We center, we are centered -- we are danced -- we are made 2004-05-30T16:24:33Z User 321 MazAmarCreations@aol.com http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/ OrgSpace NewsLog

Only in England...uh, well now around the world. We can't wait to post our first extreme ironing experience from Johsua Tree National Monument(right in our back yard). Check out the newest extreme sport at {link:http://www.extremeironing.com/index.php}. So multi-faceted, so appealing, so...extrem...

Only in England...uh, well now around the world. We can't wait to post our first extreme ironing experience from Johsua Tree National Monument(right in our back yard). Check out the newest extreme sport at [link]. So multi-faceted, so appealing, so...extrememe.]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000012.htm 2004-05-30T16:24:33Z 2004-05-30T16:34:24Z

Coming May 1st and 2nd is the first annual Chuckwalla Fest -- As part of the High Desert Living Arts (a 501c3 public benefit), we're up to our necks in many different aspects of this festival. It's amazing how it's coming together -- feeling very "done/danced" again as is just about everyone else...

Coming May 1st and 2nd is the first annual Chuckwalla Fest -- As part of the High Desert Living Arts (a 501c3 public benefit), we're up to our necks in many different aspects of this festival. It's amazing how it's coming together -- feeling very "done/danced" again as is just about everyone else involved -- Magic. Check it out at [link]]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000011.htm 2004-04-08T18:59:26Z 2004-04-08T19:00:16Z

Why do people always have to do things "on purpose"?

http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000010.htm 2004-02-20T09:57:21Z 2004-02-20T09:57:21Z

When I started to get into my art I was surprised by two things. First, that I didn't know what anything I made meant until it was done. I just get a picture of something that wants to come out, then towards the end of making it, it has relevance -- usually on several levels (I guess metaphor wo...

When I started to get into my art I was surprised by two things. First, that I didn't know what anything I made meant until it was done. I just get a picture of something that wants to come out, then towards the end of making it, it has relevance -- usually on several levels (I guess metaphor works that way!).

The second thing that surprised me was how dark my work is and that I like that its dark (I'm a pretty positive and optimistic person, really)...

Take "Mask for Baby." I just started playing with the clay one day, while I was talking with someone. I didn't set out on some massive mask-making project. Picked a convenient size, then realized that I wanted it to be functional. Okay, it's a mask for a baby then. It hit me like a ton of bricks! "What does that mean? Why is that concept tweeking me out? Why would a baby need a mask? They're pure and perfect and innocent. Well, so are we. But it's perfectly acceptable for us to wear masks ..." Mask for Baby. How does it make you feel?

My friend Lillith from Hollywood who really wants to be pregnant totally got it. "You may as well put the mask on it sooner than later, the way this world is," she said. "It's doing to end up with one anyway!" She was actually upset by my art. That was very gratifying. (Another surprise.) --Amara]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000009.htm 2004-02-20T08:57:24Z 2004-02-20T14:16:34Z

The parts and pieces of this were created spontaneously about two years ago and finally assembled, in its own time, a couple of months ago. It sits in our co-op gallery, High Desert Living Arts {link:www.geocities.com/highdesertlivingarts/}a few doors down from our pottery. I suppose the tit...

The parts and pieces of this were created spontaneously about two years ago and finally assembled, in its own time, a couple of months ago. It sits in our co-op gallery, High Desert Living Arts [link]a few doors down from our pottery.

I suppose the title says it all -- "Hold it Together." I keep feeling it's not a coincidence it's a woman. Perhaps just projection, but I think there's something more. There's something about the wobble. There's a hope, I think, that with help, even with the wobble, the bowl will be able to hold itself up at some point.]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000008.htm 2004-02-14T16:57:22Z 2004-02-14T16:57:22Z

It seems I've always been interested in the didgeridoo. I had heard just brief references to it in television and world music in my younger years. The sound is captivating and of course, unique. The first time I experienced it live was in Atlanta, Ga in the early '90's. This cat was a really go...

