week thirty five >> "know you're alive" BLUE december

Z BLUE pages continue in December with "Know You're Alive."

"know you're alive"    click to view

Connectivity, the ensuing nuances of life experience, and the thrill of it all speak to me as I revisit this page.  BLUE veins surging between words of chance and response, curiosity and release.  I remember drawing very early on, perhaps the first markings on this spread, the computers facing each other with their reaching screen protrusions.  It was while we were still at school in 1996/97 and the internet had just hit the scene.  Only on campus though, our computers at home were merely for word processing back then.  Each student was given an UCSB email address and account.  Jennifer and I enjoyed a dialogue on line through email, even though we saw each other on a daily basis.  It was another arena entirely for us to commune through and what we conversed about in there was kept exclusive to only that realm, something we seemed to naturally agree to do with out ever speaking about it.  Having different arenas to converge our minds and hearts in turned out to be a mainstay of our friendship and collaboration..... Hello ZBOOK!  And unequivocally, our ever alive postcard exchange.  And now we find ourselves in yet a new playground right here.... ZBOOK 4EVER!  Exploring Z pages together via this blog has been quite thrilling and super fun.  So very much an extension of our art and storytelling and musing, ZBOOK4EVER is our home away from home, like a special place you visit in your mind... Jennifer and I meet up here and explore these pages that bubbled up through our fluid expression over 14 years of friendship, kinship, and co-creative partnership... and discover, right along with you, all the peculating possible adventures that ZBOOK presents.  Creating this art and traveling through it make for one heck of a way to Know You're Alive.

∞ ceci

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the launch

Our speaking engagement yesterday at UC Santa Barbara was a threshold for us and our work beyond measure.  We shared stories about our friendship, our collaboration, ZBOOK, our other books, and our new postcard project that we launched right then and there with the students: Z.POSTCARDS.  Because our engagement was to speak to the Personal Narrative class, we had the opportuntiy to delve into the performance aspect of the presentation.  In between power point segments, Jennifer performed a personal storytelling with words, movement, and the cutting of oranges... which she then 'passed out' to the students as I continued on into my sharing of history.  Also, for the duration of our "talk," we painted and created Live with watercolors and collage... as a way of sharing an experience of our cultivated modality of art making, versus an explanation.

The surface of our live painting was a "canvas" made of tiled blank postcards.  At the close of our talk we invited students to gather 'round to view the whole postcard piece and then select a card.  This was the launch of Z.POSTCARDS... our new project in which we initiate a newly crafted postcard, mail to anyone who wants to play, and when you receive yours you are invited to add your own mark of art, design, words, and expression to the postcard and mail it on, inviting others to continue the collaboration.  An invitation to play, create freely, let go, and discover the joys and possibilities through collaboration.  Each card is numbered and who knows, maybe someday some of them reunite and share the story of their journey, much like a balloon that's flown around the world.  The students from yesterday have the first cards of the project, and with that the opportuntiy to collaborate with us, plus to (re)discover the joys of the post! (as in the mail, something that seems to be quite forgotten these days)

The feedback from the class was wonderful and we had several stimulating exchanges with students after wards.  Most were sure that we knew about a website called PostSecret.  We said, what is that? Please tell us! Turns out to be so popular that you out there probably know of it already!  The students pointed out that the site is almost entirely geared to the college student market, as the creator of this project tours with his speaking engagements to all college campuses.  They thought maybe this is why we didn't know about it yet.  But upon visiting the PostSecret Facebook page I found a handful of my friends who already "like" it and many are far beyond college age, so how have we not come across it already? Crazy!  But SUPER glad to know of it now... so rad to learn something new from the students :) ~thanks so much!

PostSecret is an art project that invites us to mail in our secrets anonymously on postcards.  The postcards, the secrets, are then posted on the site.  That's it. And it is awesome.  The power of releasing secrets and reading other's has proven to be tremendous, capturing the attention of millions.  And the postcards themselves, the pieces of art people make of them to express beyond the words, are hugely compelling.  In the past 5 years, creator Frank Warren has published four PostSecret books of crafted and mailed in postcards of secrets.  Frank Warren also tours college campuses throughout north america with his speaking events called PostSecrect Live where he shares his story, yet to be shared secrets from a fist full of postcards not yet posted or published, the stories behind the secrets, and an open mic for students in the audience to voice their secrets.

Through our expereince in speaking about our work and performing our stories at UCSB yesterday, it became crystal clear that the power of the work we do is best conveyed face to face, in a live experience where we can tell our stories, share our passion, and speak on the teachings that have revealed through our work: the power of play, innovation, trust, and collaboration.  This is the start of something great, something that feels like it's been waiting for us to wake up to it, and yesterday was the launching point.  Thanks to our former professor Kip Fulbeck for inviting us to speak at his class, presenting us with the match with which to light this fire.   

