14th Baker's Dozen International Collage Exchange

Are you Still Looking For Something Creative To Do????

Excerpt from a post by Cecil Touchon from the collage group on yahoo:

But I would like to remind those interested that the 14th baker's
dozen exchange is coming up and the participation fee has been reduced
by 50% to encourage more participation. Please participate! It is fun
and challenging and there are a lot of good works. By participating
regularly the Collage Museum gradually builds up a collection of
various artists works that show their steady progression over the
years. This helps the museum build a really great collection that in
the future will be a one of a kind resource. Those who come to visit
(the collection is avaiable for private viewing) are always
overwhelmed by the sheer number of works to be seen.

Now that I have figured out how to make a catalog I will be starting
to do catalogs of the Museum's collection and will be working on other
collage/assemblage related books.

see here:

Artists each make UP TO 13 collages, size 11"x14" (inches), and send
them to Fort Worth, Texas, to arrive by either March 21 or October 21.
(you may also send as few as one)
Packages that arrive too late for the exchange will be held for the
next exchange.

THEME: open

One collage is retained to be part of the permanent collection of the
IMCAC, while remaining permanently on exhibition on the Museum's
Internet site and possibly exhibited in future exhibitions held by the
Museum.
The other 12 are distributed into parcels which are sent back to each
contributing artist. So you send 13 of yours, get back 12 of others.
Certain works from the various exchanges will be selected for
representing the Museum's flagship collection to be used for traveling
exhibitions and as such will be framed in matching museum frames as
funds are available. This prestigious flagship collection will be
chosen by the director as being among the finest works in the
collection and promoted as important examples of 21st century collage art.

WHAT TO DO:

Make UP TO 13 collages, on 11" X 14" (actual collage area may be
smaller, but the 11x14" outer size makes packaging easier and less
prone to damage so please keep the size EXACTLY 11x14 inches). For
those works that will be framed, the framing we will be using has a
window opening of 10.5x13.5 inches so keep that in mind when designing
works. This will allow the museum to use standard, ready made framing
which helps to keep the costs down.

PRINT and fill out the forms mentioned above.

WHERE TO SEND

to:
IMCAC - Collage Exchange
Cecil Touchon (checks made to Artscorp)
6955 Pinon Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76116

Your package to arrive any time starting now until the deadline of
either March 21 or October 21

A package of up to (depending on how many you sent) 12 collages by
other artists will be sent to each participating artist by the end of
April for the March exchange or November for the October exchange.

Thinking Inside of the Box--deadline May 15

Have you been wanting to think outside of the box? Then perhaps you may want to consider thinking inside of the box!
Assemblage artists from around the world are invited to request a cigar box from the IMCAC and to create a work of art using the box received. When complete the box is donated to the IMCAC and used in future exhibitions. This could be an interesting event.

According to the info:
A full color catalog of the exhibit will be available.
Boxes available include typical, flip up lid, paper clad, cigar boxes, wooden boxes with sliding lids, wooden boxes with latches and hinges. Various sizes and styles available.

The participation fee is $55.00 by check or paypal.com. ($10.00 extra for international artists for extra shipping cost) For this fee you will receive the box from the museum, have your work documented for the catalog and for the collagemuseum.com website and receive one free copy of the catalog when complete as well as any publicity materials such as postcards and press releases.
OR::
Use you own box!
Use any sort of box you already have or construct made of any material and any size or shape. Participation fee is then $40.00.

Works should be completed by the end of March, 2009 and returned to the museum. The first exhibition to be arranged for the Fall of 2009. Please include information about yourself for our files.

To participate or inquire send an email to info@collagemuseum.com requesting more information.

Please put “THINKING INSIDE OF THE BOX” in the subject line of the email.

Under the Influence

Cecil Touchon hosted an interesting event called "Under the Influence". According to this link on Lulu, where the catalog is being sold online, Artists were asked to make a work in honor of one of the artists that they consider as influential on their own development and to make an additional work in their own typical way of working. Cecil created a catalog of this show. It's available on Lulu. Also, there will be a show will be opening Saturday, March 14th at the Longview Fine Arts Museum.
I liked the concept of this show. The idea of paying creative homage to influential artists is an interesting one. This would be a good show to see!

if (The Path) {our happiness = true;};

I just can't help myself. I have to post about this terrific new game that is coming out next month called The Path!!!

