News From Austin, TX

Yet another short piece.

Another practice piece:

quartetish

New Music

Just a little practice piece I threw together today:
lightlysoftly

A piece that may become the soundtrack to a slideshow of photos taken during my three-week MBA orientation:
mba_theme

More Flowers.

These pictures came out very grainy, because I was losing light and had to shoot at 800 ISO. They came out pretty well, though, so I posted them anyway:

Stairs, Alarm.

 

 

Gas.

 

 

Tree Bark and Sap

Soft Flower

Drain, Can.

In honor of the weekend, I give you a close-up of the pop top of a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer:

Clouds.

Well, here's another "oldie" from the archives. This one was taken with my beloved Canon EOS 35MM SLR which I sold last year. Once you've gone digital...it's hard to go back.

In fact, I just ran across the photo I used in selling it on Amazon:


A few more shots taken with the EOS here in Pullman, WA:


There's a definite warmth and subtle softness with 35MM film that I miss. However, the convenience of digital photography and printing is, I think, worth the trade-off, and there's a lot you can fix with Photoshop or The Gimp!

Brickwork.

Here are some "oldies but goodies" taken way back in 1987 (or thereabouts), when I was but a wee lad of 18. These were taken with the classic Pentax K1000 35MM SLR camera. I also developed the negatives and created the prints at home in my darkroom (otherwise known as my bathroom).

Twigs, Leaf.

Conifer Twigs

Leaves and Spider Web

Untitled

The vultures circle
Around your head like
Some crazy clawed
Satellites.
The water
Is thin here--
So thin as to be
Dust
Racing through your
Fingers after you
Plunge your hands
Into the sand and
Lift your palms
To the motlen
Sun. (continue reading &aquo;)

What is art?

Sure, it's a loaded question, but I was ruminating on this subject last night as I drifted off to sleep, and had some thoughts the matter.  What is art? I would contend that art is undefinable, and therefore any dictionary or textbook definition of art is invalid.  Art simply is.  Art isn't defined by a concrete set of parameters, but rather created through perspective and context.

Take the most utilitarian item, say, a hammer.  If one were to take a close-up photograph of it, so that all one sees is a portion of the hammer, perhaps just the wood grain on the handle, the perspective has been changed; the hammer is seen in a different light, so to speak.  Its texture is emphasized, its contours, its surfaces' reflections of light.

Now imagine a hammer in a situation in which it is not performing its typical function; rather than forcing a nail into a piece of wood, it is dangling from the ceiling of an art gallery by a length of fishing line.  This change in context causes one to look at the hammer not as a "hammering tool", but as an object unto itself.  It can be appreciated for other reasons than its ability to "hammer": the smooth, reflective metal of the head, the wood grain patterns in the handle, and so forth.

Of course, "art is in the eye of the beholder"; one could just as easily argue that a hammer is a hammer is a hammer.  However, just because one individual doesn't agree on whether or not something qualifies as "art" does not mean it is not art.  From an existential viewpoint, the meaning of an object is ascribed by the individual, not by some universal standard or consensus of opinion.

Therefore, when I say I am "an artist", and that my photographs are "art", it is true, and I am defining myself in a truthful manner, if only in the realm of my experience. (continue reading &aquo;)

Pink Phone

Guitar Jack

Sink Triptych

Water

Pink and Yellow Flower

Daisy

Wooden Fence

The Field

Rails and Glass

Rails and Sky

Stairs 1

Stairs 2

Stairs 3

Stairs 4

Tiger Lilies

Dandelion

A/C

Bar

Fries

Steel

Pole

Tower

Discs

Thread and Spider

Zero Miles Per Hour

Metal

Wires

XLR

Time

Stereo

Stapler

Bullseye

Earbud

Fence

Blinds

Keys