Something Big But Something Small

It seems to me that blogging serves a variety of purposes. I started this one to share information and tips that I have learned 'along the way'. But what it started out as being, and who I was/am writing it have changed.

The fashion savvy and style-centric entries that I posted when I began here two years ago started to take another tip at some point. As I worked harder to put distance between the stylist and big production costumer designer I had been for my adult life and what I really wanted to do, this was the place I would come to sort it out. Sounds weird that I would do that in such a public medium for something so private, but this blog and its sister blog, became a place that I could positively and productively manifest clarity. Not sure why to be honest. But it worked.

But today something happened. And something changed. Something big but small at the same time.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror after the hectic and almost constant flow of meetings ended and we left our gallery/community centre. My arms and legs were splattered with the ubiquituous flat white paint known to galleries like ours world wide. My hair was a mess, not having thought about it since the day began 15 hours earlier and my face had barely a stitch of makeup left. Nowhere to be seen was the 'fashion freak' that a former iteration of me was known as. Of course nowhere to be seen were the friends that knew that woman either. They've long since left my life.

There in the mirror, looking back at me with a deeply furrowed brow and a weary body was a woman who was giving her very best with everything she had to give. For the very first time ever it didn't matter to me what I looked like, how I was assembled or what I wore. It was my accomplishments that mattered, my insides.

I saw the sum total of my efforts and suddenly the distance between what I had been and what I had become had never been so obvious. It wasn't pretty to look at. For once I gave myself permission not to be.

I just accepted it.

You can find me here and here when I am not active on this blog. Better yet find me on twitter and follow my professional efforts here and here too.

Heroes: Jeff Harris

I am not going to begin this, my first post in months, with an apology. Micro-blogging (Twitter specifically) is a hit for a reason. Long format blogging can be hard to schedule when life gets messy. But I digress.

I want to talk about the power of photography. As documentation. As mirror. As insight. As a vehicle for shared experience.

I have spent many years working with different photographers and types of photography. It brings me great joy to continue my craft as a costume designer and to study humanity and urban ecology through it. I am fascinated by the commonplace and day-to-day goings on of people. I find them very revealing. Not just the concept of ritual but the functional and aesthetic choices in my own life, of my community, culture and other cultures too.

I love photography because it transmits so much information wordlessly. Expression doesn't end where words end: it just gets richer. Visuals create a vocabulary that picks up the slack and at least for me, shares intangibles in meaningful and easily absorbed ways. Two people can be from different walks of life and look at the same photograph and have that experience between them. As Edward de Bono has said "Once you have seen something you cannot 'unsee' it. Your thinking, choices, decisions are determined by what you have seen." It creeps in.

This is what I have to say about Toronto based photographer Jeff Harris's work: It creeps in. Powerfully and with shrewdness. Jeff has been engaged in an ongoing project where he's had his picture taken-either as a self portrait or by a friend-everyday since January 1, 1999. Think about that. A picture a day, every day for ten years. Thats 3,804 photos up until May 31, 2009 according to his website. A link on his website reveals a subtext:

"We can't pretend like this is just another day! This is THE day! This is TODAY! We have never been given today before! We hold it all in our hands! Go find a calendar and look at the date - whatever day it is, realize this: this day will never come again!"- Andrew W.K.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff through my partner Steve Ferrara two years ago. He is immensely likeable in person. He grilled me about the origins of a framed photo of R.E.M that hung on the wall in my old studio. "When was this photo taken?". Absent mindedly I responded-with the wrong information. He knows *a lot* about the band and as I recall he schooled me on the correct answer. It has been a pleasure to read his website, marvel at the story behind his photos and get updates about his goings on through it and his lens. On July 3, 2008 Steve took a photo of Jeff on our rooftop.

Recently, Jeff has battled pelvic cancer. But he did not suspend his project during this time. Private struggles were made public and they were equally as physical and physiological as emotional. Having watched and witnessed family members fight cancer over the years, I admit to being triggered by the sheer raw-ness of his life's recordings. In April he had major surgery to remove his cancer. To say that the images taken during these days are hard to look at is an understatement. The camera was there as a witness to the Miracle of Modern Medicine and these images bring closer what it means to be flesh and bone. To be human. Its vulnerability, its complexity and preciousness. And that I just can't get out of my head.

Happy Birthday Jeff Harris. I don't want to miss another day and another opportunity to say thank you.

Photo credit: Taken May 13, 2009 by Penny Harris from www.jeffharris.org

My Directorial Debut

At last I have a moment to tell you what I've been working on for the past few months. I'll likely do that over two posts because a few projects have been in development. For this entry I wanna tell you about my directorial debut!

