Thanksgiving Greetings

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Now go and do the right thing.

Blossom Artist Series: Jeremy Dyer - Opening this Thursday, November 18th, 7-10pm

I am having an exhibition as part of
the Blossom Artist Series that opens this Thursday at Blossom Cafe. A
portion of each sale will benefit the Social Tees Animal Rescue, a
non-profit, no-kill animal shelter and rehabilitation center in
Manhattan. In addition, Blossom will donate a portion of all
restaurant sales on the date of the opening to S.T.A.R.

Here are the details for the opening itself:
Cafe Blossom
466 Columbus Ave (Between 82nd & 83rd St)
Thursday, November 18th, 7-10pm

I'd love to see you at the opening, but if you can't make it, please
take a moment to look at the important work that Social Tees is doing
(including animals available for adoption!) at http://on.fb.me/9KYG62

*For further information, please see Blossom's press release:

"We are very excited to announce The Blossom Artist Series!

At Cafe Blossom we have opened our hearts and our wall space to
showcase local vegan artists whose work and goals are consistent with
our animal-rights-oriented stance. Through these exhibitions we hope
to raise financial support and increase awareness for various
animal-related, non-profit organizations and the urgently important
objectives they are bringing to your table. 25% of the proceeds from
the sale of each piece in The Blossom Artist Series will be directly
donated to one of these organizations.

Our first exhibition in the series is with Brooklyn-based artist and
vegan activist Jeremy Dyer. The opening reception will be held on
Thursday, November 18th from 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM. 25% of the proceeds
from the exhibition will be donated to Social Tees Animal Rescue
(www.animalrescuenyc.org). Cafe Blossom will donate 5% of all
restaurant sales occurring on November 18th directly to Social Tees
Animal Rescue. We hope to see you there!

Social Tees Animal Rescue (S.T.A.R.) is a non-profit, strictly no-kill
501c3 organization that takes abandoned animals from various local
kill shelters and provides them with a safe haven and veterinary care
until they are placed in a proper home. S.T.A.R. rescues,
rehabilitates and places over 3000 animals into loving homes every
year.

Jeremy Dyer was born in Tucson, Arizona. He received his BFA degree
the University of Arizona and his MFA from Parsons School for Design
in New York City. Since 2000, his work has been exhibited nationally
and internationally. He lives and works in Brooklyn."

http://jeremydyer.net
http://www.blossomnyc.com
http://animalrescuenyc.org

¡Viva el Dia de los Muertos!

Betty Spurgeon, 1929-2010

Farvel, Bedstemor. Indtil vi mødes igen, jeg vil holde Dem i mit hjerte.

I Am The Black Wizards x3

So good...

...and for comparison:

Luke

I shot this portrait of my friend Luke on the eve of his departure for a three-month stint in Nepal. Follow his adventures here.

Happy Midsummer

Ceremony

Cake Shop, NYC, 6/19/10

I love matinee shows in the Summer...

The Songs That Saved Your Life

Some time back, my friend Mathyld tagged me with "10 songs that built me and / or changed my life." Normally I don't go for this sort of thing, but in this case, I thought that it was a really great idea, and somewhat appropriate here since music and sound play into what I do and am interested in with my work.

So, in no particular order:

1:

Seele Brennt, Einstürzende Neubauten

I bought the EN compilation Strategies Against Architecture II from a used record store while I was in Junior High. I had no idea what to expect, knowing only that they were "a bunch of weird German who built their instruments out of trash."

Listening to this record the first time scared me, being so far removed from anything that I had ever heard before. The CD set came with extensive liner notes, which were as interesting to me as the music itself. The components of each song were explained in detail, from lyrics to the purpose behind each noise-making object used. Looking back, besides opening up my musical horizons, I think that this album became sort of foundational to my later artmaking practice, instilling this idea that the process and the materials can be just as important as the final object.

Seele Brennt is an emotionally and physically draining song. It makes me hurt a little every time I hear it. The lyrics are whispered, due to Blixa having lost his voice before recording. As he raises his voice to a shriek at about 4:38 into the song, you can hear the precise moment that something in his vocal cords breaks. Amazing.

2:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before, The Smiths

I could substitute pretty much any Smiths song here, but this is the first Smiths song that I remember hearing where something buzzed and resonated inside my ears and brain. I am eternally grateful to Morrissey and company for helping get me through so much.

3:

(You're My) Radio One, Henry's Dress

Much like the Smiths, this could be anything from the Henry's Dress discography. The fuzzed out noisy bass and jangly guitar will always sound like Summer 1994.

4:

February Fourteenth, Lilys

Dry Summer nights, driving through the desert with the windows down, mix tapes.

5:

Firecracker, Frail

One of the first hardcore records that I ever bought was Frail's Idle Hands Hold Nothing 7" and it came into my life at a period when I was getting involved with a punk scene that was emotional, politically engaged, participatory and totally at odds with the more meatheaded aspects of hardcore. This song sums up that amazing period that was DIY hardcore in the '90s for me. I came away from it having gained so many of the guiding principles in my life--veganism, straight edge, political awareness, a sense of personal responsibility, and a love for DIY culture.

6:

New Jersey vs Valhalla, Orchid

This pretty much sums up the horrible, horrible Summer of 2000 for me. Seeing Orchid play this at ABC No Rio early that fall and getting hurt in the process was just the cathartic release that I needed.

7:

The Accidental Protégé, Death In June

Dodgy aesthetic politics aside, Death In June were an absolutely perfect band, especially circa the albums What Ends When the Symbols Shatter and Roseclouds of Holocaust. One of my favorite images that I've made was inspired by a misheard lyric from this song.

8:

The Drowning, Christian Death

A tad embarassing, this one, although I still do love this song. When I would visit my Mother in Kentucky during the Summer as a kid, I would trade tapes with my friend's brother. One of the first things he taped for me was Christian Death's Catastrophe Ballet, thus beginning my proto-goth phase in 8th grade. The take-away lesson from this was that I look horrible with black hair.

9:

Attitude, Bad Brains

Probably the best (if not only) punk song inspired by the book "Think and Grow Rich." Seriously, how amazing is HR's dancing in this video? Positively positive.

10:

Babysbreath, Lovesliescrushing

I once planned for this to be the last song that I would ever hear. It's perfect.

That's it...it's difficult to narrow it down to only ten... I had to leave out so many things-- The Cranes' Beautiful Friend, Minor Threat's In My Eyes, Babes In Toyland's Real Eyes, Big A Little A by Crass, and Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, etc. etc. So many crucial songs...

That's it for this very long post. Please see Mathyld's original post and list here.

New Sketches...

The end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 has been incredibly busy for me--with travel home, travel overseas, and general day job craziness--and as a result, I've neglected this place. Starting just recently, I've been able to add more studio time to my schedule, and so I'll be posting more work and work in progress here. In the mean time, here are a few recent preparatory sketches in color that I've done for a project in progress:

A bit different than my usual stuff, but it should all make sense together in the end.