Dirty Laundry Blog by Jennifer Hynes

DaDa Here and Now- First of many writings about the Dadaists, and about my experience working towards the SFIAF with GAP. ( only words, no sneak peeks at the art!)

January 16th, 2016
The San Francisco International Art Festival is about Five months away, it runs from May 19th to June 5th , 2016. The title of the show is “Dada Here and Now” curated by Hanna Regev and Matt McKinley. It’s being held at Fort Mason Center. The opening reception is May 20th from 6pm to 9pm. I’m stating for the record I’m planning on wearing a costume, this way I can’t chicken out! I am very excited about this show and have been re-studying the Dadaists, working in my studio on secret things, only to be revealed the night of the opening and after, and becoming my true Dada self. A fellow collegue posted this on FaceBook, I’m going to begin to delve into these questions, think about them as I’m studying and working in my studio:

“These are the challenges put forth to contemporary practitioners of Dada: Can art successfully challenge a fixed mindset? Is a 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?”- Dada Here and Now

I think the most general answers to all the questions above is yes, maybe? Thinking about politics, many of us artists have been reacting to politics in the USA and abroad, we draw, paint, collage, and post on Facebook on a regular basis. These images get circulated, our disdain for the destruction of our environment, racism, human suffering, violence, but I suppose they are mainly viewed by people who like our work and agree with our politics. Could our artwork we’ve created about the refugee crisis in Syria, some very abstract, change a persons mind who is against letting Syrian refugees into their own countries based on fear? I don’t know.


The original Dadaists were very anti war and so are we. This is something I read last night talking about the Zurich Dadaists and their “aggressive assults to the audience”:

“Pandemonium was encouraged, perhaps as a parody and an exposure of the falsity of public rhetoric, with its appeals to patriotism in support of the war. Today this kind of antic, more familiar and even stereotyped in the Happening, seems outdated. In it’s time however, Dada nihilism had more relevance as social critism; moreover, it frequently resulted in bouts of inspired wit and verbal invention, and the liberation of significant new forms of poetry and art” (pg. 168) Modern Art, Hunter and Jacobus, third edition, published in 1992.

When The Dada’s first started working they were responding to the “futility of those dying senselessly in the monstrous charade of World War 1″

Aren’t we all responding to the horrors of the war in Iraq, and the unrest it’s caused in the whole world? That just goes on and on forever. Many, many, artists have been creating art against the war for over ten years, did The Dadaists pave the way for modern artists to create art about war? Thank you Dada artists!

The part of dadaism I respond to most though is the ideas of Jean Arp, he said ” the law of chance, which embraces all laws and is unfathomable like the first cause from which all life arises, can only be experienced through complete devotion to the unconcious”

Yes! Thats where I thrive, when I can break through to that place of what I like to call “pure creation” that place where I’m buzzing like a bumble bee sucking pollen out of flowers. Yesterday I hit this place, I dedicated my whole day to making, I didn’t even walk the dog. But sometimes I have to do that. I worked on the press. I think it’s OK to share these pictures because they are not for the Dada show. But I am getting inspired by my research and it’s oozing into my non- dada stuff for sure.


A balance between the laws of chance and conscious decisions made in a spontanious way.


Wow, It’s 7:12 on Saturday morning and I’ve been writing away for over an hour, I have not heard one peep from babies or husband! I feel like I’ve just come out of another world. I said I was going to take the weekend off from writing but when I woke up I had to write about the Dada stuff! Anyhow here I am! Back to reality. It’s really foggy outside this morning. I like it! Time to get organized for the day, stretch my back, get ready for my family to wake up.

Good bye, have a nice day!!
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Little Handprints

January 15th, 2016
Little Handprints slip away, day by day, getting bigger, leaner. Did I take enough handprints? Have I captured enough of the baby stage? It’s almost over now, the baby stage. I felt something yesterday I never thought I would feel, as I watched an acquaintance of mine, another mom at Fionas school, take care of her newborn baby, with his little infant cries and his squishy infant face, I actually longed to hold him, to go back to the moments Jack and Fiona were first born, to hear the little grunting in my ear as I burped them, to feel their little heartbeat on my chest as they slept. Before Jack and Fiona were born I would decline any and all offers to hold someone elses baby. I had no interest in babies or even a desire to have one, not like the women who said, “I knew I wanted kids” or “my life wouldn’t be complete without kids” I never felt like that, not ever. Until now.The Experience has been the most difficult and challenging thing I’ve ever encountered. I’ve had to become a thousand me’s to be enough for the role I find myself in. I give and give and give. This in itself is huge, to give yourself up, to learn to become a mom, a wife. To learn how to think with the mind of four instead of one, but to protect myself and care for myself just as vehemently, to give myself what I need, to still follow my dreams.

I’m doing it, I’m learning how. It’s an ever challenging battle, not easy. Last night Jack and Fiona stayed up late, 9:30pm. But they ate a great dinner and were in good moods, the day actually went smoothly, as if what I wrote, my hope for a peaceful day manifested. I’ve been finding this happening often, things I write become true, like the day I was prepared for mass chaos, that’s what I got. I’m not saying it’s that simple, But could there be something going on? Something to do with intentions? Intentions being aired out in a public sphere, no where for them to hide? They become me? My world? OR am I just learning how to deal with toddlers better, it takes me a few days to catch up to them they change so fast.

