mark making

People in the background of paparazzi photos

2011-07-23T00:41:00.009-04:00

The Paradox of Choice (Animated)

2011-06-24T00:14:00.003-04:00

Bugs

2011-06-03T00:09:00.000-04:00

Genocide is going on as we speak. What must be in the billions, bugs are senselessly slaughtered everyday. Surely the world is big enough for the both of us.

PS: this is just a rant

Gaps

2011-06-02T23:10:00.000-04:00

Society is largely composed of gaps. Gaps in logic. Gaps in intellect. Gaps in reason. Gaps in justice. Gaps in equality. But in this case I speak of socioeconomic gaps. Through the course of a society's lifespan, those who function as the make up of it's existence see changes. As people depart, they fall off like a rusted piece of metal in a pipeline. This in turn leads to gaps needing to be filled so that the water system will flow smoothly and properly. Some gaps are located in the not so pleasant areas like irrigation, and in relation to others some are more privileged than others as some gaps needing to be filled serve more clean stages of the system like water fountains. Similar gaps emerge as socioeconomic gaps. This perhaps is best understood in terms of jobs. Jobs need to be filled. In order for society to work smoothly these vacant positions or socioeconomic gaps need to be filled. In this sense, someone needs to make the hamburgers we eat, someone needs to clean our rubbish, someone needs to count corporate earnings. The question then becomes which gaps do I fill? Do I even have a say? Or is it dictated by circumstance?

PS: this is just a rant

See It And Forget It

2011-05-30T00:07:00.001-04:00

See It And Forget It

2011-05-29T23:55:00.001-04:00

Life in Copenhagen

2011-05-13T16:45:00.002-04:00

DISTORTION FESTIVAL COPENHAGEN from Anders Hemmingsen on Vimeo.

I've been traveling through Europe, and spent most of my time in Copenhagen. This video epitomizes the city.

Flaws of Design

2011-04-18T01:06:00.005-04:00

perhaps design's greatest flaw is in its attempt to make things precious
it loses sight of the true goal of making things seamlessly integrated into the everyday
the best designs are the ones that become banal
if it were really great design then we wouldn't be needing cases to protect its preciousness
if it were really great design then we wouldn't even realize it's there
its preciousness is narcissistic and egotistical/ self-centered in nature

Wunderkammer 2.0

2011-03-18T22:30:00.002-04:00

Oh The Spectacle!

An interactive website made in response to contemporary cabinets of curiosities.

Questionable Ad

2011-03-09T22:56:00.002-05:00

"What would Canada be without nature?"

... Peru?

Social Networking Cliches

2011-03-04T19:56:00.002-05:00

What does downloading look like?

2011-02-27T13:19:00.008-05:00

Screenshots of an unfinished downloaded PDF file

The Job of the Artist

2011-02-25T20:59:00.002-05:00

The "artist" can be understood as a societal conscience. The artist reminds us of our ridiculous ways and the fragility and temporality of life.

Technology Loop

2011-02-24T18:11:00.004-05:00

I think we've all had this experience at some point. Caught in obsessive link clicking and internet updates. New show, Portlandia staring SNL's Fred Armisen, calls it the technology loop, but some may argue it to be simply procrastination.

Beethoven Love = iPhone Love

2011-02-22T23:22:00.003-05:00

What does it mean when we love something, specifically when we talk in reverence of music or art. The frequency at which we "love" things in turn places works like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on par with the brand new iphone which we too say we "love." There's something problematic and unsettling about this (note: there are more unsettling things in the world than this). Surely the same language can not be used to show our appreciation for two completely different things. After all one is "Art," a cathartic and euphoric out of body and border line spiritual experience, and the other is simply a tool when seen in retrospect of technological innovation is no different than a cutting knife. But maybe they are on par. After all I am just a human being whose DNA is 98% exact to that of our chimp counterpart. Hence, maybe they are no different, as our consumption of "Art" is no different than our consumption and desire of all things shiny, just like that new iphone. Maybe that feeling of catharsis is no different than that shopping high we get.

Twitter search for the phrase 'I have nothing to say'

2011-02-22T16:59:00.003-05:00

Ryan Barone- awesome site - awesome look into the nature of social media

2011-01-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

A Canadian Suburban Townhouse: An Aural Perspective

2010-12-05T02:06:00.001-05:00

Up until now, I never really listened to my home. Although, in hind sight, I now clearly remember the affective power that sound held throughout my childhood. I remember when I was younger, I would awake to a sudden noise in the middle of the night, or rather I had woken up because of a nightmare, only then soon to be followed by a sudden sound that lead my imagination in the darkness of the night to sore to unimaginable places. It is said that, ‘the scariest thing is one’s own imagination.’ Sounds that were in reality simply the expansion and contraction of wooden floor panels or closet doors or a neighbors footsteps, it would be these sounds that lead me too lye still with my eyes wide open in pitch darkness of my room in fear of my own imagination until I would fall asleep. It would be these sounds that would paralyze me, afraid to move, in fear of being killed or kidnapped. The house is clearly breathing and alive.

The fragility of the North American suburban architecture creates an interesting soundscape. The toothpick-like four-by-four framework and thin drywall walls, make the suburban townhouse aurally porous. Even though the visual and cultural discourse of suburbia points to the notion of extremely privatized and isolating space, the pockets of town-homes and semi-detached houses in suburbia on the contrary can also be seen, or “heard,” as a very human and communal space. The profitability of these suburban developments leads to the low cost materials used to build the rapid suburban sprawl in order to maximize profit. As a result, the thin materials become permeable to sound. The suburban landscape derives from the trend of real estate house flipping and upgrading. It is a place to quickly and safely turn a profit and climb the social class ladder. As a result, these spaces engage in and foster racialized thinking, as people flee from places considered “poor,” “bad,” and “uncivilized” to places that are understood as “rich,” “pleasant,” and “civilized.” Although the suburban landscape in visual discourse is understood as a space of racialized thinking, there are fruitful paradoxes and ironies that exist, which suggest room for hope in such urban places lake Richmond Hill or Mississauga. “Richmond Hill is a sprawling suburb where immigrants go to get away from other immigrants, but of course they end up living with all the other immigrants running away from themselves” (What We All Long For by Dionne Brand). This paradox is reverberated in the aural landscape of the suburbs. As suburban dwellers move into new “private” townhomes and semi-detached homes, life does not entirely become solitary and private. In moments of seeming silence and isolated peace, a neighbour’s life intrudes through sound. Sometimes blatant and irritating, but most of the time it can be “invisible” and become a part of the “private” soundscape, learning to ignore them.

