Filed under: THE WEEK/THE WEEKEND | Tags: 22, Abraham, ACTIONS, Affordable, Alex, ART Occupy, “Toxic, band, Band Kyle, BAND Linda, BARD Man, based, Baths AHRAM, Battle, be, beast, Beauty series., been, beginning, being, Bell Aperture, benefit, BENEFIT The, Benning, Berke, best, Beyond Tori, Beyond WILDLIFE, BIBLE, Birdwatchers TALL, BISHOPJESS That’s, blood, book, books, bought, Brokaw, brooklyn, Brooks The, building, burns, bushwick, but, CAJUN, can, Canal Curate, CANDY DiaChelsea, Capitalism Film, Carnivorous, CHECK, Chelsea, chemical, Chief, children, chris, Christmas, circle, Circus, city, Civilization, clean, cleaning, Cloud Joel, club, CO MFA, collecting, collection, collection. FIRST, collections, Collective The, Coma Krapp’s, Combinatorial, Comedy, Communism Pharmacophore, comprehensive, concert, Concert David, Condition THE, Confounding, Consolidation Small, contaminants., contaminated, content, CONTEST BOTANICA Darmstadt, CONTEST CURATOR, context, contributions, contrived, Corey, corporate, Cosmic, countries, CPR, craft, Crane, Creates, creation, creativity, Creek, crimes, crisis, Critique? NAG, cross, cultural, Cunningham, curated, Curation PIANO, Curiously, current, currently, Curtains, Dab, dance, Dap, Daphne, Darin, date, Daughters Peter, davis, DAY Alabama, DAY Simon, dead, Dec, deceased, december, December Inner, Decisions Behind, decline, dedicated, deep, deeply, Delancey First, DEMAIO, DennyCorporate, department, designation, Detroit Veveritse, developed. MIGRANT, devising, devoted, DIALOGUES, Dido, digital, Director, discuss, Discussion, DISORDERS POP, DISORDERS present, distinguished, diverting, Divide, division, Do, Doctorow, Donnelly The, down, Downing, dr, during, early, eastern, Echo magazine, economical, editor, Editors, Education, Education HOUSE, Education Sue, Eisenstadt, Election, Emergency, emerging, empire, endowed, Enelow, ensemble, Ensemble MONDAY Photographing, Ensemble WILDLIFE, entertainment, enthusiasm, entitled “Migrant, EPA’s, ephemera, EPISODE, EPSILON LIU, erin, essential, established, Europe, Europe” She, evening, event The, except, excerpted, exciting”, exhibition, Exhibition Farmers, exhibits, Expectations, Experience Observatory, expertise., explores, Extreme, FAIRE Authors, fall, Family An, far, Farrington’s, Fête Judah, Feldman’s, Fest Current, Fest CILLIAN MURPHY, festival, Festival MOBRO John, FETISH, fight, Files, Film SPANKIN’, Films Under, final, find, fine, finger, First, Fix, Fixed, Flammable NY, FLIGHT, flora, FOCUS, FOLKLORE Band, for, forced, Forgotten, Forsyth, foundation, four, Franca CornmealHot, from, fruitful, fuels, Fulbeck Harry, full, FUNDRAISER The, FUNDRAISER first, future, g, Galleries, gallery, GalloPaint, game, Ganske’s, gay, genre, Gericault, getting, Gilbert Angels Three, giving, Global, GOES, gospel, Goya, grateful, Greater, greenpoint, Gretchen, group, guest, hall, Halpert, hand, Hapa, happened, Harper Head, harrison, has, have, Höller, he, heart, Heilemann, Henderson Lecture Interaction, Henderson Tom, her, hidden, Higher, Highly, Hill Pieces, his, history, hold, Holiday, Holtkamp Adult, Holtkamp TUESDAY Adult, home, Hooklyn, Hope, host, Hosts, hotshots, How, human, hundreds, Ideas, II, IIJoel, images, Immigration, importance, important, Improve, in, in MISTERMAN OPEN, Individual, infinite, Infoviz, initiative, interactive, international, into, Introduced, investigation, INVITATION, is, It? UNWRAPPED DOUGLAS, jackson, Jacobs, Jaime, james, JAMS