After a very long wait, I'm coming to you from my new office/studio. It's about 90% complete, which is enough for me to be able to work, blog, and find other ways to cause trouble. Over the last couple of hours, while doing some work, I got a healthy dose of vitamin D from the natural light in my window and a smile crossed my face as the birds chirped their approval of my latest itunes selection and blogging music for the day - U2...in an effort to get pumped for the concert in July. Crappy i-phone picture below to give you hint of what I'm alluding to:
Where's all the equipment you ask? Well, my supplies consist of the following:
-A 1920's bakelite camera
-Papers and boards
-Cutting implements and surfaces
-Super-secret chemistry
-Computer
-External drive
-Printer
Everything but the computer equipment resides in a closet located in the studio - so everything is within easy reach, but the space remains uncluttered. This helps greatly in hatching evil schemes.
So, you're probably wondering if I've actually done anything in this new space. Glad you asked - indeed I have. If you take a look at the website (www.sirinsky.com), you'll notice some changes...some subtle, some a little more obvious. A new image is up, some older images are gone, the order has been shuffled around a little bit, and there have even been some minor design changes to the site itself. So after you're done here, go there and explore!
I've also come to some realizations about what direction(s) I want my work to take. Lately, I've had this yearning to get back to the basics. Camera-film-image; but still using my antique camera and adding my own special flavor.
My painterly series has consumed me for a few years now - which has been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it has helped me to really delve into a style in a way I haven't in the past. And, I'm by no means done - there's much more to do and I look forward to seeing where it goes. But, on the flip-side, there have been times where it felt like fitting a square peg into a round hole. If I have a shot I really love, that still says "Marc Sirinsky's work," but it doesn't work with the "process" for whatever reason, do I ignore it? Do I save it for some other time? Can someone really devote themselves to multiple bodies of work at once or does it simply show immaturity as an artist?
The most recent shot I posted to the site (which many of you have seen on the blog) showed me that if it's done right, you can develop multiple bodies of work at once. The key is to not spread yourself too thin, and make sure that all the work you're creating is truly yours. Being all over the place is not good for one's development, but allowing your own personal style, subject matter and perspective to translate across more than one body of work is completely achievable, and can actually keep all of your work fresh.
All artists have pieces they've created that have signified a key moment in their career - a discovery or turning point that informs their work in some way going forward. I personally have several - some of which are on the site and some aren't. I haven't had one in a while - but I think this one is a game-changer. How much of one and in what way has yet to be seen.
I've got a bunch more images waiting in the wings, and now that the studio is ready, I can work on those in the next week or two.
I'll leave you with some recent publishing news. An image of mine has been published on the Tumblr site for a contemporary photography blog entitled Slightly Lucid. This is a great blog - with a well-edited group of images, and their Tumblr site is also very well done. Check it out:
http://tumblr.slightlylucid.com/
Stay tuned for more!
-Marc