Sound can also be identified as a socioeconomic marker, as my parents fled from loud Hip-Hop filled parking lots of an earlier neighbourhood to the now automated stereo Islamic prayers that vibrate through the bedroom walls every morning at 5am, and now again seeking new refuge from these “unpleasant” sounds. Who knows what the next sound will be.

However, there is something poetically beautiful about suburban lives bleeding through shared walls, lives traveling through sound beyond the boarders of one’s home. Sound is subversively teaching us to become more tolerant. Even though the standard of drywall and plywood are arguably weaker to our European counterparts’ standards, it may in fact be a good thing that thin walls are the standard.

The Illusion of Catharsis Remix

2010-12-03T22:35:00.001-05:00

The Illusion of Catharsis from Thomas Zukowski on Vimeo.

Part 3 of a collaborative Remix Project. In this video I react and build upon a video of a music video and film mash up of "cathartic" and emotional moments. I overlay a doctored Mastercard logo, in an attempt to raise questions of the cultural consumption of art and all things "cathartic." My guiding question stems from an earlier rant/blog entry (amarkmaker.blogspot.com/2010/06/ilusion-of-catharsis.html). What role does "art" truly play? Here I suggest that "Art" has largely become a kind of fuel consumed to quench one's thirst, a thirst for catharsis, a thirst for meaning, to feel connected and somehow "whole." A thirst that returns and can never be entirely or permanently satisfied.

I shall bestow you with truth, I hath indeed shared your mother's bed

2010-11-27T15:31:00.001-05:00

I shall bestow you with truth, I hath indeed shared your mother's bed from Thomas Zukowski on Vimeo.

Part 2 of The Remix Project. Building on dm.finearts.yorku.ca/~banruby/a3/index.html
-in this video I add photos of nude panhandlers, underlining the montage of contemporary rap videos and a score by Frederik Chopin.

The title taken from the meme of Joseph Ducreux, where rap lyrics are translated into "proper english."

Online Empathy

2010-11-27T14:49:00.001-05:00

Online Empathy Remix from Thomas Zukowski on Vimeo.

In this video I juxtapose video/images indicative of the contemporary online cabinet of curiosities in which silly dances, drunk people, and celebrity rants fill our virtual shelves. And in continuation of my interest in the affects of such online technologies on human behavior, I again ask if this archival of memories on this scale through this technology makes us more empathetic or narcissistic.
As a result a juxtapose the visual zeitgeist with a lecture that discusses theories of an empathetic civilizations. In retrospect of the video where, "are we really an empathetic civilization?"

The Computer is Creative

2010-11-22T13:57:00.002-05:00

Sometimes things considered erroneous or 'rubbish' actually produce the most amazing things. Like urban 'junk space' and its inspiration of skateboarding and parkour.

This image is of a computer glitch that happened while reading a pdf on my computer.

Obsessive-Compulsive

2010-11-19T13:53:00.001-05:00

Obsessive-Compulsive from Thomas Zukowski on Vimeo.

A continuation of Me, Myself & I.

An experimental collage using Max/Msp/Jitter

Me, Myself & I (password: facs1939)

2010-11-17T19:32:00.003-05:00

Assignment 2: Lab 4 Group 4 from FACS 1939 on Vimeo.

The multimedia performance piece of Me, Myself & I, stems from the overarching question of “why do we do what we do?” The piece is a collaborative attempt in exploring the human obsession with memory and the archival of memories. Hence, in attempt to answer the central conundrum of why humans are so obsessed with the archival of memory, the performance positions this question in the context of contemporary web culture, where millions upon millions have become active archivists, storing private memories in public spaces like video recordings on YouTube, photographs on Facebook, as well as diary entries on Twitter. In reference to these digital technologies, Me, Myself & I’s digital zeitgeist asks more directly whether these archival technologies make us more empathetic or increasingly narcissistic? All in aims to answer humanity’s true motivations for the persistent archival of memory throughout human history.

Me, Myself & I acts as a kind of cultural critique, passively suggesting an answer through a kind of montage of digital-social-zeitgeist-montage, highlighting the irony in the banality of the narcissistic cultural behavior. The extraction of the predominant ‘web user content’ points to the fundamental dreams and desires that underly the basis of much of humankind’s history. As a result, Me, Myself & I suggests that humanity’s compulsive-obsessive drive to archive its memories is not a contemporary phenomenon. It is not a result of technologies bending and manipulating humans to their will. It is a result of a simple desire that I believe existed embedded in the human race from the times of our ancestors, to the times of Caesar and Napoleon, and all the way to the present day. It is a dream not exclusive to those in positions of power. It is a dream shared by all classes and all races. It is a dream shared by both you and I.

“What I dream of is what all humans dream of, the dream of eternal life promised to us by our Gods. I want to live on like our memories of the Great Romans. I want my footprint to be immune to the high-tides of the sea. I dream of being relevant.’

Media Performance: Me, Myself & I

2010-11-16T17:17:00.001-05:00

Assignment 2: Lab 4 Group 4 from FACS 1939 on Vimeo.

OH, THE SPECTACLE

2010-10-10T13:44:00.001-04:00

Experimental Interactive web design

David Hoffos: Scenes from the House Dream @ MOCCA, Toronto

2010-10-10T00:25:00.002-04:00

Scenes from the House by David Hoffos is a dose of nostalgia, bringing me back to my childhood, reminding me of a time when my classmates stood in awe with our imaginations in overdrive while looking into historical dioramas and miniature models on school field trips. David Hoffos creates a magical experience, transporting the audience to another place. What is truly going on throughout this installation is hard to define, but it’s ambiguity is what I feel makes it so interesting and engaging.

