"All The Stars In The Sky (1843 to be exact)"

In an effort to exercise the "wit of brevity," I will keep my writing to a minimum on this piece. You may recognize this concept from one of my earlier studies here on the blog, one that WAS written about. Since its back a few pages, I'll spare you the hassle of having to go through everything, and I'll just include the link here:

                "All The Stars," small scale study, and concept writing

The actual large scale implementation that you see above, was aesthetically developed as a result to the conditions by which it was created. Basically, I decided I would use only 3 blue sharpie's for the whole piece, and however many stars I could get out of those three, would determine the scope of the project. If they were still running strong, I would still be working on this piece. As it happened, I made a total of 1843 stars before all three sharpies died, and yes I did keep track of them. 

Although it is a simple concept, I like that the outcome is determined by my initial decisions/restrictions. I am working on a whole series of these pieces, using different methods to determine the somewhat randomized outcome i.e. one canvas, I may decide to draw 10,000 stars, and whatever it looks like at 10,000, is the final product. If your intrigued by the concept, be sure to check out the extensive writing found a few pages back, on the small scale study. In the meantime, here's some fun process photo's.

Much more to come y'all! Most of my recent work has yet to be posted, so I'm going to just bite the bullet and start posting a bit sloppier writing in favor of "getting-er-done," as many so fondly put it...

"All The Stars In The Sky," Drawn in Ball-Point Pen (Small Scale Study #1)

Upon returning recently from my latest adventures throughout sunny Florida, I have had the privilege of satisfying my urges to push quantities of work in an attempt to whet my more-so (recently) mania driven appetite in the realm of visual arts. This is not only because my "traditional" studio practice isn't quite as feasible to maintain outside the studio and on the road, but because of my tendencies to work several pieces at once, and to explore relative concepts that come to me organically and satisfy a certain physical or psychological need within me. Put another way, I don't work on a piece if I don't have the literal need to work on it; similarly to the way a person wouldn't make love or masturbate without the urge to do so.
That being said, it can be observed with practicality that I would return on such a trip that forces me to be exhausting more internal facets of creativity such as writing, poetry, note taking, meditation, photography, etc.; and now feel the need to work aggressive, experimental, physical, and visually oriented works.
Similarly to some of my more meditative work, this piece almost develops aesthetically from within the first marks of its original conception, and is only loosely controlled through the implementation of the process.
Essentially, I very quickly drew and re-drew the simple five lined star that we all learn to make in kindergarten- I did this over and over again using a variety of sizes from one inch stars, to one foot stars, and repeated this for a few hours every single day. Not only did this provide an insightful opportunity for aesthetic development and reflection at the end of every days session, but it provided a certain time slot for me to relax my tensions in the frustrations of art-making by venting creatively.
Many have likened this quality to some of my work as therapeutic, and suggested that I work more toward that field (art therapy), however; although I do not work against, or deny this observation- why must any/all other facets of art be lacking this self healing quality? I was led to believe very early, that this was always a major function of art, no matter what your subject, medium, or intent are. I hope we do not begin to compartmentalize this healthy function of art as a new trend or movement, but conversely- strive to fulfill that personal importance as an asset to any artists working philosophy, whether someone paints a vase, a figure, a circle, or a wall.
I will continue to work off of what was observed in this smaller scale study (2'x2'), and am already considering how I will go about making these into large scale pieces. Since I used only one blue ball point pen, on a scrap board painted over in house paint- I have allot of decisions to consider when making the leap to large scale.
No matter what I decide for the future works, I cannot help but be amazed in the beauty of the single star itself, and then the resulting pattern created by obsessive repetition, and aggressive spontaneity.

A Simple form, untactfully placed;
sequentially repeated, the unit erased-
marriage of function, disparage of form,
essentially deforming the symbol first born.

dramatic reformation is creative masturbation.
clean up your mess, it is time to embrace
this curious new form.

