i LOVE Murakami...tons of pictures!!!

on the way...

Manhattan Bridge...hanging out the sunroof taking pictures was fun!

^ getting closer!!!
^ cool buildings
^ fun door and graffiti into someones apartments
^ fun fire escapes
^ Loved the green/rusty building
^ Cherry blossoms in the museum parking lot
^ And the fun begins....huge sculpture in the lobby, I love this little mad guy!...only photos I got to take, no pictures allowed in the exhibit, although I found a bunch online this morning and they're later on...




^ SO COOL!!!!

;^ Diamond District...didn't get to go through, my mom wanted to leave :(  Below are the pics I found online that someone snapped at the exhibit
Eyelove Superflat - awesome in person!  I always liked this with the eyes and have this on my computer, but in person the black background is actually covered with glitter, so fun!
^ this was a great sketch of a huge work on another wall near by, I loved that this was here because I love to see the planning artists put into their works, this had all kinds of notes and scribbles among it, plus it was about 30 pieces of paper taped together and severely crumbled up, great juxtaposition to the perfectly polished pics on the walls!
^ one of my favorites Tan Tan Bo Puking aka Gero Tan
^ Another favorite (speaking of 'favorites' every time I turned a corner and walked into a new room I would exclaim "Oh my God, mom come here this is my absolute favorite"  After the 7th or 8th time I said that she just cracked up and said I obviously had no idea what an absolute favorite meant, apparently I had way too many favorites!)  This would be And Then and then and then and then (Red) Takashi Murakami's creation Dob character is pictured. 
^ my goodies that I bought, I had to ask for the big Jellyfish Eyes bag, because I only bought 2 postcards and a pin, I already owned the catalog, but now I'm regretting not buying more things, but I DEFINITELY want to go back at least once, probably twice before its over.
^ some more of my "favorites"  727-727 (don't quote me on that!) Kiki pin and Dob postcard

My mom asked,  "So was this a dream come true?" And yes, it REALLY was.  Ever since your young you go on museum field trips since 1st grade, and they don't really sink in, then you realize you like art and their a bit more fun, but a trip to the zoo would prove as a better option in grade school.  Then you get to college and make frequent trips for the mandatory papers on a Greek Vase or Master painting of a teachers choice.  Granted I love Warhol, and getting to see his stuff and a Jeff Koons bunny amidst the 'paper' piece is fun, but I've never just wanted to go to a museum for a real purpose.  When I caught wind of this Murakami exhibit in LA I wanted to go so bad!  That didn't happen and I was bummed out then about a month ago I found out this was going to New York, there was NO WAY I was passing this up before it goes to Europe to Germany and Spain in following years.  I decided to go the first day it was open to the public, and I'm SO happy I did.  Murakami is definitely my favorite artist, its so cool that he's a contemporary artists and gets to partake in all the hype around him, unlike some of the greats celebrated long after their time.  I had the catalog since Christmas, but that doesn't do the works justice at all.  The colors are so vibrant in real life, and the pieces are GIGANTIC, its so surreal!  I can't say enough on how great this was!  I'll be back up for sure before it closes to see how many more people I can drag with me and experience this.  My mom said she was blown away because she had only flipped through the catalog she bought me, but she said she's got such an appreciation for all of it now and just keeps saying that he's a genius, and he really is.  Definitely check this out, only $8 for students, not too far of a drive, or take a bus for about $34!

I also bought the book Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell Friday night and started reading that on the way up (yes I'm actually READING a book, I hate reading assigned 'book report' type books, but when its something that really interests me I read like crazy)  Not too far into it because I was a bit ADD on the way up but it is so good, everyone should read it!  Also I get to pick up my diamonds monday, so I'm getting really excited!!!!  I can't wait until I have my bracelets to wear!!!!

Karl Fritsch

^^ This ring is my absolute favorite, I LOVE the oxidized silver and topaz integration, such a fun and whimsical design, I love the swirls and how the gem 'floats'.  I would live in this ring and never take it off.  I really wish I could own this!




Karl Fritsch was among one of the artists at Jewelerswerk, I really love his stuff.  When we learned about the materials project today I thought back to his work, I like his "stacked" type of pieces.  I'm pretty sure at Jewelerswerk that they said his work is epoxied (if thats a correct word, haha) together.  His work is really cool.  I was just reading how he uses his fingers to mold the bands on some of the rings, hence the fingerprint textures on a lot of them,  I think that adds a really unique aspect.  I was looking at the Jewelerswerk site just a minute ago and he is listed as an upcoming show starting April 11, I know some of his work was displayed there already, but I'm hoping some more pieces will be there as well, I'm planning on going to the Smithsonian Craft show and want to stop into Jewelerswerk again, so I'll be on the lookout for some more cool stuff!

