This was my second time to apply for an Idea Fund grant. The first was in 2009, as a joint effort with Beam, Plank and Flitch to construct 6 public wood benches made from urban harvested trees. That one missed because I think the judges thought it to pedestrian and not art centric enough.

In 2011, I applied with the Automated Cordycep Project:

The Automated Cordycep Project is about playing with a narrative; it’s about combining sculpture, nature, and science, with a gorilla approach to exposing the public to a sci-fi narrative of near future disaster…

And the prize… went to somebody else. Actually 10 somebody elses. I looked over the list, and can say that on first glance, they all look like solid proposals. Each having a large friendly public component, which I think is where my project might have been lacking. There was public interaction, but more on the level of terrorizing large crowds with remote controlled cars infected with a parasitic fungus.

So. I’ll add this to the list of impressive art organizations that I have applied to but not been accepted by. It is said that if you don’t get rejection notices, you’re not trying hard enough, which I do think is true, although I really prefer the non-rejection notices.

As for the Automated Cordcep Project, I do think it is worth while project, and I still plan on dedicating a page on this website to the project, just as soon as I get this Damn WordPress templet to function properly!!! Wait a minute, were the hell did all my old photos go?!!! jfvsfjblerskbersjkvber

It was becoming more and more obvious that my old Godaddy website and Blogger Blog were reaching a critical disjointed mass. So I switched over to a WordPress format. This has become a multi month learning curve and a pain in the A**. But now I am in for a pound so it’s full speed a head. Please excuse the present mess. it will get better.

You can still visit my old blog and Flickr site to see rants and artwork.

By the time we did the 5:30 power check I had my installation up and running. My best friend in the world dropped by with a totally tasty sandwich and ice tea which I needed badly.

Around 6:30 I took a quick walk around to see some of the other art installations. I came back very impressed. Seeing that the majority of video installations involved computer generated or manipulated images I decided to focus my installation on a montage of raw video footage of water.

As the night sky darkened all the videos became more color intense and the crowds filled the streets. I was surprised to see so many people dance in front of my video, use it as a colorful back drop and even videotape my video.

 A few notes for next year’s Aurora: *A dark corner will work better than being in the main drag due to all the ambient light. *Keep your projection size within the limits of the projector’s lumen power. Over extending = washed out color.*Forget about your soundtrack, in this event, your soundtrack is the ambient collective.  *No matter how fascinating your video is, people will only stand still for perhaps 10 seconds at the longest. *A collection of short clips is more engaging than one long film. *And lastly, promotion, Even though over a thousand people saw my installation, 90% of them will never connect it back to me.

To some it up, Dallas Aurora changed the Dallas Arts District into what I think it should be, a neighborhood of cultural centers that generate a sense of wonder and community. I had a great time being part of Dallas Aurora, and look foreword to doing it again next year.

I have felt for a while now that I should be spending less time at the computer. All those hours logged on has left me feeling a bit like a big wooden log. So, it’s up early, a balanced breakfast, walkies, perhaps a bit of yard work, and get involved with a few art events to get me out of this damn house!!!

Aurora 2011 is one such event. This year it’s being held in the Dallas Arts District. 97 light and sound installations will turn the 19 block area into a night of color. The big power switch will be flipped on this Friday, October 28th at 7:30pm-12:00 midnight. Here’s the Art and Seek post.

I am producing 2 videos that will be projected onto the west garden wall of the Meyerson Symphony Center. Both videos are about water. One is natural footage of ponds, streams and puddles as seen in the top 2 photos above. The other video uses the same footage and manipulates it by re-filming the clips multiple times to produce color separations and distortions, as seen in these bottom 2 photos.

This will be my first time to show any of these videos publicly. Very excited about it, and about seeing all the other installations, too!

The 3 winners of the TEDxSMU Auditions were very solid choices. Belinda Baldwin, Jasmin Brand, and Will Clarke each demonstrated a well crafted comfort with the stage and presented topics that were intriguing. Each topic could be easily be expanded into longer in depth presentations.

Sarah Hodge has posted a complete recap of the evenings presentations. Thanks Sarah for doing that. I mentally missed half of the presenters while trying to calm down from my turn under the spot light.

Here is my totally self absorbed, center of the universe recap of the evening:

From the beginning I did this for the fun, and because it was my way of showing support for TEDxSMU. I have seen how sending out a Call To Artists can result in lack luster returns in both quality and quantity. Happily in this case, TEDxSMU did end up with over 50 applicants. Dallas does have a lot of engaging topics and dynamic people.

Each of the 13 presenters approached the microphone differently. Some had that envious natural ease, some followed learned presentation techniques, some approached it as a short performance, 3 minutes on the dot. And some, well 3 minutes can be a long time.

Personally, I follow the school of practice, practice, practice. I practiced until all the cats ran out of the house. Then I went down to the railroad bridge and practiced some more.

Reflecting back on my performance, I can see where it lacked clarity, and where I verbally stumbled. Sense a part of me seems to enjoy this form of punishment, maybe I should seriously educate myself in the art of public annunciation. But where to start?

So while I’m learning how to get this looking like a profession artist’s web site you can still find me at these sites;

Brad Ford Smith Blog

Flickr Portfolio

Video Shorts

It can only get better after this.

]]> http://www.bradfordsmith.us/522/site-under-serious-construction/feed/ 0 http://www.bradfordsmith.us/604/houston-fine-art-fair-shopping-list/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=houston-fine-art-fair-shopping-list http://www.bradfordsmith.us/604/houston-fine-art-fair-shopping-list/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:19:00 +0000 Brad Ford Smith http://www.bradfordsmith.us/?p=604

The Houston Fine Art Fair was like going to Whole Foods, row after row of good for you art work. Unfortunately I left the wallet containing big wades of cash at home. I posted my shopping list and a few observations on Art and Seek. (Photo- Keiko Gonzalez, Salar Galeria de Arte, Bolivia)

Next month is the Texas Contemporary Art Fair. Will it be worth another 8 hour roundtrip drive?..

Well I just can’t stay away. I’m heading down to Houston for the Houston Fine Art Fair. I’ve posted a short blurp on Art n Seek , which I’ll follow up on with photos on monday.