I articulated the words in morse code, which used to be the most expedient means of communication in our once sparsely populated country.  This system of communication now has become almost completely defunct in the era of email, social networking, and cell phones.  Morse code  has collapsed in on itself going from a time saver to a time waster and time and technology has got something to do with both morse code’s rise and demise.

The first drawing entitled 11:11:01 - Time Has Got Nothing to Do With It took these thoughts in the direction of black holes. Once the light goes in it disappears as if it never existed.  Time also ceases to exist.  What used to have a beginning, middle, and end, becomes a part of a void. Different layers of darkening graphite move into the black void centers which are shapes representing my  coded message.  The message and the means of communication are both getting sucked in.  The format of this piece is horizontal in reference to a ticker tape.

The second piece entitled Time Has Got Nothing To Do is done in a much thinner ticker and measuring tape shape.  While making this piece I thought time doesn’t have anything to do, we do.  As an idea it exists, but it has no tasks, no job, and none of those things we mark/measure it by.

The third piece  in the series ∞: STOP was inspired by FDTD morse code conversations about how messages/telegrams would often end with stop.  I did not want every piece to end with a voiced stop, so I created a separate piece that was STOP written in red morse code.  I titled it ∞: STOP, because the work made me think about infinity as a “quantity without bound or end” and yet we also have this idea that something can stop, that there is a definable, measurable, and exact ceasing.    Ref. here also Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

In progress is a fourth drawing, entitled Event Horizon.  Event horizon is spelled out in morse code and it’s articulated visually within a black hole reference drawing.  Aside from our scientific definition of event horizon, I am thinking about what an event horizon means semantically if we applied it to the earth.
This series slip slides around from one association to another leaving as many questions as answers to the nature of time and our interpretations and applications of it.  It plays with visual patterning to document a mind walk of subject matter.

Some reference links to consider in relation to the work.

Time Has Got Nothing To Do With It lyrics
http://www.dilyrics.com/peter-murphy-time-has-got-nothing-to-do-with-it-lyrics.html

Morse Code
http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code

Blackholes
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast12jan_1/

Pupil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupil

Arrow of Time
http://www.usyd.edu.au/time/price/preprints/arrow.html

Infinity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity

Finite/Infinite Universe
http://www.big-bang-theory.com/
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=460093

Heisenberg uncertainty principle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle
“The principle means that it is impossible to determine simultaneously both the position and velocity of an electron or any other particle with any great degree of accuracy or certainty.”

Who owns time?
Saudis Build Giant Clock, Want ‘Mecca Time’ To Replace GMThttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/10/worlds-largest-clock-phot_n_677515.html

Amateur Radio Astronomy
http://www.radiosky.com/rsplinks.html

From Dusk ’til Drawn: 24-Hour Drawing Rally
Friday, July 23 6 pm through Saturday, July 24 6 pm at CAF
Hahn will be drawing from 8 pm to 8 am.

Works by 100+ artists and dabblers will be sale as they come hot off the presses at CAF.  Join in on the fun by attending the rally, speaking with the artists, and taking home some local talent to grace your walls at CAF!

Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum 653 Paseo Nuevo, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 | Paseo Nuevo Mall Upper Arts Terrace | sbcaf.org

Revisiting Beauty, a group exhibition.

Exhibition Runs April 29 - May 29, 2010
Opening Reception May 1, 6-10 PM
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art
117 North Sycamore, Santa Ana, CA 92701
714.667.1517, www.occca.org

The meaning of beauty has been debated by philosophers since the time of the Greeks. Courted or scorned, distrusted, devalued, deconstructed, beauty promises pleasure while provoking awe, admiration and even fear. Beauty quickens the pulse. Beauty stirs the understanding, and is the enemy of complacency. Concepts alone can never replace it. Beauty’s provocations are no longer innocent. Exuberant, self-conscious and enigmatic, beauty will stage a stunning comeback at OCCCA.

This exhibition, juried by Peter Frank, shows off varying interpretations of beauty in our modern world.

OCCCA

The 60 Foot Golden Rule was selected for inclusion in this exhibition.

60 Foot Golden Rule, 2009
Imitation gold Leaf, wood, acrylic paint, and hinges
Dimensions Variable depending on installation (Stretched out it measures 60′ x 1-1/2″ x 3/4″)

This sculpture integrates the current building height limit measurement of 60 feet, which is being challenged for reduction by measure B, with an ethical standard of measurement the Golden Rule, commonly known as “do unto others as you would have done to you.”

Similar variations on this statement exist and their translations speak to the greater complexity of the issue by alluding to  neighbor, measure, and imposition.
“What you wish your neighbors to be to you, such be also to them.” – Sextus the Pythagorean
“Woe to those . . . who, when they have to receive by measure from men, exact full measure, but when they have to give by measure or weight to men, give less than due” - Muhammad
“ Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” — Confucius, Analects XV.24 (tr. David Hinton)

These translations become interesting when we consider one of the major financial supporters of measure B is a Texas developer named Randall Van Wolfswinkel, who has benefitted from building housing developments in Texas.