It seems I've always been interested in the didgeridoo. I had heard just brief references to it in television and world music in my younger years. The sound is captivating and of course, unique. The first time I experienced it live was in Atlanta, Ga in the early '90's. This cat was a really good player, don't remember his name. He had a stack of painted PVC didgeridoos he was selling on the street for $75 - $120. That struck me as absolutely nuts! I don't care what one could do with the tube, it's still just a tube and the art wasn't that kickin'.

Went right home and "built" one, partly out of spite. Saw him a few more times and he helped me get started playing. That was over ten years ago and when I started working in clay and realized I could make a tube by throwing a series of "donut" forms on the wheel and piecing them together, I thought "any tube will do!" And there it was, my first clay didge.

The clay didges have been in development for about three years now and it's been a wonderful tour of sound and form. Most challenging has been how subtle changes in length, width, bell shape, pinches, so many factors can make big changes in sound. It can be baffling. Just when I think I start understanding what does what, I'm usually surprised and find something totally different. But, just like in other realms of my work, the "surprises" usually work out to be better than what I've planned. The trick is integrating those surprises in the next time!

More on the process in future posts.

--Thomas



]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000006.htm 2004-02-12T22:48:22Z 2004-02-12T22:56:38Z

I first read about this shape in "The Fourth Dimension," by Rudy Rucker back in '86. I started doing meditation exercises with it and got some pretty crazy dream correlations -- dream/real-time as a result. Mostly I was just fascinated by the shapes and depths of shapes I was seeing. Do a sea...

I first read about this shape in "The Fourth Dimension," by Rudy Rucker back in '86. I started doing meditation exercises with it and got some pretty crazy dream correlations -- dream/real-time as a result. Mostly I was just fascinated by the shapes and depths of shapes I was seeing.

Do a search on the hypercube and you'll come up with a lot of good information as well as actual cad models you can "virtually" fly through.

It's extending the model of the cube, perception of X-Y-Z, to a whole nother perception (or direction) -- called Ana -- a perception of the fourth dimension.

It's pretty apparent, upon looking at the shape, how it's trying to "hyper" itself right off the screen. Unlike the two flips (back and forth) of a traditional cube drawing, ~each shape~ you come across in the hypercube also flips, but in several directions.

Have fun! Don't hurt yourself!

--Thomas (ps. I'm interested in other ways this has shown up out there. Please comment ...)
]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000005.htm 2004-02-12T22:15:00Z 2004-02-12T22:15:00Z

Wanna start your day in a twisted way? Go here >>>>>>>>{link:http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/spotlight/collections/joecartoon/} Start with "Joe Moma." Hillarious.

Wanna start your day in a twisted way? Go here >>>>>>>>[link] Start with "Joe Moma." Hillarious.]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000004.htm 2004-02-12T21:31:36Z 2004-02-12T21:31:36Z

Check out Ninjai, the little ninja {link:http://ww1.ninjai.com/index.html} on Atomfilms.com -- a terrific site for amazing independant films. Always changing, dynamic. We've mostly stuck to the animated, but there's all kinds of shorts -- and free! Careful, some suck, and some are pretty tweek...

Check out Ninjai, the little ninja [link] on Atomfilms.com -- a terrific site for amazing independant films. Always changing, dynamic. We've mostly stuck to the animated, but there's all kinds of shorts -- and free! Careful, some suck, and some are pretty tweeked. Ninjai, as you can see from the pic, is simply, beautifully and uniquely animated. We're turning everyone on (with dsl, that is).]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000003.htm 2004-02-12T21:23:05Z 2004-02-12T21:23:05Z

A child's face can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face. --Jack Handy

A child's face can say a lot -- especially the mouth part of the face. --Jack Handy ]]> http://www.newciv.org/nl/newslog.php/_v321/__show_article/_a000321-000002.htm 2004-02-12T20:52:28Z 2004-02-13T11:58:46Z