civilized ku # 913-20 ~ Flat Stanley and punctum

NYS Museum ~ Albany, NY • click to embiggen
Hugo and Flat Stanley ~ Empire State Mall, NYS Museum, USS Slater radio room, hotel, and more NYS Museum • click to embiggenPrior to my recent trip to Albany, I had never met or even knew of Flat Stanley. However, since Hugo was instructed by his school teacher to take Flat Stanley along (and make pictures of him for his journal) on anything interesting he might do on Spring break, I am now rather familiar with the guy.

And, now that I have gotten to know Flat Stanley, I am beginning to like him quite a bit. Unlike another little guy I know, you never have to tell Flat Stanley to change his underwear or socks, to brush his hair, to stop acting (and talking) like Stewie (from Family Guy), or to chill out and relax. Flat Stanley never speaks out of turn or, for that matter, even speaks at all. All in all, he's quite a likable guy.

Flat Stanley aside, I would like to draw your attention to the top picture in this entry. In doing so, I would like to relate an experience with the wife regarding this picture and the meaning(s) to found therein.

Last evening, I drew her attention to this picture by stating, "Check out this picture of Hugo." After a brief look, she stated that she wouldn't call the picture a "picture of Hugo" - to her eyes and sensibilities, it was more a picture of the NYS Museum than it was a picture of Hugo. To be fair, she was tired and Hugo (who is reading an exhibit information panel) does appear to be little more than a bit player in the picture.

However, when I look at the picture, the punctum I see in the picture, hits me upside the head and heart like a hammer blow. That accident (of photographic detail) which pricks me (but also bruises me, is poignant to me), AKA - the punctum, is connected to the fact that Hugo has taken to reading like a duck to water. At the tender age of 6, he is reading at a 4th grade level.

But, what strikes me most about this picture is not the knowledge of his reading skills. Rather, it is the fact that, because of those reading skills, a whole new world of knowledge and information has opened up to the kid. His world and world view has expanded exponentially. Although he is probably only dimly aware of its significance (if at all), he has reached a major turning point in his life. A point where all sorts of doors and pathways to learning and knowing have opened up to him. And, fortunately, he revels in his ability to read.

Picture making wise, I made this picture precisely because Hugo was so visibly absorbed in reading about the display in front of him. I thought it would be a rather "cute" (not exactly the right word) picture. What I was not prepared for was how significantly I would be "pricked / wounded" by the viewing of the finished picture.

Never for a moment, when I was making the picture, did I think that this picture might turn out to be one of the most poignant pictures I have yet to make of the guy.

civilized ku # 910-12 ~ PARKING IN REAR

Lombardo's Grill ~ Albany, NY • click to embiggen
Window displays / Lombardo's Grill ~ Albany, NY • click to embiggenOn my recent trip to Albany, if I hadn't been with child (Hugo), I would have most definitely had a meal at Lombardo's Grill.

To be honest, I would have dined at Lombardo's if for no other reason than their wonderful neon sign. I mean the effort and $$$ it must take to keep that thing humming must be considerable. Call me an easily duped fool, but the dedication it takes to maintain that neon sign says to me that, most likely, there must be something good going on inside the place.

In fact, after a little after-the-fact use of the google, I discovered that Lombardo's "has been recognized by many publications as one of the finest Italian restaurant in the Upstate NY region." So, as it turns out, I wasn't very far off the mark after all.

Apparently, while (exterior) looks can be deceiving, on occasion, looks can also help in perceiving.

civilized ku # 911 ~ edifice(s)

4th floor, NYS Museum / Church spires ~ Albany, NY • click to embiggen

civilized ku # 908 ~ art with relevance / makes a contribution

Canstruction / Nemo ~ NYS Museum - Albany, NY• click to embiggenOn Monday's entry, civilized ku # 907, Swen W (no limk provided) wrote:

Apropos your topic of "being relevant to the wider world", I received an invite to see the play "Red" based on an episode in the life of painter Mark Rothko ... I did some digging on the 'net and found entries in Wikipedia, Google Images and a YouTube taken from Simon Schama's history of Art. The latter suggests Rothko wrestled with the idea of whether or not Art was relevant / made a contribution.

While it may not seem so to regular readers who have come to expect at least a picture a day here on The Landscapist, I have been making pictures at my normal pace which is more than a picture a day on average. As I type this entry, there is a backlog of 17 pictures on my desktop just waiting to be posted. However, as previously mentioned, I have been lacking the will to do so because, at this point in time, I don't seem to have a lot to say, re: the picture making medium.

That said, there is another factor at work behind the lack of motivation to post - in light of the current political / economic / societal mess we find ourselves in here in the good 'ole US of A, I find myself to be: 1) mildly depressed due to a feeling of helplessness that results from an inability to do anything about the mess we're in, and, 2) I also find myself to be hung up on the fact that my pictures don't have any relevance and hence no ability to effect any of the aforementioned mess.

I have given considerable thought to the idea of picturing - without repeating what has already been done - the greed, ignorance, and divisive hatred that has settled in across this country. But, as of yet, I haven't really been able to chart a path or course of action.

In any event, Hugo and I (he's on his Spring break) spent the last couple days in Albany, NY - the capital city of NYS where, amongst many things, we came across a Canstruction event. Canstruction, INC. is a ...

... nonprofit organization that holds annual design and build competitions to construct fantastic, giant sized, structures made entirely out of canned food. In each city after the structures are built and the winners declared the creations go on view to the general public as giant art exhibits. At the close of the competitions all of the food used in the structures is donated to the local food banks for distribution to community emergency feeding programs.