Deformations, January, Jüdische, JEONG, Jeyifous The, jim, joe, JOIN, jones, jordan, Journey, julie, juried, Justice, Karlheinz, kept OCCUPY THE WALLS, Keystone, KILL, Kings, Kip, KITCHEN Sex, knowledge, Koen, KUNTER’S, L, Lab A, land, Land PLAY, Land Inspired, landscapes, language. POP, large, largely, largest, last, Launch, leave, lecture, led, legacy, legends, LEGENTS, Leibovitz’s, lesbian, Less, letters, life, likes, limestone, line, LINERS Holiday, Lingua, LORD’S BABES, Lucas, Luckiest, lust, lydia, magazine, MAHALCHICK, make, Manrique NY, MARATHON, maria, Mariana, Marion, mark, Market, Mason Education, masters, materials, maupin, MC The, meaning, Me Telly, Meisler Poets, members, mementos, merely, Meryl, Metaphors Here, MF, Micah, michael, MIGRANT, MIGRANTS, Migrations, MINNEAPOLIS Round, Misery How’s, Misfortune MACBETH, modern, mon, monday, monthly, Moon IGNACIO, Morton, Moschovakis Shonni, most, Motion I, MOUNT, mourners, movie, MTV presents, MU, Mugland, murals, murray, Museum, music, my, MYTHS, Naomi, nature, nazi, need., NEGATIVEMIA, Networked, new, NEWTON THE, Newtown, Ngo Peter, night, Night Glass, nights, nineteenth, NITE, nobody, Nochlin, NONHORSE, not, nova, Novatny Traffic, NOVEl, now, nyc, NYC Band, NYC Burlesque, Obvious, of, of Das, offensively, Olalekan, on, one, open, Opera, or, organization, other, otherworldly, otsuka, our speakers, over, Overdub, pairing, participation, party, Pavlin The, peace, perceptions, performance, Performance BOTANICA Darmstadt, performing, performs, perspective, phenomenon, PHI, photographing, photographs, photography, phytoremediation, pieces, Pilgrimage A, Pipeline, Placebo Someone’s, plans, plants, play, pleasure, Plus, poetry, political, politicies, Pollock, Popova, popular, Possibility XYZ, Possibility FINAL, Possibility WEDNESDAY FINAL, post, Poster, Postmasters, Postmortem, POWERHOUSE, present, presentation, presented, presents, PRESENTS THE, Princeton, project, pub, public, published, Pulses”, puppets, Queens Social, queer, questions, QUIZ, rachel, Racine, range, reading, Reading–Timothy, Realest, reasons. Finite, recent, recognized, record, Records by, RecordSetter, Refugees?, REFUGEES? Finite, REFUGEES? Marta, regarding, Reinke NY, related, Remake MONTROSE Flatlands, Remedial, Repertoire, research, Research CNN, Responds, Response, Retrospective 2010, REVOLUTION BEAUTY, Rise, RISING NARS, Rivera, road, role, Rollman, ROOM The, ROOM SOHO20, Roseman, ross, Rubin, Ruiz, Rum Blues, Russ, russian, S, SAEZ ROBERT, SALE Marx, salon, Savalas The, save, SAVOIR, say, Scarborough, school, science, Screaming, Screening, screening Lehmann, Scum, secret, section, seen, series, Series Nerd, sessions, setting, Settlement, several, sexual, Shakes ELIZABETH, Shakespeare Krymov, share, Shelton, SHOCK, show, SHOW OPEN, Show Rev., Show STOBrian, show The, SHOW Fiction, SHOW Tori, signing, silent, Simkin, since, Sinister, site, SKULDT, Sleeth, small, so, society, SOLIDARITY? The, Some, somewhat, Sospeso, sound, SOUP, source, Space DOUBLE, speak, spearheads, special, Special VIDEOBYTES, SPECTACULAR, SpinScott, stage, star, station, STATION Matthew, STATION Postmasters, St THURSDAY Toxic, St Toxic, Stephen’s, steve, Stockhausen’s, stop, story, Strauss PERRY, street, style, stylistic, subject, such, Symptoms Virginia, SYNCHRONICITY, takes, tales, TALK Exploring, Talk WASSAIC, Tape Reid, taxidermy, tear, technologies, Terrible, that, the, Theater SAND LITTLE, the