A List on the Burial/Artist Correspondence Project

Sarah Hobbs, Untitled (Perfectionist)

Who would I send correspondence to after burying an object for in the UK? My initial thoughts include:

1. Nancy Holt (address = check)
2. Ed Ruscha (duh = address = check)
3. Richard Misrach (address = check)
4. Suzaan Boettger (email address - will need to find physical address)
5. Fredericka Hunter and Ian Glennie (address = check)
6. Michael Heizer (need to find address)
7. Rebecca Solnit (will need to find her address).
8. Lucy Lippard (will need to obtain mailing address)

How uncomfortable would some of these people feel to receive this correspondence from strangers (Ruscha, Heizer and Solnit would fit the "stranger" category as I have interacted with the rest at one point in my life)? But do I really care? Yes... but will I do it anyway? We all know the answer to that. How many lists will I make before then? Will I save them? Will I count them? Will I photograph them? Will I dig myself into a hole? No pun intended. No I'll keep thinking about it until it's "perfect" as fortunate or unfortunate as that may be.

Upon Nancy's Arrival

Trying to be responsible and set an example (the horror!)

Whenever I attend any SPE event with Nancy, you can count on us being absent, checking out all the restaurants and museums, staying at a different hotel than the conference (always with a pool) rather than attending say... the actual conference (as witnessed by the above photograph and the one below at the Joule in Dallas, Texas SPE 2009). WELL!!! Since we are doing the Midwest Society for Photographic Education conference TOGETHER, I am trying to change my ways (and inadvertently Nancy's in the process - whoops sorry Nance).



First up.... Nancy and I will be reviewing portfolios as a team (first thing I signed her up for that I didn't ask in advance) Friday, 1st October from 3-4 PM.

Secondly.... I may have signed us both up to have our photographs reviewed. I have a secret desire to have Thomas Allen look at the cakes and of course, we are going to do everything we can to track down (notice I did not say stalk) Lucy Lippard to look at the Earthworks project.

Thirdly.... I definitely signed us up for the portfolio walk-through... generally the most horrific event for me personally but Nancy seems to do really well with it. In Dallas, she stood next to me and pretended she took the photographs of the guy who was sharing the table with me when he walked off for 30 minutes. She managed to score him a show in his absence. I somehow maintained a straight face while listening to her explain her concept for the photographs she was looking at for the very first time (incidentally they were all of men's faces who looked like they were rugged mountain climbers).

Finally... we have a presentation to prepare. We will be speaking at the crack of 11 AM on Saturday (well Nancy as the morning person will be and I as the night owl will be trying to forumlate sentences at that hour).

In preparation for all of this, I spent the afternoon making some cards (business card size for the earthworks). I even used Nancy's signature pink for the website address.



3x5 cards for the fake cakes:



I edited the earthworks project down to 21 rather than 50 (sorry the photo is blurry):



I finished matting mini versions of the fake cakes (since I had some extra board, why not be super professional). Let's hope no one notices the banged up quality of the earthworks prints - they even have holes in the top corners! I will be making a new set for Atlanta because it looks like we are doing this all over again in March but with a larger audience.



...and finally... all the "IOU" cake photos are printed. If you see your name on this list, I'll be shipping them off to you after I return from Clemson in mid October.



In the meantime, I'm running around like mad trying to get everything done before Nancy arrives Wednesday.

Round 'Em Up Boys, We're Heading Out West!

Title of Nancy's and my talk at the Midwest Society for Photographic Education Conference: "Round 'Em Up Boys, We're Heading Out West!"

Proposed method of presentation: Give the entire lecture inside a cardboard cutout of the SUV/Portable Studio.

Prop Idea #1 for the audience (ND: "like the Oprah show when she gives things to the studio audience"): Place everyone in the room in pairs and have them sitting in their very own cardboard vehicle.

Prop Idea #2 for the audience: Pass out chlorox wipes so they can clean their immediate environs before the lecture. Nancy will demonstrate before the talk begins.

I'M NOT SURE I HAVE EVERYTHING!

One week to go...

Yesterday Nancy and I brainstormed further on the activities that will happen at each earthwork (what performances, photographs, burial, box filling, etc. will take place). What we found most interesting was that we both had clear ideas on what was going to happen at Spiral Jetty, Sun Tunnels, Roden Crater, and Amarillo Ranch but had not resolved Lightning Field or Double Negative.


