Chris Bliss

That is some pretty awesome juggling!

Thanks for the link Marissa!

The End of the Internet?

"The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online. " - Link

The Scanner Photography Project

Found this link earlier today. Pretty cool! He built a camera around a scanner. The result is some time distorted imagery. The basic concept is similar to what I did with my Amorphaces, which by the way I'm now trying to carry over into sculpture.

The Study

When the four of us first came to look at our apartment almost a year ago, it was listed as having 3 bedrooms. There was also a room off the kitchen that was set up for a washer and dryer... Obviously we're too cheap to buy a washer and dryer. We quickly determined that the room could be used as another bedroom, and Mike volunteered to take it. The room had it's own outside door, a water faucet and a drain. "I never even have to see you guys!", Mike joked.

Off of the main room was a small unfinished room that appeared to have been used as a workshop/storage. Shelves and cabinets lined the walls, storing old cans of paint. Nails protruded from the studs, used for hanging things such as an old croquet mallet. Wires hung like vines from the ceiling, all joining in one central hub that we named, "the octopus". A doorbell transformer, precariously wired and humming away, was mounted above the doorway. Scraps of carpet and linoleum lay in the corner by the moldy, unballanced, double hung window that needed to be proped with a stick to keep it from opening. Splotches of oil and paint stained almost every surface in the room.

I think Shiva likes it better this way.	The Octopus

Mike, always one to appreciate a little squalor, was very excited about this room. "It will be my 'study'", he declared. And so it was...

When we all moved in, there was some talk of insulating and drywalling the room, but I kind of expected it would be one of those things we always talked about doing and never actually did. We took a few small steps, by clearing out the shelving and pulling out all the protruding nails, but then the project stalled for a while. It wasn't until the temperature started to drop that we got serious about actually doing it. Our landlord enthusiactically agreed to pay for supplies, all we had to do was get the supplies and do the work. So, after delaying long enough, we finally went to True Value and picked up 10 sheets of drywall, 2 rolls of insulation, a tub of spackle, and an assortment of other materials.

Shiva making sure everything is to code

The first day was rather tentative. There were still a few issues that needed to be worked out. First, there as an edge of the ceiling that was kind of funky. Our solution was to cut the corner with 2x4's making angled studs to attach the drywall to. Another problem was the wiring, it was in the way and we needed to re-route it so that it could be tucked out of the way. This seemingly easy task became quite complex. one of the wires needed to be temporarily disconnected from the "octopus". When I hooked it all back together, nothing seemed to work correctly. After about 3 hours of futility, we realized that the lightbulb had simply burned out. Leason learned: always check the simple things first!!

Our solution to that funky corner	How many college kids does it take?

With the major problems out of the way, we pressed on. The insulation went up really fast and with no trouble.

Adam and Marissa cutting insulation	Adam and Mike installing the first piece

Finally it was on to the drywall. By this time, Mike has lost his shirt and donned the hard hat and saftey glasses that I had been required to wear for my summer job. By 4am, despite some measurement errors for which I take full responsibility, we finished the ceiling and called it a night.

The next day we finished most of the drywalling. Some of the pieces were tricky because it's an old house and not everything was alligned perfectly...but that's what spackle is for!

So professional!	Painting

A few weeks later, Mike was off to Germany and Adam moved back in. Adam and I finished the spackling and sanding, then we painted.

Here's the finished room!

The rug really ties the room together	Adam's couch fits perfectly

More Pictures!!

Dick Cheney Shoots Old People

Harry Whittington, 78, was “alert and doing fine” after Cheney sprayed Whittington with shotgun pellets on Saturday at the Armstrong Ranch in south Texas, said property owner Katharine Armstrong. Link

My Mom: "Not only does Dick Cheney eat babies, but he shoots old people!"
My Dad: "Cheney is a WHCD....Weapon of Hunting Companion Destruction"
Mike: "Harry Whittington, 78, was 'alert and doing fine' after Cheney sprayed him, hitting his cheek, neck and chest.......i like editing"

An artist's rendering of this terrible tragedy.

Also read: Cheney's Canned Kill, and Other Hunting Excesses of the Bush Administration

Somebody Buy This For Me!!

Get It Shiva! Get It!

