rain then and now

I parked the car at school. As I got ready it started to rain.

I had a memory flash. The rain hitting the car sounded exactly the same. I was very young, back east, waiting in the car as it rained.

It made no difference, the rain hitting a American built car in the 50’s or 60”s or the rain hitting the Japanese car built in 2008.

I got out and saw the rainbow. The same as many rainbows, 50’s, 60’s or 2008.

education fun and easy

Thursday while painting the theater exit floors at 5:30am I listened to a talk given by the art historian Vincent Scully on Louis Kahn. It is a Yale podcast.

That night I saw for the first time the movie My Architect by Nathanial Kahn, bastard son of Louis Kahn..


Learning can be fun and easy, and I am fortunate and grateful to be able to further my education in architecture.

disappointing stress

Today got very stressful

There were some good stress breaks

Getting my hair cut


Watering the vegetables


Driving to Balboa Park

I am very disappointed not to be going to the West Coast Green Conference.

But the information is out there and I can get it.

Besides, the carbon footprint of not going is much less.

3 full days

Thurs Sept 18:
Morning, volunteered at check in for the San Diego Green conference put on by USGBC and AIA.
Then lunch, and heard Jerry Yudelson, and Jason McLennan. Learnt more about net zero energy building, and the Living Building Challenge.


Also went to the session about Ecological Literacy: Preparing the Next Generation, then heard Bob Berkebile speak.

Got over to La Jolla in the evening to hear John Baldessari at MCASD, after which I saw the show and had wine and great conversation with friends.

Fri Sept 19:
Ran errands in the morning and got ready to go to LA.

Checked into the hotel and went over to the Hammer Museum and walked through the Lautner show with the curators.


The symposium starts.


I learn about Eladio Dieste.

We then had dinner and back to the Hammer where we saw the architects Hernan Diaz Alonso, Neil M Denari, Winka Dubbeldam, and Frank Escher show us some of their work and their responses to the challenge of creating an addition to a Lautner residential structure.

Sat Sept 20:
The symposium continues at the Getty Center. Coffee and tea are served in this fantastic space with Baldessari’s “Specimen (after Durer)” and measures 14.5x11.5’.

It is a little difficult sitting through all the presentations without falling asleep but I am picking up some information. During the dinner break we see The Bernini exhibit, and sit sipping wine and watching as the sun sets. I have never been to the Getty at night.


The symposium continues with a panel discussion with some of the clients and colleagues of Lautner. This was very informative and entertaining, and there are many others in the audience that knew Lautner. It would have been nice if more time had been given to this, but it ends much too quickly and we take the tram down.


Sun Sept 21:
We had planned on going to LACMA, but opt to leave LA after breakfast.

I have a lot to absorb and there is more coming.

calming palms

The world is not ending. Things are crazy.

The A/C has to be replaced at the rental house.

The kitchen sink plumbing needs fixing in the rental unit.

Our business insurance broker is emailing that AIG could go under. I didn’t even know our insurance is with AIG.

Money will take a long time, 30+ days, to get from one job.

I can see lots of money will be going out, out, out, out.

I have a headache. I will not panic. There is no point.

We will survive. We have it exponentially better than many.
There has been no flood, no hurricane, no earthquake, no fire.

Evidence: We have such problems, and


I see my favorite palms still standing.

the survivalist

A couple of weeks ago while hiking Mission Trails I came upon the survivalist balloon.

Survivalist: one who views survival as a primary objective.

The other members of the balloon bunch popped.

The survivalist could not stay afloat.

Was this because the other members were not there?

Being in a bunch can help.

Or had the survivalist lost helium.

In any case, the survivalist touched down and survived.


For awhile anyways.

my remodel process

Our bathroom is done.

Before

Now

I love our mini remodeled bathroom.

After awhile the memory of what it took to get it this way will be a distant memory.

Then I will tackle the hall.

After awhile the memory of what it took to makeover the hall will be a distant memory.

Then I will tackle the bedroom.

After awhile the memory of what it took to makeover the bedroom will be a distant memory.

Then I will tackle the kitchen.

After awhile the memory of what it took to makeover the kitchen will be a distant memory.

Then I will tackle the living room.

After awhile the memory of what it took to makeover the living room will be a distant memory.

I know this will be a long process, and I know it will be a rewarding process, and I know I will learn a lot from this process.

it can happen

I want:
A sustainable art practice

I can use:
Repurposed, sustainable, & recycled materials

Work can be:
Temporary public art
Virtual art
Recyclable

I will:
Respect
Understand
Accept
Appreciate

It is starting.
Yesterday I got an email that I will be getting the leftover Spring/Summer 2008 newsprint guides from the Grand Canyon. Soon I will be able to start the Grand Canyon work.

I am so grateful. I cannot believe it’s happening.

changing

I just got back from seeing

at MCASD Downtown.

The pieces created were all very beautiful.

I was hoping that seeing such an exhibition would settle my conflict about producing art.

As I wandered through my mind kept asking, what was the footprint of this work?

As I went to the interactive/response area my mind asked, what is the footprint of having people put stuff in jars, draw pictures, write in books, write on a blackboard?

From the MCASD website:
“Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet is a pioneering artist residency and collaborative exhibition project that, for the first time on this scale, uses contemporary art to investigate the relationships between fragile natural environments and the human communities that depend upon them.”

The artists were all sent around the world.

I want to know:
What about our conservation practice?
What about our mass consumption of products?
What about our mega manufacturing of agricultural, and protein products?
What about our extreme ease with the disposal of what we no longer need?
What about our entitled attitude that gas has to be cheap?
And
……………………………………………………………………………

Of course we do not want remaining natural environments devastated by bad practices, but where is the example we set?

The exhibit asks:

When will the conversation be about our bad practices, and changing them?

The exhibit, the museum, the experience, seem arrogant.

It will no longer be possible to produce stuff. I will find a way to practice art in a responsible, environmental, conscientious, and engaging way. My first step, don’t be afraid, let go, and move forward.

the recycler

On the bike ride yesterday, as we traveled east, we saw the recycler.
He graciously let me take his picture.

What a fantastic set-up.