Sleeping, theflea Rona, their, their first, them, these, thesis, They, this, Thread The, three, through, thus, time, Time HARRIS, to, to making, today, tom, Tompkins, tonight, topic, touch, Tour AMRAM, Tour Fred, toy, TOYLAND Merce, Train Book, Train DYKE, Transgender Jerry, Tremper, Trivia FOOD, Trying, Unaccompanied, university, University. PLAY, unknown, Unplugged Crafted, unseen, until, up, Up MOVIES, us, Usage Best, Usage Adult, Us Artist, use, useless, very, Video, Videos CATAHOULA, viewed, visually, Walden Steamy, wall, walls, Walsh BRAIN, walter, WASTE, week, weekend, which, WHITMAN F***ED, work, WORKERS, works, workshop, workshops, world, Would, writing, XL, XMAS, XXI, Xynogala, year, years, yearsLauren, Yefman American, york, you
MONDAY:
FIRST BOOK BROOKLYN HOLIDAY PARTY & FUNDRAISER |
Filed under: THE WEEK/THE WEEKEND | Tags: 10th, 12, 1927, 1947, 2011, 2011 VIDEOBYTES, 3pm FREE, 4, 5th, 60, 7, 7 Critical, a, Across, action, ACTIONS, Adventures, Aeneas at, AGAM, AIDS Zebulon, AIGNIER, ALMAZAN, Altar, AMERICA Performers, american, an, and, angie, Anniversary, architectural, Architecture Artist, Around, art, Art URBAN, arts, Aspirin, assistant, at, audio, Auteurist, AVEY, Avian Annie, Awareness H.C., b, babes, BALLET, band, BANDA, Baths Performers, Battle, Believer, Benefit to, Bi, Biblio, big, black, Blow, Bobby, book, Bookworks Observatory, Bouffes, Bradley, Broadway Abraham, Broadway Gifts, brooklyn, brooks, brown, by, canal, Cantata TRANSMISSIONS, Carol #serials, Carsten, center, century, CHACICH, Chew, CHOI Happy, Christmas, Christmas Margot, closing, CLOUD Diego, club, Colbert Vitamin, Coma Reid, come, Comedy, Communism Pharmacophore, Communities, concert, Condition THE, Conservatory, Conversancy, corporate, County, CPR, Curiously, Curtains, damour, dance, daniel, DANNA, Daughters Peter, day, DAY Simon, de, Dec, december, Decisions Behind, Delgato, Denny, des, DIALOGUES, Dido, different, dinosaur, Discussion SHORT, DJ, Documentary, Doty Book, Doty Biblioball, drawings, du, e, Editions Holiday, el, Election, Elggren Wingbridge, elizabeth, Energies, Environmental, ephemera, evening, Exapno, exhibition, Experience Street, Extraordinaires GBM A, FABIAN, Fado, Fado Happy, FAERIE M, Family An, Farrington’s, feathers, Featuring, Fermin, festival, Festival ARTIST, Festival War, FETISH, Files, film, Film SPANKIN’, final, First, Fix, Flies, flora, folk, for, forever, Form David, forum, Fragments DEATHSCAPE 2010, fred, FREDERIC, FREE, french, Fridays, Friends Gowanus, friends In, FROUD, g, game, Gasland, gay, glass, Gomez, gothic, GRANTA, great, GROW, HAIKU, Hall UnCage, Hamby Abraham, Hana, hans, Harlem! Free, HARPER, Hartmann, Hatuey, Höller, head, Heller, Henriques Tudo, Highlights, Hinde, his, history, ho, Holiday, hosted, Hour, HOUR With, House, House’ Occupy, human, Huse, in, in MISTERMAN OPEN, information, Instruments, Int’l, international, Intersection, INVITATION, is, Isto, IVAW BRIAN, jackson, Jacobs, jalopy, jam THE, james, Jarocho An, jazz, Jericho, jerry, jim, just, Justseeds, Kathy, Keefer, Ki, KILL, KITCHEN Sex, Kuehne, Lab A, last, LaunchPad DJ, leif, lesbian, letters, Liar, Listening, literature, little, LIVES, location, long, LORD’S, los, Lost Music, louise, lounge, LOWER The, Luckiest, Magi Teresa, magic, manhattan, mao, Mapping, MARATHON, march, mark, Market, Mason’s, McSweeney’s, Me Golem Telly, Me Staged, MELODRAMA, MF, MIGRANTS, Miguel, Misfortune CNN, modern, mon, monday, Montclair, MUERTOS