Wood Sculpture

My 3 Wood Sculptures

So my Wood Sculpture class is moving right along and we've already finished our first project. Our assignment was to take three 8 foot 2x4's and turn each one into a sculpture. It was very much an exploratory "get to know the material" kind of project. Also, we were supposed to kind of start with little or no plan of what the final piece would be and just play with the wood. It was fun and this is what I came up with.

My favorite is the one in front in the pic above. It makes me think about how complex chaotic organic forms can arise from such ordered and structured building blocks such as atoms and molecules. As Ray (my teacher) said, the possibility of the larger more complex form exists in the individual building block. If that individual piece followed a different set of rules, everything would change. I think that's cool to think about.

I also kind of like the one on the wall. I started by ripping the 2x4 into small strips, but I had no idea what the final piece would be. Even as I began setting it up I didn't know what it would be, and it changed over the course of the installation. It ended up being an experimental piece about how much tension the wood can take before snapping. While setting it up, I was almost meditating, trying to find that edge of maximum tension.

One of the really cool things about this class is that there are only 6 students (my clay class also has only 6 students) so it's much more personal and conducive to good conversation. Our crit on Wednesday was really cool, and because only half the class was going that day, we spent a lot of time talking about each piece, getting way off topic and coming full circle.

Ray also made another interesting point. Because we didn't have a plan, the end result was made possible by each decision we made throughout the process. One different decision could have taken us down a whole different path of possibilities. As he said, he's been giving this assignment for 20 years and no one has ever done the same exact project.

Plate Tectonics

I've been in a bit of a funk lately, hence my sparse posting. I often have a hard time expressing the thoughts and feelings that define my existence. Perhaps the root of the problem is that I'm fucking insecure most of the time. My existence is practically defined by self doubt. I over think everything. I logically conclude that I am too logical. I intuitively know that I'm not intuitive enough. I want to feel, I want to be human. I want to be enthusiasticly expressive, I'm a fucking artist after all, but it's so hard to do when every thought and feeling gets filtered and diluted so much before it even reaches my own consciousness. All I want to do is JUST LET GO and let everything in my mind flow freely.


There are moments where I can feel something big brewing just out of the reach of my consciousness. It has been boiling and brewing for a very long time now and cracks are begining to form on the surface. One day it will reach critical mass and the crusty surface will break away giving birth to the masterpiece that I have carried for so long.

Uconn Photoshop Mischief

The Incredulity of St. Thomas (Strozzi, c. 1620)
It is widely unknown that Jesus was a kinky dude. But can you really blame him? He was always on the road spreading his teachings. "Love thy neighbor" he would say. But what about him? When was he gonna get some lovin'?



Dick Cheney Eats Babies!
It is widely known that Cheney eats babies. Enough said.



From the Spiderman Prank Series
The prank took several days of preperation to make and print the images. Then, at 4am one night, My roomate and I made about 10 large spiderwebs out of duct tape. An Image was placed in the center of each before they were stretched across the doors of our floormates. Good times.

Weird Dream

I had a really weird dream this morning. I can only remember a few bits and pieces but I figured I would share.

My family and I were are some strange amusement park in the woods. I think we may have hiked to get there. The rides were all kind of incorporated into the natural surroundings. It was really muddy and it kept getting muddier as the day went on. It was getting all over my shoes and pants. And we had to trudge through it to get from ride to ride.

My parents waited on land while me and my brother went on some rollercoaster type ride that was out over a body of water. It was kind of rickety and unsafe... but I think we had fun? I can't remember much about it except that it was made of trees.

Later, my family and I went out on a dock and were waiting for some power boat ride or something. I looked down in the water. The water was very murky and muddy. After a moment I noticed that there was something floating in the water. I knelt down to take a closer look. It was a Chipmunk floating on it's side and barely moving. Then I knoticed that there were several baby chipmunks also floating on their sides. Their eyes were shut and they were motionless.

It was our turn for the ride and my family was calling me to get on. But I was transfixed. I couldn't take my eyes off of this family of chipmunks floating on their sides in the murky water. I peered closer and slowly reached my hand out to touch one of the baby chipmunks. When I touched it, the tiny body bobbed slightly in the water and gently kicked it's rear legs a few times causing it to move in circles.



Anyway, I think I may have woken up around that part. It was really wired and a little creepy. I know there was more to the beginning but I just can't remember.