Turning Heads

So school ended, and while I planned on either hibernating or just being comatose, that has not been the case. Which I'm totally ok with. I've been working on developing a consistent sleep schedule (sleeping every night!), and making something great every day. So after BFAs finished, this was my first big project.

At commencement each year, there's apparently a musical interlude. But this year, the plans fell through, and they didn't have a performer. So it was suggested they use a sound piece created by a CIA freshman with noisemakers his class made out of old card catalog cards. But they couldn't just play an mp3...so they asked me to make a video! I had a very short amount of time to work on it, and it had to be during my shift at the library (so I'd get paid!). So I spent 20 hours on it total. (I am totally efficient.)

At first they asked for a slideshow of pictures, showing the class with their noisemakers and other events that took place in the library. But the kind of slideshows I prefer are analog. So I used that as an aesthetic starting point and went from there.

Sidenote: animating those heads has been on my To Do list for over almost 2 years.

So here's the finished piece!

What's Making My Room a Mess Today:

Alright, here it goes. Why my room is messy today. These are all the things I have out (and yes, I'm working back and forth, using all of them).

• sewing machine
• embroidery hoops galore
• basket of fabric
• linoleum blocks
• Speedball carver
• gold ink pad
• gold paint
• dissolvable fabric
• typewriter
• colored pencils

I'm making some marvelous things...

Behind the Scenes of Marvelous Things!

In case you were wondering, Marvelous Things That Should Have Happened In 2001 was made completely by myself. What do I mean by that? I mean I came up with the idea. I set up and ran the lighting and video equipment. I made all the pieces for the set (technically Mia helped me paint the cats gold last summer). And I sat there for hours, with all the pieces in a circle around me, picking up one piece after another, and hoping they got in the shot. I shot it over and over, and just prayed that by the time I filled my mini DV tape, I had one decent run. And then I edited it. Obviously this is the kind of thing you should have an assistant for, but for now, Yellow Bicycle Films consists of me and Mia when she's around to help. And, you know, she's not even in kindergarten yet, so some tasks are a little advanced for her. Anyway, here are some behind the scenes photos to give you an idea of what I was dealing with.

It was set up on a desk in the studio. And everything takes place in my lunchbox.

I used a series of library books I had laying around to hold the backdrops in place and help balance the curtains in the beginning and end.

Everything was laid out in a circle around my feet and then put down on the other side after they went through. Then I rearranged them and did another shoot. A million times.

There they are. The golden cats. Or, as Bill & I referred to them, the Astro Cats. (Not to be confused with the Catstronaut.)

Speaking of CATSTRONAUTS! In my lunchbox.

This is the mess I had been living in.

Library books about the Old West.

Pieces from my set.

Marvelous Things

This semester I didn't do as much animating as usual. Most of my work was developing a thesis for my BFA year (which starts in three and a half months--yikes), 16mm film, video, and fiber based works. But I did make this gem of a piece. I've been [mostly jokingly] saying that this is the best art I've ever made. Haha! Seriously, though, I feel happy everytime I watch it. It's based on [how bored I was while watching] Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a space odyssey but more...marvelous. It's basically a visual inside joke. If you've seen the movie, chances are, you'll agree.

But if that isn't marvelous enough for you, watch my little sister's reaction to the video! (Yes, I video taped my computer screen, but as soon as she said, "Holy cow! Is that a cat in outer space? What were you thinking!?" I knew I had to.)

Pink Pig & Pink Ukulele

Fun Fact #1: CIA likes pigs.
Fun Fact #2: I like pink.

This is Josh. He draws cows and stuff.

This is Scott. He likes when tables line up with ceiling tiles.

This is Scot, Vanesa, and me. Sometimes we don't sleep.

This is Vanesa and Clare. Sometimes they find everything ever funny.

This is Vanesa. Sometimes we race on inflatable obstacle courses.

This is Fran. Or Amanda. Sometimes she's in my animations.

CIA has this annual end of the year shindig to celebrate not dying of sleep depravation. Hooray! It's called the Pink Pig because, supposedly, at one point, and maybe still, they roasted a pig. I've never seen a pig, but as a vegetarian, I don't often go looking for one. Anyway, a bunch of art kids take a bus (yes, yellow school bus; I know, AWESOME) to a place where people don't get almost hit by cars every day, aka, a lovely county park area, for free food, free beer, and free inflatables. How can you go wrong?! Well, depending on the order of your activities... But let's make good choices, kids.

So last night I got back from said pig roast, left my studio around 10pm (so early!), went home, and stared at my mess. After completely emptying my studio & fibers locker into my room, there is no floor, no bed, no desk... Well, it's bad. It's just pigment and fabric and lunchboxes and spray glitter and all sorts of stuff. After staring at this mess last night, I decided the best thing to do was go to bed. Haha.

Today I helped install work in the Coventry gallery, where we're having a show for the art education program I was a part of this semester. I'll share more Tuesday when we finish hanging the work.

After arting all day (it's a verb), I decided I wouldn't sleep until my room was clean. Well... There's a floor now! And part of a bed! I'd say that's fair, right? Then again, I was hoping to start rotoscoping tomorrow night.

In case you couldn't tell, I've been procrastinating (because I have time for that now!). By writing this blog post. By updating facebook. And by playing my pink ukulele. Maybe it's time to go back to that.