On the transformative act of playing catch
wherein we attempt to dodge promises with abandon
I believe I may have promised in the “about” section of this newsletter- that I would give you, patient reader, a sneak peek into the development phase of our Big Ten Year Anniversary SHOW!
What I’d (and likely you may have) envisioned: photos, videos, drawings of works in progress, commentary on developing patterns and designs, loads of piles and mountains of inspirational morsels for you to snack on, whetting your appetite for The Event Of The Year.
What I've given you so far in terms of sneak peeks: long form rambling essays wherein I grapple with my limited ability to comprehend Jungian Individuation and nacently stab at waxing philosophical about mushrooms. This is likely less fun than you’d imagined.
I’ve sat down several times recently to attempt to write about the realities of pre-show prep; about the big ideas that not only take their own sweet time to ferment, but elude pragmatic project management in other decidedly uncapitolistic ways. About the sluggishness of atrophied neurons who, after thousands of hours carving pathways created to efficiently and effectively service a client’s vision- have become marginally phobic of unboundaried generative efforts. Skeptical even, if I’m honest.
About the impossible dichotomy of making art and making payroll. Simultaneously.
About the weird breakdance of artistic collaboration within the boundaries of a small business: As the human person keeping an eyeball on the bank account, about attempting to honor this microbiome of powerful individuals with very diverse processes without acting as an antibiotic to “unproductive” or “unstructured” potential. About the awe of creative lichenization and the agony of unmet attempts to creatively connect.
Much to reflect upon. But frankly, some of this has been just too raw and too sacred to publish on. The last many months in the lead up to this show have been wild in so many ways, but many of those ways have been either too private to share or they’ve been the quiet creative work of shifting subtle energies. The art of remaining soft in the front, fierce in the back.
But because I promised sneak peeks, let me leave you with a few shots of what i’ve been developing for a show I’m very excited to be participating that is *not* our Prizer gallery show, but is very much tied in!
Jack Sanders (of Texas Playboys fame) has curated a show of baseball themed artwork that will debut out at his beloved sandlot facility, The LongTime, this October.
Sticking with the theme of challenging our concepts of individuality, I’m working on a piece about baseball as alchemical ritual; the ball, the philosopher’s stone; the game of catch, a somatic expression of symbiosis. What better to represent the enigmatic third that arises from the marriage of opposites than our friend Lichen? And alongside lichen, the shelf mushroom, poster child of complex systems (as we already discussed here).
I’ve been messing around with adapting chainstitch for more sculptural applications, using different techniques and stabilizers that I’m looking forward to sharing more about once I’ve gotten a better handle on what the F I'm doing over here.
In the meantime, mark your calendars for the opening of High & Away at The Longtime- October 14th!
And, to mix metaphors (and philosophers) I’ll leave you with this:
Tao gave birth to One
One gave birth to Two,
Two gave birth to Three,
Three gave birth to all the myriad things.
-Lao Tzu