Dirty Laundry Blog by Jennifer Hynes

What and Why? Stream of conciousness

February 3rd, 2016
I looked at my painting and thought it was my wall,

I thought i’ve gone too far this time, across the bridge and back again, over the rainbow, through the looking glass,

I told myself I’d change, I would be better, but realized I like myself just the way I am,

And I have my own nasty habits, my own vices, my own secrets,

Sitting here in my studio, cold hands, crazy legs and face and mouth and tongue,

You’re lucky they don’t cut it out.

I’m not Tommy, skitzo in the cabin, sledge hammer, burn the place down,

I passed a bunch of semis, fears of the cabins, with beds, engines, big wheels rolling down the dark highways with the radio lights on, blues and reds.

Then there was reality, I had to remember I’m still here, come back home, come back,

Women belong in museum collections, they deserve to be re-written back into art history books.

Back, come back, I’m reeling into outer space, I need my landing gear on, come back, behave.

Behave yourself.

That’s the end of my story today.

That’s how I feel like nothing and evetything all at once,

Like a flash of ice cold water on a cold February day, with little finches at my feet, the sun lowering behind the bay trees,

Moss and light.

That’s where I have to go right now. I need to take my dog on a walk.

Slugs, mud, bark, cold air.
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Dada number four, The Idea of All Naps

February 2nd, 2016
“Le Bruit noise with imitative effects, was introduced into art ( in this connection we can hardly speak of individual arts, music, or literature) by Marinetti, who used a chorus of typewriters, kettledrums, rattles and pot-covers to suggest the ” awakening of the capital”; at first it was intended as nothing more than a rather violent reminder of the colorfulness of life. In contrast to the cubists or for that matter the German Expressionists, the futurists regarded themselves as pure activists. While all “abstract artists” maintained the position that a table is not the wood and nails it is made of but the idea of all tables, and forgot that a table could be used to put things on, the futurists wanted to immerse themselves in the “angularity” of things- for them the table signified a utensil for living, and so did everything else.” {Excerpt from Richard Hueslsenbeck: En Avant Dada: A History of Dadaism (1920)}

The idea of all tables. Idea of all paintings, all art, all cups, of a cup of coffee. Try to imagine every cup of coffee being drank right now at this moment all over the world, the different kinds of mugs, types of coffee, settings, different people drinking that cup of coffee, how enjoyable the sips are, think of that moment, now this one, as a collective moment happening to many people at one time all over the world. I take a sip of my water, enjoying my moment, 2:04 PM, Tuesday afternoon. Jack and Fiona sleeping, house quiet. Having a collective moment with all the other moms whose babies are napping right now. The idea of all naps being had right now all over the world. What a wonderful thought, soft relaxed faces, closed eyes, serenity.

I’ve begun reading “The DADA Painters and Poets” An Anthology, Edited by Robert Motherwell. It’s an excellent book. I’m enjoying it, although it’s dense. Lots of ideas, stories, varied; a collection. A collective. A community. A lot of what the DaDa’s talked about was group participation or groups gathering, being united. For example this is #1 under DaDa demands by Hauelsenbeck and Raul Hausemann, “The international revolutionary union of all creative intellectual men and women on the basis of radical communism.” {Pg. 41 Dada Painters and Poets.}

A lot of what the Dadas did and talked about was very political, banging pots and pans to “awaken the capital”. They were participating in the larger world conversation, anti- war, anti- fascism. The question from “Dada Here and Now” Can art successfully challenge a fixed mindset?” Maybe. Participation, by speaking out, voting, standing on the corner with signs, and banging pots and pans, may not change the extreme people, but it might inspire others to take action. The problem with visual art is to change mindsets means people need to see the art. Yes, the answer is yes, but the art needs to be shown, lots of people need to be able to see the art. Not just other artists. And the only way to answer all of the questions posed by “Dada Here and Now” is for the public to see the art. A lot of what Dada artists talked about was this, access to art. Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings opened the Cabaret Voltaire which was a nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland. It opened in 1916 for “Artistic and political purposes.” It was a place for artists and performers to get together, show art, do performances, and talk politics. We need that now, and if there were such places, the general population would be more familiar with art, more artists would connect, more change would be talked about. So it can’t just be art alone that inspires change, it’s the discussion as well.