There's this really creative couple that met online years ago. The story unfolded in a wonderfully modern way and thru the website of entropy8zuper, I and many others, got to experience them sharing themselves in various networked ways. It was terrific. They put on spontaneous online performances and really made me think out of the box and off the studio table and into the world of the net.
She moved to Europe, I think, in the spirit of true love, and they have been working on collaborative projects and creating wonderful little game children ever since...

The Tale-of-Tales...They created these intriguing little internet games. These are not your average games as we know them. These are fascinating studies in behavior. These are beautiful environments that live and breathe as you explore them. These are works of animated art.

The Endless Forest what can I say about the sheer beauty in the landscapes of this game. SWOON!! I am so impressed by this game and the ideas behind it I got a PC just so I could participate. You take on the persona of a deer and journey thru the Endless Forest, meeting up with other deer. It's endless fun if you ask me, and altho I usually loathe computer games in general, these artistic games lure me in and keep me there.

They did a tiny little game called The Graveyard, that you can also download...but in the background the passion has been pouring into this new game that they are releasing next month.


The Path. It's based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. What an excellent tale...full of fodder for any imagination. I can't wait to get my hands on this and I know several hours of my upcoming time will be spent exploring the animated landscapes that Michael and Auriea have conjured up.



And how does this relate to collage???
It relates to ME and my collage. At that time, I was so inspired by the artistic work that these people did that I decided I had to animate my own collage work. I dabbled in dhtml and ended up getting Flash and learning how to code enough to create some crazy works. I even ended up ganging up with Melissa McCobb Hubbell and Amy Peacock and we created AEZ, a full color art zine with an animated CD that yours truly was inspired to create---THANKS to the folks at entropy8zuper.

There are still a few of these crazy animations online over at magikglasses, my website, altho some of the links are not public. I thought in the spirit of The Path, to celebrate the very cool game that is now scheduled to release...I would post a few secret links to some of my animated pieces.

• Ride Home
my first try at movie generation....this depicted my ride up a curvy dirt road to where I lived. A ridiculous little action figure of Lord Faquaar was on my dash and made it into the movie. I cringe when I watch this!

• Insektika
This was my first flash attempt at animated collage. I had to make up a silly poem to go with it. I never tire of this. Love the last frame!!

• Theatrica Erratica
I was heavily involved with AEZ back then, and I did an animated CD for each issue. This issue, #5, was particularly crazy with a built-in popup theatre. I explored that theme and animated the interface. Came out pretty colorful and absurd.

• Art from Everyday Life
Got into a RR project and for one month, I made an animation on CD. Hint: Anything that moves is fair game.

• Veil of Silence
This is a collage that was cropped and torn apart digitally in MAX. trippy quicktime.

• and Finally NIN Nr. 7
Something I am currently working on. The Sharon Springs DK website with 6 collages worked thru Max. Used the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack from Ghosts #7 for this, in the spirit of altering our copyright paradigm.

The Fair Maid

page 1

For the last 5 years, I have been working on an epic collage work. It is a 150 page story that is composed entirely of collage imagery. The story itself is told with tiny tidbits of text culled from books, magazines, Mother Goose, and fairy tales. I did the bulk of it a few years ago, and then last spring I finished up the last few pages to wrap it all up.
It has been sitting completed and dormant on my bookshelf for a full year now. For some weird reason, I recently started thinking about publishing this book and now I just can't stop thinking about it!! It's one of my most major accomplishments, and to have it hiding on the shelf just isn't right. I think it's time to publish it.
In 2007, I was working on it, and I got worried that the story line was buried in all those pages and artwork and that no one would be able to follow it. I started a blog, The Fair Maid, secretly, and began to post just the words. I liked it alone, without the images. I worked through my insecurities, and came to terms with it. I have been hesitant to post many pictures from it, since part of the enjoyment of a book is to experience each new page. If I do publish it, I don't want to ruin the pleasure of the story unfolding for anyone. So most of it remains hidden from public view for now.