SPOILER ALERT
Like ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ Hoffos similarly throws the viewer through black curtains and immerses the viewer in complete darkness as they enter the installation, and arguably a different world. Suddenly, the viewer is cut off from the reality of Queen Street, and instead, with a heightened aural sensory, the ambiguous modulating sounds pull the viewer into what seems to be a dream. Once eye sight adjusts and pupils dilate, this sense of a dreamscape is heightened by ambivalent feelings towards the human ‘phantoms’ that loom in the corners of the space. Like facing the ‘unseen-monster’ in a dream, the realism of the projected ‘cofee-drinking phantom’ created a large degree of anxiety as my imagination soared. My heart raced wondering whether this phantom will pop out of the corner like something out of a haunted house. In addition to the ‘phantom’ illusions, the crown and jewel of the installation are to Hoffos’ 3D dioramas, which for me shape a sense of a particular place and time. Viewing these dioramas I felt God-like. A voyeur spying on the everyday life of a futuristic 1950’s suburbia. This ambiguity of an underlying narrative is what I feel makes this exhibit so successful as there is room for the viewer to get lost in their imagination as I did, subconsciously exploring scenarios.
But what I find just as exciting, if not more, was the methodology that Hoffos reveals by first including the viewer in an interactive diorama and then through a peep-hole into the heart of the exhibit where Hoffos complex and yet primitive use of technology becomes evident. Even though the technique is revealed, it isn’t entirely, allowing the viewer to once again let their imagination attempt to grasp a hold of something concrete in a space that is anything but.
Hoffos’ experimentation with alternative forms of interactive media in conjunction with the realm of fiction and dreams achieves something that is absent in glorified ‘cinema’ such as James Cameron’s 2009 “Avatar” and Christopher Nolan’s 2010 “Inception.” By no means am I attempting to undermine the potential of film as a medium, but rather what I am alluding to the success of Hoffos in captivating an audience through 3D without the big budget and fancy technology. Hoffos’ archaic technological experimentation in Scenes from the House Dream, 2010 highlights the potential for interactive media in creating a truly magical experience as it situates the viewer within the narrative creating a truly unique experience.

My experience included:
-feeling of God
-critical look at suburbia
-seeing the poetic tragedy in suburbia
-seeing the beauty in suburbia
-connection to Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” (music)
-ambivalence towards suburbia
-sense of isolation

Why do we love sports?

2010-09-13T14:58:00.006-04:00

Why the hell do so many of us bother watching men kick a ball around or carry a funny shaped ball to another side of a large patch of grass? I mean it makes no rational sense at face value. It really sounds and looks quite childish. None-the-less, I for some reason am continually drawn to sports and will continue to take part in the spectacle for the rest of my life.

A while back a professor had mentioned sports in a conversation about capitalism. He pointed out that a reason billions of people flock to the television to catch a sporting event is in part because it is arguably the one thing that can not be sold and packaged in the midst of the current capitalist society. I mean sure God knows we try with all the sports team paraphernalia, and some may argue that it indeed allows for sports to be packaged and sold like everything else, but that isn't the main reason we're captivated by sports. That's just a peripheral of the spectacle.

My prof argued that the captivating moment in sports, like a tennis match or football game, is the fact that it has no predetermined outcome. It cannot be 'consumed' before or after the actual event. For example, people don't rush to the nearest blockbuster to pick up a copy of a football game that just happened in the same way many may rush to grab a copy of a new released movie and watch it over and over. In sports, once the game happens it looses its value. What draws us to sports is the fact that it immerses its audience and participants in the moment of 'now.' The LIVE aspect of sports is something that eludes capitalism.

These ideas lead me to believe that the reason sports captivates the world is because it allows our true human nature to surface. It sheds light on our primordial and ancestral act of surviving. An act which is rooted in the 'now' moment.

We are watching something that has not yet been determined. It shares a relationship with life, as sports too allows us to hope, fight, and cheer.

It allows us to step away temporarily from the capitalist system, a system the believes every aspect of life can be packaged and sold.

If you are one of the 10 in the world that don't like sports, and thinks its stupid or childish... well at least appreciate it for what it is, a cultural phenomenon that can not be packaged or sold like a movie, video game, or mobile phone.

Detroit Lives

2010-09-09T14:52:00.005-04:00

Nothing makes me more excited than when things are happening. When out of death and decay comes life. That is exactly what seems to be going on in Detroit. What I love about this film is that it gives hope. One of the memorable lines in the movie is where a fella says that in an established city like New York City its hard to have a say, but in Detroit, people like 'starving artists' can really treat the city like a blank canvas and make it a more human place to live versus the post-industrial freeways that have divided and conquered the land.

for all parts visit http://www.palladiumboots.com/exploration/detroit

The Empathic Civilisation

2010-09-02T15:10:00.004-04:00

A fascinating question:

2010-08-21T18:23:00.001-04:00

1.) If you had an opportunity to create/start whatever you wanted and were given 1 million dollars and six months what would this thing be and how would you go about making it happen?

Remodeling Suburbia: Rerouting Classic, Car-Centric Design

2010-07-31T20:41:00.000-04:00

The modern city is, for the most part, built around cars. We build enormous elevated roads and huge parking structures to accommodate our vehicles, but at what cost to the urban landscape and to our own well-being? These 10 visionary designs seek to re-imagine what the city of the future might look like if we stop catering our living spaces to cars…and start designing them for people. See more.

The Illusion of Catharsis

2010-06-09T11:50:00.004-04:00

Many are trapped in catharsis. The cathartic illusion. The feeling where one feels better, happier, some how more meaningful, connected, or somehow whole, and things begin to make sense. This feeling is now provided on a regular basis. It is embedded in every aspect of modern life, in every form of mass media, like films, newspaper stories, the Internet and most notably music in our ear-buds. Don't get me wrong, catharsis is great. But it is often an experience at a climactic end. Hence that feeling of motivation or meaning and purpose is short lived and rather than creating or manifesting our own cathartic moment, what I call a holy moment, it is fed to us. Of course it can be argued that it is necessary to revisit external cathartic moments, but the problem is, what happens when we are cathartic on a regular basis? What happens when we are always made to feel whole or connected? At the moment I tend to argue that we as a result become passive observers. We immerse ourselves and surrender ourselves to a read-only culture. A way of life in which our intentions are good and true, but any sense of having to go out and make something, make an impact or a difference, tends to be satisfied by a movie or that one great song. For example, I learn of injustices happening around the world and in light of the revolutionary attitude I turn up the volume on Coldplay's Viva La Vida, and I am overwhelmed by this heightened sense of catharsis, where I experience a rush of ideas and for whatever reason I feel content and blissful that somehow everything makes sense in that moment and that things are okey. Afterward there is a sense of satisfaction and that some sort of resolution was made as I feel in some way spent and tired of all the rapid synapses going off in my brain during that cathartic moment. But in the end nothing is actually done. Maybe a few motivational lines are written in a journal or a pretty picture gets doodled or painted, but soon afterward it is put aside while I soon after loose myself in the mumbo-jumbo of the Internet or a video game. No where is the real issue resolved. Instead what seems to happen is that the very issue of injustice becomes used to simply fuel a desire for catharsis, a selfish subconscious desire for a heightened feeling of mortality, which in turn fuels a chain reaction. Where in return the "inspirational" event simply fuels a desire to be fed, a desire to quench ones thirst, one's divine discontent, and make one's self feel better. By no means am I proposing that this trend is universal, because thank god there are those that are quite proactive in creating their own catharsis by directly dealing with issues such as an injustice and who do not feel content or satisfied with a movie, book, or painting. What I fear though is the fact that where there is one, there are often many others just like it/them. I fear that my experiences with the illusion of catharsis are shared by millions of others. I fear that the intensification of information available in conjunction with the exponential growth of technology and media outlets will in turn shape a world where humankind's innate discontents may become quickly ignored and forgotten, creating a truly passive society.

