Desert Blooms

 

From a slideshow in progress about shape, decay, the Gothic and the desert, among other things. 

1. Ghost bricks from Barstow, CA

2.  Irvington Grotto w/ rare midwestern breeze blocks, Indianapolis IN

3. Toynbee tattoo spotted at Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV 

4. Nuns in a niche, Cathedral Canyon, Pahrump, NV

5. Las Vegas Rose Society ribbons from a private estate

6. Genet-grade rose/chain combo, Las Vegas, NV

7. Tarantula mural, Barstow, CA

8. Melanie's perfect pin combo featuring Vegas Vickie

9. Mirrored star, Neon Museum, Las Vegas, NV

10.  Chandelier from Round Room, Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, CA

11. Decorated shed, UNLV campus, Las Vegas, NV

12. Alex's party shoes, Las Vegas, NV

13. Anne's farewell cake, Las Vegas, NV

 

Bunter

I don't know why, but this Tweet keeps coming true.

Extreme Guest Appearances 2: Charles Fox

My good friend Charles Fox, linked to often throughout this blog, has become one of the internet's most thorough archivists of classic, often wonky American signage. He also might be the only person I know doing something ambitious with Instagram (username Charles_fox). Here are a few of his favorite signs he photographed in 2013.

Bedford Eyes/ Male Gaze

2 signs seen last week in beautiful downtown Bedford, IN.

Virgin v. Whore: Who will win???

Some Sources Sighted

Putting all my cards on the table here, offering up some of the elements that informed my collages, all found hidden in public in Bloomington, IN.


Chairhouse


Star Search


House Broken


Acoustic Views


Frosted Friends


Stylin'


Profilin'

Collages in Progress

A quartet of recent works on paper, inspired by vernacular signage, grafitti, and personal symbolism from Bloomington, Indiana.

Maybe if I'm feeling forthcoming, I'll share my source images this week.

Bricks & Mortals

Vernacular mural-heads may be interested to know that this painting, formerly adorning the wall outside Esthetica Unisex near Woodruff Place in Indianapolis, IN, no longer exists.
The polaroid above is of an earlier incarnation of the mural. The owners must've decided to sex it up a few months after its original inception: they painted the lips red!

R.I.P. my fave indy mural.

Architecture Signs and Semiotics

Been hard at work on this frustrating little research project for a New Media class, attempting to turn each of these collages into an html image map with a link to information on the web about each architectural sign.
I failed at that part, but luckily am happy with their looks.

Crowned Molding

"Portrait of Dick Law" by Debbie Reichard, cedar molding, 6" high x perimeter of room (72'), 2002

Debbie Reichard was a guest lecturer in Sculpture at my art alma mater, Herron School of Art and Design. I thought she was frightening and very talented. I don't know what she's doing now but I bet it's interesting.

The internet tells me the title "accidental aesthete" has been taken by someone else already, but if it wasn't I would probably throw it around here.

Animal Charm

Chicago's Animal Charm thought about some things I've been thinking about lately but..you know..a decade and a half ago.

Suburban Vernacular

Steph Davidson's new genre artworks blow my mind. Not only is she our nation's preeminent animated GIFstress (cept she's Canadian), but her sculpture proposal "Disembodied Pizza Hut Roof" combines a shrewd eye for architectural vernacular and speaks to dumb pizzaheads like myself.



I've seen sculpture using isolated architectural elements before, and I like it...but it's not usually funny.

It's a girl

One prop, and a play for your home to perform:

A: "You must pay the rent!"
B: "But I can't pay the rent!"
A: "You must pay the rent!"
B: "I just simply CAN"T pay the rent!"
C: "I'll pay the rent!"

Neolojizm

Expanding the lexicon when and where I can:



Dudiphone (dood-eh-fon): n. an instance in which a man repeats what a woman says right after her, but louder, and everyone hears him and laughs or goes "yeah!"
v. to repeat what a woman says in a louder voice than her, esp. a joke or insight.
Ex. "Don't dudiphone me, mothafucka."

Lux Exterior b/w Midas Inside

Greg's house puts a finer point on modernist metaphor in architecture.

None Sing

collages on paper by Erin K. Drew
Taking inspirations from neon sign stylings.

Sein Language

Right now, my boyfriend is downtown flying a sign that says "I am bipolar, just out of hospital. Anything will help." Last week I was applying on craigslist to be a seasonal "sign dancer" at fireworks outlets. I think they show, all these signs, that ours is an increasingly visual culture.
Honk if you're into it. over the internet. anything helps.
Is sign-flying a more direct form of communication? Is it like posting intimacies online? Does it turn your car into a computer? What do we see through the screen?..
Here's a video I want to make: Someone films me standin on a corner holding a cardboard sign that says "Honk if you have a blog." Or honk if you hit a bong.
If you see something, say something.