Rebuilding Credit

Three years ago, when I was in a completely different place of my life, I developed a crazy scheme to make some money.

I was swimming in Credit Card Debt, driven crazy by a constant game to try and pay on time or face extra fines.

So I made some artwork out of chopped up coins, posted it on eBay, and contacted CNN.


The original post can be seen here


The experience was an experiment, I didn't know what to expect. 








In the end, I sold them for $300, not bad, to an old friend from my hometown. 


Unfortunately, they were damaged in transit, and after keeping them for a time, she returned them to me in the mail.

As I was in the middle of moving to a new studio space, the box got  lost for almost a year amidst a bunch of other stuff.

 Well, I'm happy to announce that after finding them again recently, I have fixed the damage, and will be returning them to their owner ASAP.
 

 

Over the course of the last three years, I have started dozens of projects that I never finished. It's always more enticing to act on a new impulse or idea, but seeing things through is also an important part of the work process. I am going to start wrapping up these loose ends so I can move on to new stuff guilt free.

5 cents, 5 senses

Having nose and Having mouth, that's what life is all about.

  

They're the only things I don't detest.

Having ears with which one hears
or eyes to spy what one is near

 or hands to feel and type and steal
is overrated at best.

To smell is divine, and eating is good--you must do it if you want to grow.


In hell people fryin' all wish that they could give up sight, sound and touch down below.

Cuz the screams are so loud that they grate on your ears,
 and the dark smoky cloud fills your eyes up with tears,

and the pain on your skin makes you beg makes you wish

 that your closest of kin was some primitive fish
who lives in a dimly lit cave...

 

...and whose teeth bite quite well, and whose pastime is smell

and who cares not one bit if it's saved.

Resurrection

A short while ago, in a Galaxy near, nearby, I created a piece of artwork that represented a reality check on high ideals. It was made in haste, from materials I found lying around.
The original manifestation of the piece as well as it's manifesto can be viewed HERE
Since making the original incarnation of this work, I have longed to revamp it with a proper crucifix, fitting for the time and place to which Luke Skywalker belongs.
Recently, my greatest friend, who is the director of the gallery in Brooklyn where I focus all of my efforts and show all my art, gave me a model spaceship that I'd been pestering him about for years.
It was an Imperial Star Destroyer from the Star Wars movies, and for my purposes it was absolutely perfect. I chopped it up with a razor and built my own shape. I painted details and magnetically bonded the victim to his device of execution.
The parallels between Luke Skywalker and Jesus are as evident as the parallels between the Roman Empire 2000 plus years ago and the Dark Galactic Empire of the Star Wars world. My blog, as well, was somewhat martyred as I focused on putting my efforts into the gallery and my other projects.
Crucifying Skywalker on Imperial Equipment is more than fitting on this Easter Sunday, 2012.
And, like Jesus, like Luke, my blog will rise again, and once more I will share the projects I've been working on with the rest of the world.
Every week for as long as it seems necessary, I'll be posting some pictures of my current projects. I have a lot going on, so I'm excited to share.
Thanks to everyone who has been a fan, I appreciate your encouragement and enthusiasm, and hope to inspire as many people as possible.

Chapter 2: Making Money Instead of Art

After a lengthy hiatus, I return to the Blogosphere with pictures of my newest work in progress: a giant penny made from actual pennies.

I stopped posting blog entries because I felt like I'd said everything I needed to say, and that the stories about my past provided ample material for new and old viewers to peruse and examine.Just because I stopped posting on my blog doesn't mean I stopped working on projects.

In fact, my newest project is a series that I believe surpasses in concept and execution everything I've created up until this point.

For the first time in my explorations, I'm using a specific object to create a modified version of itself: Meta-Art!

Creating coins from coins is satisfying on so many levels, the first and personally most important being that I have gained a great deal of fans based on the powerful coin series I produced in 2002.

By re-visiting the subject of coins, I am coming full-circle on a path that spans 10 years.

My skills have grown immensely, and our world has changed dramatically, so now the project has a cleaner look and a deeper significance.

My plan is to create all four coins again, but this time as two-sided objects.

Revaluing the money as larger versions of itself breathes new life into our sputtering economy, and gives hope to those who fear that money itself will be the cause of our extinction.
Stay tuned for more updates on this project.

Opening Another Toolchest/Earning Amnesty

Sometime ago, I made some tools from chopped coins.

Recently, while browsing the web, I came across a page where I'd been featured. I could vaguely remember getting an e-mail months back from someone asking me if it would be okay to use my images, but I'd never actually seen the article.

When I clicked it I couldn't believe my eyes. Another artist had made some work strikingly similar to my own.

Was I intimidated? Did I feel threatened? No. Our approaches are completely different. If anything, I was impressed.

It's good to be part of a large, broad movement, whose existence in America is only possible within this particular era. Her name is Stacey Lee Webber, she's a jewelry maker by trade, and she even went so far as to obtain a document from the US Mint assuring her she could mess with money.

So there you have it: discouraged , but not penalized.

So I guess that throws a wrench into my plan to get arrested for chopping up coins and finally get the media to cover my art. That's how I'd planned to get famous.

I suppose it's back to the drawing board.

No, the "Adjustable Wrench" sculpture is not adjustable.

It's just art. And it's totally Legal.

Yes: one side is Heads and the other is Tails.

I'm not sure if I'll make more tools from coins, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody else does.