depressing.org - art, photography, commentary and tutorialstag:www.depressing.org,2007-09-23://22008-04-08T11:16:01Znoteworthy items, possibly of interestMovable Type Publishing Platform 4.01stability longevity and things we needtag:www.depressing.org,2008://2.602008-04-08T11:07:10Z2008-04-08T11:16:01Z We like things a certain way. Everyone does, some special thing they require or desire or lust after or make sure of is always at the ready, be it physically on hand or in mind. What does it mean...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
We like things a certain way. Everyone does, some special thing they require or desire or lust after or make sure of is always at the ready, be it physically on hand or in mind. What does it mean that we need certain things or feel that we need things in a certain order or in a certain way or quantity to be happy? One, two, three or once. How much is enough of what you want? How much is enough of what you need? Is it OK to only do what you want? Is it OK to put aside what you need?]]>
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sand dunes water and trainstag:www.depressing.org,2008://2.592008-04-07T06:53:37Z2008-04-07T08:31:54Z Time keeps ticking away and no matter whether I acknowledge it or care about it time always seems to add up! When looking around outside everything signals that it is nearing spring and with that past events appear flickering...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
Time keeps ticking away and no matter whether I acknowledge it or care about it time always seems to add up! When looking around outside everything signals that it is nearing spring and with that past events appear flickering bouncing and crawling up again in my mind. Dunes, dust, water, heat, cold and lonely long nights. Maybe in five months time things will be better, or worse.. or different or the same, maybe not....]]>
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blizzard conditionstag:www.depressing.org,2008://2.582008-02-01T08:05:58Z2008-02-01T08:19:08Z The wind outside was coming out of the west at a sustained rate of 30mph, with gusts around 45mph. With the air filled with powdery snow it was difficult to look into the wind even with something covering the...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
The wind outside was coming out of the west at a sustained rate of 30mph, with gusts around 45mph. With the air filled with powdery snow it was difficult to look into the wind even with something covering the eyes. I've felt this before!]]>
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Working on some stufftag:www.depressing.org,2008://2.572008-01-01T13:19:53Z2008-01-01T16:17:13Z It is snowing today. To walk around in the silence after it snows in a large city is one of the few things I look forward to each year. The snow seems to act like a large muffler that...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
It is snowing today. To walk around in the silence after it snows in a large city is one of the few things I look forward to each year. The snow seems to act like a large muffler that deafens the already quiet evening air. With the snow deadening the noise of all of the road vehicles tires it is much more peaceful.
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Rebuilding the suburbs, Again.tag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1372007-12-29T10:33:43Z2008-01-01T06:26:34Z It is rather strange that much of the United States already consumed by the sprawl of urbanization yet it seems that many believe there is nothing left to do than to rebuild stuff we already have. As it appears...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
It is rather strange that much of the United States already consumed by the sprawl of urbanization yet it seems that many believe there is nothing left to do than to rebuild stuff we already have. As it appears this has already happened in the past yet the process is repeating once more. This time the pattern of rebuilding is following a less personal path. With chain restaurants stores and mini malls making each little section of the country harder to tell apart from each other it is very likely that in another generation or two we will be seeing another rebuild take place.
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Appliance Retailer, Lombard. 2006.
Appliance Retailer, Lombard. 2007.
Here is an example... I was not sure why this structure had to go. As of yet just about 2008 this remains an empty lot. A proposed senior community has yet to bloom out of the grassy field but one day I am sure something will appear. Will people be able to get service from a family owned place at this location anymore? Who knows?
Lord's 2006.
Lord's 2006.
And yet another example, this to some is the hardest one for people to understand. The DuPage Theater was 79 years old and when it was demolished it was in the United States list of historic places. This list is usually believed to protect a building from such treatment. Again, this site remains an empty lot. The proposed condo complex has yet to be built. Will the city benefit more from condos or from a historic building?
DuPage Theater 2006.
DuPage Theater 2007.
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new art for a new yeartag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1352007-12-27T10:00:52Z2008-01-01T13:33:02Z With the majority of 2007 in the past the look toward 2008 has begun. The coming year of work and academics for the world will likely go by largely uneventfully. Anticipation of events like the United States 2008 Presidential...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
With the majority of 2007 in the past the look toward 2008 has begun. The coming year of work and academics for the world will likely go by largely uneventfully. Anticipation of events like the United States 2008 Presidential Election and Burning Man 2008 follow my education as interesting events that will be coming up next year. The new year should bring new changes to my art and new focus and interest devoted to different areas of my perception. Hopefully the year will turn out to be at least as interesting as previous years.