His work is a good inspiration to fly off from.  The other day sitting in my writing class my mind was endlessly wandering and I was thinking how I could make a ring with that whole stacking stones/materials technique. The crazy shapes in his work are an inspiration.  I'm really into obnoxiously huge rings, my main focus in the work I want to produce is crazy cocktail rings.  Sitting with my wandering mind I was thinking of making a customizable ring that you can change day to day.  Kind of like all of those crazy "7 days of the week things" like underwear sets, sock sets, or shirt sets.  I was thinking that this might be a great and easily produced idea and I even got into thinking about some cool packaging for it, kind of its own mini-jewelry box with all the pieces needed to make your ring of the day and a cool pamphlet for some solutions and various looks.  I'm really in love with this idea.  The idea would be extremely simple, a simple fabricated band with a hole in the top.  You would get various lengths of tube to go with your ring, to customize the height and how crazy you want to go, maybe some star patterned tube prongs. There would be a screw in piece to top it off and hold the pieces in place securely.  Then you'd get a variety of materials or pieces (i don't want to say the word 'bead' but along that line)  I'm thinking glass pieces, some sheet charms, maybe even sequins.  I can see I'm heading for an insomniac night so if I get some definitive sketches to illustrate this, I'll throw them up here.  I'm pretty excited to see if I can execute this idea.

mind bomb

This is how I feel right now.  Throbbing migrane thanks to having some crying breakdowns yesterday (I tend to let things build up and when it gets to all I can take you could throw a pebble at me and I'd cry, and I did ALOT of that yesterday, thanks to an insensitive boyfriend) Then my best friend dropped out of our trip to New York this weekend, which really bummed me out, but I've decided I'm going anyway and am determined to have a great time!  That little caricature of my brain right now would be "Frazzled Kiki" a stuffed toy created by Takashi Murakami sold in conjunction with the Murakami exhibit, I have the feeling that I'll be broke by Saturday afternoon after attending the show.  But I'm beyond excited to go see this!  

Anyway onto a lighter/happier/more excited not, I just walked out of class where we learned about our next project.  As soon as I saw the different examples of materials and read "glass" my mind went wild.  Lately I've been thinking of creating some type of interchangeable/buildable glass ring.  Who knows where that will go with the creative process to tactile object, but my mind went crazy half way through the lecture and all I could think about were some possible outcomes using glass and other materials.  Ever since I was young I've been drawn to things that are shiny or see through (hence jewelry major).  Over the years I amassed a pretty awesome rock collection.  I'd come home from school everyday with pockets full of rocks, while all the other kids spent recess on the jungle gym, I dug through the sand and walked by the pond finding the latest 'treasure.'  My parents grew very sick of this by about 3rd grade, but used to it as well, it would be time to do the laundry I'd unveil my latest finds from my pockets, and throw them with the rest.  My dad would always take me to the nature store, and it was months of begging and begging until I got a nice chunk of amethyst crystals, but in the mean time he'd buy me random pieces of stuff and tons of agates (to this day theres still a bag of them sitting on the floor of the laundry room in plain sight that neither my mom or I tend to move)  Somewhere along the line I was fascinated by glass too, then the bad habit of collecting broken shards of glass formed.  My parents REALLY hated this because they figured I would slice my hands open at any given moment, when I don't believe I ever did.  Glass amazes me, it is the one other subject I'd really like to explore and incorporate into my techniques.  In highschool we had to make photo frames for photo class, I jumped at the opportunity to go and smash some glass plates and throw them down and glue them back together.  Right now I'm thinking of going somewhere with that approach with this project.

Having such a crappy day yesterday really makes me want to run to Anthropologie after school and pick up some cups to go home and throw around to see what I can come up with.  I'm not one to destroy things with anger, (although I've broken 2 cell phones by throwing them at the floor) I'm thinking it might be fun.  Last time I put the plates in an old towel after the initial 'throw' and went to town with a hammer.  So I'm thinking with the money in my wallet, some serious gloves (lesson learned last time) and some safety goggles I'm going to experiment with what I can come up with.  Below are some glasses that I absolutely LOVE.  Anthropologie and Pier 1 are such danger zones for me.  I always want to buy these glasses, but never do.  They'd make such elegant table settings, and to me they're almost too pretty.  I love their form and detailing.  Thats exactly why I want to take them out of context, if I feel they're too pretty to buy thats stupid, now I'm going to buy them for the sole purpose of destroying them.  There's some metaphors there; as a society we hold a lot of things in high regard when really they're not so.  Golden example: diamonds, we know through our Blood Diamond research that they aren't rare, but we exalt them and buy them at the horribly gauged prices anyway because we have to have them.  So for the sake of me holding that cup as 'sacred' in a way, too pretty to own in my fear of ruining it somehow, I want to do just that.  Casting motto: "Never Say Die", ok that works, if I kill the cup as it being a cup, now I'm left with beautiful shards of glass, the cup's gone, but I have a whole new resource of wealth.  The glass doesn't have to be trashed and end there, that's when I want to transform it.  As of yet I don't know where the glass pieces go from there but I'll figure that out later.


So after all this rambling, I'm going to go buy my pretty glasses to break up, preferrably after I write my 5 page paper thats due today that I haven't started yet, as a therapeutic action.  I think this is going to be so much fun, and some great outcomes.  I really want to explore glass as my main material and integrate it with metal and possibly wood or plastics.  Of course I don't know how to cast glass, but that will be a research point, theres SO MANY options and uses of glass.  I want to learn more of its creation and uses and its regard to everyday life.  I'm So excited for this project!!!!!!!