The Art Workers' Coalition: "13 Demands" and "Does Money Manipulate Art?"

2010-05-07T19:13:00.002-04:00

The Art Workers' Coalition: "13 Demands" and "Does Money Manipulate Art?"

Made-By-Hand No Google Manifesto

2010-05-07T19:11:00.002-04:00

ROMAIN-GAVRAS & Urban Spaces

2010-04-28T01:21:00.004-04:00

ROMAIN-GAVRAS: music video cinematographer/director, seems to capture the raw essence of various urban spaces around the world. Here, have a look,
-what's interesting to me is the way in which he explicitly shows the dirtiness, the griminess, and rawness of these urban spaces. The grittiness and 'ugliness' of theses spaces come across as really something quite beautiful.

DJ MEHDI, Signatune from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Simian Mobile Disco, I Believe from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Jus†ice, Stress from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

M.I.A, Born Free from ROMAIN-GAVRAS on Vimeo.

Nations: Imagined Communities (Problems of the Canadian Beaver)

2010-04-24T22:58:00.001-04:00

Duke Redbird: Contesting the Canadian Beaver from Thomas Zukowski on Vimeo.

Play Day! (a collective group that helps bring back play)

2010-04-23T20:31:00.003-04:00

Have recess again and enjoy playing.
Join the group if you ever are looking for a basketball game, a street hockey game, a soccer game, or volleyball game, etc. Join and people can arrange play dates where anyone who wants can come play.

The goal is to create a giant database of people looking for a game. So that if you're every dying to play a game of soccer but don't have the contacts, you could then come here and join or post a group discussion for your chosen sport or game.
-First let people know the sport and location.
-2nd once enough people join, someone can set a date and location. Then when enough people confirm, have a play date and just play.

HAVE FACEBOOK? Join the club here

Rethinking the 'mall.'

2010-04-15T17:53:00.012-04:00

DIAGON ALLEY IN MISSISSAUGA
Call me crazy, but what if our shopping centers shared a similar ambiance with that of Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter World. I mean, simply comparing the suburban mall with Diagon Alley, I think its easy to say which one you'd rather spend time in or even live in. And when you have people genuinely wanting to live where they work, play, and buy, I think you have a win-win situation.

The suburban mall you see is the infamous 'Square One' Shopping Mall in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. The economic hub of the city, while also quite arguably the biggest eye sore. When thinking of how to retrofit suburbia, you must remember, that at the end of the day it all comes down to dollars and cents. The owner of 'Square One' is an elderly fellow who has repeatedly rejected the idea of tearing down what in my mind is the biggest eye-sore IN THE WORLD. That's right, I'm more of a fan of the Favelas in South America. In fact Diagon Alley holds many similar characteristics with the Brazilian Slums, architecturally speaking. In terms of economics, the land owner somehow feels that the mall's ginormous free parking lot is somehow more profitable than building more buildings, from which can be leased out.

Let's just say for the sake of this article, Mr. Stubborn Land Owner had decided to retrofit the mall area. In this case, what I propose is creating an area that will keep your young population in town. With this in mind, what better than to build what young people all over the world drool over. The magic and ambiance of the Harry Potter World.

Diagon Alley, in mind, is the synthesis of what 'Square One' can be transformed into. I'm not saying tear down the mall yet. But instead, why don't we don't we expand what is already inside the mall, that is the 'fun and frivolous' window shopping, out into the streets under the clear blue sky. In doing so, in addition to the great ambiance of Diagon Alley, this method of expansion can also provide an area of mix use, where people can live and work above the store fronts that we love so much in Europe. What I wonder is why, when so many of the economic centers of the world share 19th century urban characteristics, why do we then continue to build spaces so different. Why didn't we stick with what had worked for so many centuries.

But back to my point, diagon alley has a sort 'growth-like' bacterial characteristic, which gives it the ability to engulf existing spaces and merge and connect them with its web of hidden alleyways and walkways. In addition, with Sheridan college opening up across the street, 'Diagon Alley' can foster student life with pubs, galleries, and bars. A space like Diagon Alley can likewise merge and connect cultural spaces like the Living Arts Center across the street an reactivate and mobilize social life and active citizenship.

Part of this call for such a place, is not just because it would be nice or give me the illusion of living in the Harry Potter World, but rather because it is essential. It is essential to both mobilize social living and active citizenship, but it is also essential in shaping a sustainable and livable city. Also important to note is that OIL won't be here forever. In fact many economist beckon that oil is close to gone. It is important to retrofit our cities and communities for the future, when oil is too expensive or even gone. Because that day will come. It's important to use our 'oil age' petrodollars now before this unprecedented level of wealth is gone.

Now imagine this:

...surrounded by this:
With a leisurely walk and bike path surrounding the city core:
If you're wondering "well what about the parking lots, how will I get there"... might I suggest this:

city web 2.0

2010-04-12T14:51:00.002-04:00

city web 2.0 on Prezi

An urban problem. An urban solution

2010-04-12T00:24:00.002-04:00

I have a problem. A problem that I think links to urban sprawl. You see, I've moved within that past year, which is a common habit within the current patterns of urbanization. But to get straight to the point. My problem is that my social life has drastically changed. No longer can I knock on my next door neighbor's door and spontaneously start a pick-up soccer game, basketball game, baseball game, etc. Part of this is that my old childhood friends live further away or have become pre-occupied with adult-like responsibilities of work and post-secondary education. But, I feel that this is no excuse to no longer take part in the spontaneous acts of play. Hence, I ask 'how can I revive those spontaneous acts of play?' I understand that it isn't reasonable to expect everyone to be available to your spontaneous beckoning. This is why I propose that the internet can be utilized to mobilize and revive urban social life. More specifically, what I am alluding to is a 'Facebook-like' place where people can self-organize public activities and have the same old fun we had when we were children. Since our closest friends may no longer be readily available for a game of pick-up soccer, I feel that the internet (potentially linked with mobile phones) holds the potential to mobilize larger local groups of people who share same interests and desires of play. What I am calling for is help, ideas, a collaboration, to shape a space, a website, where we can overcome the social fragmentation of urban sprawl, and at the same time meet new people and form new communities. Part of this is a dream to revert back to the local scale of societal living.
PS: I've tried on Facebook, with a group called 'PLAY DAY,' but haven't been able to mobilize any real or concrete social engagement. Hence, I have been dreaming of an independent .COM site, separate from facebook, where non-facebook users could be incorporated.

