New York May NYC Meet-Up

So I have to assume that I did not get Sharpe-Walentas Studio Residency because yesterday the 17 winners were suppose to be informed.

Generally it is proper Ed-A-kit to send out a mass e-mail to those that did not win out of respect, but this did not happen. I take this as insult BTW, but I am not angry. This opportunity once supported emerging artists, and there are postings that say that now they support established artists.

I also knew that it was remote for me because being a photographer stacked the odds against me. Pretty much history has shown that they award these residencies to painters and sculptors. If I had won perhaps I would have been the first photographer.

I tried to pitch myself as being two different artists to give me notoriety and a leg up: one as a photographer; and secondly as a fine art printmaker.

*********

The next possible rejection will come towards the end of May or sometime during June. I submitted five images and 200 words of text to hopefully be part of "The Fence" at this year's Photoville. If my work is selected it will be seen in eight citie's. I feel I submitted a strong package, but this opportunity is judged by a panel.

Let's see...

Also I think in June is this L.A. public art billboard selection.

So the good, the bad, and the ugly is that I have put in an honest effort and submitted to some meaningful opportunities since the beginning of the year. Although I did not win an En Foco Fellowship and a group show, I did get to be one of ten selected for the Artist Development Initiative.

In December of last year I did a Gallery Workshop to gain knowledge that was very valuable in knowing how today's art world works. I learned about my price point, marketing and the required record keeping involved.

Although I have been rejected I did get a list from the New York Times Portfolio Review that furthered my data mining. I did discover a gallery that suited my work, and I learned how small a nitch I am in the art world that compounds the exclusion. The good is I have a clear understanding and picture of how limited access I have.

Understand that all this hard work has tempered me. I have developed better writing skills along the way. I have a clear head of what I have to do. Later this fall is the NYFA three year cycle that includes photography. This is likely my last grasp before I go rogue and develop a plan "B" that basically skirts and bypasses these gated art communities I have tried to gain access to.

Fug them. My last grasp.

Cal
 
Keep on keeping on Cal... something will work out. You've always done it for the love anyway. It takes time, effort, and luck to get into these things.
 
jsrockit said:
Keep on keeping on Cal... something will work out. You've always done it for the love anyway. It takes time, effort, and luck to get into these things.
Click to expand...

John,

Good thing I have a day-job. LOL.

So here I am decades later and I see and experience the same gated communities except now they charge 50% commissions instead of 20%. How crazy is that?

Anyways I think I have gotten better over the decades, but the art world it seems is worse.

Also I don't cast a broad net, I only pursue opportunities where I have a fighting chance knowing at best I remain a long shot. Also know that an opportunity won or received might not even make a marginal difference in my life.

Looking forward to continuing the struggle after I retire. I'm at the point that I accept this "gate-keeping" without bitterness. Like you say I will continue with the work.

What is really cool is I can do what I want, I don't have to please anyone but myself, and I will have a certain level of comfort to my retirement. Pretty much I can have a bad attitude and say, "Fug them."

Cal
 
Cal, welcome to the Millenial age!


I'm due to move soon and been reflecting about the last years quite a bit. Got some of the "F! sentiment" for many things, and glad I'm detaching also physically.

Calzone said:
Bob,

Good was during the Cold War working for Grumman.

I currently work with some very ill people and others that are socially inept that are crazy anxious. Pretty much I experience isolation and couldn't be more alone. Also I can describe some relationships at work as hostile.

It takes a lot of patience to cope. What helps is I say to myself, "I'm glad I'm not like them." Pretty much there has to be something deeply wrong with a person not to get along with me.

I am happy, but I'm sick of work. It is a sick and toxic place. Funny how ironic it is that I work at a hospital. My former boss use to have these paranoid rage attacks. Mucho display of antisocial behavior and mental illness. Working in a hospital is not at all like on the TV shows.

Also I see the legacy of slavery persisting in the culture. Post-Doc's that have a PhD get trained and work experience for 3-4 years. They don't get paid enough to afford housing in NYC so they are given housing in a manner that is modeled after "Share Cropping." Meanwhile these Post-Docs are exploited as a source of free labor and are expected to work a lot of hours.

Twenty years of coping has been draining and at this point I feel depleted. Good thing my self esteem lays elsewhere.

Cal
Click to expand...
Recall you said that you were a lot of very smart but socially flatlined people, sorry to hear they are also a PITA to deal with.

Read a while ago that our "millenial" generation doesn't identify themselves with their jobs. I take it as an issue of loyalty, they have no problems tossing people around when someone cheaper appears. I may guess it became widespread after the recession, where basically interns and entry level people get to handle excessive workload.