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turnpike journeytag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1342007-12-24T18:24:38Z2008-01-01T13:36:24Z On a road that I have traveled quite a few times at this point in my life I find miles and miles of farms. It really is interesting that one could travel for hours via a multitude of vehicle...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
On a road that I have traveled quite a few times at this point in my life I find miles and miles of farms. It really is interesting that one could travel for hours via a multitude of vehicle and still find only farms outside of the window. There is not much else that is of any interest on a road trip throughout the middle of the country. Sometimes you could find yourself being interested in the contents of passing cars. Sometimes you can find something interesting at one of the many rest stops. The things people fill their cars with; dogs, cats and weeks worth of garbage are common.
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The two dogs in that last photograph were riding in a car that had license plates that were from Colorado. A two thousand mile long car ride is quite a long ride for two dogs. I guess I am not surprised that one of them was barking franticly at me as I made a few photographs.
As an aside; it sure is great to be able to work on the road. With access to everything that I need I can get things done from any place with an Internet connection. Great!
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america the beautiful... sort oftag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1332007-10-22T07:34:42Z2008-01-01T13:38:27Z I wonder sometimes what people see in their countries respective flag… why do people choose to display their flags? How long did it take a person or group to make the pictured “God Bless America” sign? . That specific...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
I wonder sometimes what people see in their countries respective flag... why do people choose to display their flags? How long did it take a person or group to make the pictured "God Bless America" sign? . That specific house is the most lit up house on a very dark section of a quiet street in a suburb of a large American city. How many more homes in America are exactly like this one? How many are more elaborate?
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depressing thingstag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1322007-10-20T09:41:45Z2008-01-01T13:40:22Z Reality does kind of suck. Money, traffic and petroleum seem to rule the day. It makes me sad to know that this is not the only solution. Waking up to the challenge of keeping beverages cold never seemed so...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
Reality does kind of suck. Money, traffic and petroleum seem to rule the day. It makes me sad to know that this is not the only solution. Waking up to the challenge of keeping beverages cold never seemed so good. Knowing that I needn't keep a schedule or worry that mine hinders others. Walking around in what I feel comfortable in and resting at a burn barrel after midnight. Getting in touch with how the moon moves across the sky. Knowing how rain really smells. Oh how I miss these things!
I know it might seem as if I obsess about this whole Burning Man thing... I do. It changed my perspective on a system that I already was skeptic of. I see just as in the film from the early 20th Century, METROPOLIS, that we are part of a breathing machine.
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No, that is not why I want to be back. It was about the people. The way the mornings felt and the way the evenings felt. I actually felt human there, alive. Not just a person on earth but I felt connected to the planet that birthed me and I felt privileged just to be able to watch. ]]>
past and present in the united statestag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1312007-10-19T08:48:27Z2008-01-01T13:41:22Z American Legion, Lombard Illinois 2005 Lombard Illinois 2007 This is just another side note in the history of a small village. Lombard is just like any other place in America. Things change and buildings go on to live a...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
American Legion, Lombard Illinois 2005
Lombard Illinois 2007
This is just another side note in the history of a small village. Lombard is just like any other place in America. Things change and buildings go on to live a different purpose. Sometimes buildings are removed and others they are saved. This one was saved. Recently in this country it seems that many of them are not deemed worthy of saving. ]]>
journey to the islandtag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1302007-10-09T20:59:11Z2008-01-01T13:52:09Z Setting off around 05:20 we quickly see that nobody else is on the road.. A good thing for anyone on a road trip. Leaving Chicago is always amazing in the morning, you see the sun slowly coming up over...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
Setting off around 05:20 we quickly see that nobody else is on the road.. A good thing for anyone on a road trip. Leaving Chicago is always amazing in the morning, you see the sun slowly coming up over the lake as the car creeps away from the urban into the rural. After my recent train ride through the country I was not looking forward to seeing endless corn and farms. Though uninteresting after about fifteen years of seeing it I was excited to see the fog in the fields as I had seen in Nebraska.
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returning to reality after a week in the deserttag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1292007-10-03T23:23:38Z2008-01-01T13:42:43Z It was an odd experience… returning to the real world after burning man ended. After a crazy 2 day train ride followed by 7 days in the desert my concept of reality was a bit shot. At first the...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
It was an odd experience... returning to the real world after burning man ended. After a crazy 2 day train ride followed by 7 days in the desert my concept of reality was a bit shot. At first the only part of modern america I saw was what greeted me on the side of some road outside of the Sparks / Reno area.
