Time Goes So Fast… Make It Count!

Well, here we are beginning our third (read: 3rd) year in Germany. I can't believe it. Where does the time go? It must have something to do with the knowledge that our time is finite here. Wouldn't that apply to all human beings in relation to life? I digress.

Summer and I have been working hard on my video series called, "The Wet Plate Collodion Workshop DVD Series". I'm excited by all of this. I'll close this chapter of my life out with two new books, two DVDs, and a new web site. I'm going to try to launch, publish, produce all of those by the end of the year.  All of the proceeds from the sales of these books and DVDs will go into an account for Summer. She will be in college in a couple of years and we thought this would be a great way to get her some additional cash/tuition/car/etc. money. She is doing all of the editing on the DVDs and proof-reading/editing the books for me. She's working hard and earning her money.

I have two workshops planned for September and October. One in Vienna, Austria and another in The Netherlands. Those are confirmed.  I also have one tentative for Berlin in September and one hanging in October for Mallorca, Spain (an island west of Barcelona).  A lot of stuff and a lot of fun! That's how I like to roll ;-)  here's a frame exported from the video:

A screenshot from one of the videos in the series.

Next year, 2009, will be devoted completely to my personal work (other than a possible workshop in Finland). I'll be finished with all of the writing, teaching, and video making and will devote myself completely to my project. I still spend a fair amount of time working on my "Kristallnacht" project. It's difficult here and things move very, very slow.  I do have four images of the project showing in San Francisco right now. They are in a show called, "Into the Ether: Contemporary Collodion Work" at RayKo Gallery. I hear the crowd was large and impressed by the work. That makes me happy. However, the German people are the ones that need to see this work. And, moreover, think about it. I'm working on it.

Considering Creativity

What does it mean to be creative? Does it mean you are witty, fun and different? Or that you can make tiny flowers from pieces of bread? Play cover songs in a band? How about writing an incredible document like Thomas Jefferson did? How do you define it? What are the qualities and how do you recognize them?

I've been spending a lot of time traveling and teaching wet plate collodion workshops all over Europe. In between the technical and the fun, I've had my ear, my mind and my heart bent toward the creative spirits I've met along the way. I'm not saying that I gave a lecture or an artist's talk and requested feedback, but rather that I've quietly observed and listened to the words and ideas behind the people in my travels. It's difficult to explain, but there are a lot of passionate people making art out there. We rarely get to see it, it's rarely in galleries and it's never the latest craze (which sickens me anyway). It's usually found in unknown, unpretentious artists that are honest and authentic. Not perfect in anyway, but at least accessible and real. This is the kind of thing that excites me. Knowing that there are people like me, driven to make art and asking questions about ourselves and one another. It's all about narrative for me. Making art that is generative and allows the viewer, if they are present, to wander to explore and ask their own questions – it’s open to reverie.

The poet/writer C.K. Williams said that the poet (artist) has, "the right to vacillate, to wobble, to shillyshally, be indecisive in one's labors, and still not suffer from a sense of being irresponsible, indolent, or weak." It feels good to read that. It's one of my greatest weaknesses, I'm rather insecure as an artist (all artists are, if they are honest). I've done a bit of that "shillyshallying" lately.

My work has taken a nice turn recently. At least I think it's nice. After considering that the Kristallnacht project is almost impossible (read: almost) to complete (time, money and cooperation), I decided that I wanted to blend it with my personal interests and make it less pedantic and more authentic and, in my opinion, interesting. So, I'm blending Kristallnacht, Portraiture Work and both historical and contemporary theories of difference into my images.

My latest incarnations:

Carmen the Putzfrau and Heidelberg Brown Shirt Street

Heildelberg Synagogue Arc (Memorial) and German Man With An Axe

Barcelona Wet Plate Workshops

I wanted to post an update on our Barcelona trip. I'm somewhat burned out writing here and on my forum, so I'm going to throw in a couple of links to the forum board. If you want to see more and read more, you can check these out:

Barcelona Wet Plate Collodion Workshop #1

Barcelona Wet Plate Collodion Workshop #2

We had a wonderful time in Spain. By far my favorite country in Europe. It's mostly due to the fact that people can be who they are and not be stared at or chastised for being different. That's a very different way of life from Germany. Maybe I am over-sensitive, but Germany is a difficult place to live at times.

16" x 20" Clear Glass Negative (Scanned) - The Jacobsons 
ATELIERETAGUARDIA Studio members, left to right; Israel, Ricard, Arcangela, Rebecca, Quinn, and Marti.