Originally, it was a journal, and it was in book form, not nice loose pages that scan easily. In order for me to scan this thick book, I would have to cut the threads that bound it and tear it apart. This put me off for this entire past year. I really love it as a book. For me, it represented years of focus...So, finally I made a deal with myself. I would take it apart to scan it, but put it back together when I was done. On Valentines Day, this process began. I am working on formatting it now for print.


page 2

I am not certain where to go from here. I could Possibly make a 2 sided laser print to send to a "real" publisher. Or I could format this in Blurb and sell copies of my own book here, on Etsy, and on my website. But for now, I am in robot mode--Scanning and cropping. I have never been so excited about anything I have ever done!! This book is a pinnacle for me. It isn't everyday you finish up 150 pages of creative toil and sweat and decide to publish it!! If you are at all interested in the process of how this journal goes from artwork to published work, you can follow along on (one of) my other blogs...The Fair Maid. Cya there!

Content Is King, but Connection Rules

Content Is King, but Connection Rules from Molly Gordon on Vimeo.>
You know I usually avoid the video thing on this blog. But this one moved me so much, I had to share.
I feel the same way sometimes. It's hard to just be the info person, the creative person, a leader, a communicator.... Sometimes we need to be ourselves, and sometimes we plain old feel like shit. Things are tough, inside and outside and sometimes you just think you can't blog another post, or you just can't do another collage, or you just need a freakin' hug. The emotion I felt in this video by Molly Gordon really hit me. Amazingly enough, I believe she's right and it's true. When I get all frustrated and freaked out and can't figure out a way out of my creative hole--if I manage to get to this blog space to put it in print--somehow, someway, you really cool people out there respond back to me and in those little threads of conversation, the universe provides me with some sort of peace and answers.

Very recently I posted of my frustration with copyright and how I am freezing up. I am trying so hard to wrap my head around it all....and I started a personal post on my own personal blog, and ended up moving it here. The next morning, I found 3 really good, caring and helpful responses to my dilemma. I can't tell you what that meant to me at that moment.
And through those comments, I find the courage, wherewithal, and ability to go back to that studio. Face the table. And create some more dreams.
Thanks so much.
So I guess today's post is just a message. Reach out. Ask and Answer. Sometimes we just have to Be.

Facebook and Copyright!!

Yet another copyright issue.
Apparently, Facebook revised it's Terms of Service, and once again my favorite (NOT!!) subject of copyright comes to the forefront. The article is on CNN, and it's worth a read. More here.

Growth Period

White sulfur
collage on digital laser print

Artwise, I am in another growth period. A growth period seems to occur immediately after I have some type of revelation or insight. In this case, the Hochbaum visit was an impetus for entirely new thoughts and ideas, in addition to new materials and ways of working. groan. I hate these growth periods almost, cuz it means a lull in productivity and a change in what I do. I hate to admit that as an artist, I am in a rut. I seem to be doing things robotically instead of creatively and that's not good. I also am worrying about copyright way more than any human being should!

Not that David Hochbaum himself did or said so many things to me, it's more like my observations lately are leading me to make new conclusions. Not sure if they are correct, but that's the growth part!
David Hochbaums' studio had a serious lack of ephemera. Why? Cuz he doesn't hardly use it anymore. He makes his stuff hissself. That's creative. I notice that if I look at Nick Bantok's work for example, I detect that very little of the work is ephemera. Most everything was created by him...his stamps for example. He does them himself. He doesn't pick up a US postal stamp he likes and sticks it on there. He created an entire land, and made stamps for it. That's creative.
My work? It's generally the opposite. I use tons of ephemera all the time. I use copyrighted labels and pieces from magazines. I am creative, yes, but I also am using other peoples' stuff. Since our copyright laws and fair use are all such murky waters, I don't feel so good about this anymore. It's bugging me. A lot.

You may not know much about me. I was not a trained artist. I didn't go to college. I was a double music major in high school. Then I got married and had 2 daughters. And raised them. I was a rustic furniture maker for about 5 of those years. Moved upstate in order to be closer to the birch bark. Found artwork on the furniture made it sell. Improved artwork by doing watercolors...and discovered collage by accident. It was "home" and has been ever since. I have no knowledge of the intricacies of copyright! I know I can't verbatim copy your stuff and make it mine, and I don't do that and never would. But no one ever told me it was illegal to cut up my magazines and food labels and make pictures and sell them. ? I learned all that along the way, the hard way.