I rode from the burn to Reno in the back of the moving van because there was only two seats in front and we did not want to get pulled over. Having not slept the night of the man burn into sunday I was quite tired from my journeys and excursions in the desert. So, after sleeping in the back of the truck with 10 bags of garbage I woke up after what was about a 7 to 8 hour journey from our camp. Greeting me when the truck door opened were two native american fellows, the girls and a large trailer with a hand painted sign that read "TRASH". I gladly helped bring out the 10 bags and we handed the guy $20... Our part of 'leave no trace' was completed! I climbed back into the truck and waited out the final journey into Reno and woke up at a 7-11 convenient store which was obviously visited by many other burners heading back to reality.
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Granted, not this particular one but you have seen many like it.
An interesting thing, my journey to get food. I had to ascend to the street level and I had never seen Reno before. It was an interesting little town, the blocks were small, everything was close together and there was casinos all over. Another thing was burners! I saw burners... All over the place I saw burners. This was a welcome sign because it made me feel at home even in this buzz and rush of a modern city. Dirty vehicles and better yet dirty people greeted me on the streets. Once I got into the place and got my food it was fun to sit and eat a meal with another burner... He was dirtier than I was but we both knew where each other had been.
It feels so good to walk down the street and see another burner and know where they had just come from... With a little nod and smile you kept on walking... Sadly, this nod and smile was rarely returned by the people on the streets of Reno, one of the first shocks and difficulties of returning back to reality.
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foggy day in suburbiatag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1282007-10-02T22:37:03Z2008-01-01T13:51:14Z It was really foggy today. I always enjoy fog no matter where it is. The last time I saw fog was about a month ago on a train ride through the farmland of Nebraska as the sun was rising....Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
It was really foggy today. I always enjoy fog no matter where it is. The last time I saw fog was about a month ago on a train ride through the farmland of Nebraska as the sun was rising. The fog was so thick you couldnt even see out of the train. The stuff we had this morning wasn't quite as thick but it did set a certain mood for the rest of the day...
tic tic tic... the road trip awaits...
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and one more thing...tag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1272007-09-29T16:48:48Z2008-01-01T13:50:40Z It is so easy to be alone in a modern American city. I have this interesting idea that has been floating around my head for a while. I envision some far away bazaar type affair with people bustling and...Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
It is so easy to be alone in a modern American city.
I have this interesting idea that has been floating around my head for a while. I envision some far away bazaar type affair with people bustling and interacting then I envision an American city... Mostly empty streets and if the street is occupied it is by cars not by pedestrians.
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Then again... We always have public transit as an option don't we? (maybe not)]]>
Something about the deserttag:www.depressing.org,2007://11.1262007-09-28T13:46:42Z2008-01-01T13:49:36Z Everything that I imagined the desert would be like was wrong....Christopherhttp://www.depressing.org
Everything that I imagined the desert would be like was wrong.
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Every morning felt calm. Without the usual cars and trucks driving past, without the usual obsctructions... trees, houses, power lines... it was calmer. One could notice the moon slowly moving or the sun slowly rising as the temperature quickly rose. One of the most amazing things about the mornings in the desert is that they are so welcoming. Cool breezes with huge wide open skies with rapidly changing colors. All of this happens quickly. From countless stars and desert cold to orange and heat.
It is hard to recall much of what happens at night out in the desert... The cool air is such a relief!
It is easier to think at night.
The heat of the day offers some very interesting opportunities for happiness. For example... Rainbows in the desert.
The rainbow followed a rainstorm which followed a dust storm. An amazing thing about rain in the desert is that it smells so strong. I always figured the "smell" of rain came from grass. Nope! There was no grass in the desert location I was and yet the smell of rain was extremely powerful. The happiness? The rain cools everything off and you get to enjoy the double rainbow comfortably.
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We like things a certain way. Everyone does, some special thing they require or desire or lust after or make sure of is always at the ready, be it physically on hand or in mind. What does it mean that we need certain things or feel that we need things in a certain order or in a certain way or quantity to be happy? One, two, three or once. How much is enough of what you want? How much is enough of what you need? Is it OK to only do what you want? Is it OK to put aside what you need?]]>
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Time keeps ticking away and no matter whether I acknowledge it or care about it time always seems to add up! When looking around outside everything signals that it is nearing spring and with that past events appear flickering bouncing and crawling up again in my mind. Dunes, dust, water, heat, cold and lonely long nights. Maybe in five months time things will be better, or worse.. or different or the same, maybe not....]]>
The wind outside was coming out of the west at a sustained rate of 30mph, with gusts around 45mph. With the air filled with powdery snow it was difficult to look into the wind even with something covering the eyes. I've felt this before!]]>
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It is snowing today. To walk around in the silence after it snows in a large city is one of the few things I look forward to each year. The snow seems to act like a large muffler that deafens the already quiet evening air. With the snow deadening the noise of all of the road vehicles tires it is much more peaceful.
