| June 2, 2009 | Opening Party David Lynch's Photo Exhibit |
Michael Kohn Gallery threw an opening party on May 29 for David Lynch's photo exhibit "Dark Night of the Soul." The line went way down Beverly Blvd. I heard more than one  person in line (and walking by) comment, "When was the last time you saw such a long line at an art opening!?" But it was worth the wait. (We have all witnessed how gaga I get for David Lynch.)Many of Lynch's photos on display in the Kohn Gallery (through July 11) elicit for me the same moods and feelings evoked in my favorite of his films. A weird disturbed nostalgia and the creepiness of dreams. That's how I felt about this shadowy BBQ by a too-perfect to be true Pacific Ocean. And this photo of woman giving the finger from the backseat of car reminded me of the teens who cause the fatal car accident in "Mulholland Drive." This hazy couple on the street at night reminded me of the cast of characters Laura Dern encounters on Hollywood Blvd in "Inland Empire." The photo which most perfectly fits the theme "Dark Night of the Soul" is this photo of a dingy lamp and bedside table with a corner filled with an overflowing pile of prescription pill bottles. That to me, truly communicates the modern American's long, lonely, troubled, sleepless night -- trying to medicate to escape from the pain of old and new terrors. It all reminds me of the quote from the final episode of Mad Men's first season "The Wheel," when Don Draper (in a mid-day meeting preceding his own "dark night of the soul") pitches his advertising colleagues and the client on a concept to sell Polaroid's "wheel" slide projector: Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent. Teddy told me that in Greek, "nostalgia" literally means "the pain from an old wound." It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. This device isn't a spaceship, it's a time machine. It goes backwards, and forwards... it takes us to a place where we ache to go again. It's not called the wheel, it's called the carousel. It let's us travel the way a child travels - around and around, and back home again, to a place where we know are loved. I used to write a column for my college newspaper called "Nostalgia for the Present," and this quote has really stuck with me, and I think it also reminds me of what I like about David Lynch's movies, photos, and art. Labels: art, davidlynch, la, madmen, nostalgia, photos, quotes posted by Jess Barron @ 11:26 AM 
|
| December 2, 2008 | Space Invaders Invaded My Office |
 I ordered some classic video game decals from Etsy to cover some of my blank, white office walls.Space Invaders was my brother's and my favorite game in 1982 when my mom (who was a waitress at the time) spent approx $225 to buy us the Atari 2600. We were the first kids in our neighborhood to own one. We played Space Invaders for 6-8 hours at a time, until we had blisters on our fingers. I'm not going to talk about how much time I spent trying to get all of these guys lined up straight. (And they're still not entirely straight...) posted by Jess Barron @ 11:18 AM
|
| October 26, 2008 | Uncanny Ability to Inspire |
 We saw these "can sculptures" of Mr. Potato Head, WALL-E, and The Little Engine That Could when Chris and I went to our gym at the Water Garden in Santa Monica. Their goal is to bring attention to a local can drive. They built Mr. Potato Head because potatoes have nourished hungry people for centuries... It's such a strange thing to think about in LA where most of the people I know (including myself!) avoid carbs and starches as if they were a plague on humanity. These sculptures were a clever -- and successful -- way to get our attention and remind us that we need to make a donation to the can drive. Labels: art, la, losangeles, santamonica posted by Jess Barron @ 11:03 AM
|
| September 21, 2006 | The Elephant in the Living Room |
Graffiti artist and prankster, Banksy, (you know, the guy who famously and fantastically spoofed Paris Hilton's CD  opened his first Los Angeles show on Friday, Sept 15 in a warehouse downtown Los Angeles. Chris and Chris and I popped over to take a peak. The elephant's presence was controversial. Check out this article. The elephant was painted for the show's opening night, but most/all of the paint was washed off or worn off by Sunday when we stopped by the show. Someone outside had done some graffiti of their own outside in the alley that said "How much for the elephant?" poking fun at both the elephant's inclusion at the show and the fact that Banksy was selling prints of his graffiti for $90 and one canvass -- ironically this one "Sale Ends Today" -- for over $2000. My favorite pieces were the stencil of the girl on the phone (ostensibly to Banksy himself) and she's saying "That's so cute the way you just drwa on stuff and think about yourself all the time." It really shows that he's not afraid to poke fun at himself and is willing to point his fierce criticisms at himself too. This "How's my bombing? Call 1-800-648-0403" sticker he had on the back of the truck was great too. Chris called the number, and it's a Navy recruiting office. Labels: art, artist, banksy, chris, elephant, graffiti, la posted by Jess Barron @ 10:39 PM