At this point in time, I want to go from being a part time artist to a professional. I am looking into what I can do in my own work to achieve this. I need to start cleaning up my act, and leaning on myself! I can paint, draw...I don't have to cut and paste. I choose to. In working on my last 2 pieces, I was acutely aware of the things that I was cutting up. I was frozen, like a deer in my headlights. My art habits are all in danger at this point. I am not certain of where to proceed. Just how much ephemera? And what types of ephemera? Do I need to spend time recording the names and copyrights of all the various magazines and brochures that I tear apart, so at some point, a gallery or publisher can justify my existence? I do like layering, I like the look of old paper, and I have gotten good at it. This change...It's paralyzing. So pardon me if I don't post my normal weekly collage exercise. I am growing. And changing. And learning.

It's all so annoying. I just want to create art. Dammit! I am assuming not everyone wants to make great art and then leave it in their closet. So, you may want to sell a piece someday. Do you get these anxiety attacks over your work? Do you care? Why should I care? ????

2 miscellaneous things

hotlinking in blogs...
I was involved in a conversation on Ed Winkleman's blog about whether or not to post pics via hotlinking on a blog. I am going to be a little more aware when I post pics, but I still will continue to do so. Read the post Apology, now with comments for more info.

Polaroid Film...a comeback?
Read online that another compnay is attempting to take up the Polaroid Instant Film manufacturing! Good news for polaroid heads.

Move Over Damien Hirst!

Move 0ver Damien Hirst! Cuz' I think that Shepard Fairey has taken over our news. If publicity rules, then right now Fairey is king.

Boston Globe
Boston cops arrested him at the opening party of his ICA retrospective.

Print Magazine
Milton Glaser does not back up Fairey's position.

Last and certainly not least...
Fairey Countersues!!!


I am sure that there are hundreds of comments and positions and opinions on this out there on the internets. I am enjoying the massive dialog!!! I am sad that I can't bring myself to rant on this subject in this blog. I want to leave it open for discussion, and be more neutral about this, almost like Switzerland. It's too easy to see the black the white and the gray on all this for me, being the chameleon of a Gemini that I am... I can switch sides in a heartbeat. And see the good and bad in all sides.
It's so important for us as collage artists to understand the implications of this situation. We all have our ways of rationalizing and dealing with the fact that in some cases, the very nature of our art is kind of controversial. I know Fairey is not doing collage. However he is pushing the copyright limits publicly and therefore stirring up some dust.
I have been considering a lot lately my own use of imagery and also I am examining my process. I paid close attention to David Hochbaum and the nature of the items he uses in his collage when I recently visited and noticed there was hardly any ephemera to be found. He paints, he makes prints, he does photo transfers and gets funky with his own stuff. He really doesn't use papers like I do. And we spoke a bit about this while I was there. I recall he said something about making his art his own.
I did a piece over the weekend--that Branching out piece in my last post. I made a concerted effort to use as little "other" imagery as possible. It was so very difficult for me! First of all, I found I was stripped of all my materials. It was like I had no paints in my paintbox. But that's a poor analogy, since in reality I only could use paint, since I had no screens burned, no stencils cut, and I was forbidding my own use of wallpapers or other prepared papers. Paint was about the extent of it for the moment. The rule was it had to be as "mine" as I could make it. The resulting project was quite difficult. My style still is there I think, but instead of a busy composition, this felt so stark and naked. Perhaps more powerful. Definitely more challenging. And maybe potentially career changing.
I was with Chris yesterday at an antique show in Clifton Park. There was oodles of paper! I haven't seen that much ephemera at one time in awhile. And there I am, trying to play a new game with myself and follow some rules. Or at least, the rules one way they could be interpreted!!
I can tell you it could completely change my game. And therefore, my art. For now.

Branching Out

Quite literally.

Orange Delight

Orange Delight
Originally uploaded by misphit

i love you sweetie day and nite
i love you my orange delight

Friday Camera Fest

My lomo colorsplash, nekked without it's skin!