Summer Sings National Anthems

Summer was asked to sing at the Mannheim High School graduation ceremony Saturday (June 7, 2008).

She did a wonderful job! She sang both the German National Anthem (without the "Deutschland Uber Alles" part) and the American National Anthem.

Here's a video (not such a great video, it was shot from my still camera - but you get the point) - a big crowd and Summer was on the GIANT screen - great job Sweetie! We love you!!!

Barcelona, Spain (Catalonia)

There are so many wonderful things to say about Barcelona, Spain. There are also some bad things to talk about too. It's a poor city (for the most part) and relies on tourism as the main source of income. The irony here is that there are pickpockets and thieves out and about all of the time. They aren't violent, they only take what they can and tourists give them plenty of opportunities to do just that. It's kind of biting the hand that feeds when you have so much crime against tourists and they are the source of your income. Regardless, it's a safe city and you can walk the streets without any problems as long as you have some "urbana sensibildad". The people here are warm and friendly and the food and drink are some of the best in the world. We love tapas and all things seafood. We are sitting here in our apartment and I can see the ships on the Mediterranean Sea, c'mon!

The first thing I would say about Barcelona is that it's my favorite city in Europe. If I could, I would live here in a heartbeat. The city is full of energy and it's very "loose". That's both a good thing and a bad thing. I love the language (and can actually get by here). If I could spend six months here, I would be speaking Spanish again without too much trouble. This is our second trip here and will not be our last.

We're here because I was asked to come and teach two wet plate Collodion workshops.  I just finished with one (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). I will teach another this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In the interim, we have been walking the city, riding the subway and just taking it easy. Tomorrow, which is Wednesday, May 28, 2008, I am going to work with the studio that sponsored me here to make giant wet plate images (16"x20") of the "Botero Gato" en la Rambla - (a giant Botero Cat). I'm looking forward to that. We have to watch the crowds, again, a security issue, but it will be fine. The newspapers will be there to interview me and the studio - a historic event! I'm fortunate to be involved with it!

I'll try to make another post when we get back to Germany next week. Enjoy the photos and video!

Jeanne enjoying tapas y Sangria!
Did Summer assist in the workshop?

This is us on the Port of Barcelona. I'm not pissed, I'm not used to the sun (Germany) so I am squinting a little bit.  
Carrer del L' Hospital
Fruit and meat market just off of Las Ramblas.

Glasgow, Scotland

On Friday (May 2) we hopped on a flight (Ryan Air) to Glasgow, Scotland (UK). It was about an hour and forty minute flight. Too easy.

I meet a lot of people through my wet plate photography interests and this is how we ended up in Scotland. Carl Radford and his wife, Liz, (and their dog Lewis) welcomed us, put us up in their beautiful home, fed us, walked us around Glasgow and even picked us up and dropped us off at the airport! How kind is that?

We had never met Carl until last weekend. He is hosting a wet plate Collodion workshop that a Californian bloke named Kerik Kouklis is flying over to teach. Kerik and Carl have been friends for a couple of years.

It was great fun to be involved in the revival of wet plate Collodion in Scotland after 150 years of it being gone. Carl and I made the first plates in Scotland since (probably) the 19^th century. It was a blast.

After the wet plate Collodion events, we wandered the streets of Glasgow and went to a great Japanese restaurant (oddly enough) called Wagamama. It was really good. It seems to be very popular in the U.K. The Radfords also cooked us haggis and traditional Scottish meals. Scottish food is outstanding, very, very good. And yes, haggis tastes excellent.Enjoy the photos (click to make them larger) and video (below)!

Bagpipes, bagpises and more bagpipes.

A wee bit more - this guy was actually pretty good.
Carl wanders Glasgow.

Carl, Liz, Jeanne, Summer and Quinn in the Glasgow subway.
Downtown Glasgow, Scotland.

"Hey, there we are!" (3D Map of downtown Glasgow)

Scottish pounds. 1 pound = $2.05 (at this time) - OUCH!

These guys were good, too.
University of Glasgow

Kristallnacht Lecture: Mannheim High School

On Monday, April 28, I was invited (by Summer's teacher) to be a guest speaker in two honor history classes. Summer had told her about my project. I was happy to oblige. If you know me, you know that I rarely turn down an opportunity to have people listen to what I say and look at what I make. Needless to say, I accepted.

The classes, one with about 10 students and the other with about 18, just started reading Elie Wiesel’s, “Night”.  This is a powerful and disturbing account of the Wiesel family’s torture and suffering in the concentration camps of Germany and Poland. Although my project is directly related to the Holocaust, it’s (Kristallnacht) more obscure and less known.

