Knights of the Square Table

This past weekend, Brian, Matt and I travelled to Toronto to check out the Contact Photography Festival and to meet a few folks. The weekend was a great time, we met some fantastic people and as always, it was sad to say goodbye at the end of the weekend. Our nights were spent drinking, looking at gallery after gallery full of art and of course ... late night pizza. These photographs were taken during a pause on friday night:
Brian Vonne Ulrich contemplating the artwork of Vaughn Von Vonne,
Jeff Harris, Associate Photo Editor of Mcleans, dreaming up the next night's photo shoot,
Myrabelle "Free Pony" Charlebois, Photo Editor of En Route Magazine, explaining to me how cell phones are the devil's work
Chris "The Stash" Taylor causing mischief Vancouver style,
and finally Matt "Vaughn" Siber ... Inquisitive ...Tactile.
Other notables from the trip: chatting it up with Ed Burtynsky, cocktails and chaos with Bruno Ceschel and repeating the same story over and over again to Jaret MacRae Belliveau. I hope to see all of you again really soon ...

The Other Git

My friend Cable just alerted me to my doppleganger. There's only enough room for one Git in cyberspace and I am officially declaring all out open war! (unfortunately for me, the other Git looks pretty scary)

Commuter Tales

This weekend I finished taking photographs for the public art commission that I have been working on. For three months, I interviewed passengers on the Armitage Brown Line platform and asked them to share with me a place of significance to them (in Chicago). I will be launching this whole project as a website this summer but here is a little taste. Enjoy ...

Hocus Pocus

I have a new all time favorite band . . . This morning I stumbled onto an amazing performance by Focus from 1973. Click here to experience the magic!

Scouting Out the Situation

Last sunday, Matt showed me the abandoned elevated train tracks located up in Chicago's Humboldt Park neighborhood. We walked the tracks for about a mile and a half (it felt very "Stand by Me") and we eventually came across some abandoned train cars. Matt climbed up and looked inside . . . a couple tons of gravel.

The Shark and Jacques Cousteau

Last tuesday night, Robin and I celebrated our third anniversary and yesterday she presented me with my anniversary gift: Jacques Cousteau's, "The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea." This was my absolute #1 book when I was a kid and to this day, I dream of putting down the camera and jumping on a boat to roam the high seas.


A funny thing happens when you re-encounter a book as an adult that you once loved as a kid -> It's like a form of time travel. As I looked through the book, there were so many pictures that I knew so well and yet that had been lost somewhere in my memories. It was like suddenly waking up from amnesia and feeling the same feeling that you had felt fifteen years earlier. And so I read through the book, my favorite chapter headings being: "Chapter 5- The Squaloscope: Abu Marina. Operation "la Balue." The capture and study of sharks. Study of anesthetics: cognac, MS-222. The respiratory system." and "Chapter 8- The Island of Derraka: The narrow escape of Doctor Francois. Individual cages. Battling a swarm of little sharks." and finally, "Chapter 9- Frenzy at Shab Arab: Arrival at Shab Arab Reef. A terrible mass frenzy. The killing of a shark and its effects."


At the end of the book, there is a series of really amazing drawings. I found these two and it all became clear to me: this is why I take pictures! This is what I was born to do! If anyone out there has a boat, is planning on taking off for a deep sea excursion and is in need of a cameraman . . . I'm your guy!

Thick as a Brick

Lately I've been trying to update my address book. Last night I sent out an email asking people for their info and working on auto-pilot, I accidently sent one to Robin. Today I opened my mailbox to find the above email.

(ps. if anyone reading this would like to be added to my mailing list, send me your address to jon@thegit.net)

Caught In The Act!

Two nights ago, we had our garbage can stolen and for the first time, I caught it on tape! Now the tough part . . . relocating it.

Midnight Meditation

Another Git Enters the World

Last night, my brother Ben and his wife Jenn welcomed their daughter Julia into the world. Ben is my youngest brother and this is my family's first niece/grandchild. Ben has just launched a new blog to document his experiences as a new father and so . . . let the spoiling begin!

