Catalyst Culture

hmmmm.

2010-05-02T05:01:00.000-07:00

love > fear

2010-04-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

i am the proud new owner of a 250 foot zipline...
available anywhere there are two solid anchors.

March Hare Mad Hatter

2009-05-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

Success!

Mad Hatter March Hare Ride

2009-03-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

Mickey, Gabe, Matt, Andy and I are packing up all the last of the last things that get packed. I will undoubtedly forget something essential. Toothbrush doesn't count because I can barrow Gabe's. Nonetheless, I am stoked.
Nine days of rain and cold and trees and beach and coastal touring brings a smile on my face. Oh adventure awaits, tomorrow.

opposing personalities

2009-03-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

what similarities exist in both?

Guild Works Installation

2009-02-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of working a 24 hour shift with the most talented tensile structure artists in Portland. Using a plastic welder, greenhouse tape, and nylon thread, we constructed a stylish rain shelter for a private party up in the South Hills.

Guild Works has some amazing projects.

Poster Animation

2009-02-03T18:08:00.001-08:00

press

2009-01-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

check it out,
a press release for the show

Neighborhood Notes

*****

Converstations with Dr. Cox

2009-01-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

i will respond to your testimony forthwith. as such:

artist(jack)s of sociology(your ginger b.)
x: time is kinda weird, no? I traveled threw it kinda hard in the last few days...
G: We tend to assume time is linear (or maybe at least it is written into our bodies this way. birth. decay. death...jetlag because we were not made to fly so fast in the air between here and japan). However, some assert that where many see a time-line, others feel the divine circle; the feminine aspect of time. And although I do feel a line (probably because i have been culturally programmed), i also sense what you do. eternity in a nutshell.

x: what are you thinking right now?
G: Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge…The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

x: youi the phonetic combination of you and i, lesser the redundancy of "and"
G: hot... also, youi: verb. to accidently turn your car in the opposite direction while getting road head.

G, "is it tomorrow there?"
x: it was tomorrow, but now that i'm back i'm not sure. it is probably still tomorrow there, but they don't know it, just like we don't know that it's yesterday here. also: what's a "jambo"?
G: Jambos: noun. Attire worn with which to assume optimal comfort for sleep. Usually refers to a camouflage pattern as seen in "Rambo."

G, "don't you feel excited to be alive right now?"
x: yeah. duh.
G: Well, for your information, I'm told that there are many who feel simply plain tired, devoid of excitement.

G, "like how do people look at you there?"
x: most use their eyes.
some see us with their hearts. those ones are especially special rarities. others giggle when they walk past Aaron making hand gestures that mimic his awesome mustache.
G: Jebus, I like Aaron's photos. give him a hug from me. you guys are fucking adorable.

G, "is your drawing style affected?"
x: um, large buildings are not squared off at the top. there is no obvious functionality of reducing usable building footage other than ascetic practices. Consider that some businesses within kyoto have been functioning for over three hundred years. somehow... the invisible flow of chi is appreciated.

to be here has affected my drawing style, yes.
also, i will never be the same.
G: how does "the invisible flow of chi" fit in your life? how does Amerika do it?

G, "how are you integrating love into your creativity?"
x: check this out: good versus bad is an obsolete binary system.

but binary systems are easy for the human mind, right? i will divide objects in space in ways that create two from one. order into chaos, not yet reversed.
so instead of the old obsolete binary system how about something fresh:
change and love
in this case "and" is not redundant but a subtle reminder of metaphor, i, the third entity.
but shit, i'm still working on seeing all people as family.
you know, i'm sick of winners and losers, heros and villains, war and competition. i would much rather use the lens of change and love than good vs. bad.
G: Most of our dialectic/programmed ways of existing in Amerikan society come from the Liberal Englightenment Theorists. We are products of a few dudes (and some chicks, too), mostly in Europe, writing about "the individual," "freedom," and the "equality" of humanity sometime in the 1600-1700's. While simultaneously calling for equality, we were using slaves to build this country and giving smallpox blankets to Indians. I know we're all well aware of this irony. But isn't there something beyond a new kind of relativism? There is something beyond believing binaries are obselete. Some things are just plain bad and I hope that when the time comes, I will have the courage to call them out. I try to live in love, but in the words of Iris Murdoch, "Love is the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real." Maybe we're saying the same thing, darlin', or at least feeling it. But then again, "We are artists because we are ourselves" (Anne Truitt).

