This morning was a whirlwind of finishing touches, applying the poems to the wall, cleaning up fishing line tails sticking out of my work, and adjusting the dang lights! The room, dare I say it, was just too dark. But I didn't foresee that in order to get the room dark enough to appreciate the framing projector, you can't even see your way around the room. So how do you light the room without lighting the room?
Anastaci had her car, so she drove me to Walmart about 10 minutes away. I looked at their night lights and I bought a few kinds. I used one of the automated checkout things at Walmart and I stuck a $100 in the machine to pay for it. Anastaci said, "What if it gives you change in coins? You'll be like a pirate with a huge sack" I said, "Don't even joke about that..."—
My heart dropped—coins started coming out of the machine—I said, "Oh no!"
Then the machine stopped and spit out some paper money and Anastaci and I burst into laughter, drawing the attention of the Walmart-automated-checkout-guards.
I put in my lights and they were just the touch I needed, they lit the floor a little bit and because the light was from such a low angle, it created a raking effect on the yarn on the floor, so they were illuminated just a little.
After I finished installing with only an hour to spare, I went to the library to make buttons for our class gift. We have so much extra work to do as grads, we have to give a class gift, we have to make programs for the graduation, and we have to plan the dance party. And even though we have a class of 14, it seems like all the work falls on about five of us. For the "programs," we are giving out an envelope of postcards, one for each grad. While I was doing buttons, apparently, I was the resident tech-and-design-support. would get interrupted with questions how to work the printers, how to use photoshop, what file to save things in, how to arrange it so that it would print on the back side correctly, etc. And even though I designed a template for the class before I left home, in many cases, I just had to make it for them. Bina and Christine were working on cutting out the postcards with the paper cutter, I was doing buttons, Susan and Elsa were making the music playlist for the dance. Three hours later I finished the buttons, and we got 5 students postcards made. With 150 postcards per student, and 14 students, that's a lot of cutting. When we have everyone's cards we have to have some huge envelope stuffing assembly line party.
Then I went back to my room to get dressed for the opening, which most people really decked out with gowns and such, I just wore my sweatery blouse with the white flowers and high heels and put makeup on. Bina, Christine, and I exited the dorm to walk over the gallery—this was it! the opening was finally here. When we came out of the dorm building, a group of students chatting at a picnic table nearby all reacted immediately and talking over one another, "Damn, Jaime!" (the two-syllabled kind of damn that sounds more like "day-um") And there were some general ooo's and ahh's and whistles. I graciously said thank you and continued walking and a little ways farther along I said to Bina and Christine, "Notice how they weren't surprised to see you guys looking great." This made everyone laugh. Even Viet noticed and said, "Wow, I've never seen you with makeup on, are you wearing eyeshadow? And earrings? Let me see them..."
At first people couldn't figure out that there was art in the other room, I guess because of the curtain. But that's exactly why I put the blue yarn coming out of the room.
I got some really good feedback from students and faculty. Don said he finds it really amazing how I've blended photography with textiles and he loved the thread coming out of the room, as if it was saying "come in here" he gestured curling one finger toward him. Humberto perhaps gave me the most highly complimentary statements saying my work was confident and humble, and I commanded the space in such a lyrical way. Viet was surprised and seemed pleased at the result of the framing projector. He said, "I like how I have to wait for my eyes to adjust to see details in there, that's how it works with ideas and inspirations does it? You have to sit with it for a while and contemplate it and then things get clearer." A happy accident while installing my work—I created this little area that's the perfect size to stand inside the knitting. Michael Minelli walked in the room and immediately found the little cove and stood in it. said, "you finally didn't do too much, it breathes!" I told him, I love how you just went and stood inside it, I was hoping people would do that. He winked, you know I'm going to find these things.
Comments from students were interesting statements like, "I feel like I have to be quiet in here, like I'm in church." Anastaci came up to me and said, "You should have seen Henry in here, he was so cute, he said, 'Hey, this is knitting, wait, this is cyanotype? Cyanotype. On this. What? Cyanotype on this?'" Another student said my piece was really inspiring to them and they want to use that room and create darkness the same way I did when they graduate next residency.
