Dematerialization of the Object of Art

Window

Upcoming Show: Works of Man-June 26-July 25th

I have been selected for a group show titled Works of Man at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO. The juror for the exhibition was one of my favorite contemporary photographers, Chris Jordan. The artist reception takes place during the Fort Collins Gallery walk on July 3rd from 6-9pm. I hope you can check out the show!

Bollywood Night

I donated a piece to the silent auction for the DAM Contemporaries and I will also be attending the event and photographing the celebration along with my friend and fellow artist, Rachel Hawthorn. Come join us!

New Pictures

I put some new pictures up on my website from my trip, and decided to use these images for my first experimentation with pairings. I have never tried this with my own images, although I have great respect for artists who do this with their work regularly. It's not an easy task, and fighting with the pairings that make sense logically vs. aesthetically is sometimes hard to sort out. It's easy to just want to know "why" images go together, but sometimes they just feel like they do. Is that a good enough explanation? I'm curious what you think about pairings for your own work and when you think it makes sense and when it is just fluff.

Fresh Kill-Elk

While on our Lewis and Clark trail ride today, we came across live elk, deer, rattlesnakes, eagles as well as some pretty well preserved skeletons of the same. We also happened across a freshly killed elk. As we approached a large flock of black crows were circling around. The Labrador retriever (Duke) that was with us ran them off and I took a photo.

Elk Skeleton

Today we took a 10 mile horseback ride through Lewis and Clark country--North Fork, Idaho, near the Salmon River. It was the most beautiful country I have seen in a long time. It's hard to believe such untouched beauty still exists in the US while in the confines of the city. Thanks to our guide, Justin, we had a taste of the history and the difficulty of the journey they took so long ago.

Pictures from the Road

In case you didn't know, my husband and I are on a road trip. Well, we were. Now we have reached our destination in the remote mountains of Montana and we are having a wonderful and relaxing time among the pine and aspen trees.

A few pictures from our trip through Wyoming, through Yellowstone and into Montana.

Scott contemplating the World's Largest Mineral Hotsprings in Thermopolis, WY

Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park

It's Springtime--Buffalo mom and baby!

Scott eating buffalo. No baby buffalo were harmed in the making of this photo. Buffalo poop was stepped in.

Bill Jay, 1940-2009

We will miss you.

Bill Jay

 

Extinction: Denver Botanic Gardens May 23-July 26, 2009

Upcoming Shows

I have a couple of upcoming shows in the works that I'll be participating in and I'm super excited about them!

I have been invited to participate in a group show at the Denver Botanic Gardens:
Extinction: Artists Respond
May 23-July 26
Opening reception: May 28, 5:30-8 p.m. (RSVP to exhibits@botanicgardens.org or 720-865-3636)
Juried by Simon Zalkind, Curator, Singer Gallery, Mizel Arts & Culture Center and Ivar Zeile, Director/Owner of Plus Gallery, this exhibition highlighting 17 contemporary artists presents responses to the concepts and issues raised by the potential extinction of species.

I have also agreed to create a small, new piece to donate to the Denver Art Museum’s DAM Contemporaries Bollywood extravaganza event on June 13, 2009.

Finally, I'm looking forward to creating a new piece for an upcoming show in September. The details are still forthcoming but let me just say, it's going to be "MONUMENTAL".

Scott Hunt

1. This drawing is the bees knees
2. This story makes me angry. It represents the worst facets of the business of art.

Pablo Soria

I saw the work of Pablo Soria while I was in Dallas during the national conference of SPE (Society of Photographic Education). They are beautiful online, but they don't come close to touching the beauty of these pieces in person.

Litex camera film print over linen and acrylic painting on paper

48 x 48 in. ­ Year 2006 ­ Pablo Soria

Litex camera film print over linen and acrylic painting on paper

20 x 20 in. ­ Year 2006 ­ Pablo Soria

Backyards

New Math
Thanks Nathan!

Boot Hill, Tombstone, AZ

More New Pics

New Pics--Arizona/New Mexico/Colorado--January 2009

 

12-2-2008, Calhoun House facing west.

Shrubbery, Roggen, CO

12-2-2008, Soldier-Near Ft. Morgan, CO

Hills, Mounds, Piles

I went on a long overdue day-long road trip on Tuesday. It was one of those "unseasonably warm" Colorado days, and I knew that I wouldn't see 65 degrees again for a while. In fact, I woke up to several inches of snow today.

I drove out to Yuma, Colorado which is almost to the Kansas state line. At the end of the day after loading all my images into Lightroom, I noticed a strange theme to my shooting throughout the day. I photographed hills. All kinds of hills. Anthills, bushes in the shape of hills, natural terrain and at one point a 15 foot pile of corn. In the shape of a hill, of course. What is the deal??

 

 

All images copyright © Patti Hallock 2008

In thinking about those anthills I was photographing, I remembered a story I saw about a teacher that makes molds of the complex tunnels that ants create to help us visualize the underground world they live in. Nature as art:

Kraftwerk

I just found one of my favorite videos from 1986, by Kraftwerk "Music, Non Stop". This was one of the most advanced videos I had ever seen at the time. Imagine the computing power this needed!