It is about the discussion, the process, the experience, not the outcome. There may be no solution or answers to any questions. “The Dadaist, as the psychological Man, has brought back his gaze from the distance, and considers it important to have shoes that fit and a suit without holes in it. The Dadaist is an atheist by instinct. He is no longer a metaphysician in the sense of finding a rule for the conduct of life in any theoretical principles, for him there is no longer a “thou Shalt”; For him the cigarette butt and the umbrella are as exalted and as timeless as the “thing in itself.” {Pg.42 Dada Painters and Poets.} There is no obligation for artists to do anything, the present moment is the most important thing. It’s the only way to stay in a creative state, the moment I start worrying about my closet, I need to clean my closet, I am no longer effective in the studio. Or if I worry, I need to be painting, I am no longer effective in cleaning my closet.

Now all I want to do is paint for my remaining thirty minutes of nap time. But I don’t know if I really have time. What would the dada’s say? What would a dada do? Get back to the present.

It’s February 2nd, 2016. It’s cold today, with moments of sunshine. It was bright and I thought of all the beautiful wild flowers that will bloom. The ground is damp and mossy from all the extra rain from El Nino. The deciduous tree branches still bare. Jack and Fiona had there two year doctor visit today, I made it a special day, starting at the indoor mall playground, they were so good, they went crazy for the rides, but I only had a dollar, enough for one ride. They still had fun jumping into all of the rides. I bought them each a stuffed animal, Jack a Panda and Fiona a seal, the kind with those big giant eyes. Jack and Fiona were super excited to see the doctor, but Jack still wouldn’t let her check his ears, mouth, or eyes. He cried, I’m laughing, a big tough boy like he is, Fiona welcomed the doctors examination, She does have an advantage, she’s been going to doctors getting her ears examined on a regular basis since she was three months old. Alan got to leave work early and met us at the doctor. After, we went for Indian , Jack and Fiona’s favorite kind of food. They sat in their boosters and ate basmati rice, spinach, naan bread, and mango lassies. Alan and I were able to eat our entire meal without stressing. It was pretty cool. I am yearning to be creative right now, the babies will be waking up soon and I need to get ready for them! I am collectively getting ready for the evening housewife shuffle with all the other housewives out there at this moment. It’s not just about my moment, it’s about the idea of the moment, the moment of getting dinner ready, getting the children ready for bed. A moment that will never happen again, not the same way.
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Studio Visit and DADA Here and Now Musings #Three

January 30th, 2016
5:00 AM Saturday morning. Drinking coffee, eating rye toast with almond butter, but this morning there is no hum of the refrigerator, reflections of lights on windows, shadows of toy horses and doll houses in my view, today I am surrounded by piles of edited paintings, my favorites, an assortment of work hung on the wall, my funky portrait series, part of them wearing dunce caps, my collection of trinkets and curiosities, because I’m in my studio. I can do this now, it’s super clean and organized. My desk is clear, I can sit here and write, drink my coffee. The only problem is I want a second cup of coffee, I have to go back upstairs, opening the garage door super quietly, tiptoe up the stairs, pour another cup, then repeat getting back into my studio without the babies or my husband hearing me. I think I need it; I’ll be right back. I did it! As Jack likes to say. As I walked up the stairs I peered out the window to see the outside world, scattered clouds in a still dark sky, entering the kitchen a waft of my life rushed towards me, smells of last night’s dinner, the coffee I’m about to pour myself, the sounds I’ve become accustomed to listening to while I write. I almost feel like bringing my computer back upstairs, proceeding with my usual routine.