Anyhow we went down to the nursery, had bathtime, pajama time, crazy time, book time, then to my delight- snuggle time. For a brief, maybe five minutes, both babies cuddled next to me, one on each side, kneeding their blue blues. It was so sweet, not fighting or pushing each other away, just quiet cozy bliss. Then it was over, Jack got up first, started pulling my hair, then Fiona started messing with Jack, then they wanted water. “Ok guys, time for bed, mommy’s going to bed now”

Just thinking about intentions and things coming to fruition I’d like to talk about my career as an artist. It’s wonderful! The creating, the making, the learning, the other artists I spend time with, it’s the best. But there’s alot of difficult parts to being an artist. The main one, that I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone who’s been reading my blog is that I, and I know many artists are in this same boat, am very emotional and sensitive. World events, I’ve been trying not to pay attention to the bombs that have been going off in Turkey and Indonesia the past two days, or the continuing crisis of the refugees fleeing Syria, not because I don’t care deeply, but because it depresses me so much. It sends me in a tail spin if I study world events too much.

Studio time can be both gratifying and torturous. Less torturous now than in the past. I’ve learned to really let go, to move on and to understand that it’s all process.

The business side of being an artist is the hardest part. It’s time consuming and costs money. It’s hard when I don’t have any money coming in. I always think, “If only I made money” For some reason I’ve always felt that would make things better. The only way to make money as an artist is to sell work. The only way to sell work is to have my beautiful paintings on display! So that is my intention. I want to start selling. I need to. I have wonderful things, they will bring years of enjoyment to their new owner. I can say this from personal experience, my husband bought some work from my friend and artist Heather Wilcoxon. I look at her paintings everyday, I love them. I love all the art in my house. People should start buying art. They won’t regret it.

BUY ART!

Well, dawn is becoming morning, sky getting bright, house getting light, Friday! It’s still quiet, babies still sleeping. Today will be a good day, I’m not even going to stress today. It’s an art day. I think I’ll make breakfast for Jack and Fiona now and a second pot of coffee. The one I made this morning sucked! Too weak!

Anyhow, I usually don’t do this, talk to you like I’m talking to you, or use the word you in my writing, but this morning I’d like to wish you a very good day or night, a very pleasant weekend, and to thank you for reading my blog!
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Here I Am

January 14th, 2016
Here I am, I’m right here, awwww, a great sigh of relief. Second cup of coffee, not as good as the first, maybe I won’t drink it. House quiet, sky dark outside. A baby doll looking at me, a rocking horse, shadows of light fixtures on the ceiling. Another sigh, relaxed, calm. How can I bring this sense of peace into things once Jack and Fiona wake up? I’m going to try, take deep breaths and smile. “Turn that frown upside down” I’ll say this to the babies when they start having their meltdowns. Wouldn’t that be one of those annoying sayings your mother said to you that made you even madder?

Clown Face. Round Face. My face. Your Face.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the Dada movement. I realized I am Dada. I have always been interested in Kurt Schwitters and Jean Arp, two of my favorite artists. But as I am going back through my college textbooks, re-reading the section on Dada I realize I was either highly influenced by these artists or I was just born a Dada and had a natural affinity with them. They paved the way for me to do the art I do today. I’m really excited about the SFIAF Dada anniversay show, not only that I am included, but to experience the show and performances. I think the GAP collaborative fits great in the theme of DaDa, we are Dada.

The babies are Dada too. Infact Hugo Ball said this: ” My proposal to call it Dada is accepted….. Dada in Romanian means yes yes, in French a hobby horse, in German, a sign of absurd naivety.” He continued at a later date, ” childhood as a new world, and everything childlike, and fantastic, everything childlike and direct, everything childlike and symbolic, in opposition to the senilities of the world of grown ups….. The distrust of children, their shut-in quality, their escape from our recognition that they won’t be understood anyway. Childhood is not at all as obvious as is generally assumed.” (Painting and Sculpture in Europe 1880-1940 p. 367)

Jacks so Dada.

If I could put plastic up in my entire house and turn the whole place into part art studio/ part food lab/ part yoga studio we’d be in business! I wouldn’t have to say no anymore. We could just experiment and make things all day long. Then I would have one room that was just one giant bed, we could all just crash on the floor when we got tired.

But we return to hard surfaces and sanitation issues. Life in the real world, not the childrens. But I can try to keep the childlike freedom alive inside myself and cultivate it as something to cherish in Jack and Fiona.

Dada Lives!

Babies still quiet, but I better get their lunch and breakfast done before I go get them this time. Yesterday trying to do it all with babies I almost caught the house on fire. I burnt two sausages, pancakes, smoke filled the house, Fiona tantrumed, grabbing my legs and falling on the floor as I tried to cook breakfast. It was not good. Today will be different. Today will be good. Today will be peaceful.
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