Kraftwerk |MTV Music

Under Pressure

MTV has released all of the videos for free on their website. For someone who comes from the days before MTV, taping "Friday Night Videos" on VHS or staying up late surreptitiously to watch it live, it marks another change in how we consume our media, or at least the death of an old way.

Anyway, while perusing the site I discovered that the video for David Bowie/Queen "Under Pressure" is really aging well--it seems just as good today as it was in 1981. The arc of the video seemingly brings us from the last eight emotional years of the Bush administration to the place of hope that I feel now that we have a new president elect.

Queen |MTV Music

I voted today!

CJ's Mountain Madness 3/1997-10/2008

My heart has taken another blow with the loss of my sweet puppy, CJ. Even though he was almost 12 years old and gray like an old man, he was always still a puppy in his heart and in mine. When I was thinking of words to describe him I came up with sweet, handsome, happy, loyal, loving and most of all, CONSTANT. CJ was always CJ. Always dependable in his sweet disposition and happy attitude. From the time he was a puppy until his last day with us, he always carried his leash in his mouth as if he was the one taking us for a walk. He went to doggie daycare from the time he was three months old, and he never retired from it. Everywhere he went, people loved CJ and were always happy to see him and CJ was ALWAYS happy to see other people. CJ assumed everyone wanted to say hello, dogs, people, cats, squirrels. He was confused by the mixed reception he would get from cats. He loved them, why didn't they love him?

CJ loved ice cubes, hiking, scratching, and food, food, food. Oh, and chewing. He was a lab, after all and I believe he had an engineer's mind about chewing. You could watch him with a new bone, working on it, turning it around until he found the weak spot. He was happiest when he was with us, close by and part of the pack. In the end, we discovered he had bone cancer and the tremendous pain that it caused was something we would not let him suffer. As painful as it is for us to let him go, I'm consoled knowing he is happy in doggie heaven running around sniffing doggie butts and no longer suffering from his aging legs.

My heart is broken. We miss you so much CJ.

When he was a younger man:

Another confession

I'm a techie. Seriously. I love technology and sometimes I really wish I didn't because it changes so fast you can never keep up and that is quite frustrating. For instance, I wanted to wait until the rumored Canon 5D MKII came out before I made my first digital SLR purchase, but it was a ghost in February and I gave up and took the jump into digital. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Canon 5D. Fast forward: the new one is finally out. It is so much better than I even imagined that I'm just in knots over it. Check out this first look by a photographer I admire a great deal, Vincent Laforet. He calls the camera a "game changer". I'm in serious lust people. Christmas is coming! Look in the seat cushions. I'll take any and all spare change (or offers to buy my gently used 5D body).

Tornado Aside

Right now I'm in my basement hiding from the sirens going off in my neighborhood warning us about a possible tornado. While I wait down here for the storm to pass, I thought I'd make a posting.

I have had lots of thoughts to put down here but I never seem to get around to posting those ideas. It took an email that I was writing to Tema Stauffer about my project to spur me to finally put these images up on my blog.

Last month I took a trip to Kansas to spend the weekend on the Moore Family Ranch. The Joe and Nancy Moore raise Texas Longhorn cattle on natural grass prairies over many, many acres of land. It was a tremendously eye-opening experience for me. Their way of life differs from mine in just about every way. They have a nice home with running water, a dishwasher and all those kinds of amenities. What I mean is that the concerns of their day-to-day life differ from mine.  The easiest way to state it would be that the primary concern when they wake up in the morning is THE RANCH, not ME, ME, ME. I could go on and on but I'll save that for another posting.

In the meantime, here are two different images from the weekend. The Moore family has free roaming cattle that eat grass on the prairie. The cattle that goes to slaughter is sold locally and on a subscription basis to a few customers. This cow died of natural causes on the prairie about a 18 months ago. The carcass is still left behind but the rest of her body went back to the land.

While driving home to Colorado I drove past about 30 of these large operations called feedlots. This is primarily where the meat comes from that you see in the supermarket.

In case you were wondering, the tornado warning expired and my house is still intact.

Somewhere in Nebraska

Sometimes the weather cooperates when I'm photographing. In one sense this was a difficult place to shoot because the wind was really blowing hard and it was cold. I took this last week -- it was about 50 degrees. At the same time, the dark threatening clouds in the sky mimicked my mood perfectly.

A Photographer's Cat (1991-2008)

I had the amazing experience of loving and being loved by my cat Monster for almost 17 years. She has been my friend and companion for half of my life, traveling with me across country multiple times and living in almost as many different places with me as she has had years. She lost her battle with cancer yesterday and has left me with a huge gaping hole where my heart used to be.

Monster managed to communicate very effectively with humans by talking. I don't mean talking like a person, but she had a different meow for every different kind of idea she wanted to communicate. Often these ideas were commands to the surrounding humans to serve her in some way. "Fill this water bowl. Now this one. Now feed me. Scratch my back. Get out of bed and feed me. Now." Wherever we went, Monster managed to recruit all of my closest friends over the years to care for her. She had a big personality. She was warm and loving, independent and strong, and she had the loudest and most soothing purr I've ever encountered.