2010-04-10T22:52:00.003-04:00

worried facebook will some how ruin pictures of the present in the future.

2010-04-10T22:51:00.002-04:00

the world doesn't need anymore stuff. if anything it needs less.
frame what's already there.

Synecdoche New York

2010-03-12T20:06:00.002-05:00

my favourite movie quote:

MINISTER *
Everything is more complicated than *
you think. You only see a tenth of *
what is true. There are a million *
little strings attached to every *
choice you make; you can destroy *
your life every time you choose. *
But maybe you won't know for twenty *
years. And you'll never ever trace *
it to its source. And you only get *
one chance to play it out. Just try *
and figure out your own divorce. *
And they say there is no fate, but *
there is: it's what you create. *
Even though the world goes on for *
eons and eons, you are here for a *
fraction of a fraction of a second. *
Most of your time is spent being *
dead or not yet born. But while *
alive, you wait in vain, wasting *
years, for a phone call or a letter *
or a look from someone or something *
to make it all right. And it never *
comes or it seems to but doesn't *
really. And so you spend your time *
in vague regret or vaguer hope for *
something good to come along. *
Something to make you feel *
connected, to make you feel whole, *
to make you feel loved.
And the truth is I'm so angry and *
the truth is I'm so fucking sad, *
and the truth is I've been so *
fucking hurt for so fucking long *
and for just as long have been *
pretending I'm ok, just to get *
along, just for, I don't know why, *
maybe because no one wants to hear *
about my misery, because they have *
their own, and their own is too *
overwhelming to allow them to *
listen to or care about mine. *
Well, fuck everybody. *
Amen.

Lecture: Implications of Canada as Beaver

2010-03-04T19:31:00.008-05:00

Duke Redbird talks about the problems of Canada's totem being a beaver. He also argues that a nation's consciousness can be illustrated by it's totem. Hence, he ultimately highlights the power of the totem in shaping a nation.

Duke Redbird: Contesting the Canadian Beaver from tomzuker on Vimeo.

Facebooking or Vaguebooking? NATIONAL POST

2010-02-27T12:12:00.001-05:00

When you blitz your social network with a purposely vague news flash on your life, you’re begging for attention

“What’s on your mind?”

It’s the question Facebook asks millions of people every day. And it’s a question that many choose to answer with obscurity.

Steve is wondering if it’s all worth it … Rebecca shouldn’t have done that.

This kind of indeterminate status updating hardly answers the Facebook question. If anything, it elicits more questions in return.

Enter vaguebooking: the act of posting an unclear status that prompts, even dares, friends to ask you more. The term was originally coined on UrbanDictionary.com — an online collection of slang terminology created by the people, for the people — and gained attention when it was featured as the site’s word of the day earlier this month.

Vaguebooking’s core concept lies within the status writer’s ability to bait its readers while still remaining elusive. It is always confessional, provocative and indeterminably sly. Bob was wrong to do that. Jane should have handled that better. These phrases are consistently open-ended but hint at something more just below their surface. For example, Stephanie

is late … and worried could simply mean that Stephanie is late for school or work. If accompanied by inside knowledge about Stephanie’s sex life, though, it could imply something much more pressing.

Specificity is forbidden in vaguebooking, and one certain rule is never mentioning anyone by name. However, the use of Vaguebooking to message other (often unwilling) parties is common practice, whether the person is directly mentioned or not. Therefore the posting Liz shouldn’t have slept over last night holds special meaning to someone out there, while the rest of us get to indulge in asking questions about where Liz slept (or who she slept with) last night. Occasionally Vaguebookers will also mention a person in terms of their role, often as a cowardly way of confronting them. Trudy wishes her boss hadn’t done that. Steve isn’t sure about his wife.

In its simplest form, vaguebooking can be used to celebrate, Jen just got some great news; to grieve, Jen will miss her; or to bitch, Jen hates this. Sure, Jen could have just told us her big news, or who it is she will miss or what it is that she hates but then, that’s the whole point to Vaguebooking: Why just tell people when you can get them to guess?

Upon reading these statuses, we can’t help but ask, “What’s the great news, Jen?” or “What are you late for, Stephanie?” They compel our curiosity and appeal to our desire for drama.

Facebook has created the ideal platform for our ego — that little (or in some people, big) part of our psyche that is immersed in self-importance. In the social networking realm, our audience, those handpicked people — whether it’s your ex, your high school crush or your mom — are always ready to read whatever it is you have to say. With vaguebooking, it’s easy to create suspense. Martin isn’t

sure if he should tell you. And just like that, within the span of a short unclear phrase, a regular event becomes mysterious and fully exposed people become enigmas.

However, all ego-stroking aside, there must be a larger reason behind all this ambiguity. With virtual soapboxes at our disposal every second, why then are we purposefully failing to communicate?

In its extended definition, vaguebooking can also be used as “a cry for help.” Statements like Ann just

doesn’t know anymore or Brian is

wondering if it’s all worth it could easily be interpreted as depressive projecting at its very saddest. So why post it online then? Perhaps technology has created a protective veil, allowing us to engage in emotions we otherwise wouldn’t have without our third-person (Steve, Jen, Stephanie, instead of me, myself and I) anonymity. Could it be that vaguebooking allows us to reach out in a safe way? For example, through the use of song lyrics: Ciaran … lonely, lonely, that is me. Kim Why are you lonely? Ciaran It’s a lyric from Feist. I’m

fine!

In this case lyrics further protect the writer from vulnerability because even though the lyric obviously means something to them, they can quickly change their tune if anyone out-and-out asks them about it.

Then again, maybe vaguebooking is much simpler then all of this. Perhaps, in this online world where everyone has an immediate voice, a problem has arisen: No one is listening. As a result, people have started to yearn for the dialogue lacking in our one-way communication culture. Maybe people aren’t vaguebooking for attention, but are simply doing it to elicit a response. Maybe Facebook, Twitter and all the other social sites have in fact painted us into a lonely corner and this is the social butterfly’s way of inducing good old-fashioned conversation in a new world format.

Or maybe we’re just a bunch of egomaniacs.

Printed and distributed by NewpaperDirect | www.newspaperdirect.com, US/Can: 1.877.980.4040, Intern: 800.6364.6364 | Copyright and protected by applicable law.

