Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Exposure and Mail Art are Stuck in VT

I gotta say that I really enjoyed shooting both of these vlogs. I had never been to the Billings basement to see WRUV before and now that they are moving, I am really glad I got the chance. Jeremy and Scottum are so chill and The Hero Cycle are a great band (John even made me a little cheat sheet with band member names, awww).

It is so cool meeting hard working, dedicated, creative people who are doing what they LOVE, not for any reason besides the way it makes them feel inside. After Exposure, I walked home across campus totally amped and hyper, like I had just been to some amazing show that no one knew about but me.

Friday I drove out to Barre to meet the Mail Art ladies. I was late and drove really fast and arrived feeling guilty. From the moment I walked in the door, Gabrielle and Delia (and her dog!) had me laughing my head off (how to hold the camera steady!?) and feeling totally inspired.

When you meet people so full of life, guts, art and creativity, it is impossible not to feel hopeful about the future and the present. It is a great show and everyone should go to see it Friday in Barre at Studio Place Arts:

Friday, April 27, 5:30-7:30 PM
Opening Reception for 3 new shows at SPA

Main Gallery: Window Jazz Inventions: New paintings by James McGarrell
Second Floor Gallery: Mail Art Show
Third Floor Gallery: The Need to Conceal: Works by James Juron

More and more, I am realizing this vlog is about creativity, obsession and happiness. Why did Gabrielle and Delia mail each other dog toys when they were neighbors? Why do the 7 members of The Hero Cycle cram into a tiny van and drive across the country for pennies? Why do Jeremy and Scottum spend 5 hours every week untangling cords? Why do I pull an all nighter once a week to finish these vlogs when it is surely shaving months off my life?

The answers to all these things are, of course, something only Anais Nin really knows:

Living never wore one out so much as the effort not to live.
Anais Nin


The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle.
There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.
Anais Nin

3 comments:

tinycat said...

I am actually getting eggs in the mail next week -- two chicks and a duck! They'll live in the Old North End though (rather than in Tabitha's tummy).

digibudi said...

Anaïs is my spiritual mother, since I was 16 I'm reading her diaries every year. :) I'm totally absorbed by her words and her life.. I even got pictures of her on my walls.. :) family portraits I'd like to call them, spiritual families are such a wealth, pure luxury! Yes, Sir! love you Eva!!!

Eva the Deadbeat said...

Lani, you are getting eggs in the mail!? I love this about you. I can't wait to meet your fowl as they are sure to be darling.

Nikolaas - you and me and Anaïs should have a tea party or something. seriously, i adore her - have you read Colette? let's invite Colette and also Josephine Baker to our tea party...and Ella Fitzgerald, mmmm, and how about Katherine Hepburn and Patricia Highsmith too. i will make scones from scratch and many pots of tea spiked with brandy - I can't wait!