The gold leafed reclaimed and distressed boards show a golden, yet weathered rule. It’s been used, it’s been abused, and yet is endures. It demonstrates work to compromise and work to maintain the golden rule as the “gold standard” of ethics. There is a less attractive red side that’s left exposed on the underneath and  is covered by the gold on the remaining three sides. The distressed nature of the wood reminds us of architecture and materials.

All quotes,  Ethic of reciprocity , Wikipedia, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity)

SUPER SANTA BARBARA

What: Exhibition about the ‘Future of Santa Barbara’

“Partly inspired by Measure B (the building height measure), and in part by the work of Super Studio (a radical italian architecture firm), this quickly assembled exhibition seeks to encourage fresh perspectives, conversation & debate about the future of our community.  Twenty local artists have been asked to envision what Santa Barbara might be like in 50-100 years.”

See www.supersantabarbara.com for more information.

Participating Artists:

JAMES VAN ARSDALE · STEPHANIE DOTSON · R. NELSON PARRISH · JONNY TROYNA · JOHANNA REED · ETHAN TURPIN · WILLIAM MCVICAR · KATRINA TRAJANO · KIMBERLY HAHN · JASON SOBER · LAURA DEVENDORF  •  TRISTAN TYLER BLODGETT · STEVE SORIA · WARREN SCHULTHEIS · SAUL GRAY-HILDENBRAND •  HENRY RAMOS  · ZACK PAUL · MARK GOERNER · ROBERT HECKES

When/Where:

RECEPTION: Saturday, Oct 24th. 7-9pm @ CAF* (Contemporary Arts Forum) 653 Paseo Nuevo.
EXHIBITION: Oct 26th-Nov 3. at 121 Santa Barbara St, Room II.  Viewing hours every day: 10am-12pm & 5pm-7pm. Or by appointment.
*SUPER SANTA BARBARA is an independent exhibition organized by Warren Schultheis and not installed or organized under CAF’s curatorial programming and schedule.
For more information and online gallery, see www.supersantabarbara.com
or call Warren Schultheis (805.886.1627)

Flyer design by Warren Schultheis of The Graphic Vendor.

Join me for the opening,  Sat, Sep 26, 6:00 - 10:00 pm

Dates:
Sat, Sep 26, 2009 → Sat, Oct 24, 2009

David Shelton Gallery
20626 Stone Oak Pkwy, Suite 202
San Antonio, Texas 78258
210.481.5200

Artists

Judith Cottrell, Stephanie Dotson, Joey Fauerso, Servando Garcia, Saul Gray-Hildenbrand, Kimberly Hahn, Neil Kennedy, Diana Kersey, Wayne McCall, Michele Monseau, Ann-Michele Morales and Cruz Ortiz

Description

A Communion of Saints: Santa Barbara and San Antonio Artists examines the practices of artists living and working in two cities that share overlapping characteristics.  Curated by Miki Garcia, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, A Communion of Saints features 12 visual artists, pairing six from Santa Barbara with six from San Antonio.

Both Santa Barbara and San Antonio exist outside the traditional art market centers (such as New York, London, and Berlin), are influenced by Spanish and Mexican colonial culture, and have rich artistic and cultural traditions.  This show represents a wide variety of disciplines and artistic expressions–including photography, installation, performance, video, painting, ceramics, and printmaking–that convey the depth and breadth of artistic activities in these two American outposts.

Plastic Planet
September 26th – October 24th 2009
Opening Reception - Saturday, September 26th - 5-7pm

Plastic Planet is a group exhibition at the AFS Gallery that explores some of the uses and reuses, abuses and excesses of plastic in our environment through art.  It celebrates the beauty and versatility of the material while also acknowledging that it is all pervasive.  The proliferation of plastic on this planet has had a profound effect on us all – facilitating beneficial creations and causing massive pollution problems on land and at sea.  These artists in their diverse ways will no doubt inspire environmental exploration and creative transformation of this omnipresent material.

Artists: Alver, Phil Argent, Michael Blaha, Jane Callister, Dianna Cohen, Emily Emanual, Julia Ford, James Gilbert, Kimberly Hahn, Penny Mast McCall, Mary Price, Keith Puccinelli, Joan Tanner, Dug Uyesaka, James Van Arsdale, Jen Vanderpool

THANK YOU to MarBorg Industries for sponsoring this exhibition

RELATED LINKS
Www.plasticpollutioncoalition.com;   http://www.algalita.org/

Aluminum Mounting by Weldon Color Lab I recommend Weldon Color Lab for Aluminum Mounting.  They do both a matte or mirror (glossy) finish.  In addition you can have them put gatorboard backings or wood canvas stretcher type supports.  They can leave an aluminum border or trim to the edge of the print.  I tend to have them do the mounting and Lexan Matte finish.  Then I put a gatorboard and mirror strap hanging device on the back with the appropriate Liquid Nails foam to metal.  So far I have had no problems with the bonding.