Taken From Joseph R Reeves Esq.
(The Life, The Writings, and the Essential Life Writings of Joseph R Reeves Esq: p.26, par.4, WPP. '09)

New Glitter Porn Pieces, AND Fun Process Pics!

As simple of a concept as these glitter pieces really can seem, there is conversely, a level of depth to their presence, as well as their depiction. Strangely enough, I found myself spending alot of time in choosing these photos out of porno magazines- not for personal reasons believe it or not, but for finding exactly perfect images. Not perfect in any sort of superficial sense either- I was seeking images in which the female model was displaying not only a sense of control or dominance over the male objects, but also striking eye contact, and an intense expression that evokes a disarming sense of intimacy, lust, and voyeurism when confronting the viewer.
The pieces are done on 4' x4' panels, so the relatively large scale is also confrontational in its essence. Although the content is considerably offensive, and the images are quite 'loaded' with possible meanings- I am trying to use the push/pull of imagery versus material, in the same way that I am trying to illustrate the contrast between natural, intimate, human behaviors; and the silliness of our demoralizing, hypocritical, degradation of these same such images publicly.
Would you think I'm a pervert if I said I thought these images were sexy?
Instinct, curiousity, human nature, and pleasure- all seem to be direct contradictions to societal expectations- these pieces are just an extension of some of those never ending human struggles.
Don't worry mom, I do OTHER things with my art too.
Because of my avid documentation practice, I got a bunch of fun photographs during my working too! I just cant do one damn thing at a time I guesss...

Installment #1 of "CELL PHONE PHOTO GALLERY" (curated by Joseph R. Reeves Esq.)

The "CELL PHONE PHOTO GALLERY," is an idea concocted by currator Joseph R. Reeves Esq. with the fueling notion behind it, to take any curratorial decisions based opon personal opinion in both aesthetic and professional senses- and throw them out with the trash! This is a gallery opportunity for the everyday american who ALMOST DEFINITELY has a phone with a camera on it (even my mom has one).
By relieving this curratorial power from the hands of the gallery, we can see for once, an honest show of photography that reveals not only what the average person wants to see in a gallery, but the converse agenda of contributers who expose photos annonymously in an unintentional effect of revealing exactly HOW ELSE camera phones are being used. No matter what variation of personal meaning the unknown 'artists' ACTUALLY have when contributing their photos, the actual treatment of these works in a serious gallery context- and among clusters of many many other cell phone photos- strangely transforms these beautiful, odd, humerous, and always interesting photographs into something you might find in a fine art photo show normally. This also leads to a beautiful and transformative reality for the everyday american, to understand that art is anything, and anywhere; and the term artist, is really just an umbrella term.
Another key aspect of this piece for me, is using the idea of curating as a medium almost. I littered my target areas with fliers that asked people to send their favorite cell phone photos to me, and I gave them my number and e mail to either send it via e mail, or simply by sending it directly to my phone. The ease of contributing to this photo show is what made it so successfull, I got about 150 submissions in 2 days!!!
I plan to continue putting fliers up around the united states as I travel for the next year, and hopefully, one year from now I will have a MASSIVE cell phone photo gallery showing that will take place. Ideas for a book of the ongoing collection are also in the works. E mail me with suggestions or contributions! WWW.JOEMAMMAXX23@yahoo.com.
Here are a few of the raw photos too!

Repitition and meditation

This piece was a continuation of a major aspect of my senior thesis project, and although the piece seems quite simple, the concept was what intrigued me most. Every day, for one week, I would take a half hour to stop and sit in front of this 4'x4' panel, and for that half hour, I would simply draw this large circle with permanant marker over and over again. Although the task seems redundant, I found very much peace and clarity of mind within this daily half hour excercise. This gave the piece an important meditative function within my studio, and as the circle developed, what began as simple and repetitive, developed very quickly into a very beautiful and self evolving aesthetic. I believe the circle itself, and the mark making used in this piece, evoke a similar feeling to viewers that was present in my mind when I was creating the work.