Vader Tesseract is a sculpture I made in Zbrush based on my recent encounter with three NYPD detectives who decided to visit one morning and encountered my vader drawings on the wall, and almost decided to buy one on the spot. No worries not in trouble myself but realized I indeed have a vader drawing on every wall, almost a Vader Tesseract.
I am so scared of deep water, but this amazing, unadulterated, unscripted, untouched, unspoiled, uncontrived beauty really makes me want to overcome that and learn how to dive and snorkel. I am dreaming to snorkel the great barrier reef, soon!
The ArtTruck installation has long been in my head, even before the time I made my cross country drive between Florida and California, about 3000 miles which I used wisely, to think. TheArt truck is special in that it was originally inspired by the American trucking culture I have long been fascinated with. I meant it as a countryside version of an art installation, where a large truck makes frequent stops along highways - at truck stops and rest areas, and out of the cargo hold come art materials. Primed canvas is stretched over the truck and then a quick and impromptu painting happens with people that happen to be there.
To make it work in Manhattan I went to U-haul on 23rd street and took some measurements and decided to use a van for the first ArtTruck project. Then I found a 3d model of a similar cargo van online and draped /dressed it in primed canvas to visualize what wrapping it and then painting it might look like.
One of my long term projects is Epicurus House, based on Epicurus philosophy. I envision it as a cross between ideas incubator and a zen garden with the focus on advancing civilization ( rather than mere reflection ). So what is Epicurus philosophy? from http://thephilosophersmail.com/perspective/the-great-philosophers-3-epicurus/
..Epicurus made three important innovations:
- Firstly, he decided that he would live together with friends. Enough of seeing them only now and then. He bought a modestly priced plot of land outside of Athens and built a place where he and his friends could live side by side on a permanent basis. Everyone had their rooms, and there were common areas downstairs and in the grounds. That way, the residents would always be surrounded by people who shared their outlooks, were entertaining and kind. Children were looked after in rota. Everyone ate together. One could chat in the corridors late at night. It was the world’s first proper commune.
- Secondly, everyone in the commune stopped working for other people. They accepted cuts in their income in return for being able to focus on fulfilling work. Some of Epicurus’s friends devoted themselves to farming, others to cooking, a few to making furniture and art. They had far less money, but ample intrinsic satisfaction.
- And thirdly, Epicurus and his friends devoted themselves to finding calm through rational analysis and insight. They spent periods of every day reflecting on their anxieties, improving their understanding of their psyches and mastering the great questions of philosophy.
Even today, Epicurus remains an indispensable guide to life in advanced consumer capitalist societies because advertising – on which this system is based – functions on cleverly muddling people up about what they think they need to be happy.
An extraordinary number of adverts focus on the three very things that Epicurus identified as false lures of happiness: romantic love, professional status and luxury.
Adverts wouldn’t work as well as they do if they didn’t operate with an accurate sense of what our real needs are. Yet while they excite us by evoking them, they refuse to quench them properly. Beer ads will show us groups of friends hugging – but only sell us alcohol (that we might end up drinking alone). Fancy watch ads will show us high-status professionals walking purposefully to the office, but won’t know how to answer the desire for intrinsically satisfying work. And adverts for tropical beaches may titillate us with their serenity, but can’t – on their own – deliver the true calm we crave
Epicurus invites us to change our understanding of ourselves and to alter society accordingly. We mustn’t exhaust ourselves and the planet in a race for things that wouldn’t possibly satisfy us even if we got them. We need a return to philosophy and a lot more seriousness about the business of being happy.
In terms of 21st century context I envision the house as a place for digital nomads who are interested in art and technology, a co-working and co-living space without for-profit agenda and providing a refuge from the financialization of thought.
A place for people who see themselves as lifelong learners and philosophers without the title, also a place for people who do not see value in owning expensive furniture or cars but see value in conversation and exchanging ideas for advancing civilization.
I see the house as a temporary or long-terms pit stop rather than a permanent dig. Unlike a hotel or an airbnb - the only currency would be courteous conversation and friendly attitude, and common goal of advancing civilization. With the only constant being the values of the people who reside in it.
In the greatest city in the world art just happens :) New York's MTA - Metropolitan Transportation Agency which is in charge of the subway is making art too. Currently the MTA is under a lot of pressure and this took place at the Columbus Circle subway station around 11pm. The workers probably thought I am photographing them to complain. Nothing of that sort.
Pollock's famous painting just a few blocks away: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78386 .
The first one is "Laundromat", based on a real-life story.
Animation and simulation with pen and ink drawings, based on a drawing with the same name:http://www.mirenarhee.com/pdrawings/mirena_rhee-drawing-automatic-states.html
My world is the world of the ephemeral, and the world of ideas. They touch down lightly and float effortlessly. There are no wants in it but space, and time.
Inspired by the NYC subway, where various characters perform various routines, from simple getting from point A to point B - to the theater of the Absurd. There are all kind of objects, and hands. A performance I created over four hours, without a script and working spontaneously with various objects, including paint, ink, food and found objects: 1. Strings 2. Brushes and paint 3. Old singing clock 4. Apple peels ( I love apples, usually consume a tall bag of it daily ) 5. Spinach 6. Juice 7. Juicer 8. Toy Cars 9. Ball 10. Coins 11. Wood shavings 12. Walmart Flipflops 13. Staple gun 14. Belt 15. Umbrella and many other objects
The installation room and wearables were created over several days using a drawing of the same name, re-arranged and transferred on paper.
One of my core practices is taking a drawing and disassembling it in 3D. Whether in three-dimensional space on the computer or as a room-size installation, I enjoy re-thinking the drawings and reassembling parts of them into new work.
Memory Replacement The Armory Show was a success!! We had our memory replaced. Over 200 art lovers from all walks of life painted. Check out the brilliant photographs by Kenneth James.