This summer in London, I saw Psycho Buildings: Artists Take on Architecture in London.  I've been thinking about spaces/my experience of an environment a lot since. I went up in that bubble thing - thrilling and terrifying. It sank down so much! 

Sort of along those lines, I've been thinking about how I experience my environment. 

And I've been thinking about touch - how the sinking plastic of a bubble feels and smells, what it feels like to be buried in the sand (really warm/comforting, but also kind of rough/itchy). I was thinking about how I touch things to understand them - racks of clothing, fruit I might buy, railings, plastic bags filled  with water. And babies, they learn about the world by putting it in their mouths! I worked with the 12-year-old granddaughter of my boss at a fruit stand this summer and she was bored one day and filled a plastic bag with water and put it on my head. Honestly, it felt great. 

I was very influenced by greyworld, a group of guys who make art for public spaces in London. I was attracted to it because it was unpretentious. I'm put off by galleries that don't permit you to touch the work (though it's sometimes understandable) or photograph it. 

Just a couple other things to note: still obsessed with clay spheres and thinking about how their fragility in the unfired state reminds me of memories - esp. if i fill them with messages/objects as messages. I'm a big letter-writer sometimes I feel like I'm sending out my journal to several people all the time rather than writing it down for myself (though I've also kept at least a skeleton of a journal since 6th grade - maybe it could influence the content of my messages). Also, I've been thinking about how (I think it was the sumarians) sent important messages in enclosed balls of clay. You would know the messenger hadn't opened your letter if the ball was intact. 

Also, interested in spectacles/sets/models. I'd never seen a real broadway show before, so I was blown away by the sets and costumes in the Lion King when I saw it this summer. And I'm interested in America for the first time in my life. In London, I started to appreciate or maybe understand America more for what it is. It didn't hurt that I read of East of Eden in August. Steinbeck writes about America...and everything:

Vast and sprawling

Desires/limitations/choice

Oh a lot of good/evil

Local, landscapes

I might make a puppet show about Maryland (my home state). That obviously follows, right?