 

Monster's many nicknames: Monster-face, Mons, Brat, Moo-moo, Sweetpea, Water-Monster, Brat-face, Monsterositor,  (forgive my spelling, I've never written these down before)

I did all that I could to care for her in every way possible and she returned the favor all these years. She came into my life shortly after I lost my mother to cancer. I found her when she was just four weeks old, abandoned by her mother who was a stray. Monster was a beautiful cat full of love and character. I will miss her terribly. Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Residency news!

I was accepted to a residency at the respected Banff Centre located in Alberta Canada! I'll be going up to the beautiful Canadian Rockies at the end of July for two weeks of printing, video editing and un-interrupted art making time. I'm so thrilled and honored to have been accepted. The time and ability to work on my new project is invaluable and I'll be working furiously on my project in the meantime in preparation for my time up there. I'll keep you posted!

A Polaroid a Day

A really moving story--check it out:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/15131

I don't get it

Who can afford these homes? Who are these people?

Decisive Moment

I was back home in Philadelphia early last month for my sister's XX birthday. We had a surprise party for her and all of her friends and family were there. The surprise was that she ruined the surprise, but to those of us who know her best, that was no surprise. She hates surprises. We tried hard to keep it a secret but ultimately the family buckled under the pressure. The best part was that she was convinced that I wasn't coming for the party, so at least that was one thing that did surprise her.

While lighting the candles on the cake in preparation for the singing of the happy birthday song, I managed to capture this decisive moment of multiple people working on the cake at the same time. To me, this image is all about family and friends in unison working to make the moment perfect for Debbie. Happy Birthday, sis!

You might laugh...

...but I've been taking horseback riding lessons. I knew that riding would help with my project so I decided to brush up on my skills. I haven't ridden much since I was a kid at camp, and since then I've only ridden what are called "push button horses". These are the ones you rent for an hour or two that walk in a line through the woods and they know what to do and where to go. Skilled rider is completely unnecessary.

Anyway, I've been going for over a month now and the crazy thing is that I have discovered that I LOVE it. I get better every week and that has been really rewarding. The lesson itself is something I look forward to all week long. It is a wonderful oasis in the middle of my week where I can leave the blackberry in the car and I'm blissfully unaware of the world except for my horse.

So...I bought these boots. Aren't they fabulous?

Easter Sunday with Buffalo Bill

Memory Care

Scott's grandma is 97 years old. Recently she lost her husband who was 101 years old. Severe macular degeneration renders the world effectively dark for her. Even though she has strong long term memories, her short term memory is non-existent. Within five minutes she has forgotten who she is with and what she is doing. Her children found her a home in a "memory care" center to keep her safe. (She has wandered in the past).

We visited her new home in the memory care unit in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. They have redundant control and alarm systems to be sure that the patients don't leave the premises and get lost. As a part of this system they have painted the walls to make the doors seem to disappear. Alarm codes must be entered to open each door for five seconds.

Scott's Grandma is 97

Doesn't she look amazing?

Why?

I thought of Zoe Strauss when I took this picture in Tucson. I think she would have loved this wall as much as I did. It was only better because it was right next to this:

Flying Frontier Airlines

I am the first to admit that I'm easily amused. I think I'm difficult to impress, but often the simplest things make me very happy. One of those things is the animal advertising campaign by Frontier Airlines. I love animals as much as the next person, but there is something about the personalities of each animal that really entertains me.

I spent the late 1990's and early 2000 flying United Airlines. They are hubbed in Denver and we had their credit card, accumulated lots of miles and were happy for a short time. Like many airlines United declined after 9/11 but the most staggering change was the customer service. It became difficult to escape the feeling that we just were not welcome on their planes anymore. The employees were surly and sometimes downright nasty. After my first flight on Frontier I was hooked.

My favorite thing about flying Frontier besides the increased legroom is the animal on the tail and wing. I often can't wait to see which animal will be accompanying me on my journey. On my most recent flight to Tucson we had Charlie the Cougar.

For the record, my Frontier credit card has Jack the Rabbit.

The West

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I live in the West. I grew up in a row-home neighborhood in NE Philadelphia. My relationship to farms and horses, cows and such was mostly from TV and movies. I was in Colorado for eight years before I went to NY for graduate school and now that I'm back I see it with fresh eyes once again. There are still working farms surrounding the suburban sprawl that is my neighborhood. They co-exist among the constant development and I wonder how they survive. Among my favorite sounds and smells are the train that passes by about a mile away. I love to lie in bed at night and hear the horn blowing. Another less pleasant feature of being home in Colorado: whenever it's about to snow, everyone in the area knows about it because the winds bring the smell of the manure from the fields to the east. I love the West.

End of Polaroid

I'm sure you have heard the news by now, Polaroid is shutting down for good. The end of another piece of our photographic history is upon us. It occurred to me today that the opportunity for experimenting with students using instant film are over. Some of them may never use this film in their lives! So sad!

Here is a link to a blog posting containing YouTube commercials for Polaroid. The most memorable ones for me are the ones with James Garner. Take a trip down memory lane!

http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/006464.html