Oxbow Update

Tuesday I took my time getting up after another short sleep. I had not found the Catch Phrase game, so I went stargazing. Earlier Nick had done a fire piece on the dock, lighting two strips on fire and watching them go out over astronomical twilight. Then I talked to Matt from NY, a fellow, about stars, because he's taking astronomy this fall, and because the stars were great, with lower humidity and a later rising moon. Antares was up, but Sagittarius was still behind the hill. I did see two shooting stars. We talked also about sky-art making and I mentioned Trevor Paglen's work. We talked about models of the universe, science and art, and MAX/MSP. Before that I completed the Cube pieces, painting six landscapes looking different directions from the same point of view. I covered myself with clothes all except my fingers and face. The mosquitoes were swarming in the evening woods.

Wednesday I woke up and went out to hang the blank cube in the woods. I'm not sure about the shape or how cliche it is, as I discussed with Omair and Landon, but I had it made and it helped the piece. I think that putting photos of the cube in the woods, in the gallery would help a lot, and maybe a video too. It is too simple a statement to just switch the scene (switcheroo, as Kate aptly put it) - I need to bring the blank cube back inside. Crits went well, with people pointing out shortcomings in the logic of the piece and giving helpful suggestions. I might also try a mirrored shape sometime, hanging on the woods, the problem being that at the height at which had hung it, a mirrored cube could be really dangerous. But it was so satisfying to just go out and paint.