Mark, MULTIPLES, murals, Museum, Museum Ed, music, narrative, Narratives KINGS, Nettle, NICKIE’S, night, nights, Noir The, Nord, NUTCRACKER, ny, occupy, of, Oldies, on, one, open, Opera, or, other, out, paintings Opening, Papacookie, Paperbacks, Parameswaram CILLIAN MURPHY, Parlour, part, Parties, party, Party Seven, Paul, perfect, performance, piano, Placebo Someone’s, poetry, Pollock, Pool, Premiere Staged, presents, Pride The, Primo, prize, Production! Shifting, PROGRAMSARAH, pub, Pushcart, quartet, QUIZ, radio, Rajesh, Ramos, Raven, reading, Reading! Built, Reading Screening, records, Research WILDLIFE, Resplendor” ROBIN, Retrospective C.I.C.T., RIDE! Innocence, RITES Insight, river, Rivera, roulette, Rupture, Russ, russian, Ryden, S, sailors, sale, Salon The, SAND LITTLE, Savalas The, scenes, scott, Screening, Screwball, Serial, served, Session Share, Sewer, sexual, SF, SHANGHAI, show, SHOW OPEN, SHOW Fred, SINALOENSE, Sing, Sinister, Sisters, Skoglund, SLEAZE, SLEIGH, Snook VICKIE, society, Sortilège, SOULIÉ Rona, Sound WHEN, SOUP, source, southern, Spaces Lesley, Spin, spindelman, state, Stephen, Stephen’s, Stern, STORE SCOTT, stories, story, string, studio, Sun, sung, support LAVA Atlas Baths, Swedish, tales, talk, tap, Technology POETRY, TED, the, theater, theatre, theflea RON, Theory Mike, Theory Occupy, Theory The, to, toby, Tony, toy, TOYLAND Krymov, train, transgender, Trauma, TRIBUTE, TRIO GBM BaroQue, Trying, TUTEN PICTURES, under, underground, UP? A, VAJDA The, Valerie, Various, VARISPEED, Video, VIOLI ART, visions, visual, w, Walden Steamy, Walsh BRAIN, wax, we, Wearable, WENDY, Westermann, white, wide, Widow, will, Winter, Witchcraft! Rachel, with, Without, woods, Woodsy, world, writers, XXI, year, Yefman American, Yes Charles, young, Yurt BROOKLYN, ZENON GBM “Junior
FRIDAY:
OPERA ON TAP/Roulette Sisters. |
Filed under: WRITING | Tags: bhagwad, culture, european, german, gita, golden, india, kaul, letters, magazine, mythology, our, parable's, philosopy, poetry, pop, premise, prologue, samara, sparrow, the, to, troubadour, writing
Troubadour Kaul is a collaboration project between the two people exploring poetry, travelogues, prose, photography and music. Their art-words have appeared in various magazines and journals. Their poetry is forthcoming in print issues of Full of Crow, Pyrta Journal, Redaction: Poetry & Poetics, Alligator Stew, Micro Poetry Anthology, Mud Luscious Press and elsewhere in Fall 2012. Troubadour Kaul is also a Guest Editor and Poetry reviewer at Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and will be the on the masthead of the Golden Sparrow Magazine’s upcoming ‘Best of’ print edition.Despite a 2011 Best of the Net + two Pushcart Prize nominations + winning the Golden Sparrow Poetry Prize 2011 and being shortlisted as a finalist in the Best Short Writing in the World in 2012, their ranking in the Indian arranged-marriage-market remains dismal. An MFA in Poetry and promoting their first full length collection of poems seems to be the modus operandi for a happily ever after in 2012.The series “Letters to Samārā” are excerpts from Troubadour Kaul’s first collection of prose-poetry. His body of work explores the themes of existence, love and identity through the headset of a wayfarer writing to his beloved back home. The work draws its allegories from the Bhagwad Gita, German philosophy and pop-culture precepts with an occasional foray into European mythology.
