time and time again…I would not have been able to install this without his help. Thank you Jeff. Your a god send.
At the jail we were able to set up the table, chair, bouquet, and now showing sign. Our fearless leaders/organizers however forgot to bring ladders so we were not able to set up the screen or run power to any of the needed locations. This took most of the morning and so the day was done at the jail.
Off to the meeting, and then Jerry and I went back to the office to try and figure out music and get some food. We came up with some ideas but nothing concrete except that I would like it to be sorta East L.A. since that was how I was used to seeing Day of the Dead installations and I really didn’t want traditional mariachi music. After a long evening off to home I went.
Now I am here at home trying to play ketchup with the blog. Christopher had music tonight so when he came home I asked him to help me find some East L.A. music I could use from our music collection. Gratefully most of it is already digitized into mp3’s and ready to go. I was happy with the result and we decided on:
Ozomatli: Aqui No Será & Cumbia De Los Muertos
Los de Abajo: Pepez
King Changó: Sin Ti
Los Lobos: Cumbia Raza & Sabor A Mi
Willie Bobo: Haitian Lady
Sublime: Chica Me Tipo
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs: Calaveras & Diablitos
Zebda: Comandante Che Guevara & Siguiendo la Luna
Well that’s really all I’ve got for the night. It’s late again (officially Thursday) and even though I am off tomorrow I have a lot to do.
Cheers.