|
| September 28, 2005 | I'm in "The Economist" (sorry Allyson, it's no "Star" magazine...) |
In yesterday's Yahoo! Broadband portals' team meeting, my boss Jim walked in and announced -- "I was just reading the latest issue of 'The Economist,' and there's a picture of Jess in there from Burning Man!" "Please tell me that I have my clothes on in the photo," I joked. (I already had some advance warning about this possible "media appearance" because I had spoken with writer/journalist Kurt Opprecht on the playa while I was inside my art project -- the Playa Psychiatric Help Booth -- and he had mentioned he was writing a piece about the economy of Burning Man for (who else?) The Economist. He talked to me for a while and asked if he could take a photo of the booth.) You can find Kurt's piece (and this photo) on page 41 of The Economist for September 24th-30th, 2005. The article is also available online as premium content, if you have a subscription to The Economist. You can view a snapshot of it here on flickr. Anyway, back to the Yahoo! Broadband portals team meeting where this was all mentioned before I had seen the photo or the piece (before I knew what I was wearing or how it was all presented)... At this point, Allyson looks across the table and says, "Jess, I'm aware that The Economist is a well-respected publication, but I'd honestly be more impressed if you had your photo in "Us Weekly" or "Star" magazine." (Allyson's comment certainly sheds some light on the state of American Culture in 2005, and as a scholar in this department I promise you I will get to the bottom of it...) Labels: americanculture, art, burningman, economist, media posted by Jess Barron @ 11:46 AM
|
| September 16, 2005 | What About Burning Man? |
|
Dear readers, some of you think it's a serious oversight that I have not posted about Burning Man yet. "Was it not good this year?" you have asked me. No, it's not that at all, it's just that I've been pretty overwhelmed since I've returned. When I got back from Burning Man, we were very much in the midst of covering hurricane Katrina pretty hardcore. It was news, news, news for work. Heather and Allyson were handling the brunt of it, but I had just over 2,000 work emails to sift through while more were still piling up on top of them. I've been working 10-12 hours every day, and I'm just about almost dug-out. (Tomorrow morning I'm flying to Portland for Selena's wedding and then next week to Vail for Ellen's wedding.) Burning Man was freaking awesome. Out of the past six that I've gone to (the first being 1999), this one was, by far, my favorite of all. Campmates got along, weather was pretty decent (except for Monday which was a raging windstorm that destroyed our shade structure), and my art project was a success. This year I have *4* sets of Burning Man photos posted on flickr: Spending hours talking to people inside my psychiatric help booth each day was truly amazing. A lot of people out there just needed to talk. Somehow everyone expects in their mind that Burning Man is this big party where everyone is non-stop ecstatic -- but there really are a lot of people who get to the playa and begin dealing with issues of loneliness, isolation, and sadness. At Burning Man in 2000, I was dealing with a lot of these types of issues myself. There were also people whose boyfriends or girlfriends had dumped them at the event, people who were having marriage difficulties, people who felt like their campmates didn't like them, people who were having problems meeting new friends. I will write a bit more about this whole experience soon. I just need a bit more time to process it. My two favorite art projects at Burning Man this year were: Labels: art, burningman, photos posted by Jess Barron @ 4:08 PM
|
| December 5, 2003 | My San Francisco Milkshake |
|
"My Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, And they're right "It's better than yours." Damn right, It's better than yours. I can teach you, but I have to charge." -Kelis, "Milkshake" (You really should go and watch the video right now. Really. I mean it.) I'm so busy with work and writing and drinking and kissing that sometimes I barely remember to eat or to breathe. There is so much going on that I'm not even sure how to document it all. My housemate Ric helped me paint my bedroom bright cartoony colors. Microsoft transferred Andrew to Seattle, and I threw him a going away party. Heather and Eugene got married. Allyson started working with me at Yahoo as my co-producer on the broadband portals' content. Selena and Carlos visited from LA for Thanksgiving. Jen had a birthday. Lana got a chihuahua puppy that she wanted to name "yogurt" but she ended up naming "Agent Dale Cooper" after the man we all love. And everyone around me has been so damn productive in their art. As a new friend of mine says, "It's hardly worth noting. That's just something San Franciscans do -- we make stuff." Labels: art, milkshake, sanfrancisco posted by Jess Barron @ 12:26 AM
|