The 2011 Project is a work by San Francisco artist Tofu. Each day in 2011 he created a 4”x4” mixed media piece. The finished project was made up of 365 smaller mixed media pieces. In 2013 the individual pieces will be distributed to project supporters. The project also acted as sketchbook for new ideas, which continue to be incorporated into new work For more information please visit 2011project.com
It’s the time of the year when just after the sun rises it seems to be getting dark a few hours later. In San Francisco, at 37° North, it’s nowhere as extreme as when you travel further north. Yet still, the short days are a challenge and make you appreciate the winter sun even more. The Winter Solstice is still a few weeks away but tonight and tomorrow have the earliest sunsets of the year.
At this point in the 2011 Project it should be clear that I am interested in time as well as it’s connection to specific dates on a calendar. And you might remember that I also love chocolate. It should come as no surprise that I like advent calendars. A calendar with its 24 magic little doors that you open every day on the way to Christmas. And, behind each door a chocolate. It makes me think about other possible calendar treats. I consider today’s piece a prototype. I think combining the concept of the advent calendar with new art surprises behind each door could be in my future. Why it might be the advent of a new era in art.
When artists talk about places they want to visit to look at art, they are likely to mention New York and Paris and such places that many people traditionally associate with the art world. For me, the place I most want to go to look at art is Korea. This may seem unusual, but it all started back in 2003 when San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum had a show of Eight Contemporary Artists from Korea. This show was a real eye opener that had me going back and back to the museum when it was still in Golden Gate Park. I saw that show at least four or five times. I didn’t know much about Korea but it was clear that something was up in Seoul. Since then, the Asian Art Museum has had other new work out of Korea. It might be the best museum for contemporary art in San Francisco. See more about my thoughts on that on my art blog. These “teasers” from Korea make me suspect that Seoul is emerging as one of the real centers of innovation in art.
Much of the contemporary art I have seen from Korea is an expansion on traditional themes in Korean art. That is the case with the current show of contemporary ceramics called Poetry in Clay that I saw last week. That museum visit has inspired today’s piece for the 2011 Project. Now, I need to figure out how to visit Korea in 2012.
I hate to commit to a favorite color, but I am particularly partial to blue. Just don’t tell orange or green. Blue is a dominant color in my work. I work in a blue room and also have a blue kitchen. And as much as I love using blue paint, I can never outdo nature. About eight hours north is Crater Lake. It’s an immense and intense blue lake high up in the Cascades. The lake is one of the deepest in the world. Crater Lake is all that is left of Mount Mazama. A volcano that was about 12,000 feet high before it erupted then collapsed around 7,700 years ago. It’s one of those places that I always like to stop at when I am up in Oregon, if only for a few hours just to stare at the blue.
It’s that time of the year and these are the steps to follow:
Now, if you’re a real San Franciscan, you might keep the lights up year round or at least you leave them up in other rooms in your home like most of us do.
There is something compelling about a natural arch. For a good arch it’s nothing to drive far out of your way on a road trip or hike down a long trail. The geological explanations about softer layers of underlying rock, the effects of wind or water erosion are interesting enough, but arches are just magical. Arches National Park is one of my favorites among favorite places.
Welcome to December, in many places it’s time to anticipate the first snow of the winter. In some places it has already happened and they’re waiting for more. In October I dodged the first snow and headed south through the Owens Valley after a day in Bodie. I was ahead of the Sierra’s first storm of the winter. Many years I have had my first snow quite unexpectedly in October or September. I’ve had to cancel trips to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, change course in Utah, hit road closures in Oregon and cranked the heat in the car as I found myself in a snow covered pass in Colorado. Lesson #1, altitude trumps the calendar.
A few years ago in October I went up from New Mexico into Southern Colorado. The photos I had seen of Great Sand Dunes National Park were striking. Massive dunes in the middle of the Rockies — I had to see it for myself. I woke in an Alamosa, Colorado motel to an ice encrusted rental car and a few inches of snow. In the national park the sky was heavy, the dunes were covered in snow and it was really cold. Next time, I have to get there before the first snow.
