stratification

wikipedia: In sociology, social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of social classes, castes and strata within a society. While these hierarchies are not universal to all societies, they are the norm among state-level cultures (as distinguished from hunter-gatherers or other social arrangements).

merriam-webster: :  to form, deposit, or arrange in strata: a bed or layer artificially made2 a: a sheetlike mass of sedimentary rock or earth of one kind lying between beds of other kinds b: a region of the sea or atmosphere that is analogous to a stratum of the earth c: a layer of tissue <deep stratum of the skin> d: a layer in which archaeological material (as artifacts, skeletons, and dwelling remains) is found on excavation

The first thing that came to mind was the body worlds show where human bodies were plastinated then dissected or basically flayed for the rest of the world to view.  this reminded me of the old encylcopedia’s that we owned which had diagrams of the human anatomy printed on acetate in layers so that you could see the layers of the human body. 

(the following photos are new):

moving along:

since i am a state fair a-holic, i decided to paint a series called “State Fair @ Night”. 

Art Deco StatueFountains @ gate 6

rib cage-layer #3

anyway, i liked our escapade and cannot wait to see the images created by my peers. 

my favorites of the evening….

the reflection of the strength set up:

i hated that i missed the class presentations, i wanted to see what fun everyone had toting their figures around and taking their photos.  my work load has really gotten heavy and the powers that be decide that another project needs to be done, it has precedence over the already assigned projects…it’s the vicious cycle of the corporate world.  don’t get me wrong, i love my work (my manager is fantastic), but the load can get to be too much (i’m not the only one worn out in my group)..all this stress and tension does help produce artwork, it can hinder it too (at least in attendance).  grrr…any way enough ‘wah-ing”  it does make one feel better to pull out the ol’ soapbox, but there’s a time to step off….

my “gnome” is Steed.  He is a small stuffed monkey given to me by my mother on the first christmas without our father in 2002. i am in the habit of collectingmonkeys (amongst other things) and it was nice to see that despite the immense sorrow she was experiencing, she was still able to find humor in finding a present.  He was immediately deemed as my traveling gnome.

He was named “Steed” (thusly deemed as a boy) when i found a small bowler (from a tiny bottle of english gin) in a present store in san franciso.  This was our first trip together and as fate would have it, here we are in a store and there sit hundreds of bowlers just his size…”Steed” is the character John Steed from The Advengers (a campy, British secret agent show from the 60′s).  He wore a bowler, sometimes used it as a weapon.

this first photo was taken @ a friend’s “house”-she moved into the Chicken Farm Art Center in San Angelo.  The place is smallish, but has character (it was a chicken farm at one time and the chicken houses have been converted into living quarters). dana & i declared a chick trip to visit Linda.  While everyone was still sleeping, i tip-toed around the place to take photos when i came upon Linda’s coffee press.  i loved looking into her “other home”-i often wonder what’s behind the looking glass, especially when the image is distorted. i wonder if alter egos exist behind the glass or if there is such thing as a parrallel universe. 

the next set of images are from the way back machine..a visit to the state fair of texas in October 1995.  I went with my friend, DeAnn and her family.  Dylan was 5 and he liked the fun houses, the one with the glass walls.  We found these mirrors in one of the fun houses.  I wonder what the image looked like from his perspective…

this was taken at the state fair, closing day 2007.  The Classic Carroul had Carmen Gia’s and other volkswagens.  I can’t remember the year of this gia,, but we liked the surface of its hub caps.

This next image is what i am leaning toward in using as my painting. I went to vegas on business.  everyone at work was ‘excited’ and ‘jealous’ because they love  vegas.  i would rather go someplace else. i was only excited about the location because i knew that there were squooshed penny machines all over the city and i need more for my collection.  On the first evening i discovered how nice my view was from my room, then played around with taking photos. i liked the eerie colours created by the outside lights.  and the placement of what appears to be a city scape (New York, New York) in the center of my reflection.

another colour scheme idea for altered SP

we can put stress in its place with therapy.  you have the power to choose your therapeutic medium: drugs, alcohol, food (my personal favorite), drawing , painting, building, tearing down, running, watching the political brouhaha-mostly work politics not that of our country.  my submersion in the corporate world over the summer pulls me away from my root desires.  i struggle with the separation of work and life….. i’ve been tinkering around with colour schemes for my self portrait this week.. photoshop is cool, picnik is easy….

idea for altered SP