I have been crazy into my cameras lately! Ever since the Hochbaum salon, I am intent on supplying myself with as much of my own imagery as possible. So I filled up what was left on the rolls of film that are in my 2 lomos. I am ready to get some new film...and start fresh once again.
I bought a colorsplash a few years ago, as soon as I saw it for the first time I knew I had to have it. The first one was kinda lame, had issues. So I returned it and got another one. I love that thing!!! It's not for any kind of daylight tho. It has 2 buttons for 2 types of exposures, including one that allows you to hold it down and catch light streaking at night!

Fisheye...retro yes?

Then there's the Fisheye that TRavis bought me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I LOVE THis thing!!! The wide angle lens makes for crazy shots. I love crazy shots. I love crazy anything.

The Vivitar mini cam. I have the green one.
So much for the 35mm crowd.
Then Christmas came this year, and I saw this little digital camera by Vivitar for 9.99. Well, I had to have it! It's a crazy little thing. Takes 20 pix, and then I have to download them. TOTALLY shooting from the hip with this cam. You can't get the crop right, and it shoots lo res. BUT it's great for my latest game, the camera car game. I drive in the countryside, with the window open (and YES I am freezing my ass off since it's below 10 degrees out when I am doing this...) and I shoot crazy shots at the mountains, WITHOUT looking thru the lens to crop. Whatever comes out, comes out. I have gotten some of the most fascinating shots this way. It makes you shoot from weird angles and I end up with some potentially interesting photos.
My favorite camera of all is my HOLGA! I love her, but she takes special 120 film and it's more expensive, and 30 miles away to get any. It has light leaks and is manual wind, but I love the effect of the plastic lens. luv luv luv. Luv for holga. When I first got it, I was like, yea, these little metal clips are going to hold this closed....And when I was out in the field, the first time that clip got caught on something, the whole camera busted open and exposed all the film. BOGUS!
It has velcro on it now to keep it closed. But that wore off and stopped working too, so now it's a duct tape dealie. BUT I LOVE MY HOLGA! However ugly she may be.


Holga, my beloved. Bury me with this.

I use a Kodak V570 for my usual shots. The first one I had, developed an issue with the zoom lens. I ended up sending it to Kodak and getting another new one. This one has been my workhorse daily digital for a few years now. It's not a bad camera...but it's getting old now. I think that a new camera will probably be my next big expense. I need more megapixels!
Not sure what one to get, but I know I want something semi-pro. Nikon? Canon? Need to read a bunch of reviews to decide.

My workhorse camera. Daily shooting required.

AP vs. Fairey

Fairey...sheesh...hes' endless in the news these days and today is no exception!
I have mentioned him on this blog before, and certainly if you google his name you can follow the myriad pages to find out more about him if you are an ostrich with your head in the sand.

Today, I read that the AP is suing him for copyright issues. AND...get this....who is representing him none other than Anthony Falzone...whi is a lawyer and exec director of the Fair Use Project. He pals with Lawrence Lessig, champion of the Creative Commons. YEE HA! This could get interesting folks. The laws are on the table. At last. A high profile case. Perhaps we can get some coherent laws to go by through all this...
We can only HOPE>!!!

update: there's another blog post here on Newsgrist about this with better linkage and info.

Collage goes virtual in Second Life

Baker Bloch, taking in a virtual gallery on Second Life

I got an email the other day from Mark Brittain, or Baker Bloch-- if you are a member of Second Life... wherein he was kindly enough to fill me in on the cool art things going on in Second Life. I am not sure if you have heard of Second Life. It's a virtual world, it's quite popular, and there's quite a community of folks that are heavily involved with it.

Mark has set up collages in his Second Life gallery, The Gallery at the Temple of TILE. I think this is quite splendid and empowering! The idea of owning your own gallery sure is a high ambition. The idea of being able to do it makes Second Life pretty tempting! Not sure I personally have the time to do this...I am pretty booked up. That may not affect YOU tho...perhaps you should go and check on Marks' Second Life gallery. This link will get you there, IF you have the Second Life software loaded. Mark has a blog here, and I am sure if you are interested in participating or finding out more about this, he would fill you in. There's also a cool blog that lists tons of SL art galleries. The list on this blog is extensive. One could theoretically spend several hours perusing the creativity of these industrious SL members...

We are living in exciting times.