Filed under: THE WEEK/THE WEEKEND | Tags: 19271947, 60, Abet Working, ACTIONS ON, AGAM, am, and, AND TONY, art, Art CHASE, Auteurist, BEMIS, Bouffes, break, century, Cherry, content, Curiously, Curtains, DAY Simon, Decisions Behind, DennyCorporate, des, du, experience, Film Dead, Flora A, for, from, GRANOFF, Höller, history, international, INTUITION, INVITATION, is, jackson, jason, jerry, jim, laptop, letters, MIGRANTS, modern, monday, murals, Museum, my, Narrative BRAIN, NGOs Sonnambula RON, night, Nord Fragments A, of, Orchard OPEN, over, Pollock, preceding, pub, Rivera, roots, RUCKUS VideoHubertus, scenes, sculpture, Sinister, Smith ANDRU, SOULIÉ Rona, Stephen’s, STONE American, tactile, the, theatre, UNDERSTANDING WHERE, Video, visual, Walden Aid, with, work The, XXI, year, Yefman THE
MONDAY:From #occupy to revolution Robert Ashley:That Morning Thing The Oven: AND HUMBABA CAME FROM HIS STRONG HOUSE OF CEDAR TUESDAY:Citizen Cartography Workshop: Build a Virtual Atlas of New York THE STORY COLLIDER: BODIES IN MOTION The Underdeveloped and Overexposed Life and Death of Deena Domino WENESDAY:ANDRU BEMIS @ROOTS AND RUCKUS THURSDAY:FRIDAY:Metropolitan Talent Presents PUSCIFER ONGOING:Jack Smith PERFORMA 11 Aid and Abet: Working With NGOs UPCOMING: |
Filed under: THE WEEK/THE WEEKEND | Tags: 101 Paranoid, 15, 18, 19271947, 22, 99%, a, Abet Working, Activities Esther, AFROFUTURISM, AGAM, Alex, Allyson, and, AND TONY, andrew, Another HANDSHAKE, Aromako Pablo, art, Art FESTIVAL, artist, Artist Talk, at, Atchugarry, Auction FESTIVAL, Audio’s, Auteurist, AVI, bad, between, Billy CITY, black, BRODY, brooklyn, by, cats, CIA, Claws THE, Clergue Benefit, CLOUD DAVID, clown, Collaborative, COLLAGES Vivian, Communities NERD, Company Now, CRABB, dance, day, DELIGHTFUL, Dimensions DRAWINGS, DUO Underemployed Georges, electric, empire, Ettun One, Experience Street, eyes, family, Faustus Carsten, Ferran, Film Reading, Film In, First, for, FOXROSEN, FULLTILT Tamar, GATEWOOD 7, General CHARLES, grey, Höller, Heroic, history, Home David, House, Hugnet The, I’ll, in, Invades, Invasions, italy, jackson, Jackson Meet, Jesus With, Jewelled, jonathan, KAORUKO, Keith, KID Diego, Kidnapping, Kläs<Nobody, Krueger, laptop, Leads, LEDs, letters, life, living, LORENE TAUREREWA JIM, love, Lucien, magazine, Maier Street, MartinGRANADA An, Mejor, MENDI, modern, monday, Moszynski at Valentine Stop, murals, Museum, Muslim, Narrative BRAIN, new, NGOs Sonnambula RON, night, NITE, November, NUTS, ny, nyc, NYPD, OBADIKE Oppositions, Occult, occupy, of, on, ORANGE, Others Dead, paintings, Perpetual, PERSON CAVE, PERSPECTIVESPlaces, PHILLIPS, Photographer The, Pierogi Home, Plus, Pollock, Power THE, previously, pub, QUIZ Doctor, Reception Bryan, Remember Rona, Remember Sydney, Repression, Reverend, richard, Rivera, ROOMBENJY, Rule American, scenes, SEMINAR, Series SPANKIN’, Show PIXELATING, SINS Jack, Smith Aid, Solid, SOULIÉ INFINITE, Spain, Spumifers TRANSDISCIPLINARY, state, State Matthew, Stephen’s, STONE TwoMan, STOOPS, stories, STORYTELLING GLOBAL, street, surreal, Talat, the, thing, through, THROWDOWN INFINITE, to, Trialthe, TRIVA DismissedOpening, Twilight, Undergrowth, UPPERCUT, us, victorian, vista, visual, wall, war, week, weekend, with, Yefman CLOWNS, york
TUESDAY:
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Filed under: POETRY, WRITING | Tags: 22, art, brooklyn, cano, drop, lemon, letters, love, magazine, new, ny, nyc, poetry, stifling, SUNS, the, valentina, writing, york
To hold your name
should not conjure up
days of stifling suns.
