You and me and us and me and you
About a year back I decided I wanted to make work that I could just make on my own, spontaneously and anywhere. I was reacting against the Takahashi pre-performance preparation that had to happen. At the time, they required other people, stretching canvas, setting up electronics equipment, a projector, and then having all the things communicate with each other. It was hard to do spontaneously. So I decided to just draw. White paper. Black pen. And me.
In tandem with those drawings I started becoming curious about color. There was shift in the Takahashi performances from paint to [colored] light, and this set up no longer required me to stretch a canvas or use a projector–another move towards pre-performance simplicity (though pursuing this colored light stand wasn’t done for that purpose specifically). I could just plug in and go. Though it’s still very technology heavy, spontaneity and technology are not in opposition. So now, working in the muck of the Takahashi lights and the ink drawings, it felt to me like I was exploring two things: precise line work (absent of the consideration for color), and expansive pure color.
Yesterday, during a Takahashi rehearsal with Linda Jankowska and Rodrigo Constanzo it occurred to me the water color works are actually perfect for use in the Takahashi light set-up. It’s like one part of my brain has just let another part of my brain in on what it’s been working on. I think these works are somehow perfect populators of the Color Picker sample space (the color granular synthesis max patch), which before only had a “place-holder” image. I really want everything to be personal, and resonate with me. The body of line drawing work I’ve been doing, now with the addition of water colors, are hugely significant to me and this period of my life–creative and personal. So here we are.
I just want to make beautiful things…and it feels like an explosion.
(above work owned by Rocio Bolaños)
Photos by Linda Jankowska.
A Mundane Transcendental Object
Click on the image to zoom in. I go in deep with this one.
Owned by Linda Jankowska
Nothing Rhymes With Rats (Trade Paperback)
This 140 page, perfect bound book collects the comic strips that take our rats on a journey of self discovery–from the cage and nihilism to transcendent hope. Get it HERE.
Paradoxical Book 1
Reluctant, time-travelling, twins have to solve a paranormal murder mystery set in 1920s Miami. It was co-created with writer Jason Chestnut. We’ve included the first two issues in this 52 page comic book. Get it HERE.
Bastet’s Rats Nest
Our two rats are at it again. This time caught-up in a National Treasure type caper that takes them deeper and deeper into the occult. Co-created with Ramsey Janini, it’s a wild ride. Get the 52 page comic HERE.
