December 20ths
12/20/1924
12/20/2010
Article on salon.com: “How America will collapse (by 2025)”. Judging by the rancor in Washington I could see how we could make this prediction.
12/20/2012
The eve of the end of the world by the Mayan calendar. It is a reminder that singular events are a fixture of life. Things begin and end on their own, but are tethered to our understanding of time. Was the calendar ubiquitous and followed or even known by all the Maya? Interesting: all the various cycles within the Mayan calendar don’t just abruptly end—they come back in sync. That is something to celebrate, not fear. It’s a New Downbeat, the “One”.
12/20/2016
When we think of light we understand it as a retinal phenomenon. But music has been used as a metaphor for centuries, most notably during the impressionism period in the late 19th century, with works primarily by Debussy and Ravel.
In the 20th century, artists such as James Turrell and Brian Eno extended light’s phenomenological (or ambient) aspects. Eno was interested in light even before he became involved with sound and Turrell, while not an audio artist, recontextualized light as being an ambient phenomenon worthy of deeper meaning and attention.
There is a natural linearity of moving from visual phenomenon to sound; They are joined at the hip in many ways. People who have synesthesia understand this with an intensity that others may not. Still, most understand that light and sound are comprised of various frequencies, which manifest in spectra of colors, luminosity, and pitch.
Algorithms can be programmed to correlate light and sound with the most simple and prosaic example being the laser light displays, sometimes digitally synchronized with sound--sometimes in a more analog fashion using pressure-sensitive piezo microphones, as used in a laser light show accompanying Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
The correlation between light frequency and sound frequency is highly subjective--and no two people will be in accordance. But that is not what matters: In terms of how sunlight waxes and wanes at various points on the globe, it is an impelling force to contemplate the power of sunlight and celestial awareness, and extending it to how we experience music and sound. We don’t automatically perceive the connection between light and sound but it has always existed, and it is the interdisciplinary artist (or rather “sciartist”) that can bring it to light.
12/20/2019
Warhol show at Art Institute. It’s interesting to watch the crowds react. You can tell the people that perhaps it is their first time seeing Warhols on a wall. I’m always amazed at the work ethic and the sheer size of some of the pieces. Loved seeing the Tunafish Disaster live—all of the silks in fact.
It just feels right to take photos of TVs showing Warhol videos because it’s a new technology (my camera) capturing what Warhol was using as new technology.