It shouldn’t mean hands
that fold themselves
over and over
like obsessive handkerchiefs.
Your name shouldn’t be a red dot
blinking in some warehouse,
warning of an open door.
I should feel no spider crawl,
hairs gluing and ungluing
themselves up my arms.
No.
Your name should be flour or sugar.
Substantial. Spotless. Filling.
It should carry the taste
of a lemon drop,
rolling and moist
on my lapping tongue.
Valentina Cano is a student of classical singing who spends whatever free time either writing or reading. Her works have appeared in Exercise Bowler, Blinking Cursor, Theory Train, Magnolia’s Press, Cartier Street Press, Berg Gasse 19, Precious Metals and will appear in the upcoming editions A Handful of Dust, The Scarlet Sound, The Adroit Journal, Perceptions Literary Magazine, Welcome to Wherever, The Corner Club Press, Death Rattle, Danse Macabre, Subliminal Interiors, Generations Literary Journal, Super Poetry Highway, Stream Press, Stone Telling, Popshot and Perhaps I’m Wrong About the World. You can find her here: http://coldbloodedlives.blogspot.com
Filed under: ART | Tags: 22, a, and, brooklyn, camera, eyes, film, henard, letters, magazine, nameless, new, padua, pat, photography, photos, placement, pussycat, sculpture, shape, the, times, title, yeast, york, you, your
Filed under: INTERVIEWS | Tags: 22, 35mm, angeles, art, Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses, barcelon, BFA, bike, blue, Bovary, brooklyn, Canada, center, cereal, chong, colalge, collage, college, color, cutting, department, DESIGN, Eikoh, ephmera, ethan, film, Flaubert, form, Fritz, Frome, gallery, Gothic churches, green, Guido Reni, Hosoe, howtosplitanatom.com, hunt, illustration, ink, KCET, knif, letterpress, letters, local, los, madame, magazine, new, ny, nyc, of, of paper, old, ophelia, Orson Welles, painting, paper, Paul Rand, photography, press, presses, pressing, rep, Sauter, series, slide work, slides, slips, st. louis, station, surreal, the, three-speed, toronto, TV, typography, university, vandercook, webster, Wharton, work, x-acto, york, [Richard] Neutra
22: First the background questions, where did you grow up and how did you get involved with art?
OPHELIA CHONG:I grew up in the wilds of Canada, in the city of Toronto. I remember my first collage, in grade five; it was a collage made of magazine bits and it was blue and green. During my formative years I was an explorer, I would ride my bike from mid-town to the lake and back; I would disappear for a whole day, exploring the city on my three-speed bike. I quickly outgrew Toronto and packed up and left for Los Angeles. I went to the Art Center College of Design and graduated with a BFA in Painting. I am an adjunct professor there in the Photography Dept.
OPHELIA CHONG: I love seeing the possibilities of color. Of using the pieces of paper as paint, my X-acto knife the brush.
22: What about the fusion of collage and design appeals to you? Are they really just versions of the same thing?
OPHELIA CHONG: It’s all the same thing, I see it all as color and form, no matter what medium it is.
22: You also seem to have a penchant for typography and presses where did that start?
OPHELIA CHONG: Shapes, I love the curves of typography. When I was younger I would sit in class sketching serif fonts. I loved the thin with the thick, the swoosh and staccato of forms in typography. When I first used a Vandercook Press six years ago, I was hooked. I love the ink pressing into the paper, the randomness of where the letters fell onto pieces of ephemera that I put through the press. How each piece was a singular piece of art. Never to be repeated twice. I use only vintage magazines to print on, therefore each piece is non-repeatable.