The Urban Process

2010-01-25T21:11:00.002-05:00

Inspired by texts by Lefebvre

2009-12-22T00:02:00.003-05:00

A TA brought this to mind:

The Evolution of the 'Read-Write Culture'

1. printing press 1440: more access to reading
2. consumer xerox machines & typewriters: small shift to writing and distributing information i.e. pamphlets
3. internet: allowed people on a massive scale to write and distribute their own writings i.e. blogs
4. software development: "what if people were able to write programs as easily as they write words on blogs, forums, and social networks?"
-the next step will be OR is to write software (like the Google duo), people will then hold even more power as they are not only able to say things but can create tools for others to say things, sparking even greater technological, social, and cultural innovations.

Theory on Life: Joe Rogan's Theory on Life VS Singing & Clapping Man

2009-11-21T23:58:00.003-05:00

I can't say I had planned this remix, it somewhat organically happened as both of these videos had some sort of profound resonance, especially when viewed in juxtaposition. What happened was simply having two videos stand out in mind that promoted two very different ways of viewing the world. I feel that I am frequently on some ground agreeing with both very different perspectives. When I turn to the web for inspiration I am often caught between two extremes, which I have juxtaposed. On the one hand I am often faced with the inspiration of very serious political and philosophical ideas ethics, justice, and life, and on the other hand I face the radically opposite inspirational forms of happy-go-lucky/feel good/john lenon & love is all you need.

I still struggle to understand myself what happens in the mind of the viewer in relation to this remix. So what I think happens, is not an argument that is presented, but rather confronts the viewer in a way that provokes a critique or evaluation of human life. At least in terms of myself, I am confused and don't know which perspective of life to agree with (the pessimistic or happy-go-lucky).
Like the previous remix, this one has a certain profound humor, as the power of serious pessimistic philosophy on life death clashes with an endearing amateur folk singer who sings about a near death experience with a happy-go-lucky demeanor.

I smile and laugh while at the same time,
I'm forced to philosophize about human life

A similar artist is Franceso Vizzoli's E! True Hollywood Story
-in which I am not sure if it is a parody and I should laugh, or
-whether I should critically reflect upon a subconscious call to
deconstruct the perpetuated desire to be relevant and famous, or
-whether it is "truly" an E! Hollywood Story

Motivational Speech

2009-11-04T00:55:00.002-05:00

I could care less

2009-10-27T22:35:00.003-04:00

What's wrong with us?

2009-10-27T22:26:00.003-04:00

... what I have done

2009-10-27T21:38:00.001-04:00

-small gestures of resistance towards things that are unjust
-mark making in the larger social context NOT in isolated bubbles

Why I haven't MADE anything for sometime

2009-09-19T20:48:00.002-04:00

I feel that art/mark making/creating is narcissistic in nature one way or another.

How to Save the World Manifesto

2009-09-19T20:26:00.006-04:00

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Cool... but people are still starving.

2009-06-06T17:54:00.003-04:00

My whole life, my perspective of things has been oriented around "art," hence now I have begun questioning the ego within creations and uncovered the perspective of art as a selfish "waste of time."
-How can this be ethically moral when so many injustices happen around the world?

A Mark Maker @ Twitter

2009-05-02T21:37:00.001-04:00

You can now follow A Mark Maker now on twitter. I think is a beautiful thing to follow a person's train of thought and the seeming ordinariness and simple 'being' in the world.

Standing In a Hallway With A Camera: an intervention / an assignment

2009-04-19T21:30:00.006-04:00

2009-03-25T20:58:00.003-04:00

I am not relevant

Becoming Human

2009-03-22T16:40:00.017-04:00

1992

2009-03-10T00:29:00.003-04:00

Divine Discontent: A video

2009-02-18T17:22:00.005-05:00

*I take no credit for the music
Music is by Gustavo Santaollala, and Michael Brooks

2009-02-07T00:27:00.002-05:00

Riddle

What is something the you can sit on,
sleep on,
and brush your teeth with?

Thoughbook: Where I Stand

2009-02-07T00:02:00.039-05:00

Think about it.

2009-01-29T23:42:00.003-05:00

Have fun with mark making

2009-01-29T23:35:00.007-05:00

2009-01-15T13:54:00.001-05:00

Guitar Mark Making

2009-01-15T13:22:00.027-05:00

Painting with words

2009-01-02T00:45:00.003-05:00

The cheapest way of creating 'images'