The other bank I worked in on a summer was crazy, short staffed and I was roasted by the boss for things I had to do and were over my responsibilities, authorization level and paygrade... I was just a temporal substitute but had become the only teller in the branch. Essentially I also felt different and isolated. Somehow the toxicity and negativity did get to me.
Thankfully another kid came as a reinforcement, and brought some great freshness. Him being baffled by the chaos gave some perspective.


I know the pile of BS ran off into the lobby shortly after we finished duties. 😀
As the banksters above exploited both us and the customer, well, many clients were happy by the sense of humor I injected.

Calzone said:
Generally it is proper Ed-A-kit to send out a mass e-mail to those that did not win out of respect, but this did not happen. I take this as insult BTW, but I am not angry. This opportunity once supported emerging artists, and there are postings that say that now they support established artists.

Cal
Click to expand...
Also widespread, I experienced it while job hunting. The worst is having someone say "we'll reach you in X time" and then radio silence. Not even a question of honor, if you give your word, you should follow suit.


Photography and art is something personal to me. I do think I'm beginning to have some interesting material but haven't pursued some commercialization of it. Just being happy by doing stuff for myself.


Funny anecdote: I recently received some Infrared Aerochrome I shot, turned out to be rather unexposed and fogged, but usable. As I had an acquaintance pose, shared it with him To my dismay, he promptly went and put it on instagram. Turns out kids don't understand that purplish alien landscape and got few likes; so a couple hours after, I noticed he took it down. Hah!
 
Jorde,

I have conducted a poll over the decades. At one point 66% of Americans had a pension, today it is less than a third.

After the end of the Cold War at Grumman they started doing these "Employee Surveys," and I took note of how this information was exploited to roll back benefits. After that initial Employee Survey I never participated again.

At the end of the Cold War Grumman who employed about 30K people on Long Island laid off about 2/3rds of them causing an economic collapse. Even though I worked in research I was one of the last 10K that still had a job. Pretty much the same amount of work had to get done, but with less people. I lasted about a year before the fatigue set in and pretty much I was due for a collapse.

Many an engineer worked at Home Depot to pay their mortgage during that time. For the unemployed who formerly worked in the defense industry unemployment insurance was extended from 6 months to a full year. At work this one engineer who was married with two young kids jumped from a balcony to kill himself and almost took out one of my bosses. Crazy stuff.

I heard a rumor that the severance pay (one week's pay for each year of service) was likely to be discontinued. I could feel that the end was near, and I decided to use this as an opportunity to get a graduate degree. In my case it was around 16-17 weeks pay. I asked my boss to put me on the top of the list and to please lay me off which he did at my convenience and what was good for me.

At the local deli, where I got my breakfast each morning, I would hear these crazy rumors: 10K layoffs; another 5k layoffs; to the point when I shared these rumors with my coworkers people took them as true smut and eventual fact. No rumor I recycled was untrue.

Know that after the Cold War that I ran a poll asking, "Do you think you will have the same job you have now, 5 years from now?" The idea was to focus on job security. I learned that 3/4'ers of Americans lack job security.

So how does one get married, buy a house, and have kids without job security?

I figure I am lucky because unless I do something like punch someone at work pretty much I have a job, although things are mighty slow right now. Never before has someone been paid so much to do so little in my case.

Cal
 
Just watched "Maggie's" video and watched her section on learning several times. Tell "Maggie" my view is this: The day you stop learning, thinking, creating and tinkering is the day you start to die.
 
MrFujicaman said:
Just watched "Maggie's" video and watched her section on learning several times. Tell "Maggie" my view is this: The day you stop learning, thinking, creating and tinkering is the day you start to die.
Click to expand...

MFM,

Most of "Maggie's" followers are young people, ages 20-35. Seems that young people are evidently afraid of loosing their youthfulness.

I know and am forced to work with many people who I consider "the walking dead." My boss "How-Weird" says, "I come to work for fun." Sadly that's how isolated a life he lives.

I recognize the crazy anxious behavior at work as a form of mental illness. The result is mucho irrational and crazy behavior. I recognize this behavior profoundly because I use to be that way, but I outgrew those behaviors. Many people can't control their behaviors at work.

In China the young afluent Chinese that grew up in the new open China now have a disconnect with their parents and grand parents. They still have the strong respect for their elders and their family, but their culture is drastically different than those that came of age in the old China. Somehow Maggie is a role model for these wealthy and educated young Chinese.

Here at work I see these old China immigrants. My old boss liked them because these workers are non-confrontational, subdued in personality, and pretty much the oppression they knew persists. When I got hired my boss did not realize that as an American born Chinese I would not stand for his bully behavior. LOL.

Maggie works in an academic setting, and pretty much is an awefull place to work. Mucho hostile and mean. My hospitals also are teaching hospitals so it shares this culture. The highly educated MD's and PhD's are trained in an antisocial manner to work alone, and it is really amazing how concentrated a group of narrowly focused antisocial and narcisistic a hospital or academic institution can be. These people seem to be stuck for decades. Really sad and bizarre. Only a few exceptions...

