Archives for May 2011

The setting: A vibrant, bustling energy permeates the hush-hush atmosphere of the room, a cafe, wood-lined and glass-adorned. Candles burning, dimly lit, the intersection of antiquity and modernity.

The Critic: I’m sorry – the piece – it’s just not working for me.

The Artist: Fine, I get that, but you’re not my target audience.

The Critic: So who is?

The Artist: Anyone who likes my work.… Read more...

OK, I’m calling it, and I call bullshit.

Everyone else can call it whatever they want. But as we fawn over pre-civil war decor, tepees, tents, flowers, and the notion that if we just clicked our ruby red slippers and sucked down a little bit of fresh-squeezed lemonade on our sun-drenched porches, everything would be good again, I will continue to call bullshit. I’m calling this the post-authenticity movement. Because if the very reason that we went back to the simple things was to get back to the basics, then we have lost focus. We’re not getting back to the basics. We’re getting back to materialism fetishized as wagon wheels, straw hats, mason jar cups, and facial hair. A group … Read more...

It seems there’s this common notion that certain things are so clear and comprehensible that they are beyond language. That you should be able to look at a picture and understand. I don’t agree. No one reads a poem and says that understanding the language, culture, and time the poem was created isn’t valuable. Why would we assume that there isn’t more to a discipline that’s over a century old than meets the eye? Even if you can’t describe it through verbal language (not something I wholly agree with, but not wholly incorrect, either), that doesn’t mean there’s no language there.

There are those pictures that say just what they have to say in quick, digestible bites. A fleeting moment … Read more...

I thought it would be fun to do some critiques. Anyone interested in submitting anything? If so, send me some images at spencer@ground-glass.com. I’ll keep the source anonymous, unless otherwise is requested. I don’t guarantee I’ll like the shot, but I’ll do everything I can to make it informative and constructive.… Read more...

There was no hope for that poor shrimp. He didn’t know it. But I did. There he sat, wading in his tank of water in the Hong Kong wet market, just waiting to be scooped up by the fish monger. He was dinner, no doubt about it. But his efforts were heroic. I felt sorry for him, as he climbed over the edge of the acrylic tank. Reaching. Arching. Extending. Finally, freedom was his. He crawled over the edge, and fell to…another tank below. Filled with even more shrimp. But, hey, at least those were higher priced shrimp. Not quite freedom, but at least he finished his life worth more than when he started. Could anyone ask for more?

Let’s … Read more...