Aaron Rogosin

2009-01-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

is a photographer.

DRAFT

2009-01-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

Press Release

Super Cooperative Individuals Exploring New Creative Enterprises (SCIENCE), upon return from across the pacific, will produce an amalgamation of Portland and Japan spanning the culinary, photographic, musical, visual and environmental arts. SCIENCE invites all visitors to the First Thursday artwalk to attend this event, beginning at 5pm on February 5th, 2009 at 925 NW Lovejoy.

Principally, the Photography of Aaron I. Rogosin will grace the walls of Carole Zoom's Studio, courtesy of Carole Zoom herself, Focal Point Digital, and Dai Ichi Travel Agency. Should the photographic work be disrupted during the course of the event, the guilty party will most certainly be the infamous vandals Gabe Shaughnessy and Jack Crocifisso, costumed in the trappings of Monkey Sew Monkey Do.

Viewers are assured, the utmost care has been taken to prevent a disturbance in their consumption of exotic cuisine and implied appreciation of the creative works presented in the course of the evening. As a gesture of good faith, Portland SCIENCE agree to promptly refund the total admittance to this FREE event, should anyone so much as murmur in discontent.

What: A pan-Pacific travel narrative, told through photography, performance painting, costume, music and food.
Where: Carole Zoom's Studio, Adjacent to Dai Ichi Travel, 925 Lovejoy, Portland.
When: February 5th 2009 from 5pm until 11pm
Cost: Free

$4 a gallon?!

2009-01-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Summer bike tour gone right.

Here is a slide show from that very trip, compiled, styled and crafted by the great Voodoo Samaritan himself: Matt Robbins.

does he gain level points for this?

kitty porn

2008-12-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

for mature audience only
be advised.

*****

today's highlight

2008-12-15T01:19:00.001-08:00

It snowed in Portland, which quickly turned to black ice, and riding a bicycle that much more enjoyable. Unless, i happen to be playful and skid out, lose control and a dozen eggs and a half gallon of egg nog i am carrying on my back breaks my fall.

My shoulder hurts, but it's my pride that is broken.

Until I saw how cars did last time it snowed.

it's about time

2008-12-12T05:25:00.000-08:00

Although completely self indulgent, the following is useful, if only to somehow find myself--wherever I am.
It is a real advantage to look forward.
I can see into the future

(the default is Portland, with all of it's beautiful people)

wow. July?

robot speak

2008-12-12T04:55:00.000-08:00

january january

janruary

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ar?id=pn4ASc10sQ-kX7u7bQzVrVA.04281583700943657954.4146880174879765854&hl=en&action=1&tile=0&rpert=20&tfe=&srow=0&fprt=false&scol=0&ecol=undefined

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ar?id=pn4ASc10sQ-kX7u7bQzVrVA.04281583700943657954.4146880174879765854&hl=en&action=1&tile=0&rpert=20&tfe=vb_35&srow=0&fprt=false&scol=0&ecol=undefined

fred Astaire?

tricycledancecompany
URL:
http://www.slide.com/r/UglnKcdR7D9jUXsGCHJkw231iSBS4ERA?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

Black Walnut Ink

2008-11-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

Although it may appear primitive, walnut tannins produce a delicious brown ink when mixed with silkscreen medium. The above set up produced enough dye to print the S.L.U.G. order: 21 hemp canvas bags locally crafted by Monkey Sew and logo design from Gabe's Imagination.

someone i only get to see once in a while

2008-11-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

She told me i had missed the best sunset she had ever seen, but truth be told: i saw the whole thing.

POTENTIALLY
>>silkscreen print in limited edition, black walnut ink on acid free hemp paper and sumi for gray, acrylic black for outline<<
++No animal will be harmed in the making of this print
++Portland rain water will be used to distil locally harvested black walnuts

OBAMA!

