In case anyone wonders, I am doing a THING.
I can neither describe it nor defend it, but I’m definitely doing it because I plunked down a $25 no-refund application fee and I will spend an insane amount of money before I admit I am ill-qualified to do the THING.
* * * * *
The THING I am doing:
https://www.artprize.org/kiri-salazar
I got a call from an artist about two weeks ago. I met her last year when my son and I helped participate in an art installation as part of ArtPrize 2020 that was derailed by COVID.
Artist Friend: “Hey, you wanna take part in ArtPrize this year?”
Me: “Sure. Why not?”
There are many reasons why not, just in case you wondered, not least of which is the fact I have had exactly zero practice in creating art nor have I ever taken any art lessons. Except for the fact that I’ve been sitting alongside my son this year ‘helping’ him to follow along in his art class as a remote student. (It’s been my favorite part of Covid Quarantine, to be honest.) I was kind of sad to see it end when I sent him back to school following his second Pfizer shot.
Then my son had a very bad day at school. An incredibly bad day. The kind of day you can’t walk back from.
And now he is back home and we are looking for a new school placement.
And the Artist Friend called me just as I was stewing with frustration and despair about my son’s whole world changing while he is oblivious to the ramifications of using scissors to ‘make a point’ in a state of rage.
So now I am ripping strips of paper over and over again–channeling a behavior my son exhibits as part of his stress management–and planning to glue them to a 3 x 3 foot canvas.
And the due date for the project is June 1.
And Remember Kids: When someone asks you to join in a super fun activity, be sure to ask details before you find yourself committed. Take that however you want!
So, if I’m somewhat absent for the next few weeks, you now understand why.
And if you do…could you explain it to me!?
TheDustSeason 
Yeah, always ask.
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But… I’m sure you can do it and still have fun – just don’t dwell on it! (and maybe have your son help you?) I think collaborative art can be a positive feedback loop…
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There is a second canvas standing by in case my first effort flops big time. It is much smaller and therefore, less daunting. If I can get the first one done, we will try to do a joint effort of some kind. Something I might actually hang up!
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Hope you’ll show us the end product and share the trials and tribulations of your creative process.
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Oh, I’m taking images as I go. I’m sure I will at least get a blog post out of all this effort. Likely it will be a How-Not-To Art segment.
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Can’t wait to see what you create!
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Me either. I’d better get my arse moving or we will both be disappointed!
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Shame it’s called ArtPrize — that sort of sucks some of the fun out of it. But I’m sure your work will be great. If it’s authentic; people will respond. If it isn’t, beware. Serious Art Critics may think that you are a qualified Serious Artist, possibly even an Avant Garde Serious Artist working across several mediums*.
* failure to understand that the plural of medium is media seems to be a pre-requisite for admission to the Serious Artist inner sanctum. Not that I’m obsessive about language use or anything.
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I love the semantic observations! I do mis-use media myself, so I think that is just one that the common usage will eventually pervert a perfectly good Latin origin into a more plebian English default. I’m trying to think of a parallel, but I’m drawing a blank. (I use to have a working brain, now I’m lucky if I pull a word out of my brain salad that I actually want or need.) Sigh.
Time to Art It Up! Thanks for the encouragement. I do appreciate it.
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I quite like the way that language changes. My issue with things like media/medium is that people are really losing an understanding of the history of our words and how they are put together. One of my pet peeves is people who use “conversate” when they mean “converse.” That comes from not understanding how language is made and it’s more than just saying weird stuff — it’s limiting their ability to communicate from a place of understanding.
Oops sorry; ranting again. Hope your art project is going well.
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The art project is stalled at the moment, I need to go get a photo reprinted because I ruined the first effort. Knowledge gained: vellum does not like to be glued to vellum!
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