The MacDowell Colony

I’ve been at the colony for a little more than a week at this point. Still getting used to the segregated nature  of the studio system here. Being all by my lonesome with like a quarter mile of woodland surrounding my studio in every direction is really messing with me. If I have the inkling to attempt a visit with another human being I’ve got a good 10 to 15 minute trek ahead of me. I’ve put some pics of my studio below. I’ll be posting some footage and some stills from my ongoing projects as they get a little more underway. If anybody is out in this part of the country and wants ta hang out I’d definitely be down. I’ve got some things I’ve started filming at night and in the early mornings that look to be promising, but during the day I’m generally either sleeping, dicking around in the woods, or I’m bored out of my mind. I’ve got several new film camera’s that I’d really like ta take out on a field trip ta someplace interesting in these parts, but I’ve got not a clue where the happening spots are around Peterborough. Are there such things as maple syrup farms? I’d love to visit one of those if somebody could facilitate that.

RE-EDITING SOME OLDER WORK

The image above links to a piece I shot with my friend Meredith Carr almost two years ago. The raw video file had an extremely messed up  audio track that originally made this piece something that I tossed in the scrap bin without a second thought. I recently took it into work and had some success straightening out the most severe of the audio issues in Pro Tools.

“Mining the Wasteland: Land Art’s Legacy in Contemporary Art and Politics”

The title of this post refers to a panel that will be taking place at the Madlener House in Chicago, Ill, on October 8th at 4 pm. This panel is being convened in honor of Nancy Holt’s new book, “Sight Lines.” Nancy and a bunch of other really great artists and art historians will consider the wider influence of Land Art since the 1960s and 70s, and new perspectives on Nancy Holt’s interdisciplinary oeuvre through a critical rethinking of how the field has come to be defined.

Panelists will include
Matthew Coolidge(The Center for Land Use Interpretation), Miwon Kwon(University of California, Los Angeles), Yates McKee(Columbia University), and Ann Reynolds(University of Texas, Austin), Branden Joseph(Columbia University), will moderate.

(It should be frk’n sweet. I would totally be there in a second if I didn’t have to work. For those of you who do go, be on the lookout for a video by your’s truly. A little birdie told me that something of mine was going to be presented before the panel.)

MY READING JOURNAL

I just posted the first 31 pages of the journal that I keep of notes from things I read on flickr. Take a look if you’re curious why I do what I do. Below is a link to the reading journal folder on my Flickr.

 

HEAT LAMP BURIED IN SNOW

I think this is my favorite thing I’ve made while here at the Ranch. In a very concise and eloquent way this piece really says a lot about micro vs macro, and the sublime vs the everyday. The original purpose of this video was to be projected large (something like 10 x 10 feet) from the roof the lecture hall onto the snow-covered hillside in front of the wood shop. I’m still going to install it, but I feel like as a stand alone piece even without its installation outside it’s one of the stronger things in my portfolio.

STRESS FRACTURES

I’ve been working my butt off on both whipping my website into shape(it’ll hopefully be done this weekend), and prepping for a massive outdoor video install that’ll be going up here at the Ranch in two weeks(I’ll post the exact date soon), but I did manage to go to Basalt yesterday morning and shot a series of handprints along various stress fractures that I encountered in the concrete foundations of the many bridges around the city. Here are my two favorite pics from the bunch. The stress fracture acts as a keying device for the placement of my arm. It’s almost like the outline of my arm is attempting to prevent the cracking of the block.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

According to the stats on my wordpress dashboard there are definitely at least a few people reading this blog. Hopefully some of you are proactive enough to respond to this plea for help. I’m currently in a bit of a spot as far as my video work goes. I generally make lots of short videos based upon improvised performances that I do with my friends when we walk around the city and/or countryside. Currently I am one of the media resident at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass, Colorado. The other residents are all really nice, but none of them have the sort of artistic practice that takes them out of the studio, so getting them to leave the Ranch is sorta like pulling teeth. Does anybody wanna hang out for the afternoon and shoot some video? I’ll buy you lunch and/or a beer. I’ve been attempting to shoot all over Aspen, Snowmass, Basalt, and Carbondale.

Below I’ve put some footage of a yarn-walking performance that I’d like to try here in Aspen/Snowmass/Basalt/Carbondale. This particular footage was shot in Athens, OH.

my email
jsonnein@gmail.com

MORE SNAP LINE CHALK HAND PRINTS

I did this yesterday in the rugby-field/dog-park in the middle of Aspen. Look closely and you may see a little bit of puppy poo and/or paw prints. There was definitely more that a little bit of frozen dog urine about (note the dirty yellow tint to the ice).

CHALK DUST HANDPRINTS

I’m planning on going into Aspen tomorrow in order to try doing this particular piece in some more varied sites. I’m planning on hitting up the rugby fields, a construction site, several alleyways, and the cross-country ski lanes that run next to the bike path that goes along the edge of town.

2nd HEAT LAMP INSTALL DOCUMENTATION (FINALLY)

I literally shot a good 60 gigs worth of pics while documenting this thing. I’ve spent the last few nights beginning to wade through the sea of photos. Here are some highlights. I’ve ordered them in a relatively chronological manner. The first few are from the first hour of the piece, the nighttime shots are from somewhere around hour 11 or 12, and the final daytime shots are from hour 15.

It’s going to take a while to figure out what I’ve got here exactly. I’ve barely looked at all the photos, let alone attempted to start editing.