Of course an individual like me stands out and does not really fit in. I know and realize this is not the real world. LOL.

Cal
 
Calzone said:
MFM,


Maggie works in an academic setting, and pretty much is an awefull place to work. Mucho hostile and mean. My hospitals also are teaching hospitals so it shares this culture. The highly educated MD's and PhD's are trained in an antisocial manner to work alone, and it is really amazing how concentrated a group of narrowly focused antisocial and narcisistic a hospital or academic institution can be. These people seem to be stuck for decades. Really sad and bizarre. Only a few exceptions...

Of course an individual like me stands out and does not really fit in. I know and realize this is not the real world. LOL.

Cal
Click to expand...

I've worked in academia my whole life and worked at your institution for 5 years. Some of the nicest people I have met I met there. This includes MD's and PhD's who I've worked with. I still keep in touch with most of them. Kindly stop using your brand of hyperbole to bash an entire group of individuals. It's comments like yours which have led to the current climate of resentment I see among people outside of academia
 
stompyq said:
I've worked in academia my whole life and worked at your institution for 5 years. Some of the nicest people I have met I met there. This includes MD's and PhD's who I've worked with. I still keep in touch with most of them. Kindly stop using your brand of hyperbole to bash an entire group of individuals. It's comments like yours which have led to the current climate of resentment I see among people outside of academia
Click to expand...

Pro-Mone,

I'm only reporting the oppressive experiences that I have experienced over the last 20 years, and that of "Maggie" who also works in a toxic hostile work enviornment.

I have also worked with many PhD's in a research enviorment for 17 years before working in a hospital setting. A very different experience and very positive. Basically I got an education working one on one with PhD's that you could not get in a grad school. So there is the counterbalance, not all my experience has been negative.

My "hyperbole" is based on experience that differs from yours. I do not have a PhD, but I have a MA and a MFA (a terminal degree), and because of this I feel I get treated like I'm lower on the food chain and with a certain amount of disrespect.

Maggie is a clinical professor and not tenured. Do you really think she has the power of a tenured professor? Do not the Tenured professors vote on the clinical professor contract renewals? Do some tenured professors abuse their tenure and power?

Anyways I'm glad that you have had a good experience, and I wish I could report the same. Do you think that everybody has a good experience like you?

Cal
 
Pro-Mone,

I should explain my situation because it involves a bit of cultural complexity. My boss is a Chinese immigrant and with that comes a culure I have to contend with. He is also the eldest son so that adds a level of entitlement, expectation, and a family tradition. His command of English is really bad.

So culturally my boss acts and treats me a certain way. He does not treat other people this way, but I get looked upon as an inferior younger/little brother who's task is basically to serve him in a subservient manner.

Of course I can't unwind the culture, and my boss happens to be a rigid person. My individuality particularly offends him. I cannot help but be myself, and in a way it is the same for him.

The other family dynamic is my part. My boss in so many ways reminds me of my father, a man I hated. His crudeness, lack of culture, and rigidity are strongly represented in my boss. Both were imigrants, and I understand that dynamic first hand.

In Maggie's situation all it takes is perhaps one mean person to start a Kubal that demoralizes the faculty. Over time it basically accounts for only 3-4 people that have tenure and abuse their power.

So in all fairness most academics are decent normal people, but it only takes one bad boss or a few professors with tenure to make things evil and untenable.

Again, you are lucky not to have to deal with all this hostility. If my other post really offends you I will delete it, but I am speaking of personal experience, and no broad generalization was implied as construed.

Cal
 
492K followers and today Mashable will launch the video they produced on FaceBook. Lets see how big the "bump" gets.

The initial launch on the Mashable website got no "traction" meaning it had no impact.

On Sunday I be bringing a printout from The Bronx Council on the Arts about an series of Artist Development Workshops if anyone is interested.

I also gleened a lot by looking into Jamal Shabazz's web page. Very streamlined, not busy at all, and it allows the pictures to do the talking.

Interesting that Jamal states Leonard Freed, James Van Der Vee, and Gordon Parks as influences. I greatly admire all their work, and the concepts, struggles, and dedication: I see all as great strengths.

The request for pricing via e-mail inquiry I liked. I'll have to ask about pricing for digital rights next time I see him. This is something I never considered.

After learning how Social Media can take over your life, I want to avoid that so I can concentrate on the work without distraction, and Jamal's website is pretty straight forward as where I want to be.

Cal
 
I had a couple of entries in the Non-Members exhibition over the years, but I am now a member, and can't enter this one.



