FFTRADIO: DEEP SEA OR DEEP SPACE?

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Listen to the first FFT radio podcast program!

Greg, Sean and Jackson ask the age old question for young explorers like ourselves. We ask a wide variety of individuals, but our friend Ian finishes off the program with the most detailed and most accurate explanation with the help of Greg's investigative journalism. (runtime-3 mins)

OUR FRIEND GREG FROM SECURITAS

Greg was happy to pose for some photos one night, years ago.

CRINKLES IN BURLINGTON

Exactly one week ago, Greg and I took a drive up to Burlington, VT to see Jon and Crinkles open for Mt. Eerie. Columbus Day weekend is peak foliage time for upper New England so the trip was beautiful. Reds, golds and oranges. I was honestly awestruck sometimes. Anyway the show was hosted by the super cool guys and gals at TickTick and it was at this great little venue called The Bakery. Everybody sat in comfy living room chairs and had their ears blessed by damn good music. Burlington is a cool town. I'm sure I'll be back for more. (photos by sean)

ALEX GREY

"Studying the polarities on earth and in our bodies, I learned that our brains and hearts emit magnetic energy as does the earth. The North Magnetic Pole is the place from which we gauge our position on earth. Yet the magnetic energy field at the North Magnetic Pole wanders in a slow erratic path, shifting it's position several degrees every year, never giving perfectly accurate compass bearings because of this polar wandering effect. I flew and snowmobiled up to the North Magnetic Pole, located in the Arctic. Inside the magnetic field my compass needle spun around. The sun circled overhead around the clock. I wandered across the ice desert, then took off my clothes and ran around in a circle. I felt I had dissolved into a pure energy state and become one with the magnetic field surrounding the earth." - Alex Grey

THINGS ARE NOT THE SAME AS THEY USED TO BE

Picture day used to be something I looked forward to.

& ON A WALL

DANIEL PHILLIPS AND RE: EUGENE FINNEY

I hope you still remember Eugene Finney whose found object architecture inspired my entry concerning Glory at Sea. Also, I hope you still remember the show that will be featuring him at the Tufts University Art Gallery between December 4th and 21st. Well, not that you needed it, but here's one more reason to go to that show (and go to it on opening night):

Today, I met Daniel Phillips, the partner artist of that very same show. Daniel takes stills of his studio floor from a bird's eye view where he splays a disarray of found objects, recycled items, and salvaged materials across the floor, then loops the stills to create a moving collage of materials (using the floor as a canvas in itself). While Daniel (sometimes shown in frame) creates a nest out of his studio, you can see colored lights being set up across the floor, wooden materials coming together to show abstract structures, and a variety of materials displaying form without function.

It's pretty fascinating stuff, and Daniel noted that for the Tufts show, he will create a new studio space in which he will start another series of these birds-eye view video loops within the actual gallery. When seeing Daniel's method in person (which on the opening, I'm assuming will happen), it's very different than what is shown on screen - in fact, much more organized than I originally assumed. Visitors at Tufts will be able to experience his artistic planning and see it executed via a scaffolding that he will build over his faux-studio. It's also interesting that Eugene and Daniel signed up to show their works during the same period, and are the only artists showing their works in the two floor gallery space at Tufts during this period. I'm curious to see how it turns out.

In these artists' studio visits, I'm seeing a modest trend outlining a very childlike fascination with junk aesthetic, as if the artists are playing with their materials to see what becomes of them rather than striving for any specific form. There's this really unique convergence of minimalist structure and clutter (see: graffiti aesthetic).

I couldn't find any images of the correct Daniel Phillips' work, and am having trouble finding any examples of Eugene Finney's newest work, so above is a photograph I took last year in New York City.

STICK YOUR NOSE IN IT

Every year, Nikon has a contest for photomicrographers, or, crazy cool scientists who take pictures with microscopes while curing cancer, aids, and the runny nose. The next deadline? April 30, 2009. Seen is last years 1st place winner, Michael Stringer, who took a photomicrograph of Pleurosigma using a combo of darkfield & polarized light @ 200x (!!!)

Check the URL: 

http://www.nikonsmallworld.com

PSYCHODROME

Algorithmically hyper-edited recut of the shower scene from Hitchcock's Psycho via cellular automata control. Created by Emerson media professor Maurice Methot.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

My mother and father fell in love during an overnight flight to Jakarta. My father was the co-pilot and my mother was a flight attendant. It was her first day on the job. Here they are, pictured above in Los Angeles in 1983 wearing matching pants and complimentary sweaters.

POP & POVERTY

can you teach me how to fight?

DYNAMAN

EUGENE FINNEY AND GLORY AT SEA

Today, at the SMFA, we met (among others) Eugene Finney who, trained as a painter, now makes some pretty wonderful sculptures that he likes to call "post apocalyptic design theories." His works included a shelter made out of wood scraps from a an old brownstone that was being renovated as well as a boat made of scraps and found objects (complete with skids for a base and a projector screen for the front sail). I didn't get to see the pieces in their full glory (pun noted for later), but was rather forced to view them in his cramped 3rd year SMFA Masters studio. For this reason, I propose that anyone who wants to come with me should go to the MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Tufts University Art Gallery sometime between December 4th and 21st (2008). It will be a great time.

Honestly, these works really interested me not only because they were assemblage sculptures meant for very distinct functions (taking assemblage to a new level), but mainly because the sailboat reminded me an incredible amount of Court 13's Glory at Sea:

Glory at Sea is a tale with elements of magical realism that depicts a small town outside New Orleans who discovers that they can visit their lost loved ones who still remain very much alive in the ocean. Once realizing this, they band together build a makeshift ship out of "the flood's" wreckage and attempt to discover "where the dead people go."

So, naturally, to round out this entry of shameless plugs and inspirations, I bring incredible news (at least for Family Family Tree). The following has been posted on the McSweeney's website:

Wholphin No. 7 will feature a short film by Gus Van Sant based on a William S. Burroughs short story; a documentary exploring autism from the animators of Waking Life; Field Notes from Dimension X; the SXSW award-winning Glory at Sea; and a curious documentary about men living in relative isolation on Bodmin Moor, one of whom in particular subsists on a strict roadkill diet. Issue 7 will also include a special bonus disc containing a highly controversial interactive scientific experiment in retroactive causality, in which the Wholphin audience, just by watching, will help to determine the role of consciousness in the establishment of a physical reality.

AWESOME!

BEDFORD

I am part of a large Irish Catholic family, though sometimes I feel like an outsider.

The Hanleys (in ascending order)

Four Jimmys, three Tommys, two Timmys, two Bobbys, two Kevins, two Connies, one Matthew, one Megan, one Kerrin, one Caitlin, one Brian, one Kathy, one Carol, one Mary Kate, one Jonathan, one Patrick, one Joseph, one Allison, one Kelly, one Bridget, one Christina (twins), one Nora, one Grace, one Mo, one Jack

and one Sean.

LUCKY DRAGONS

FAMILY FAMILY TREE

WELCOME HOME