Where I Stand

2008-11-16T20:38:00.002-05:00

Where I Stand

The question of where I stand seems to be a simple question, but yet the exact coordinates of where I stand are hard to pin down. The question and aim of locating yourself is very much a question bound by spiritual and philosophical examinations of the human condition and our own existence. Being human, it would be ignorant to not recognize the external irrational forces that outline common human tendencies and habits that are evident in the patterns of history. Being who we are and struggling to understand the irrational forces that have outlined all of history, humans have sought to understand themselves through art and religion. Chris Hedges describes ‘religion and art to be in fact very similar as they both deal with the irrational.’ Hence by self-examining these questions of self-relevance through the lens of ‘art’ or ‘religion,’ many will learn that it can really tell a lot about where a person stands in the world.
What is the purpose of life? As a human being, I pose the same old metaphysical questions of life that humans have all asked before. It seems to be the underlining question of our existence. Only until we face the inevitable moment of truth, uncovering our own mortality from beneath the immortal veil of capitalist society, do we feel most the need to justify our belonging and relevance to the world. Intrinsic to human nature, humans have left marks in order to satisfy the yearning for self-relevance and the desire for a role in the story that we all share. We have left physical marks in the walls of Lascaux France. We have left landmarks as we divided and conquered the land. We have marked canvases with paint illuminating human complexities. Both literally and figuratively we as human beings have marked the earth with the proof of our existence as a species in attempt to satisfy our subconscious dreams. And now more than ever, in a world where gossip is the only thing that seems to matter, where celebrities mark our visual world, I along with many strive to find a place.
These historic ‘mark makings’ are in essence ‘art.’ Likewise, art in essence is simply a mark left behind made to satisfy our intrinsic desires; the desires to be known, to be important, to be relevant, to communicate, and to be a part of the human story. Hence, What I dream of is what all humans dream of, the dream of eternal life promised to us by our Gods. I want to live on like our memories of the Great Romans. I want my footprint to be immune to the high-tides of the sea. I dream of being relevant.
As a result of this self centred human notion and characteristic, artists have lived within the preconception of the artist as isolated in their studio immersed in their own world. while not only a trait of ‘the artist’, this intrinsic way of being has lead to a society and world centred around the gluttonous desires of our stomachs and self congratulations of ourselves. Not only has it created problems of poverty and corruption on a global stage, but it has also lead to the construction of the ideologically charged white walls of the museums and galleries, where we compete to win into these institutions. Musician and song writer Leonard Cohen helps demystify the human condition as he realized when he became a monk that, ‘life became a lot easier when I had no longer expected to win. You abandon your masterpiece and sink into the real masterpiece.’ This ‘real masterpiece’ is what I have come to understand as our collective story of the human race where life isn’t concerned with the mark you or I make, but rather concerned with the mark that we leave.
The problem with western art is its division over its meaning and the division between high art and low art, where one is seen to be better than the other. Rather than unifying the world through beauty, this categorization of human creation has lead to tensions of binary divisions and stereotypes. What also bothers me is the insignificance that the white walled galleries hold. The fact that they remain considerably empty says something important about the problem of high art. As cathartic and beautiful as it may be, the disengagement with the public majority remains. It no longer has the same significance as it did during the French Revolution. It seems to have now taken an academic role as galleries cover walls with theory and information at exhibit entrances acting almost as warning signs to the average on looker. People often look at contemporary works of art, when they have to, looking puzzled and confused, asking ‘what does it mean?’ until shortly there after brushing it aside to no avail. Although these short attention spans and attitudes seem ignorant, it is necessary to realize that these are the times we live in. I am by no means trying to discredit the art galleries, what I am trying to deconstruct is the current way of seeing which has lead me to question the way of now and the traditional ways of putting out art. A true artist should be able to find and create discourse in the streets, and not rely on the white walls to contextualize a way of seeing.
In order to unite the divided art world, we must dismiss ‘The Canon’ definitions of art and erase the ideologically charged walls of the art institutions to find a common ground and realize the simple beauty within the shared human experience. The key to the common ground is the ability to see beauty everywhere within the shared human experience, even within the gum covered streets. "The dark constellations made by gum on the sidewalk have a logic that is not always apparent to us. Chaos theory and fractal equations help us to see the underlyining structure in their seeming randomness" (Byrne 4), because, “when you see beauty everywhere in everything, your soul is set free.” (Local Colour, 2008), and you are able to feel a great overwhelming sense of an emotional catharsis.
Much like religion, art is seen by many as a conduit for the progression of morality by pushing our boundaries through not just art discourse but through what I refer to as human discourse. As the world’s boundaries have shifted, the art world’s white walled boundaries have not. The gallery space has become a dead zone for art as it holds a predetermined audience containing an already enlightened creative class of intellectuals and artists who’s boundaries have already been pushed and broken.This has lead to the sense that traditional art is dead, and that there are no heroes there. Rather than dismissing those who role their eyes at the sight of contemporary art as ignorant people, if what we create is truly art, we should have the courage to step away from the gallery and show the world’s beauty in today’s common ground of the streets and digital world of the internet. The internet of which has experienced an upsurge in creative growth with such websites such as YouTube and Flickr where the whole world now has a new potential to connect and share their human experiences with the entire world.
As a result of this overwhelming amount of possibilities to leave our marks and to share our stories and experiences, the dilemma of what method, what tool, or what technology to best communicate with others has occupied my mind for some time. Through time I have come to realize designer Karim Rashid’s perception of being to ‘just let art happen.’ There’s no one way to communicate. Some may say that talking is the best way, but that doesn’t even suffice, as verbal communication in it itself holds cultural limits and boundaries. What I strive for are means of communication that know no boundaries such as soccer as everybody understands the unspoken language of soccer. Place a ball on the ground and everybody will know what to do. We cannot control the external forces that we are subject to such as our parents, our upraising, our social class, and our location. Hence we should use what is made available, because everything is a tool for human mediation. Create and communicate within the forces that we are subjected to. Whether rich or poor, pencil or paint, film or internet, words or images, there is always a way to add to the collective experience of life.
‘Art’ does not take shape of a given ‘canon,’ it is simply beauty. “When you see beauty everywhere in everything, your soul is set free.” (Local Colour, 2008). There is no definition of beauty, it simply is. It cannot be contained within the constraints of a sentence. It is illusive and free. It is moments of emotional catharsis held in every aspect of life. To leave a mark (or to create art) one does not need a specific piece of technology. We can use the technological output of our tongues to compose beautiful sounds in music, the technological output of our fingers to draw a line in the sand, we can also use the technological output of our minds to unleash revolutions of ideas to be imbedded in history. All of these are technologies of marking making and ‘art’ used to communicate the human experience. What better way to share our experiences than through the mark making of the arts.
I am not an artist, I am not a poet, I am not a visionary, I am a human being. I do not make art, I leave marks. My purpose is to share the human experience from which we can further the development of the human spirit. Hence my work is not for the consumer, my work is free, and instead all I ask is for a donation for my survival as a mark maker living in a capitalist driven society. My attempt is to demystify the beauty in everything, in all forms of mark making, in the simple things, and in all of life's complexities. Such thoughts and musings on life and art have been documented on my website at www.amarkmaker.blogspot.com.
Art as mark making is a collective process and a way of leaving our mark. Although we may think of this notion as a positive romanticized notion striving toward a man made utopian paradise where all are just and rational, the marks that we have left in the art world are the most insignificant. The most significant marks that humans have left are not the pretty pictures left by the Van Gogh’s or Da Vinci’s, but rather the wars and the present climate change are what scar the earth and mark our history the most. Hence, with such issues emerging and reemerging, there are no heroes in the art world, no one can save the world with pretty pictures and odd objects, so “why bother with ‘art’?” However ignorant this may be, it is a question that I have struggled with as an ‘artist’ and as a human struggling with self-relevance for some time. It centers around the notion of leaving my mark, the desire to be someone of importance and relevance, but if my ‘marks’ cannot save the world, then why bother? If art cannot save the world then maybe we should revert to science and rational ways of seeing, which seems to be the only thing relevant in solving these problems. But I have come to realize that it is in precisely during these times when the world experiences strife and despair that the role of the artist is most clear and looked upon. ‘The job of the artist is to uplift man’s soul’ (Local Colour, 2008). No single discipline can solve these problems. All people from various streams of life are needed as it is a collective effort. Throughout human discourse the world has relied on the artists’ insight of beauty to demystify the human condition and to uplift the human soul.
In conjunction to notions of strife and despair “being a human being is knowing that life is short” (Local Colour, 2008), with life being a temporary presence, it is safe to say that no religion and no rational science will save us from our temporality on earth. The marks we leave are temporary, they exist only as long as we do. The drive to create should not be a drive to create but rather a drive to communicate with others, to play with others, to cry with others, and to live with others. The most we can do is share this unique human experience. Demystify the present beauty that we have become oblivious to and realize the colour that a lover’s lips leave, realize the colour of joy that playing brings, and realize the colour in the togetherness of life. Being human is not a question of ‘I’ but rather a notion of ‘us.’ Hence where I stand is where you stand. Where I stand is where we live and breathe. Where I stand is in the midst of the story of the human race.

