Wandering Artist's Journal

It's Friday, it's been a busy week, and I felt like goofing off. So I spent a couple of hours in Second Life. Toured a few museums and went to the Science Friday broadcast. On Odyssey Island, at the Art & Performance space, I met MGandhi Chakrabarti ( Joseph DeLappe ), who was sitting in a "jail" installed outside the main art complex. He said he was reenacting Ghandi's Salt March . The Salt March was a protest against the repressive rule of England over India, specifically focused on the British monopolly over the production and sale of salt. Last year Chakrabarti walked 240 miles on a specially converted treadmill , which controlled the steps of his avatar. Then I revisited Gottfried Helnwein 's museum in Apfelland . It's much bigger than the old one on the (now vanished) Slang Island . And he has more of his newer work on display - most of the pieces that were recently at the Legion of Honor are here. Then on over to Science Friday , with Joe ...

Last night UC Berkeley philosopher Judith Butler read three short lectures/essays on speech, sexuality, love, and politics. She was participating in a collaborative performance/installation work at SFMOMA , by Mika Tajima , Charles Atlas and others, of New Humans . I had no idea what to expect, going in. I was invited to accompany a friend and was under the vague (wrong) impression that it was some kind of visual art opening. SFMOMA was closed and dark, but a secret handshake got us in the the door (just kidding.) That room just off the lobby where they usually have bands & food during member openings? (The Schwab Room.) It was buzzing - literally. It was loaded with electronics and there was a pervasive droning sound, alternating with static. I think it was coming from speakers in the ceiling, but I'm not sure. The room was crammed with people but they were as quiet and respectful as students at a zen center. The audience stood (and eventually sat on the floor) around the...

(Just for fun) Since I got my iPod touch a few months ago, I've been fooling around with the simple drawing program, " Finger Paint ." I started sketching my fellow MUNI passengers. It's handy in places where a sketch pad would draw undue attention, but no one gives a second glance to a woman tapping on her iPod. But those are quick gesture sketches. I tried using myself as a (more reliable) model, to see if I could develop a more detailed drawing, but it was tough. My finger (which is the stylus) is larger than the smaller brushes. Which means my view of the canvas is obstructed by my finger, when trying to do detailed work. Which means, it's fine for landscapes, but too sloppy for portraits. Then I saw this story about David Hockney and his iPod art . Hey, those look great! If he's actually doing those on the iPhone, then he must have better software than I'm using. So I went back to the App store . . . downloaded " Paint Pro " and " P...

Saw some art this week. Like most weeks. Can't stop, really. But talking about it? The thrill is gone. Seems like I've heard everything and surely you must have too. This week I was downtown, in and out of a few galleries . Afterwards, I was talking to my friend Sherry, " the oldest woman on the web ." We met on Women's Wire (the pre-web version) a long time ago. We've both got legacy websites ( Sherryart and Bigcrow) gathering virtual dust on a server somewhere, but interactive platforms are what's happening now. We talked about killing the old sites vs archiving . . . no decisions reached yet. Yesterday one of those old arguments reignited (What is the role of an art critic, and why should I care?) on Facebook. I threw my 2 cents in, but didn't have the juice for the long haul. The conversation continues, as I write this, on Jerry Saltz's Facebook page. I will most likely take down my old static web site very soon. Should I kill this one, ...

040409-13SFS Originally uploaded by jwallphoto Yesterday I participated in the California Watercolor Association 's Paintout at the Presidio. Although I've sketched and painted from life as a regular practice, I'd never done a competitive art event and wanted to see what it was like. We showed up at 9am to have our papers registered (date stamped) then set out to find a spot to paint. We had 4 hours to fill the paper. Four hours is plenty of time and on one of my usual jaunts I would have completed two or three pieces in that amount of time. But I discovered that I am not impervious to the pressure of competition. I spent the first hour starting and restarting, in anxious judgment and dithering over how to proceed. Didn't really get into the zone until well into the second hour, but it didn't last long. I overworked the background and only had 20 minutes to complete the foreground. Then we returned to the Officer's Club, to display our work for two hours,...

When we, as individuals, as a culture, as a country, are making decisions like what to eat, whether to go to war, how to educate our children, where to put our resources, how to govern . . . we need to be able to imagine the possible outcomes from our decisions. Not exploring those possible outcomes, leaves us at the mercy of outside forces that lead us to and fro, like a bunch of school children on a field trip to the zoo. It ends with the gorilla in his cage, watching as half the children shout, "I like zebras!" and the other half shout, "Elephants rule!" Fully exploring those options requires intellect, knowledge, and imagination. Or, experience with logic, memory and creativity. Music, literature, and visual art were developed over thousands of years as ways of transmitting vital knowledge (stories of what-if) and exploring new ways of thinking. But now the arts have come to be seen as peripheral, inconsequential, entertainment. It's no wonder they are prim...

not my best art experience that day Just had a mind-blowing art walkabout yesterday that started with the TV themed art at Creativity Explored and and ended with William Kentridge's muti-layered retro-techno films at SFMOMA . In between, I saw Edward Hopper, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus and other classic American image makers at the Fraenkel . Plus, some terrific paintings at ArtZone 461 and White Walls . As well as SECA winner Trevor Paglen 's geographic art photography. Went to quite a few more places but those are the ones I'll write about, over on BAArtQuake , over the next few days.