It's a Beautiful Day in my Neighborhood

Street Portrait

As mentioned in previous blog entries, I've been spending my days pacing up and down the Armitage Brown Line platform making field recordings for a public art piece that I am working on at the moment. If you walk to the southbound portion of the inbound platform and look out onto the street, there is an amazing portrait of a realtor painted directly on the side of a building. Why not artist's murals as well?

It's Hard to be a Muse

This morning I received two images in my mailbox, both of which confirmed what I already knew: I am an important person and people think about me when I'm not around. I'm not sure who the top drawing is by, it was found by the surly Brian Ulrich. My favorite part of this drawing is that Matt Siber has three ears. I always said he was a good listener. The immaculate collage found above was created by the illustrious and highly skilled Caitlin Arnold. It is an homage to the new wave of Chicagraphy that is sweeping the nation (or at least my apartment). Featured within are Jon (the pillow hugger) Gitelson, Jason (twinkle toes) Lazarus,Matt (grin and bare it) Siber,Greg (the chipmunk) Stimac and Brian (I invented the peg) Ulrich.

YES!!!

Lately I've been passing some nights upstairs at my friend Nate's apartment swapping music and playing computer risk (I haven't won a game in months). Nate recently turned me back on to one of my high school favorites . . . YES. There's nothing like guitar harmonics to set the soul on fire. I saw Yes live in 1992 at Nassau Coliseum during their "Circle In The Round" tour (they had a rotating stage and every musician that had ever played for the band). I remember taking a few hits off of a joint (sorry mom) and falling asleep in the aisle before the show even got into full swing. The next thing I knew, I woke up to the encore which was Roundabout. Life was good! Long story short . . . don't do drugs.

M.I.A.

I've been a very bad blogger this month, a terrible blogger.
Part of the reason for my absence is that I have been spending most of my free time lurking around the Armitage Brown Line (Chicago Subway) platform trying to interview people for the public art commission I've been working on. I've been asking people to share a story from their life in Chicago with me with the plan of making a photograph of the location where the story took place and pairing it with an excerpt from their story (does the name Studs Terkel ring a bell?). Below you can see an example of a tile and a sketch of the finished piece (10' x 45'). I'll be building an area on my website for this project but in the mean time, I promise to be a better blogger.

People Buildings and Cars . . . Chicago comes to the great state of Vermont

This past friday, a group of us from Chicago had a show open up at The Vermont Center for Photography. Vermont had apparently been struggling with a lack of snow this winter and so we brought some with us from the windy city. We got about two inches on the night of the opening and had a great time with friends both new and old. If in the area, be sure to check it out. The show features photographers: Brian Ulrich, Matt Siber, Greg Stimac, Jason Lazarus and Mary Farmilant.

A Series of Fortunate Events

This morning, Robin and I submitted two drawings for an upcoming show at Lloyd Dobler Gallery here in Chicago. The show is called "A Series of Fortunate Events" and will feature a coloring book consisting of the drawings of various artists about town. I'm not much of a drawer (?) as is evident in my picture of the angry Italian, but I think Robin is on to something with her theory on The Holes.

Jury Duty

I spent my morning today widdling away in purgatory/jury duty. I've always bragged about the fact that I've never been called upon . . . those days are over.

8:37 am: go through a bunch of metal detectors (I overslept)
8:42 am: enter the hellish waiting room where potential jurors sit and wait
9:00 am: Oprah comes on, stories of kids who are super awesome
10:00 am: The View comes on, Rosie O'Donnell makes me want to kill myself
11:00 am: We're dismissed

This is my bored doodle circa 10:48 am.

Good Ratings = Good Karma

My brother in law Dylan is a writer for ABC and his show "Knights of Prosperity" premiers tomorrow night. Check t out . . . Good Ratings = Good Karma!

Words of Wisdom

I recently found this in The Houston Center for Photography's publication, Spot. I had just returned from NY and was feeling a bit overwhelmed about career things and found this quotation from Paul Hester to be very grounding.

Wally's Xmas

You've Been Served

This notice was left on my doorknob the other day, apparently our lack of cans is starting to tick off the city.
www.thegarbagecanproject.com should be launched early next year, details to follow . . .

