Navigation & Weather - next topic?

So finishing up with routine and repetition got me thinking. At work I spend a lot of time navigating my computer- searching for attachments, moving files around, etc. It made think of the idea of navigating abstract, nonexistent, or non 3D spaces. Perhaps navigating higher states of consciousness, or any kind of navigation of the mind or anything that is not necessarily connected to our 3d spacial environment. So i guess the topic is navigating spaces that are not in 3 dimensions.

I would also like to have the topic - Weather

So i guess there is an option to do both topics, or one of the topics, or a combination of the two. With a deadline of sometime during the second half of april.

Random Response

I would just like to thank Patrick for posting 3 awesome paintings, they are my(jonathan's) favorite. Also Pswivel mentioned that the cover for the rapid memo was hard to read, and i would certainly agree, however i did realize that before, and i am unsure if i want to make it easier to read or just put supporting text that says"Rapid Memo Typing Service & The Imageographer" The cover was collaged by Debbie and I on 4 - 11x17 sheets using magazine cutouts and other goodies, they were then scanned and arranged in the computer. I like the painterly, artful collage effect of the cover, it reminds me of the evening the drawings were made. However readability is important in design, and that is something i have been thinking about a lot lately. Because of my art and painting background I am frequently interested in making my designs painterly or artful, which decrease some of the readability. This concept is probably contradictory to some design standards, however i guess i am interested in design as art and not just design as a communication tool. I realize the importance of both, and I'll have to navigate my way in the future to maintain the balance. Jonathan

Routine and Repition - Patrick's third swivel installment

Here it is folks. My third installment in this Swivel series.



When I came up with this idea I was trying to write a song in my basement. I knew I was being to loud when I heard my wife upstairs creaking along towards the staircase to tell me to be quiet. It conjured an image of stairs in my head. I thought about how so many times the things I need to do don't correspond with the my so called schedule or that of those around me.

Coincidentally I was behind suggesting my idea for the next installment in this series. So fresh from putting up my guitar I wrote Jonathan and proposed this idea.

I tired and tried to paint the image of stairs I had seen at the time. Nothing happened except a muddy conglomeration of paint. Finally, overdue to post, I smeared the whole damn thing white. I scratched out two suet feeders. Empty. And "sprinkled" some black-oil sunflower seeds along the bottom. The suet feeder comes to me as a symbol much like the balloon (see previous post: Everybody Deserves Balloons). It comes as part of this experience of routine and repetition.

So much like the empty suet feeders are due to be filled, it is time for the next idea to be realized.

Jonathan, I look forward to your idea for the fourth post.

Everyone Deserves Balloons - New paintings from Patrick

This is one of two paintings incorporating the random balloon. It is called "Angel of Foreclosure" and I painted it late in 2007 while lots of people were starting to lose their homes to shit deals and sub-prime loans while the fat cats that designed the whole scheme began receiving protection from congress to keep their fast ill-gained wealth. Whatever.

I use symbols and icons in my paintings as they become apparent and necessary to get my thought out. Sometimes they present themselves. I didn't understand why the balloon in this painting was there when I finished the painting. It just had to be. So I finished the painting and then moved on.

Then it appeared again, in this painting, which I finished last night. It is called "Like a Hole in the Head"



This painting is about my friend having way too much to drink at my house and hurting himself trying to pedal his way back home. Fortunately, he wasn't too hurt. He came back over with a gaping hole in his head stunned. I patched him up and called his wife - I'm sure that hurt worse. Nonetheless he is fine.

When I painted this the story came out followed by the damn recurring balloon. After thinking about the painting I got it. I've been reading too much Vonnegut. It is coming out in these paintings. Everyone that suffers a calamity should be given a balloon.

You lose your home! Have a balloon!

You fucked yourself up real bad! Have a balloon!

What could be next? Imagine the possibilities...

Only time will tell.

Until then, Have a balloon!

Cover for the Rapid Memo book

Here is a potential cover for the Rapid memo book that Debby, Ann, And Jonathan are making

More Images from The Rapid Memo Typing Service & The Imageographer

The Rapid Memo Typing Service & The Imageographer

This is a project I did with two others whose names are Debby Florence and Ann Stevenson. They are both writers and they performed the typing in the images above and I performed the drawings. This event took place at the DIY bazaar at the crystal theatre, which is in the 515 restaurant, a few months ago.

So debby Florence was the originator of the rapid memo typing service , which essentially typed memos on demand for people at a past DIY Bazaar. Debby, whom also founded Slumgullion- definitely check it out, and I were talking a lot about spontaneous art making and some how I managed to become involved in the next Rapid Memo event as the Imageographer, spoken like photographer but with image instead of phot. My contribution was to draw spontaneously as they dictated what they were typing.

So a DIY bazaar is a place were people, mostly local artists, come to sell their goodies, or perfrom their goodies- In our case we performed and sold our goodies. There is a general artistic sense with this event, so you are more likey to find projects like ours rather then wicker baskets. There was also acoustic live music on the stage the whole time.