22: Can you explain your 35mm slide work (surreal cereal) process a little? What inspired working with collage this way? Any specific artists?
22:Who are some of your favorite designers or artists in general?
OPHELIA CHONG:All art from the 16th – 18th century. Fritz Sauter ( a Swiss printmaker), 15th century Gothic churches, Orson Welles, Paul Rand, [Richard] Neutra, music for the clavichord, the flavor of the week and anything that makes me want to grab an X-acto knife.
22: How did you start working on the slips of paper series? What was your first collage for that?
OPHELIA CHONG: I started in 1999, but if I had to trace it back, since I could use scissors. I picked up a small Moleskine sketch book in 1999 and started sticking bits of paper in it to relieve the stress I was going through at my job as a Creative Director. I filled books and books with “slips of paper”, not really going towards an end goal, just to keep myself from the digital world. All my work is non-digital.
22: How do you balance your professional life with your artistic career, do the two ever clash? Or do they enhance each other?
OPHELIA CHONG: I melded both into one. I have a rep in NYC for my illustration, and I now have a studio that I sit in all day working. I love it. Work = Love = Happiness
22:What are you currently working on? Any upcoming projects?
OPHELIA CHONG: I am writing more, I write commentary for KCET ( a local TV station in Los Angeles) and for howtosplitanatom.com . I have work traveling from Barcelona to NYC, it will take 2 years to finish my travels. My letterpress work is at the Hunt Gallery at Webster University in St.Louis. My project now is to keep cutting paper and I know I will never tire of it; the only time I get into trouble is when I cut up something someone was still reading. Never leave anything you want to read around me, it just might end up in a collage.
Filed under: ART | Tags: 22, a, brooklyn, camera, film, henard, letters, magazine, nameless, new, padua, pat, photography, photos, placement, sculpture, shape, the, times, title, yeast, york
Filed under: The 22 | Tags: 22, brooklyn, father's, letters, love, magazine, my, new, ny, sakellion, the, yana, york
My love for letters as objects started even before I could read. The first time I saw one was at the very tender age of 4. I knew exactly what I was looking at because my family collected correspondence (postcards, letters, cards and scraps) sent by my father from Greece. Every time a new addition arrived, my mother and grandmother would gather around and read it aloud so that I could hear. Long at first, the messages got shorter and shorter as the “Father-pile” grew. Nonetheless, those envelopes were still carefully placed in a specially allocated drawer and kept, more or less, in chronological order.
Sometimes I would be allowed access to the “Father-pile”, although someone else would remove of the letters and put them back in place. There were a small number of holiday cards, the most beautiful things I‘d ever seen on paper by that age. They seemed impossible compared to the poorly produced, plain, unimaginative postcards we got from our relatives from Ukraine; not for the lack of taste on their part, but due to the decline of print industry funding.
I remember one card in particular. Even till this day the image is very sharp in my mind.Printed on a snow-white heavy weight paper, there was an embossed illustration of a spring cherry grove – flowers blooming, petals falling, little birds flying. Under a tree stood a young beautiful couple, holding hands. A handsome dark-haired man, and a fair woman with a delicate profile were looking into each other’s eyes, smiling tenderly. Everyone at home (my mother included) noted that those happy lovers looked just like my parents. It must have been an anniversary card my father sent. Devoid of cynicism in those days, I loved picking this card out of the pile, examine the watercolor illustration and every bit of the glitter on it, open the cover and feel the insides of embossed cavities with my fingers.
Not being able to read yet and having forgotten the context of the letter, I just let the intricate weaving of blue ink wash over me. Starting at the very first symbol I’d follow each thread, letting my eyes flow with the curves or jump over mysterious obstacles left by my father’s pen. Once I reached the end of the letter, I would start right back at the first mark again. It became a sort of a meditative practice.
Somehow I believed that by the sheer repetition of this process and my good sense, I would be able to will the meaning into existence. I can’t recall if it actually ever happened, but I did experience waves of euphoria whenever I seemed to have recognized something familiar in the lines of ink. It was real to me, and that was good enough. Eventually, I stopped my love affair with the “father’s pile”. It happened in a space of a year or so of those imaginations, when I finally learned to read, or perhaps when I saw my father that same year on his first visit back, which lasted a few days and left no significant memories.