Since Canstruction's 1992 inception, their events have raised and contributed over 15 million pounds of food to community food banks all across the US of A.

What an idea. Art - you might even call it edible installation Art - that makes a contribution to real life.

civilized ku # 907 ~ the photo ghetto

FYI • click to embiggenAs I am prepping for my next exhibit, I am driven by a number of factors, not the least of which is summed up by this notion ...

...that is the mark of any great photography - it escapes the photography ghetto and becomes relevant to the wider world

Leaving aside the idea of whether or not my pictures are "great photography" - although, that said, I believe my pictures are at least good photography - I know without a doubt from the experience of my last exhibit that it is a real joy to have my pictures enjoyed and appreciated by those who are not part and parcel of the "photo ghetto". That is to say, enjoyed and appreciated by the general public who, by and large, are not professed picture makers. To be even more precise, appreciative people who just like the pictures, not how / not why / not concerned with anything other than the pictures themselves.

I have previously mentioned that I am not overly concerned with how other picture makers judge my pictures. That's simply because they are not intended to be my primary audience. That is not say that picture makers don't / can't appreciate or enjoy pictures (mine or anyone's) without getting all wrapped up in the how and why. Many can do just that. It's just that I make pictures of what I see, in part for the pure joy of making them, and I appreciate it most when others enjoy and appreciate those things that I have drawn their attention to.

All of that said, the idea of pictures and just pictures is why I am considering pursuing my Pictures. No words blog idea. And, FYI, The Landscapist will continue as a blog with pictures and words although there is apt to be less frequent entries with words. At least, that's how I am currently inclined to see it.

In any event, Friday - April 22nd is the exhibit opening and I invite anyone within the sound of this blog to attend.

Update on Monday, April 18, 2011 at 03:00PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment: JB (no link provided) wrote: "Yeah, nice flyer for your big event. Only problem is - IT DOESN'T SAY WHERE IT WILL BE!"

my response: hey, if you were on one of the proper email lists, you would have received an email with not only the nice flyer but also a complete rundown of the event - place, artist statement, etc. Of all people on the planet, you (Mr. Media Director/Buyer/Whatever) should know the importance of subscribing to / being on the right email / text / tweet lists. Although, truth be told, I'll chew off both of my thumbs before I ever even think about tweeting.

civilized ku # 906 ~ bread and circuses

Spring is here ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK• click to embiggenYou know that Spring has well and truly arrived when the warm colors of Spring start to appear.

That said, in the last entry, civilized ku # 905, my comment, re: "for many, the real world and truth are too much for them to handle", caused Swen W (no link provided) to leave this link.

To which I would respond - bring on the clowns. I feel like dancing with the stars.

civilized ku # 905 ~ a stiff bracing dose of the real and the true

Knife, spatula, beet juice, and potato wedge ~ Au Sable Forks, NY - in the Adirondack PARK • click to embiggenA change is in the air as Spring starts to make its presence manifest. Even though, for the past several days, snow was forecast for the region, all the weather could muster up, with the exception of some high-altitude elevations, was rain. That's a good indication that Spring has actually, not just "officially", arrived.

There is also another change in the air - that which is floating around in the air inside my head.

Over the past month or two, I have been struggling with making daily entries here on The Landscapist, Struggling, not so much picture wise, but rather, words wise. That struggle seems to revolve around the fact that I have, for the most part, stated what I want to say, re: the medium of photography, and I have no desire to start repeating myself.

That is not to say that, on occasion, I do not bump up against something that stirs me up to the point that I don't have something to write about the medium or in reaction to some specific nonsensical statement made by others about the medium. I think that I will have to dead and gone for that not to happen. Fortunately, at least for me and a some others, I am neither dead nor inclined to be gone.

One such recent example, re: bumping up against something wise, is my reaction to the re-broadcasting of the PBS / Ken Burns series, The Civil War. I have previously viewed (approximately 20 years ago) most of the series and, in that viewing, found it to be one of the most emotionally and intellectually depressing views of the human condition / experience I have ever encountered. The loss of life, maiming, mayhem, and savagery is almost beyond bearing.

What has struck me most this time around, viewing wise, is how powerful the rather technically crude pictures (made by a host of picture makers with the then severe limitations of the medium's mechanics) are at conveying that brutal look at the folly, suffering, and destruction created during the fog of war.

Last evening, the single thought that keep repeating itself as I viewed 2 episodes was that of how the idea of pictures, as accurate reflections of the real world - the medium's inherent, indelible, and unique characteristic as a cohort with the real, has been hijacked, twisted, and subverted by a host of academic theorists and ignored by legions of those who view pictures. IMO, what those dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin pinheads - theorists and picture viewers alike - need most is to be strapped into a chair, their gulliver's strapped to a headrest, lid locks on their eyes, ala Kubrick's Clockwork Orange, and be subjected to viewing a nearly endless loop - 24 hours worth ought to do it - of all the Civil War pictures from the series.

Maybe then, they might realize and recognize, as one author of a New Times Civil War era reporter wrote about Mathew Brady's exhibit, The Dead of Antietam -

Mr. Brady has done something to bring home to us the terrible reality and earnestness of war. If he has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and our streets, he had done something very like it.

IMO and simply put, those, who believe that the medium of photography is not fully capable of depicting reality and conveying the truth, are idiots wallowing - like pigs in academic / theoretical scented shit - in some perverse state of denial. Maybe the explanation for such stupidity is as simple the fact that, for many, the real world and truth are too much for them to handle.

In any event and all of that said, the idea of change in the air that is floating around in my head might end up looking something like this.

picture windows # 60 ~ it was sunny day

Spring in South Jersey • click to embiggen