Spiral Jetty:
Peanut Butter covered dress performance
Nancy's spinning performance (pink wig)
Dip watercolor paper for Hannah
Collect salt for nesting box
Bury object to be determined

Sun Tunnels:
Arrive in the late afternoon near sunset
Camera toss & another sculptural recreation
Headlights improvisation
Record Nancy Holt conversation while waiting for the sun to set
Sage brush for nesting box
Bury an object

Double Negative:
Nancy: "What's a double positive?" Jacinda: "It's still nothing."
Our version of MOCA's non-map
Can phones
Shoot out?
One solitary rock for nesting box
Bury an object

Roden Crater:
Binocular interpretation of the progress from 2 miles away
Briefcase performance (all black uniform with side burns and moustache)
Jamz Turrell performance
A huge unknown as far as the nesting box and object burial are concerned
Open for a lot of spontaneity

Lightning Field:
Sound recording
Videotaping of us while either a) lightning strikes or b) nothing happens
How can we incorporate the "rain" dance?
Another unknown as far as the nesting box and object burial

Amarillo Ramp:
Since one of the biggest characters is taking us to the ramp, we will also be two of the biggest characters he has encountered in a long time. This is all out cowboy day.
Grass, not dirt for the nesting box.
Object burial.

The uniform is almost resolved thanks to a little help from my friends.




Your turn Nancy! We are waiting....

BEING MISSED AND THEN SOME ADVICE

I heard from Amy D-Dot Douthey yesterday, wanting to see me before I hit the road, herself off to San Antonio for the weekend. She had a few tips for my road trip. In fact, they are the same ones she had for me the year before. 

Tip No. 001:  No one likes a hairy, unhygienic car buddy. Get waxed.

Tip No. 002: If you wore it the day before - it is not clean.

Tip No. 003: Schedule a hair appointment before you go. And wash it while on the trip.

And I have a feeling this is an expanding list.

Thanks Amy, I'm doing all of the above.

LIST BEGINS!Almost like writing with my left hand - two skills i'm working on (mouse writing and left hand writing!)

The Countdown Begins...31 Days Prior to Departure

The list of projects we are going to create and what needs to be done to achieve this:

• Hotel Art artist's book like the one that is given out at the Joule in Dallas (must feature artwork in the bedroom as well as the art closest to any pool entry).
• Hotel Towel Origami artist's book (ode to Kelli's birthday present) focusing on creating objects based on the surrounding landscape.



• Telephone pole (cowboys, cowgirls and Indians and burger diners) artist's book.
• Geodome Artist's book - yes Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels look like several geodomes from a distance.
• Due to the large number of artist's books/booklets, consider creating a collection of volumes.
• Professional Level Rock Paper Scissors game instructions and examples.
• Road trip game after Kelli and Betsy (to be revealed later because it's so damn humorous I don't want to give it away).
• Revisit John Divola's series Dogs Chasing My Car in the Desert.





• Map making conversations like the one started at Robert Morris's piece last year.
• Purchase a diving board and strap it to the top of the rental car.
• Make a collection of small boxes to send parts of each earthwork back to create the diorama.
• Bury an object at each earthwork (photograph prior to leaving).
• Research what else other artists were wearing when building these pieces (1970s cowboy outfits?). Is Western gear going to be our "uniform?"
• Pack the pink wig or else.
• Buy a styrofoam cooler in Northern Arizona and fill it with beer to deliver to the workers at Roden Crater (= BRIBE).
• Acquire graffiti removal equipment for Sun Tunnels.
• Check out what exhibition is up at CLUI and refer to their database.
• Caffeinol darkroom tests.
• Binocs, buy a compass and some water bottles.
• Get directions to all these remote locations and reserve some hotel rooms.
• Start the blog countdown.

Idea for Earthworks Performance: The Beautification Project

The Uniform: close approximations of what the artists wore when creating these sculptures gleaned from old photographs.
Cleaning and restoration:
Visit Home Depot once arriving in SLC.
Buy graffiti removal, lawn care equipment, etc.
Weed & mow around earthworks (knowing full well that this is a desert and there won't be grass).
Donate all equipment to the Chinati Foundation at the end of the trip.
Mission Accomplished.
The element of domesticity combined with the masculine ideology behind these works is worthy of exploring.