I started by asking definition of words like “anti-Semitism” and “pogrom”. I talked about what I believe caused the world to turn against the Jews and to allow the near annihilation of them. For me, it was important to stress that living in Germany and understanding this history changed how I viewed the world. How living here made an abstract idea, a real life “concrete” event for me.

I quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." I talked about "indifference" and silence - or turning your head when bad things are happening to other people. I referenced this poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller too.

------------------
When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
-------------------

I showed a 6 minute presentation I put together of my work so far and then took questions. It was very rewarding and I look forward to doing it again.

We Love You Lucky! 1990 - 2008

We love you and you will be missed!!!

Lucky Jacobson entered Heaven on April 9, 2008 at about 1830 in Viernheim, Germany. He would have been 18 years-old this August 10! He was in kidney failure due to his age. He had a wonderful life and we were there for him to the end. This photograph was taken on one of his many trips around Europe. This was in Lucca, Italy on a beautiful September morning of 2007.

Our sweet little Lucky dog. The best dog ever!

"Ich bin ein Berliner?"

My first impressions of Berlin were, "Ummm, this is Berlin?" In other words, I wasn't that impressed. It's a large city, some 3 - 4 million people. It's spread out and takes forever to get anywhere (by foot). The U-Bahn is good, but again, somewhat inconvenient. However, I think the biggest let down was the "industrial" feel of the place. I'm not going to kvetch about the entire trip or city, because there are some very good things in Berlin to experience.

 Suckin' the espresso!
The Jewish Museum Berlin: This is an amazing place. Moreover, we got to see an exhibit called, "Typisch - Klichees von Juden und Anderen" ("Stereotypes - Cliches of Jews and Others"). The show consists of common stereotypes about groups of people as well as out right racial and ethnicity issues. It's frightening when I think about all of the subtle racial and ethnic beliefs we all have. There were a couple of very moving/interesting pieces in the show. The first was "49 Jewish Noses" from Dennis Kardon. It was interesting to find the "nose" of Nan Goldin in this piece. She's a photographer that I like (and met once). When I met her, I was challenging her on her view, and what she had said about the work of Donna Ferrato. She said I was "belligerent". I thought that it was uncalled for at the time, but I my passion sometimes translates as aggression. Another piece that stood out was called, "You Don't Have To Be Jewish To Love Levy's Real Jewish Rye" by Howard Zieff. I bought the catalog/book.

"49 Jewish Noses" 

Anne Sprinkle, Tit Print

 
"A Bookend"


"You Don't Have to be Jewish..."

The museum is huge. You could spend days in it and not see everything. I had flashbacks of the Louvre when we were walking through it. It starts at the beginning of the Jewish history and works its way through the Holocaust. Daniel Liebeskind did an amazing job with the architecture. If you look at an aerial of the building is looks like a broken star of David.

Jeanne and Quinn The Memorial we were iin.
  
This is the memorial we were in (above photo)
those are olive trees growing on the tops of the
pillars - the ground is uneven and disorienting.

One place that was especially moving is called "The Holocaust Tower". Jean and I were the only ones in it for a few minutes. It's very dark and very cold. There is one bit of light at the top (way up there) and you can hear the outside world. It was eerie. When we tried to leave, I couldn't open the door (I was pulling and should have been pushing) it freaked me out!  There was a large room with metal "faces" called "Fallen Leaves" this too was very moving and eerie - I've uploaded a video here.

Inside the Holocaust Tower
When we were finished at the museum, we headed over to "Checkpoint Charlie" and "The Wall". It was a great day, and like all of our adventures here, will be indelibly burned into our memories!

Checkpoint Charlie: East Germany met West Germany

West Berlin - US Soldier photo.

 
"The 'real' still standing wall that separated
the East from the West - mind blowing history"

  
East Berlin - Soviet Soldier photo.

  
"Quinn and Jean in front of a piece of the Wall"

Wet Plate Collodion Photography: Kristallnacht

I feel comfortable enough now to start telling people about what I'm doing here - in a more public way. It's a difficult position to be when you want to keep the idea to yourself until you know (or at least think you know) you can pull it off and getting attention and support for it. Ultimately, I'm going to have to get a lot of attention on this project for it to be able to do what I want.

Unfortunately, I don't have much confidence that the German people will respond well to this project. It's an unhealed land and people in a lot of ways. Forgiveness and the acceptance of forgiveness isn't evident to me - this is still a very taboo topic here.

Wet Plate Collodion Photography: Kristallnacht