2008-11-05T23:28:00.000-08:00

Yeah! We did it!

"My reality is REAL!" --Natalie said skipping with umbrella through the rain and in the direction of fireworks, drums and screaming liberals.

I am (finally) proud of my country. A little. We have a lot of lonely people to bring back home before I start my day with the pledge of allegiance, but the fascist empire aside, electing Obama is a blatant symbol of the change that is occurring. Change that is happening everywhere and in all aspects of our world. Not even ignorant rednecks can deny that things are not as they once were. It's about damn time.

My good friend's one-year-old daughter may never consider skin color to be an indication of potential. In terms of dismantling the institution of racism and healing historical infections, Obama has won an enormous victory. That is probably what makes me the most proud, we are finally taking a step beyond fear and into unknown hopefulness. Into the future we go!

Regardless of what happens in the next four years, Obama won the election. For right now, that has me thinking: cool.

Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR)

2008-11-04T00:27:00.000-08:00

A new plan created by the Bureau of Land Management will increase logging on public lands by 436%. It's a WOPR. Most likely it will pass unless someone tells Governor Kulongoski no.

Probably need more than just one someone. Might need a bus load. Reserve your seat by emailing "stopwopr@gmail.com". The bus leaves the Red and Black Cafe (12th and Oak) on November 14th at 10:30am.

Tell the Governor, "no more clear cuts!"

co-lab

2008-10-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

I visited the workshop of Andy Lunday.
He is gifted.
We did two collaborative drawings.

Realization!?

2008-10-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

i am not the smartest monkey.
i am the smartest monkey.

i will someday surpass my dumbness with smartness and ... well i don't know yet.

shitballs

ketchup

2008-09-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

September 25th 2008

It is a widely known fact that without this very important condiment in your fridge at all times, all hell will break loose and that one time that you make tots will certainly be--all for not.

Also, it is a pastime where a person, much like myself, recalls the things they did, say for the last few months (ready for a rousing game of ketchup?):

I went to burning man. I spent 23 days on the playa.
I helped build the Basura Sagrada temple with so many beautifully talented folks that...
I wish there were words.

Well, I guess there are words, maybe even a book, something with drawings and typed out story... But for now, there are pictures. Please come back to my site, please.

And before that there was Oregon Country Fair but all the cool kids call it OCF, so don't OMG if where not like, BFF when you say,
"Is that like, a staff shirt from Oregon Country Fair?"--at which I immersed myself in hippy heaven: complete with fire fed sauna, all-you-can-eat hot shower, play money that buys cheesecake, vaudeville, and the incredible Jason Webley. Not to mention because of the legalities of unsaid activities, playing barn yard with the greatest peeps.

And if they made cameras out of wood, I could direct you to some pictures of the OCF, but alas... the gnomes have a patent on that shit.

past lives

2008-07-05T00:48:00.000-07:00

3/11/01
9:23 pm Sunday (dad's)

[part B]

Run to the brink of exhaustion, then run some more, fall down and pass out only to awake running. know that this gift of movement has been denied to the helpless, to the harmed and so keep running. keep going when your legs are stiff from battery acid and liquid shit, keep going when your lungs have shriveled to the size of raisins and your heart has popped. keep pushing onward with legs pumping and mind focused, keep moving onward with clear intent of never stopping... and never do nothing.
as to never stop.

[part A]

Matt and I ran 4 miles. We started at the Y and made a loop. I enjoyed it. So did he. Leaves for Basic Training tomorrow by Wednesday he will have arrived in Texas, somewhere.

"Life is beautiful," he said. And he is a very wise man.

Noticing things after they're gone. shit. we had some amazing times together. some really fucking cool shit. yet, we were best friends there was never a competition, even in the face of competing, we were equal in respect for each other. that is and was amazing. it's truly difficult to find such unselfishness. a wise man Matt Fitzsimmons is, forever in my memories we will run together through the disgusting times of High School Hell, together we will part paths knowing someday we will still be on the same road.

FOUR DALLORS A GALLON?!

2008-06-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

please enjoy a slideshow from the "$4 a gallon?" tour: