Not available in the gift shop, yet…

If you know my art, you know I love things in grids. A Rubik’s Cube with my images seems inevitable. I’ve seen more than a few of these art cubes in museum gift shops and yes, they are kind of kitschy. I do confess to buying a Gilbert and George cube on sale. But as their work is often in grid form, that Rubik’s Cube has my approval. And it was on sale, cheap. A few months ago I attended an art fair and where an artist had some hand-made Rubik’s Cubes. He shared his trick with me. You basically buy Rubik’s Cubes cheap and then print out your own work and replace the color squares. A certain large shipping company has great blank, adhesive labels that fit in a printer and officially are not for this purpose. And where would we be without Japantown dollar stores and knock-off Rubik’s cubes? So here it is, the 2011 Project on a Rubik’s Cube. If you’d like one, you’ll have to wait for the big Tofu museum show and always remember to exit through the gift shop.

September 13, 2011 – Yma Sumac

“Do you actually listen to her?” I still remember when I heard that question for the first time. Of course I do. I love Yma Sumac. It all started one afternoon at the Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree about 20 years ago. It was getting close to the Yma Hour. Cocktails, Yma, and dancing — don’t forget to play her loud. 

I had the good fortune to see her live a few years later. At that stage in Yma Sumac’s career it was more of a happening than a concert. At first she was a bit timid until she remembered she was in San Francisco. Yma came to life as the audience screamed and cheered for her like the megastar she truly was.

So yes, I listen to Yma Sumac. At times, there is nothing better than a bit of Yma. Like when driving on those empty roads between Twentynine Palms and Death Valley. Racing along, windows down, sun roof open, hot desert air blasting into the car and the coyotes turning their heads up to listen to that magical voice.

June 6, 2011 – Red

The color for today is red. It starts with a scavenger hunt through the house looking for red things to cut up. It’s not long before have more than enough. For the 2011 Project today’s color is red. Over the course of the year I want to do a piece about each color.

January 1, 2011 - The Golden Year

Here it is, the first one. Even though I do not intend to install the finished pieces in any particular order, the first one seems weighted. It needs to be extra special, making coming up with an idea for this one even more challenging.

New Year’s Eve and the entire New Year’s weekend were gloomy, cold and gray in San Francisco. At 4:45 pm on New Year’s Eve I was working at my desk. I suddenly noticed the change of color in the light well in front of me. The light was a golden glow. I looked towards the front of the apartment and could see the entire street was glowing. I looked out in the direction of Ocean Beach and saw the entire City bathed in a golden light. This lasted all of ten minutes.

In years past have spent the sunset on New Year’s Eve at Ocean Beach. There a small group of locals participate in the Afro-Brazilian ritual for the Goddess Yemanja. The ten minutes of light made me long to be out at the beach. Even though I didn’t make it out there, the entire City and the coming year now feel blessed.

So, the color for 2011 is gold. It shall be a Golden Year. As I worked on the first piece on New Year’s Day I wanted to include a reflection of time. The image is of an old, gold watch given to me by my Uncle Walter. He would be 100 if he were still with us. I had gone over halfway through the first day of the year without listening to Yma Sumac. Her five octave voice filled the room as I added pieces of a map of Peru to finish the piece.