Works Cited

Byrne, David. Arboretum. 1st Ed. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books, 2006.

Local Colour. Dir. George Gallo. Perf. Armin Mueller-Stahl, Trevor Morgan, Ray Liotta,
Charles Durning, Samantha Mathis. 35mm. Empire Film Group, 2008.

A Lesson in Beauty

2008-11-10T15:51:00.001-05:00

American Beauty

CD Design for: Esperanto

2008-11-08T11:37:00.002-05:00

Defn; an artificial language devised in 1887 as an international medium of communication, based on roots from the chief European languages.

iTunes... the art gallery and museum of today

2008-11-07T18:44:00.003-05:00

2008-11-06T13:07:00.001-05:00

Writting: Mark Making

2008-11-06T13:06:00.003-05:00

My album cover design for the band: Semantics

2008-11-06T00:37:00.003-05:00

The 2008 Election

2008-11-02T17:18:00.003-05:00

in iphone editing

2008-10-31T18:41:00.006-04:00

This split screen photo was taken and edited on the iPhone. I screen capture in the middle of flipping to the next picture. A very cool effect turned out.

Shake Rattle & Roll

2008-10-29T15:46:00.002-04:00

Mark Making through the digital world

2008-10-26T20:52:00.003-04:00

I find 'Facebook' really quite remarkably beautiful. There is something poetically beautiful to see all your friends update their status. A window into tragic and not so tragic lives.
I just want people to realize that when there seems to be nothing there, look closer and you will find beauty.

Mark Making on loose paper

2008-10-24T22:23:00.004-04:00

Mark Making Moleskin

2008-10-13T12:27:00.003-04:00

Mark making/thoughts on paper

How others see art?

2008-10-05T19:49:00.002-04:00

What is Art?

2008-10-03T00:16:00.002-04:00

Even though I find this question incredibly engaging, it is evident to see that there is no right or wrong answer, as a result it always seems to lead to a dead end, and what do we get out of it? I’m not quite sure.
I find that many tend to over analyze ‘art.’ So as a result I don’t worry over what can or can not be art, because through my eyes everything is what it is, and it is beautiful for that reason.
I’m not brave enough to say that it’s a waste of time, but I will say that I find it funny or rather odd that we are constantly discussing ‘what is art?’ Is it really worth the time and effort when we could potentially be addressing more important issues, whatever they may be. So in order to do so, like many issues and moral progressions, it is essential to first establish a common ground.
This common ground that I suggest stems from where ‘art’ comes from and ‘why’ we create it. I’d like to think that everyone could agree that ‘art’ has evolved from our own existence, a footprint on our planet. It has evolved from our own subconscious and intrinsic nature to create, to make, to leave marks, to leave our mark, to mark our own existence both individually and collectively as human beings. The key word here i find is, mark, not only through a physical visual mark but also in the sense of creating an impact in a variety of realms or reality. Hence what I find most fitting for this common ground, is to think of art in the simple sense of mark making; the act of leaving our mark, or establishing a recognition of our existence. Because we seem to have this unique desire as human beings to constantly create things that mark different aspects of our existence, whether it is a signature on a painting, or designed pieces of clothing, or even a manufactured automobile, they are all markings of the human race. We like to see what we can do.

“Let art happen.” - Karim Rashid, Industrial Designer.
Just take away what you can from whatever you see, or experience. Try not to even think of it as art, but rather as some thing... if possible.

There is also the notion of the artist, which I also seem to be unsure of.
Like that word art, there are preconceptions and assumptions that people bring to it. For example when I would describe myself as an artist people think what kind of artist? What do you do? Or if for some reason embarrassed they would not ask and instead assume that I am what all artists are in their mind, for example a painter that paints landscapes and sells them. The word has so many meanings. So as a result, along with my notion of mark making, I have come to recognize myself as a mark maker that does just that, leave marks. These marks maybe as literal as simple paint marks left on a canvas or more abstract through the form of video or again, simple marks, known to be recognized as letters and languages. These in my mind are marks left by humans meant to communicate the human experience, which I find is the most that we can do in our lives, which I also believe to be our sole purpose on this planet. Share and communicate the human experience. But because mark making is intrinsic to all humans, rather than introducing myself as a mark maker or even an “artist”, I would go further (or backwards) to say that:
I am not an artist, I am not a poet, I am not a visionary, I am a human being. I do not make art, I leave marks. My purpose is to share the human experience from which we can further the development of the human spirit. Hence my work is not for the consumer, my work is free, and instead all I ask is for a donation for my survival as a mark maker living in this society.

However abstract this may seem:

If art/mark making is a product of life, and life is experienced and not done, then we should not do art but instead experience art/ be art. I would go even further to say:

I don’t do, I be.

I Don't Believe In Atheists

2008-08-23T19:12:00.003-04:00

T-shirt design

2008-07-09T21:00:00.002-04:00

why bother?

2008-07-02T19:27:00.003-04:00

-maybe someone has an answer...

shair dem idias

2008-06-25T18:57:00.001-04:00

bubble boy is a true story

2008-06-18T20:18:00.001-04:00

thinking...

2008-06-17T11:58:00.001-04:00

a reminder

2008-06-14T22:03:00.001-04:00

The Power of Soccer(football)

2008-06-10T22:50:00.001-04:00

http://potw.news.yahoo.com/s/potw/58554/can-a-soccer-ball-change-the-wo;_ylt=AoBXvTBmgBTqiFgnnZd5Mm4KwId4

Public Mark Making

2008-06-09T21:51:00.001-04:00

My current main goal is to bring you mark makings from within the physical world as well as from the digital world.

Is the grass truly greener on the other side?

2008-06-04T19:31:00.003-04:00

A Holy Moment

2008-05-27T22:30:00.002-04:00

Into the Wild

Thoughts from within white walls

2008-05-27T22:19:00.005-04:00

Daily Task

2008-05-21T19:55:00.002-04:00

Parabox

2008-05-19T20:55:00.003-04:00

Daily Task

2008-05-17T23:36:00.003-04:00

Parabox

2008-05-17T23:25:00.002-04:00

I am a number