It's funny, all this year I have been paying attention to "talks" and speakers themselves with adamant interest.  Primarily via TED talks and thru noticing how all the great teachers and innovators that I am inspired by are all active speakers and their speaking engagements are a major part of their careers.  Artists, scientists, authors, visionaries, and innovators such as Seth Godin, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Ken Robinson, Eve Ensler, Jill Bolte, Howard Rheingold, Michael Bernard Beckwith, and Jonathan Harris to name a few.  PostSecrect's Frank Warren, as I mentioned above, is yet another example.  And yet another is our 'SB prof. Kip Fulbeck, artist and university professor, 4 times published, who is continually invited to speak about his work and perform his poetry at schools, museums, and other events year round. 

We feel the noble charge to step up into the role of speaker.  As we now distill (thanks for the great word Kip!) and fine tune our direction and prime audience, we are choosing to begin with young women ages 12-22.

"all and everything"      click to view

One of these girls is shown on Z page this week "All and Everything" as we see Alice jump into the vast unknown... or launch, if you will.  And whether you be girl or boy, we all can relate to these moments that arise throughout our lives... when you are presented with the opportuntiy to step through to a new you, grab the ring, go for it, and jump... this is the launch that takes our work deep and wide, directly to eyes and ears and hearts everywhere.  We accept this noble charge with great honor.


∞ ceci
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Jump!

postcards a flurry click to view

Today is an exciting day for ZBOOK! Today we speak at UC Santa Barbara, accepting the invitation from our former Professor Kip Fulbeck to speak at his Personal Narrative class, which we took 14 years ago, the same year that both our friendship and ZBOOK was birthed. In preparation for our presentation/performance I have been going through our mass collection of postcards which we've sent each other since that year of 1996. All of our stories could be told just with these postcards alone, they are rich with history gleaned from the date, place of origin, destination address, particular stamps, adorning details such as stickers and drawings, image on card itself, and of course the words written therein.

alice postacard -C to J- 6 July 1999

I came across this Alice postcard and smiled, as Jennifer brought the Alice from Z page this week, "All and Everything," to light in her last post. It's fascinating to re-discover a postcard you've written... it's as if seeing it for the first time! For truly we write 'em and mail 'em and only the recipient gets to truly become familiar with 'em. This postcard was written on July 6, 1998 from Boulder, Colorado by me to Jennifer who was living her summer in Santa Cruz and received my postcards via our PSL buddies Hutch, Coach, and Millar's house in the Redwood Estates mountains of Los Gatos, CA. Vinh and I were on a road trip at the time which what brought us passing through Boulder. The words speak of how Vinh and I had slept in our "capsule" van parked at a public park which we hucked disc at by moonlight the night before and how we were now waking up to a crowd of people just outside our tinted windows going to the near by church on sunday morning. And to that I wrote, "Many a night, especially when we don't have an exact place to sleep, I think about you & your travels. I think about you sleeping in the sand," referring to stories from Jennifer's travels around the globe after her grad from UCSB the year before.

"All and Everything" click to view

Travel, the unknown splendor of it all. Travel is the never ending rabbit hole. As is life. So fun to be a couple of Alices together in our creative mayhem Hemphill. Today... we jump!

∞ ceci

6

in a sea of tears

I was just up north in the bay area visiting Xman and dear family friends...  and upon my return home I was greeted by this postcard! ...from Jennifer, from her recent travels to Maui...

Postcard from Jennifer in Maui   click for view

Histological image of our eyes' Lacrimal gland

Look closely and discover two kayaking wanderers amidst the gorgeous abyss of this Olowalu reef.  These yellow kayaks seem to have been added into this photograph (up close they appear a bit cartoonish)... and that's wonderful because they offer a scale perspective that suggests how wide and large the reefs really are.  Without the kayakers this image could be anything... from a wider topographical image of a sea between two far larger landmasses, or as microscopic as a histological image of the human eye's Lacrimal gland, which secretes our tears into out tear ducts.  Now what I LOVE to do is imagine our kayakers as huge submarines emerging from the deep waters of a great inlet sea OR imagine our kayakers as microbes traveling in a sea of tears released into the ducts of a human eye.  I can make this any "world" I want, zooming in and out, all while still seeing it as the coral reef it is.  

This is the macro/micro relativity and perspective changeability which I recognize and celebrate in all things, and fervently express in my work.  And like in the postcard, I am now exploring the use of including recognizable life forms in my rather abstract inner/outer landscapes, giving suggestions of perspective levels and access points for stories to be envisioned.  As in my recent painting The Moment.  Which is why it is SO wonderful to receive this postcard right now in the midst of my recent experience with my painting and reflecting on it in here last week.  Thank you Jennifer! You mailed this from Maui, without any knowing about the process I had been undergoing with my painting, 2 days before I posted about it, essentially at the very same time as when I was gathering up photos and composing my thoughts about it.  By now the synchronicity that we experience is not surprising, but it remains quite delightful and a source of great gratitude for the magic that is inherent in life.  

Also noteworthy is the comment that Jennifer made on my post from last week about The Moment.  It is a true refection of this postcard!