]]>
It is rather strange that much of the United States already consumed by the sprawl of urbanization yet it seems that many believe there is nothing left to do than to rebuild stuff we already have. As it appears this has already happened in the past yet the process is repeating once more. This time the pattern of rebuilding is following a less personal path. With chain restaurants stores and mini malls making each little section of the country harder to tell apart from each other it is very likely that in another generation or two we will be seeing another rebuild take place.
]]>
Appliance Retailer, Lombard. 2006.
With the majority of 2007 in the past the look toward 2008 has begun. The coming year of work and academics for the world will likely go by largely uneventfully. Anticipation of events like the United States 2008 Presidential Election and Burning Man 2008 follow my education as interesting events that will be coming up next year. The new year should bring new changes to my art and new focus and interest devoted to different areas of my perception. Hopefully the year will turn out to be at least as interesting as previous years.
]]>
On a road that I have traveled quite a few times at this point in my life I find miles and miles of farms. It really is interesting that one could travel for hours via a multitude of vehicle and still find only farms outside of the window. There is not much else that is of any interest on a road trip throughout the middle of the country. Sometimes you could find yourself being interested in the contents of passing cars. Sometimes you can find something interesting at one of the many rest stops. The things people fill their cars with; dogs, cats and weeks worth of garbage are common.
]]>
I wonder sometimes what people see in their countries respective flag... why do people choose to display their flags? How long did it take a person or group to make the pictured "God Bless America" sign? . That specific house is the most lit up house on a very dark section of a quiet street in a suburb of a large American city. How many more homes in America are exactly like this one? How many are more elaborate?
]]>
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Reality does kind of suck. Money, traffic and petroleum seem to rule the day. It makes me sad to know that this is not the only solution. Waking up to the challenge of keeping beverages cold never seemed so good. Knowing that I needn't keep a schedule or worry that mine hinders others. Walking around in what I feel comfortable in and resting at a burn barrel after midnight. Getting in touch with how the moon moves across the sky. Knowing how rain really smells. Oh how I miss these things!
I know it might seem as if I obsess about this whole Burning Man thing... I do. It changed my perspective on a system that I already was skeptic of. I see just as in the film from the early 20th Century, METROPOLIS, that we are part of a breathing machine.
]]>
American Legion, Lombard Illinois 2005
Setting off around 05:20 we quickly see that nobody else is on the road.. A good thing for anyone on a road trip. Leaving Chicago is always amazing in the morning, you see the sun slowly coming up over the lake as the car creeps away from the urban into the rural. After my recent train ride through the country I was not looking forward to seeing endless corn and farms. Though uninteresting after about fifteen years of seeing it I was excited to see the fog in the fields as I had seen in Nebraska.
]]>
It was an odd experience... returning to the real world after burning man ended. After a crazy 2 day train ride followed by 7 days in the desert my concept of reality was a bit shot. At first the only part of modern america I saw was what greeted me on the side of some road outside of the Sparks / Reno area.
I rode from the burn to Reno in the back of the moving van because there was only two seats in front and we did not want to get pulled over. Having not slept the night of the man burn into sunday I was quite tired from my journeys and excursions in the desert. So, after sleeping in the back of the truck with 10 bags of garbage I woke up after what was about a 7 to 8 hour journey from our camp. Greeting me when the truck door opened were two native american fellows, the girls and a large trailer with a hand painted sign that read "TRASH". I gladly helped bring out the 10 bags and we handed the guy $20... Our part of 'leave no trace' was completed! I climbed back into the truck and waited out the final journey into Reno and woke up at a 7-11 convenient store which was obviously visited by many other burners heading back to reality.
]]>
Granted, not this particular one but you have seen many like it.
It was really foggy today. I always enjoy fog no matter where it is. The last time I saw fog was about a month ago on a train ride through the farmland of Nebraska as the sun was rising. The fog was so thick you couldnt even see out of the train. The stuff we had this morning wasn't quite as thick but it did set a certain mood for the rest of the day...
tic tic tic... the road trip awaits...
]]>
It is so easy to be alone in a modern American city.
I have this interesting idea that has been floating around my head for a while. I envision some far away bazaar type affair with people bustling and interacting then I envision an American city... Mostly empty streets and if the street is occupied it is by cars not by pedestrians.
]]>
Then again... We always have public transit as an option don't we? (maybe not)]]>
Everything that I imagined the desert would be like was wrong.
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