So our table went like this. A willing customer would approach, we would then ask for a subject and a topic/idea/action etc. Then we would begin our spontaneous creation. Debby and Ann typed something on a piece of paper, and as they typed they dictated and then i drew based on their dictation. Once finished we would tear out the typing and paste it onto the back of the drawing. In the images above the drawing is first and the corresponding words are below. Then we would scan both the typing and the drawing into the computer, then fold it in half and sold it to the customer for $5 as a card. Each instance lasted probably 5-10 minutes. We ended up having to create a waiting list because we couldn't keep up. We ended up doing about 25 total.

We are also working on a book of all the cards we made, which should be available soon.

Routine & Repitition

Routine & Repitition


Well i am certainly not lacking in either one of these categories. Nothing like the 8-5 to submerse you into repetition and routine, however it seems i am continually attempting to keep things a little bit fresh through this project and other activities. These other activities include additional art endeavors, such as my involvement with the Open Field Artists, my normal painting and drawing, reading good books, being an outdoor enthusiast, watching movies, playing video games, being with friends, and i am sure much more. However all these things i just mentioned, also just become part of the routine of being Jonathan and keeping the balance between work and play. So although i say i use these tools to free myself from repetition, routine and the mundane, they also turn into a routine to combat and balance all the other routines...so all in all it is all connected.

With these thoughts in mind I am posting two images...one is more of an experiment the other is a kind of outcome of one of my routines.

The first image is an exercise in Repetition & Awareness. I repeatedly made the same marks over and over, which is something i never do. I thought this repetitive structure would allow me to focus my attention to my surroundings and the creative energy flowing through me, while also doing something "repetitive" as the topics implies. This drawing really brought me to the ground level of mark making, because that was all I was doing- making the same marks over and over with no fancy idea or conceptual premise. I felt i was able to hone in on the simple act of marking, which would then allow me to pay more attention to the actual flow of creative/ spontaneous energy.

Part of my routines in life as a Montanan is spending time outside in the mountains. When making this drawing i was up in the mountains outside of Missoula on a beautiful, late winter day. Although i didn't learn too much from this single instance of this experiment, it did allow me to be very present with the mountain, the surroundings, creativity, and the act of mark making.

In the future i would like to continue this idea, as a practice of awareness & spontaneity. I would also like to play around with different designs that i am patterning. For example, instead of the three lines and then a turn, doing four lines and then a turn, or maybe playing with circles or other shapes. Let the saga continue...

The second image comes from my work routine. Not only do I make paintings and art, I am a graphic designer. I spend much of my day behind a desk working on a computer. This routine of waking up, drinking coffee, preparing for work, going to work and being in front of a computer M-F is one of my more pronounced routines. I do design at my place of employment, as well as, freelance design. The image i am presenting here is from my freelancing. Juggling graphics at work from 8-5 then having to do freelance after work, and then trying to make art in addition, is a very difficult routine to maintain; Although I am pretty good at making time to relax, it always feels like it is at the expense of something I could be working on. This routine is challenging but a part of my path so it must be done.

This specific image comes from a recent job for The Badlander, which is a bar/ music venue. I recently applied for a graphic design position they had posted. Being the fact that I know one of the owners and frequent the place quite a bit a figured i would just see what they had to say, so i applied. I was under the impression that it was going to be a casual, good ole' boy process, however to my surprise they put posters around town advertising, ads in papers etc. and ended up with like 25+ applicants (for Missoula that's a lot). So I went in there straight talkin' and straight shootin' and I, fortunately, ended up as one of their final cut of designers. There are two others plus myself in the final cut, and the badlander folks had each one of us design a poster to help them in their final decision. This is my poster.

CHAT - 03/11/08 - Deciding a new approach

Here is the chat Patrick and I had discussing our revised approach to artswivel

8:07 PM Patrick: you there?

8:09 PM how do you feel about opening up the blog to all of our art, whenever it happens as it happens?

8:10 PM It doesn't even have to be limited to ourselves. We could post things we find interesting.

I feel that this might increase our traffic. Give viewers a reason to keep looking.

I could post once a day for at least a month with my last three months of work.

8:11 PM I like our original idea and we can keep that going as well. It would be an installment feature of the blog.

I want to talk about art and hear what others have to say.

8:12 PM This is my proposal to revamp our site to make that happen.

I'm open to thoughts. I'll be next door in my studio and will check back in five or ten to see if you're on.

----------
From: Patrick Flaherty
Date: Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 8:52 PM
To: jbmarquis@gmail.com

8:15 PM me: hey there

i like what you are syaing

8:18 PM about putting all of our endeavors online

8:19 PM i could write alot....however i question my full ability to be able to engage on a daily basis...even once a week would be suffficient i think

8:20 PM if you post once a week then that is 2 new posts perweek

i say lets try it, lets make it more open and see what evolves

8:21 PM it is quite pretentious to think that our creativve lives stop when we are not making art, or not working on a single idea/projecct

8:22 PM and dialog has been one of our topiccs, and this would ccreate more dialog

8:23 PM yyou can arrange topics by ccategory, and that is how we could seperate the different aspects

can you think of any reasons not to do this?