It ("The Moment") reminds me of a recent kayak adventure T. and i took on our last day in Maui. The perspective was so new in so many ways, though we were in an area quite familiar, the vantage was expansive. At one point, I jumped in the ocean, and we were deeper than we would be just swimming. I had my goggles on and the view into the depths was stunning, kind of a shock too - the green-blue color and the light rays bouncing off the visible but distant sands - it was disarming. Through that morning trip, I had moments of fear, however, there was also a strong sense of presence of protection - serenity and guidance of where to go and what choices to make - we just had to tune into the instincts.

this post written during week 13 "hot"

Thank you Jennifer, for trusting and following your instincts.  It is an honor to be tuned in with you.

∞ ceci

6

Where to go....

Where to go, Where to go, where to go, Where to go????

As I sit here in the quiet of the night, embarking upon my bimonthly all nighter, having just checked in to Zblog after a lapse - due to report writing overload - The question in my head is a resounding:  WHERE TO GO?  where do I start - and man, it hits me strong - this is the question living in this "post" spread - alive for me in its potential inception, and alive for me today in new and perhaps deeper ways.

click for larger view

During our time at UCSB, Cec and I explored an unusual type of art class together - 4D - a visual performance class - intended to add the element of time to the visual landscape of sculpture, image, etc..  In that class, for our ending project, I created a painting which then fractalled into 20+ postcards which I individually responded to and sent in response to responders of a question I posed to the other 4D participants of that semester... Where would you go???  (and why?)

remaining postcard piece XXII
awaiting its flight through 'post'

At the time, this question was living in me to the core as I pondered the composition of a journey around the world which my parents were gifting to me as a graduation present at the end of that school year - must have been Spring '97 then...

The participants answer papers, which were scrawled upon in numerous levels of thought and neatness, were profoundly impacting on my own decision making process toward planning an itinerary for the coming year.

I remember professor Kip's, who preferred to give weight to who he would go with, rather than where they would go.  And Ceci's, which I believe I returned her one day many years later - for reference - or at least we talked about it - (my memory of essence, vs. particulars is at play in all these recollections) - hers was about being in a place that had been shared with her through another's memory experiences so strongly, they imprinted on her.  And then my friend Michelle (with whom I bonded in Hermann Hesse class as well as 4D) - hers cemented our relationship when she sighted India, to meditate (something I knew I intended to do along my travels - and did / do!)  And another friends - who when I wrote back, I told him He and Michelle and I should take a long road trip together - or go deep sea snorkeling... he chose two places and they were both related to his family's ancestry.

There were other influential and not so -  one thing funny, the one postcard I wrote back with an air of indignance (vs. gratitude and openness which the rest were replied to with) - was a young man who wrote 5 cities and 5 words which were the reason he wanted to go to those places - I complained he had reduced those places to stereotypes - anyhow, I'm pretty sure I visited every one of those cities...I remember on his list were Paris, Amsterdam, Agra, Sydney...where else?  I don't think i visited via his suggestions, but it's funny to think back now and realize that.   

I remember hand delivering each postcard too (because I was too late to mail them in time for the final) - most people lived in Isla Vista - and I remember sitting on the entry way rug at Kip's end of year party trying to piece together the postcard painting - unfortunately only a handful of the people who had come remembered to bring their cards (per my written request on their notes).  Somewhere in my files of slides, there must be an image of that effort...somewhere!

Enough - Basta!

-J.

correspondence

postcard from ~J, arrived 5/11/10   click for larger view

We correspond, ~J~ and I.  In many ways.  Especially the in the arena of postcards.  We've delighted in sending postcards to each other for almost as long as we've been pals.  In 1997 I traveled Mexico a bit and ~J, post graduation, went on a world tour, traveling the globe solo (what a badass).  Our postcard correspondence did thus commence.  Each postcard from ~J's global pilgrimage was a story, each image a visual treat, each arrival a quiet thrill.  For 10 years, as ~J~ and I went on to live in different places, the postcards continued.  And even after I moved to Los Angeles in 2006, and now see each other with joyful frequency , our exchange via post has never ceased.  Our on going postcard collection is as thick or thicker than ZBOOK, and certainly an extension of it.  Or more like, our books and postcards are an extension of US.  

"life"     click for larger view

Behold the postcard I got in the mail this week! Thank you ~J~   It is dated "Four, Twenty, Two Thousand and Ten" which was our ZBOOK 4EVER launch date a month ago.  Sometimes a card does like to hang out for a while before actually getting into that bluebox portal, I know how that is ~J  :)  And always the timing of arrival reveals itself to be perfect!  Just look at this image of underwater life!  Speaks directly to our ZBOOK page of THIS week, yet was chosen and written 4 weeks ago; only this week did it finally make it's way into the post.  Love it.  You know, life.  O yeah, and "life"!  This postcard's image playfully puts into perspective my sense of a subterranean realm as being a bottomless abyss.  I am seeing that it is also just fishbowl, whether ocean or any vast unknown darkness, making it manageable after all.  Instead of feeling tiny and insignificant, dive in and feel your immense divinity, bigger than life!  And then BAM! the world is in your hands.

∞ ceci
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