Back in December, the fine folks at Manifesto Community Projects asked Well and Good a grassroots arts organization that I work with, if we wanted to be involved in the city of Toronto's 175th Anniversary celebrations. We submitted a proposal and it was accepted. 

The basis of the proposal was a curated day-long retrospective exhibition of Toronto-based graffiti and street artists who work in a variety of mediums: murals, photography, postering, stickers, wheatpastes, drawings, sculptures etc. Knowing that the art show could only be up for the day March 6, we felt compelled to create something that would have 'legs' and would have more impact over time. So I hatched the idea to create a web specific documentary featuring some of the more prolific artists this city has seen over the past 15 years talking about their work and their individual journey in Toronto. 

With a great deal of work, a super teeny budget, some drama and the trust of each of the artists, it premiered March 6, 2009 in Committee Room 2 at Toronto City Hall. The exhibition and the public dialogue that came with it was incredibly positive. The only complaint seemed to be from one of the staffers at City Hall who lamented "I wish this room would always have this vitality!"

 

Originally we posted the webumentary here. But then, thanks to a 5000% hike in bandwidth over one day (an expensive lesson to learn) we put it here too.

Mad respect to each and every one of the artists involved:

Dethrock

Elicser

Fauxreel

Lease

Mediah

Mine

Skam

Pat Fleisher

UPDATE: Now you can watch the individual chapters on YouTube or Vimeo.

Lee Quinones : Just another WordPress weblog

I found this fascinating quote today:

Art based on the spray can has been a dynamic movement propelled by young people since the late 1960s that reaches a larger audience gauged by its own persistence. As artists, we are responsible for the advancement of this movement, just as we were responsible for its introduction. We must breach the tar pits of our outlaw status and use our social and resourceful skills to painfully advance an art movement that continues to gain respect in its own time and beyond. This is a call to arms for all Rapid Enamelists.Lee Quinones : Just another WordPress weblog, Feb 2009

You should read the whole article.

Radar: Super Dope Leather Moleskine® Covers

Been a little time-poor these days with development of a couple great projects (I'll have some goodies to share with y'all shortly) and so I haven't been able to post. As I balance my work flow, aka procrastinate a bit, I felt compelled to share this with you courtesy of 12oz Prophet: The incredible Dan Funderburgh has created these laser etched leather Moleskine® covers for engraveyourbook. $60 US and available by mail order.

Read about why engraveyourbook had to change their manufacturing process from directly onto the PVC Moleskines® themselves.

What Does Your Home or Office Reveal About You?

I just discovered a very neat-o site that feeds my lust for all things anthropological: The Selby. Perfect for voyeurs and curious types alike, the site features delicious photos and videos of fashionably interesting and creative people in their homes and offices-most of which are in New York.

Although unrelated, this site brings to mind a book called  Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You by Sam Gosling, Ph.D.

I Live My Life Like There's No Tomorrow

Its Monday. Time for work and time for some rocking out, of course. Set your week up right with the David Lee Roth Runnin' With The Devil Soundboard. Yeeeeeah.

Mini Love

Happy New Year and Happy New Beginnings!

I am not one of those people who believes in resolutions (lucky for you). But I do take the opportunity at this time of year to examine why I do the things that I do and why I don't do things that I like to do more often, like blogging for example. 

The first thing I've uncovered from this introspection is in regard to my morning rituals. Generally I like to keep a bit of flexibility in the things that I do and when I do them, but morning time is not an example of this and I pity the fool that tries to deviate me from it. I get out of bed and brew organic coffee straight away (from Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters in Whitehorse). Then I go to my computer and scroll through my email. I look for the the daily emails I subscribe to like VSL: Very Short List and Daily Dose of Imagery. Both of these are short, sweet and inspiring: just what you want first thing in the morning. 

Today VSL featured tilt-shift photography and a link from Smashing Magazine about 50 Beautiful Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography. So tiny, so perfect and so real. 

Photo: Timothy S Schenck

Ten Things We Learned From Celeb Fashion in 2008

I heart the Fug Girls. They are smart, acerbic and they are almost always bang-on with their commentary. This article is no exception: Ten Things We Learned From Celeb Fashion in 2008.

Two entries in particular strike closest to my heart. Take heed people: Being on A Reality Show Doesn't Make You A Fashion Designer and Shopping A Lot Doesn't Make You A Fashion Designer. Word.

Photo: Getty Images/The Cut

50 Most Beautiful Icon Sets Created in 2008

The 'Best Of 2008' series continues here and here. 

I was excited to come across the 50 Most beautiful Icon Sets Created in 2008 on Furl today.

I am a big fan of using custom icons. Its a fun, easy and inexpensive way to personalize your computer. Like these Kidaubis Chinese Wind Icons above. Most are free!