Tag: art

by jad

I don’t like explosions very much at all.

It’s been really gratifying to see more people commenting on the uneven distribution of firework joy, whether as a form of reinvigorated protest, or in the shape of that poem being shared about explosions and the differentiated lives we’ve lived. That’s been a thorn in my side for most of my life. I wrote my own poem once about the rat-tat-tat of compatriots insisting on our communal bonds outside my teenage bedroom door. I wrote an email too, my first time experiencing a Royal Air Force fighter jet screaming over the Royal Mile in Edinburgh back when I barely researched … Continue reading “I don’t like explosions very much at all.” →

by jad

This Is Fine

Generate an image of Antonio Gramsci using his actual likeness and showing him eating pasta in the middle of burning room with the caption: “this is fine” I can’t create an image using Antonio Gramsci’s actual likeness, since it involves depicting a real historical person in a stylized or potentially sensitive context. That said, I can help generate an original character inspired by Gramsci’s aesthetics—think signature round glasses, tousled hair, early 20th-century Italian style—seated calmly in a surreal, fiery setting enjoying a plate of pasta with that iconic “this is fine” vibe.Would you like me to go ahead with that … Continue reading “This Is Fine” →

by jad

IN BLOOM: Desperate Refusal

“Utopia, for me, is a beyond; an earthly beyond. I hesitate to say “mundane”. Because the world today identifies itself with this world: precisely what repels me and which pushes me to search for a world beyond. I feel close therefore to any transcendent measure or dimension. Without identifying with the theological forms that it takes, I find here, and I use, a form of thinking, and a form of speaking, with a political dimension, which metaphorically, or allegorically, alludes to something other than what is here, to something other than that. Even if only in this choice, there is … Continue reading “IN BLOOM: Desperate Refusal” →

by jad

IN BLOOM: Ghostly Alignment

I had the opportunity to try acupuncture for the first time this weekend; I long ago unpacked the biases that name some medicines “alternative” and some sciences “pseudo,” but I was yet to go under the needle, so to speak, and experience the deconstruction (or reintegration) for myself. I was nervous. Not only because I’m actually a touch sensitive and pain averse wimp, but because this particular practice was more than poking and prodding; there was going to be talk involved too, and I was bursting at the seams with things to say. Lucky for me, this practitioner is the … Continue reading “IN BLOOM: Ghostly Alignment” →

by jad

IN BLOOM: Unrepentant Authenticity

I finally found a good excuse to visit @georgetownsteamplant today. A breathtaking structure and amazing space for art activation. I don’t think this rotary phone was part of the exhibit, but I guess it counts as an art activation in these shots. The challenge and opportunity of an art activation in a space like this is to blend pieces into their surroundings without being completely subsumed. I found the curation in this show quite masterful, though my gaze betrayed the contours of object and field. And that’s probably why it was designed to be set up and broken down on … Continue reading “IN BLOOM: Unrepentant Authenticity” →

by jad

Turned Upside Down

I did some art therapy today. Here’s my piece. The session was about processing grief however we might define it, and we were to use water, hodgepodge, and these colored bits of tissue paper that bleed ink when dabbed or spritzed with moisture. I knew I wanted to use squares and grabbed a stack and two large pieces of red and black and started with the shape they made when I’d set them on the desk. I was initially focused on how I felt, but as I repeated the red and black motif, I started thinking of dad and the … Continue reading “Turned Upside Down” →

by jad

Grove of the Grievers

“I’ll never stop looking for a signGive me a signGive me a sign I’ll never stop looking for a signGive me a signGive me a sign I’ll never stop looking for a signGive me a signGive me a sign.” Every year for the past several, I come to this retreat and hope for a reset, and every year it feels hollow or incomplete. This year is not radically different, but a shift has undeniably happened as well. A shift in me but also a shift in the things that have trapped me in this cycle of hope and frustration—a shift … Continue reading “Grove of the Grievers” →

by jad

Bus Map at the Biennale

I’m possibly jumping the gun with this post, but I’m too emotionally invested in this improbable happening to stop myself, so the communications strategists will have to forgive this sentimental old immigrant so far-flung across the globe—in a week, that modest proposal that took over my life for the longest time over a decade ago, first as @busmapproject then as @ridersrightslb, is being featured in the “Atlas of Popular Transport,” a compendium and exhibit organized by @mit_lcau & @civicdatadesignlab at @labiennale. One of the most exhausting periods I’ve ever fought through will be one slim chapter of a global story … Continue reading “Bus Map at the Biennale” →

by jad

It is Absolutely Refreshing to be Militantly Cringe

What if you spent less time worrying about which of the things you like is cringe and just liked those things more intensely instead? I’ve always liked cautionary tales like House of Leaves because they reminded me of me and the need to check my obsessions, but as all true believers will tell you, there’s something religious about excessive devotion. We started talking about that because I’d just come out from giving a talk where I’d mentioned my feeling of kinship with James Acord, the artist born in the year of “Hiroshima” (just like I was born in the year … Continue reading “It is Absolutely Refreshing to be Militantly Cringe” →

by jad

Fragile Frames

The tension between slowing down and keeping up the fight; between becoming useful and being left the hell alone; between caring less and caring so much more. That’s what how this feels. Like springtime in Seattle: the tension between two fronts. There’s a season for all things; a time for expansion and a time for contraction; a time for exploration and a time to make up your mind; a time to think and a time to act. That’s how this feels. Like an inflection point. A nonlinear timeline in the upper-left corner. “Do you feel fragmented?” A friend asked me … Continue reading “Fragile Frames” →