18" x 24" 80lb. white drawing paper



Reach in your pocket. We all have them. Everyone and their seven year old child have them. We read the news, navagate our GPS, play games, check or email, and stalk Facebook. Don't get me wrong.. I have the new iPhone4 for Verizon and I'm addicted to it. I love having my email right there, reading the news, and searching new and cool apps. I'm just being a hypocrite with this one.

Jean Baulrillard, author of "The Ecstasy of Communication," 1987 one of the most difficult books I have ever read, was a social theorist and critic best known for his analysis of technological communication. This man believed that our world was being corrupted by technology and that our most intimate spaces were no longer private. In the first chapter of his book, Baudrillard comments that by blurring the two spaces with technology has aided in the dematerialization of spectacle or secret. Television brings the entire universe in your home with the click of a button. Later in the book he goes on to say..

"We are no longer a part of the drama of alienation: we live in the ecstasy of communication. And this ecstasy is obscene. The obscene puts and end to every representation. But it is not the sexual that becomes obscene in pornography: today there is a whole pornography of information of all functions and objects in their readability, their fluidity, their, availability, their regulation, in their forced signification, in their performativity, in their branching, in their polyvalence, in their free expression... It is no longer then the traditional obscenity of what is hidden, repressed, forbidden or obscure; on the contrary, it is the obscurity of the visible, of the all-too-visible, of the more-visible-than-visiable. It is the obscenity of what no longer has any secret, of what dissolves in information and communication."

"Hyperreality" at its best Mr. Baudrillard. This piece is about materialism, technological advancement, social networking, and the lack of interpersonal social experiences. People are so involved with the internet now that its difficult to hang out with someone without them commenting on a viral video they saw on Youtube the night before, Facebook, or some other lame topic for discussion. People are communicating with their phones more than the person standing in front of them which is definitely out of control. We are starving ourselves from real sensate disturbences and experiences due to.. 3D Tvs without glasses or goggles!? Really? The whole point of all this was just to say that we are all forgetting about the beauty. The beauty of being a little kid and exploring things just to do it. The beauty that nature provides all around us uncaptured and boarderless. Beauty is right under your nose, or in this case, the flower behind your ear.

Side Note: Baulrillard died in March 2007, two moths after the release of the first generation iPhone. I wooooonnnnndddder if he stood in line to get it.. nah, I'll just goggle it.

9" x 18"
I stole Nalaties markers..shh!

This drawing is actually on 18" x 24" white drawing paper. It is smaller now because I wasn't happy with the rest of the composition. I tried to incorporate flowers and a wave in the foreground, with a hot air balloon and sky in the background, but the balloon turned out a lot less then perfect.. my perfect anyway. I haven't actually cut the drawing yet so I might try to make something of it still. I may make a three-dimensional, cut-paper project by layering more paper flowers on top to mimic them growing. The drawing above would be the base where smaller flowers would adhere to, like a pop up book. For now, the cropped image is what I want until I figure it out.

My little cousin Austin didn't like the 80's style sneakers I painted for him. I totally get it. They were a little too funky and feminine for most people. I just painted something that I would wear, which is usually outlandish colors, and my buddy Mike D would say, "Only you." I also didn't take his age into consideration and how the 1980's is just something he saw on VH1 when they were "loving it". Anyway, here they are.


I toned these down with the grey but continued with my 80's style idea through graffiti. I created a few paint splatters on the outsides of each sneaker and drips in the back to emphasis spray paint and the development of street art during that time. These were ten times easier than my original idea/experiment and I like the overall turn out. My only disappointment is the laces. I just hate the laces! I had to paint them and dye them several times to the point where they look overworked. Besides the overall color, my dryer caused them to appear 'linted' and beat up which makes them look old and weathered. My girlfriend said, and I quote, "They looked like you dragged them through a puddle," which I agree with but DAMN! LOL I decided to lace them differently so you would notice the design instead of their appearance but either way, I need to buy you laces Austin. Expect them in the mail sometime this month.

Side Note: Did you know that there are thirty-three awesome ways to tie your shoelaces?