I'm planning to play hookie and not attend some of the junk going on today. I'm going to use my time taking pictures of my work and getting them in my slide show so I can officially turn in my flash drive and process paper!
—Five days until graduation—
Anastaci had her car, so she drove me to Walmart about 10 minutes away. I looked at their night lights and I bought a few kinds. I used one of the automated checkout things at Walmart and I stuck a $100 in the machine to pay for it. Anastaci said, "What if it gives you change in coins? You'll be like a pirate with a huge sack" I said, "Don't even joke about that..."—
My heart dropped—coins started coming out of the machine—I said, "Oh no!"
Then the machine stopped and spit out some paper money and Anastaci and I burst into laughter, drawing the attention of the Walmart-automated-checkout-guards.
I put in my lights and they were just the touch I needed, they lit the floor a little bit and because the light was from such a low angle, it created a raking effect on the yarn on the floor, so they were illuminated just a little.
After I finished installing with only an hour to spare, I went to the library to make buttons for our class gift. We have so much extra work to do as grads, we have to give a class gift, we have to make programs for the graduation, and we have to plan the dance party. And even though we have a class of 14, it seems like all the work falls on about five of us. For the "programs," we are giving out an envelope of postcards, one for each grad. While I was doing buttons, apparently, I was the resident tech-and-design-support. would get interrupted with questions how to work the printers, how to use photoshop, what file to save things in, how to arrange it so that it would print on the back side correctly, etc. And even though I designed a template for the class before I left home, in many cases, I just had to make it for them. Bina and Christine were working on cutting out the postcards with the paper cutter, I was doing buttons, Susan and Elsa were making the music playlist for the dance. Three hours later I finished the buttons, and we got 5 students postcards made. With 150 postcards per student, and 14 students, that's a lot of cutting. When we have everyone's cards we have to have some huge envelope stuffing assembly line party.
Then I went back to my room to get dressed for the opening, which most people really decked out with gowns and such, I just wore my sweatery blouse with the white flowers and high heels and put makeup on. Bina, Christine, and I exited the dorm to walk over the gallery—this was it! the opening was finally here. When we came out of the dorm building, a group of students chatting at a picnic table nearby all reacted immediately and talking over one another, "Damn, Jaime!" (the two-syllabled kind of damn that sounds more like "day-um") And there were some general ooo's and ahh's and whistles. I graciously said thank you and continued walking and a little ways farther along I said to Bina and Christine, "Notice how they weren't surprised to see you guys looking great." This made everyone laugh. Even Viet noticed and said, "Wow, I've never seen you with makeup on, are you wearing eyeshadow? And earrings? Let me see them..."
At first people couldn't figure out that there was art in the other room, I guess because of the curtain. But that's exactly why I put the blue yarn coming out of the room.
I got some really good feedback from students and faculty. Don said he finds it really amazing how I've blended photography with textiles and he loved the thread coming out of the room, as if it was saying "come in here" he gestured curling one finger toward him. Humberto perhaps gave me the most highly complimentary statements saying my work was confident and humble, and I commanded the space in such a lyrical way. Viet was surprised and seemed pleased at the result of the framing projector. He said, "I like how I have to wait for my eyes to adjust to see details in there, that's how it works with ideas and inspirations does it? You have to sit with it for a while and contemplate it and then things get clearer." A happy accident while installing my work—I created this little area that's the perfect size to stand inside the knitting. Michael Minelli walked in the room and immediately found the little cove and stood in it. said, "you finally didn't do too much, it breathes!" I told him, I love how you just went and stood inside it, I was hoping people would do that. He winked, you know I'm going to find these things.
Comments from students were interesting statements like, "I feel like I have to be quiet in here, like I'm in church." Anastaci came up to me and said, "You should have seen Henry in here, he was so cute, he said, 'Hey, this is knitting, wait, this is cyanotype? Cyanotype. On this. What? Cyanotype on this?'" Another student said my piece was really inspiring to them and they want to use that room and create darkness the same way I did when they graduate next residency.
I'm planning to play hookie and not attend some of the junk going on today. I'm going to use my time taking pictures of my work and getting them in my slide show so I can officially turn in my flash drive and process paper!
—Five days until graduation—
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