Missed Connections...

My good friend, Josh, just came into town this afternoon from Kentucky. Unfortunately, I got caught up in doing errands and got stuck on the train and missed Jasmin, Gisselle, and Josh and their bowling trip to Yonkers. Originally we had plans of ice skating, but the weather wasn't conducive for me falling repeatedly... I mean... for ice skating.

Instead, I decided to attend a panel discussion at the School of Visual Arts called, This is D.I.Y. The discussion was presented by the honors program and organized by faculty member and artist Amy Wilson. The panel was made up of Vanessa Bertozzi of Etsy, Steve Englander of ABC No Rio, David Reinfurt and Stuart Bailey of Dexter Sinister, and John Strausbaugh of The New York Times.

It was an interesting cross-section of various approaches to the concept of D.I.Y. However, where I would have preferred something more practical, most of the panel discussion was geared towards ethics and "ethnos". What I would have wanted was a more direct application of how the D.I.Y. has a role in the life of an artist and what ways in which one could readily use it for their own benefit. I would have also liked to have seen the panelists interact with each other a little more with one another. It came close to being a really engaging discussion, but I think it ultimately missed the mark for me.

But it was great to see Amy. I made her sign a copy of the book that she self-published called, Postcards from Second Life.

After the panel discussion, I met up with a friend for an extreme craft night at someone's loft. The loft turned out to be in the middle of the ghetto and when we got there no one was there except for a drunk girl in her underwear who had no intention of making crafts with us and continued to drink her vodka beverage from her mason jar.