Interested in Showing your work in NYC? >



CALL FOR ENTRIES: SCNY 40th Open Annual Non-Members' Exhibition
Upper Gallery, March 12, 2018 - June 09, 2018
The Salmagundi Club announced its ANNUAL OPEN EXHIBITIONS, one for Painting, Sculpture, & Graphics and the other for Photography July 23 - Aug. 3, 2018. These competitive fine art exhibitions are comprised of works from all over the country and allows both well known and up-and-coming artists to exhibit their work in the Salmagundi Club's prestigious galleries.
Entry Deadline: Saturday, June 2, 2018.


For the Photography Prospectus, click HERE.
 
Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program Update: Just got an e-mail from the program director that states the received a record 1,600 applications for the 17 available studios, and the unprecedented number has delayed the announcement date.

Now it seems the anticipated announcement will be by June 15th.

So now I have a glimmer of hope. The math alone suggests 0.94% chance of getting a studio; the odds are further against me because I'm a photographer, and history has shown they favor painters and sculptors. I did write a compelling application pitching myself as two different artists: a photographer; and a fine art printer.

Cal
 
Won't be able to make it down today, something came up and I can't get
out of. So Cal and Chris hold my pictures till next month I guess.
 
Range-rover said:
Won't be able to make it down today, something came up and I can't get
out of. So Cal and Chris hold my pictures till next month I guess.
Click to expand...

Bob,

Will do.

Joe asked how do I like the CL, and for me it is great for exploiting the APS-C size with legacy MF glass like 28 Cron-M, 50 Lux-R "E60," and Noct-Nikkor. Effectively these lenses are repurposed as a 42/2.0, 75/1.4, and an insane 87/1.2 with low coma glass.

All these lenses have great performoance on a full frame camera, and on an APS-C these lenses are "sweet spotted."

Anyway perhaps a novel approach to recycle legendary glass and extending the range of my FOV that is a cost effective manner.

The shots of you, Joe and me show and indicate the results.

BTW how tall are you?

Cal
 
Sweet, I like APS-C sensor that's why I like the Fuji so much, when I took pictures
at my cousins Communion I used it with no problems, I even popped a flash on top
and they came out great of all the Fam!. I'm glad your enjoying it, it's a great camera.
 
Saturday I was given a check for $150.00 as a partial payment of a $250.00 stipend that funds me for book binding supplies. I had to fill out a W-9 so I have to pay taxes on this money.

So perhaps I have about a hundred 17x22 printed pages of 12x18 images printed already. Likely more than 4 boxes of paper were used so If I can bind all these pages together as my "Workbook" to organize and archive the limited editions to come it will certainly be a "Monster-Book" that likely will weigh 60-70 pounds.

Plan "B" is to scale down the amount of pages, and the idea here is for the pages to be removable so they can be updated or replaced. I'm incorporating binder posts into the design. Might have to break things down into smaller books with less page counts.

So now I began the shopping of supplies. Before the holiday weekend I should have the 300 foot roll of gummed Linen tape that is enough reinforcing material for 100 pages. Assembly will begin.

Still have to buy cover supplies.

Cal
 
Cal,
Remember that you can get screw post extenders, so you can make the book as big as you can carry. It may make more sense to have multiple books organized by theme. Either way screw posts are great, because of the editability of the volume.
The book binding place I found in Williamsburg is called Talas. They pretty much have everything you could ever need.
talasonline.com
 
CNNY said:
Cal,
Remember that you can get screw post extenders, so you can make the book as big as you can carry. It may make more sense to have multiple books organized by theme. Either way screw posts are great, because of the editability of the volume.
The book binding place I found in Williamsburg is called Talas. They pretty much have everything you could ever need.
talasonline.com
Click to expand...

Christian,

I went to Blick to secure the deal on the tape. On their website they sold Linco gummed linen tape in 300 foot rolls for only $51.00. I thought this would be mucho costly, but I luckily found a bulk supply.

When I went to the two stores near Union Square I discovered that they are not stock items, so I had to order them online anyways. Oh-well.

It also seems the acid free binder's board I need is not available in the huge size I need, and it becomes evident that what I'm trying to do is a bit crazy, but that is the point I have a reputation for being a bit crazy.

Also at this En Foco artist development initiative I met some interesting artists. The follow through are private "Doctor's hours" with a curator and an archivist, both separately. Like in art school this is a big commitment in time. So far two Saturday afternoons. Then there will be another group meeting to reveal our final completed projects.

Anyways this project is turning out to be a monster project. If I can create a modular system it would be great, and if I can create a very-very thick book of prints, I think it will have a very serious impact.

BTW I have an appropriately sized hand truck if I need to transport a Monster Book.

I have a box of matte Canson Duo that I will be using as raw material to build the binding post spine. The Baryta coated papers flake BTW if folded. By recycling the matte paper I'm using what I already have.

Cal
 
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