Week Seven: Oregon Logging Conference!

Recently I stumbled across an interesting little link showing photos of people who used perspective creatively in their photography. I found it interesting and thought you all might be interested in taking a look. Click here for that link.

I also read an article entitled "Is Hef really having a better time at the Playboy Mansion than you are at home?" by John Carlton. The article basically discusses the authors realization that you shouldn't compare this glammed up life of luxury to your own, when in fact your life is a lot more interesting. He says:

Abe Lincoln was right -- most people are about as happy as they make up their mind to be. I am blessed with a deep list of good friends and colleagues. People who can lift my spirits in a two-minute chat. People I rely on, and who rely on me and make my life full and robust.

I found a lot of connections between this articles message and creating artwork based on honesty with self rather than buying into the latest fads. That article can be found here.

UPDATES:

• I heard great news this week that Ron Boching from United Rental will be allowing me to take 25% off my rental at United Rental. This probably will save me nearly $100 or more. So thats great, but the cost is still out of my reach. I may have to call some manufacturers to get a better feel for donations.
• I finished the group show with Ben Young, Nathan Dinihinian, Jenna Bryant and Tyrone Swanson. It turned out great. We had a good mix of people at the opening and it seemed that a lot of people came through. Our show was a mixed media and concept show, but it did a good job to give a view of where we all are at in the art making process.
• The highlight of my weekend was checking out the Oregon Logging Conference to do a little research on the logging industry. I came out with a good feel about the people and machines that were doing this work. Check out the photos here:
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Sixth Week: Can anyone hear me?

Another whirlwind week. I have been formulating plans for my week ten installation in the Laverne Krause. It will be a pretty big endeavor, requiring a good amount of construction. The installation will combine audio and video and will involve inserting a user into an unknown space. I have been plugging away at contacting people and trying to gather the resources to pull this whole installation off. So far, progress has been a little slow. Especially with Ron Boching from United Rental. Read the following update for more.

Update:

• This week I talked to Sana Krusoe a little about my project and she was nice enough to give me the contact information to her brother who works on lighting for movies in Los Angeles. I gave him a call this week and he e-mailed me back. So far, I sent him a description of my project. It read as follows :
  
  Dear Patrick, Thank you so much for your response. Before I go into too much detail on the project, take a look at the attached photos. Two of the photos show conceptual images, another is the floor plan for the site and the final is some images of the site itself. If you want to see more images follow this link: http://www.uoregon.edu/~avandyk/bfa/first_visit/ Now, let me try to give you a better idea what I am doing for my installation. I am lighting the interior of an abandoned lumber mill in Swisshome, Oregon. The site is devoid of any facilities (electricity, water, etc) and is about a one hour drive from Eugene itself. My installation date is planned for an evening in May As you can see in the conceptual images there are many holes in the factory sides, the roof, windows etc. I would like to create the effect of light spilling out from these holes into the night. To do this, I want to use a Magnum MLT 5060M MH light tower and several generators which can support multiple halogen lights of 500-750 watts. The light towers operate on generators, so the lack of electricity will be solved. Also, I have read that these light towers can put out 3-4 acres of light, so two of them should be enough to cover the main factory floor. The smaller generators will light the interior of the shop and the office / break room that you see on the floor plan. I hope this gives you a better idea as to what I am doing. At this time, I am trying to have this equipment donated to me from United Rental. I have asked for two days of rental so that I can align the lights on the first day and on the second have my audience visit the site. My main question for you is: will the lights listed above give me the desired effect? And if not, is there a way to achieve this effect? I truly appreciate your time and I hope that we can have a small discussion about the project in the future. I am available for contact during the day at 503.708.8286. If you prefer, I can call you to cover any long distance charges. Thank you for your time, Andrew Van Dyk
  
  
• I called Ron Bocking Ron Boching of United Rental to check up on the progress on my proposal, but he said that he didn't get my e-mail last week, so I sent him another this week. Since I didn't show them last week, here are the images that I sent along with the e-mail to give him a better idea what I am doing.
  
  
  
  
  

Fifth Week: Arghy Hargh Peeky Poo

Wow, we're already through week five. This term is flying by, which is both good and bad. Good, in that I am getting closer to graduating. Bad in that I have a lot to do before the BFA project comes together. This week I had an installation at the Eric Washburne Gallery entitled "Live Feed". I think that it was generally well received and I had a lot of feedback on it from non-art students as well, which is always healthy. Check out this little documentation I did of it:



UPDATE:

• I was finally able to get a hold of Ron from United Rentals. It seems like he may be a rough sell, but I hope that I can win him over. I called just to set up a meeting with him and immediately he sniffed out my hints of donations, even though I never said the word. I first mentioned I was looking to get some kind of reduced rate and he immediately got huffy. He said that I will have to give him some information and if he will allow it, he will send it forward to Corporate. Corporate: such a dreaded word! Anyway, I sent him the e-mail today so we'll have to see how it all turns out.
• I am working on an audio portion of my project. This is a new development that will play in the transportation on the way to the factory. I assume it will last about 10 minutes and will play prior to arriving at the factory site. I'm working on a script as I write this. It will most likely combine stories from the factory and the file I have as well as some statistics about logging or industry. But I'll have it more nailed down soon.
  

Ron Mueck

Just a quick post. Check out this link to Ron Mueck. His sculpting is amazingly lifelike and at a scale that I have not seen before. Good stuff here for a weekend adventure!

Fourth Week: I'm An Art Student...

Well, the weeks seem to be flying by so fast lately. I just went through my second full week of work, and I must say, it has been draining. Basically I have been busy from 6am til' 9pm. So, finding time to do my work has been difficult. This week has been basically about working the phones and trying to get donations. I did an installation in the Washburne Gallery and it will be up during the entirety of week fiv. My installation is entitled "Live Feed" and is in the ceramics building. The code is 4:5:3 to get in. Here comes the update!

UPDATE:

• Well, I have made contact at the United Rental location. His name is John and although he was only a truck driver, I think we had a connection. I found out the managers name was Ron. So, as in the same form as I did with Mr. Murphy, I have been peppering him with phone calls to try to get a meeting. I have put together a package of information that will help him see my plan and in the end, I need him to DONATE the use of the light towers to me as well as 1-2 generators. The trick will be convincing him that I am an art student and that allowing me to use his equipment will be good for his business. I am planning to include his business information on my printed material so it could make it more viable to him. More on this later.

Third Week: People Are A Pain

Well, the third week has already flown by and its time to take a look back at what I did. This week I was able to install in the Laverne Krause Gallery in the Cinema Effect class show. My piece was titled "One November" and can be seen on the web at www.onenovember.com . Although this piece wasn't originally made for a gallery setting, it seemed to work mildly well there. As far as the BFA, read the following...

UPDATE:

• After calling Mr. Murphy about 5 times, he finally got back to me. I was trying to get in contact with him all week, but to no avail. The good news is he called back. The bad news is he is still working out the details of my installation with his lawyer. I have to sign a liability form that is put together by his lawyer that covers his insurance at the site.
  
• A few weeks ago I stumbled across a project called Detroit. Demolition. Disneyland. They paint derelict houses around Detroit in Tiggeriffic Orange. They are trying to call attention to ruined homes around Detroit. You can find their home site at this link and they had a good NPR radio report that you can view here. The city really doesn't like what they are doing, but in fact, I find it a really good way to create awareness about the community around you. In a way, my project calls attention to these abandoned space as much as this DDD does.