I haven’t had much time to write this week. I’ve been busy cleaning my studio, editing my work, getting ready for my studio visit, which happened yesterday. There’s nothing like a clean organized studio, nothing like a studio visit, which I haven’t had in I can’t even tell you how long. And there’s nothing like having a few shows lined up! Yes, I have a show lined up in the fall at a new Gallery opening in Oakland, more details to follow. I am very excited. Showing my work is essential to my art practice, not just because I really need to sell art, but it’s about the communication, I want to engage with people outside my immediate circle. Even in my immediate circle no one comes into my studio to look at my work except Lindsay and my babies. My little audience. So knowing that my work will be out there in the immediate future at three different venues, three totally different shows, different work at each show, is freeing. When my studio visit was over, after I had finished my lunch, I had two hours left to paint. I felt totally free, confident, and engrossed in the paint. The colors, the way it was drying in some places, not drying in others. It was speaking to me, I felt free because it didn’t matter what I painted, I could just have fun. My work for two of the shows is already complete, and my work for the DADA show is in progress, but going well. This is not to say there is no struggle in any of this, it’s more that all the pieces are falling into place, the machine will still breakdown, but at least it’s got a job.

I’ve been thinking about the questions posed by the curators of the DADA Here and Now show a lot. Here are the questions again:

Can art successfully challenge a fixed mindset? Is dialogue generated by provocative art possible and can it lead to change, co- existence, tolerance, and cooperation? Can art inspired by Dadaism be important or relevant today, or is it something that was of its time?

If I painted a bunch of pictures of Donald Trump, showing how I feel about him and his circus, then displayed my work in a town that supported Trump, could my work challenge their thinking? Could I get them to vote for Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders?

How can we judge if our art can make change among non- artists? Most of my interaction, most of the people who see my art are other artists. I know I have influenced people in an artistic way. When I take classes and workshops, or during shows I’ve had I always get questions on technique. During workshops classmates will follow what I’m doing, try my techniques, they tell me I inspire them. This is a type of change, but it’s within a group with a similar mindset. We are already co-existing, cooperating, and tolerant of each other. But how do we reach non-artists? How do we reach non-tolerant people? How could we, artists, inspire people to live more tolerantly of other cultures and ethnicities? Is provocative art possible anymore? Everything’s already been done. There was a teacher at SFAI who used his own shit to paint with. I thought it sounded disgusting. And what kind of change was he inspiring? Before the original DADA artists, most of the work the public saw was traditional painting. The Dadaists were able to get the public’s attention, but they were still a part of a much larger movement that included the whole world, people everywhere artists and non-artists wanted change, wanted Fascism to end. If all the artists in America got together now and demanded change, rejected this political circus we find ourselves in these days, if we all get out and vote, we can make change, but through pictures and sculptures alone, I don’t know. Artists are always part of the conversation, but can they change people’s minds? I do think art inspired by Dadaism is relevant today, So much of what we artists do today can be traced back to the original Dadaists. Especially collage, assemblage, and deconstructed projects.

The original Dadaists sought to create ‘anti-art’ that shocked, ridiculed and challenged the status quo in response to the politics that fueled World War 1. They created absurd, colorful, fun art that broke all the rules simply by having no rules. Philosophically, the Dadaist response, both then and now, to the absurdities they perceive is to be mindful of the irrational and utilize the absurd as a guiding force that embraces chance procedures, playfulness, found objects, irony, and whimsical expression while also taking the opportunity to examine context, question purpose, and measure personal values against a perceived societal mean through the use of cutting edge contemporary tools to dialogue with their audience. DADA Here and NOW.

One thing that pops out is Facebook, GAP in particular is using Facebook which is a “Cutting edge contemporary tool” to show our work, create a conversation, connect with each other and work on collaborative pieces. What would the original Dadaists have done if they had Facebook? With these questions from DADA Here and Now come more questions, only four months until the show!

It’s 6:30 AM now, I’ve heard Fiona crying here and there, I probably have a half hour left. I think I’ll put on some music and paint for thirty minutes until the family wakes up. Have a beautiful weekend!
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What and Why? Stream of conciousness

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Dada number four, The Idea of All Naps

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Studio Visit and DADA Here and Now Musings #Three

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