Art Basel/Miami, 2006

Spies Like Us

I've lately taken to listening to old episodes of NPR's "This American Life" while I fast forward through the day's garbage can surveillance video. I just listened to an amazing episode that was all about the very essence of the Garbage Can Project. FYI: www.thegarbagecanproject.com should be launched sometime in the next two months.

11/19/04
Episode 278
Stories about amateur spies – regular people who spy on other regular people, and the consequences of their spying.
Prologue.  Host Ira Glass talks to This American Life contributing editor Jack Hitt about the time he hacked into his employer's computer and found out what he didn't want to know. (6 minutes)
Act One. The Lobbyist. When Burt Covit was programming his VCR one day, he accidentally tuned in to a channel showing the lobby of a building. He started to watch, and couldn't stop. Then a mysterious woman appeared, wearing a pill-box hat. Burt told this story on the CBC radio program Wiretap. Jonathan Goldstein, a contributing editor to This American Life, is the host of Wiretap. This story is a work of fiction, staged as a radio interview. (12 minutes)
Song: "Television," Robyn Hitchcock
Act Two. Life With the Haters. Writer Beth Lisick decides to try a new strategy to get her infant to sleep better, and buys a baby monitor as part of the deal. Soon, she's hearing her neighbors make drug dealsover the monitor's frequency. And then she learns some other, more complicated information. (14 1/2 minutes)
Act Three. Mystery Shoppers. They are ordinary people who go undercover in coffee shops and chain stores, spying for The Man. This American Life producer Lisa Pollak reports. (11 1/2 minutes)
Song: "Town With No Secrets," Mark Mallman
Act Four. Stop Bugging Me. What do you do when you think your apartment is being bugged? You call the apartment de-buggers. It's a weird job; still, someone's got to do it. This American Life producer Jane Feltes goes on a counterespionage mission. (10 minutes)
Song: "Spies Like Us," Paul McCartney

The Shire

Ever since the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released, I've referred to my adopted home town as "The Shire" (as opposed to Chi-Town) when talking to family and friends. It has recently come to my attention that there actually is a Shire in Bend, Oregon. If you've ever wanted to live like a hobbit, this is the place for you. What a weird world we live in!
http://bendshire.com/

INSPIRATION

I'm currently writing from my parents house in New York (home for the holidays). During my visit, my father shared with me some of his sketchbooks pages (he is the chief of social work at a VA hospital out here but has recently begun to start drawing). I was floored when he showed me his work and found the above page to be especially amazing and inspiring. Like father like son, the link between his artwork and mine couldn't be more obvious. Click on the above image to see a larger detail of this page from his sketchbook.

Shocked and Disgusted

I'm still in shock after reading the news today about Michael Richard's racial pontification on stage at The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles. I guess that I am completely naive, but it absolutely blows my mind that in this day and age people can be so completely filled with hate and with bigotry. It makes me overwhelmingly sad about the state of race relations in this country and I know know that I'll be preoccupied with the following video for many days to come. Be forewarned, the following video clip is beyond upsetting: http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=1&pmmsid=1772645

Milwaukee

I spent last friday at The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design where I critiqued student work, gave a lecture and hung out with friend and fellow photographer, Sonja Thomsen. Milwaukee is a great town and it was nice to revisit and meet some new folks.

Homage to Brian Ulrich

Indiana and Beyond . . .

This past weekend, Brian and Matt and I headed down to The University of Indiana to give a lecture on our work and to meet with a number of students (both grad and under-grad). We saw a lot of great work, met a lot of great people and as always, we had a great time driving around together. We hope to book more lecture dates in the future, so let us know if you want us to come to your school (wink wink, nudge nudge).

AWESOME

I found this in our driveway the other day after a big rainstorm. Check out the two cans of High Life, This guy's a stud!

The Sky Is Crying

Despite the fact that my website won't be launched for another month or two, I've been recording 24 hours of surveillance every day and editing it using Final Cut Pro. This guy is the smartest cookie I've seen since I've been recording. Bravo good sir, bravo!

Busted

At 11:57 last night, my surveillance system caught this guy taking a piss on my garbage can. What's wrong with people???