8:24 PM artswivel- the extension of two peoples creative lives 2000 miles away

apart

8:25 PM Patrick: jonathan, im creating when i shit on the pot

i think this will be wonderful

8:26 PM two posts a week - one from each but not limited to that

once we have a bunch of material up we can start grouping into categories

me: yes def not limited

shitting is th ebest place to create/destroy

8:27 PM Patrick: if you want, you could create a category for our current project - artswivel proto - and open the other as free swivel

brb

8:30 PM ok lets go from here

8:31 PM me: how do we want to set up the topics

do we want it to be one or the other or should there be multipleheadings

Patrick: project one, free swivel, and anything else you can think of

me: ok

8:32 PM like pics of us shitting

Patrick: dont forget our 3rd installment is due Sunday

me: being the most creatoive

Patrick: shit pictures are good, we could charge

me: sunday is the day huh

Patrick: palm sunday at that

8:33 PM is there anyway to put these chats on the blog?

me: yes

gmail tracks them all

plus knows everything about you

Patrick: can you put them up under a topic "chats"

me: yeah...jst copy and paste

Patrick: i know nothing about myself - so I am glad gmail does

me: ahahaha

8:34 PM Patrick: i gave my cat a bath tonight and he is pissed

me: thank gmail for helping us realize who we are

Patrick: gswivel

me: i can imagine

Patrick: looks like we let the cat out of the bath -owwwwwww

8:35 PM have you checked out google nalytics?

analytics

me: not recently

have u/

?

8:36 PM Patrick: some pretty cool figures, yes 40+ hits, tracks state to state

me: cool ill have to check it ou

t

Patrick: google "google analyics" and use our username and password to sign in

analytics

me: what are u working on that u are wanting to post?

8:37 PM what gave u the idea to change what we post?

Patrick: i have a big printmaking show in october and some small painting shows lined up, plus i have benn paper macheing cassette tape

i just want to give people more to look at - in our age thee is no such thing as patience

8:38 PM me: paper macheing cassette tapes..i like...i now a guy here who spray paints atraccs and reccords

Patrick: brb

me: yeah once we get a lot of hits we should do the google adveertising

8:39 PM more content = more hits

8:41 PM Patrick: there are so many blogs - we might as well try

im not counting on retirement

me: not at al

l

but it couldbe cool to be internet pimps

8:42 PM Patrick: duh

tomorrow i can mess around with putting our chats up under a topic

me: i will put hti one up tonight

after we finish

Patrick: how many hours is it from indy to missoula by car?

8:43 PM awesome

me: 30 hrs

Patrick: we have some photos up at work right now that a guy took from the air of superfund sites around your area - looks cool

even thought they aren't

8:44 PM me: the berkeley pit in butte mt probably

biggest inthe country

the first biggest was also in montana but it has since been cleaned up a lil

8:45 PM Patrick: we could use a slogan for our blog

me: making the pit now the boggest

iot is all connected to copper mining

Patrick: superswivel

i etch copper plates

i contributed to that fuckhole

8:46 PM (metaphorically speaking)

me: yeah because they no longer mine it there i dont htink

Patrick: slogan: more art less superfund

thats the problem

me: superswivelfund

Patrick: it all flooded and went to shit

fund this america! its ART

8:47 PM me: more art less superfund...that is good

Patrick: fund my super swivel

more art less superfund - that's the winner? (for now)

me: more art less america

8:48 PM Patrick: how about "freeswivel"

me: freeeeeeeeeeeswivel

Patrick: no slogan for now

me: what is the sloganb for again

Patrick: artswivel. a blog about art

me: lets do more art less superfund

Patrick: to let people know what they are looking at (and what they are supposed to rise up and fight for)

8:49 PM me: i like that one...u live int he middle of coal mine world and i live in copper world

Patrick: i dont see any coal here

artswivel. a blog about art

8:50 PM or

more art less superfund

or

neither

8:52 PM me: wi think we are going to haveto make some posts before we can think of a slogan

get an idea of what will become

8:53 PM Patrick: riht o

right

shall we be off then?

me: a blog painting

8:54 PM yea let us let it go...happy posting

Patrick: c

keep it centered at 59, hope all is well, best until next time

me: yes best to you

for all of time

8:55 PM Patrick: done

ttyl

me: over and out

ttyl

Patrick and I chatted online last night and decided to create a new and improved version of artswivel. Instead of just documenting our collaborative painting process we have decided to also include art and ideas that we make independently. We feel thatthis will provide our viewers a more interactive and engaging experience. We want to view this new version as a creative extension of our everyday lives providing deeper insight into these two artists 2000 miles apart.