I was assisted with props by Ryan Cunningham and Bent Unison, two local artists who collect props, for extras like the chair in ( – ) and machetes in ( – ).

We started at 10am and shot till 5pm. The group of people was amazing. Having my brother Jacob and roommate Alex Szwet drive Jenna Belevender and her friend Robyn Bernard we met up with Ryan (and his sis) and Unison. Not long we got out of our vehicles Gwen, Farzin Montazersadgh, Derrick Robbins, as well as the model Jameika Martin joined us for the fun.

Take whatever you want from these images. The truth is that it’s impossible not to.

A book itself is a little machine

A language is never closed upon itself, except as a function of impotence.

A seniotic chain is like a tuber agglomerating very diverse acts, not only linguistic, but also perceptive, mimetic, gestural, and cognitive

A stranger to any idea of genetic axis or deep structure.

An assemblage is preceisely this increase in the dimensions of multiplicity that necessarily changes in in nature as it expands its connections

Binary logic and biunivocal relationships still dominate psychoanalysis

Collective assemblages of enunciation

Drunkenness as a triumphant irruption of the plant in us

It is still in the sphere of a discourse implying particular modes of assemblage and types of social power

Language is, in Weinreich's words, an essentially heterogeneous reality

Literature is an assemblage which has nothing to do with ideology

Machine assemblages and their various types, bodies without organs

Mimicry is a very bad concept, since it relies on binary logic to describe phenomena of an entirely different nature

Movement, evasion, and breakout

Natural reality is what aborts the principal root.

Nietzsche's aphorisms shatter the linear unity of knowledge, only to invoke the cyclic unity of the eternal return, present as the nonknown in thought.

Not imitation at all but a capture of code, surplus value of code, an increase in valence, a varitable becoming, a becoming-wasp of the orchid and a becoming-orchid of the wasp.

Principles of connection and heterogeneity.

Strike the pose or follow the acis, fenetic stage or structural density–one way or the other, your rhizome will be broken.

Subtract the unique from the multiplicity to be constituted.

The body without organs of a book.

The cocodile dos not reproduce a tree trunk, and more than the chameleon reproduces the colors of its surroundings.

The exteriority of their relations.

The imitator always creates the model, and attracts it.

The notion of unity appears only when there is a power takeover in the multiplicity by the signifier or a corresponding subjectification proceeding.

The orchid deterrorializes by forming an image, a tracing of a wasp, but the wasp reterriorializes on that image.

The rhizome is anti-genealogy.

The tracing is so dangerous. It injects redundancies and propagates them.

The tracing should always be put back on the map.

Thought lags behind nature.

Transversal communications between different lines scramble the genealogical trees.

Watch the crevices made by the runoff, and from them determine the direction of the flow.

We evolve and die more from our polymorphous and rhizomatic flus than from hereditary diseases, or diseases that have their own line of descent.

We have been aided, inspired, multiplied.

We will convince no one unless we enumerate certain approximate characteristics of the rhizome.

What distinguishes the map from the tracing is that it is entirely oriented toward an experiment in contact with the real.

I hope to continue this macro photography in the future and have a series. For now, enjoy these for what they are —an afterthought to a novel set of pictures I took at.. yeah, never mind.

The Sims 01

The Sims 02

The Sims 03

The Sims 04

The Sims 05

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The model is Christine Marie Pergande, a girl I’ve known since college.

Untitled Portrait #1

Untitled Portrait #2

Untitled Portrait #3

Untitled Portrait #4

Untitled Portrait #5

Special thanks to “elestrial” for the rain PS brushes!

Portrait of a Building Number 01 – 01

Portrait of a Building Number 01 – 02

Portrait of a Building Number 01 – 03

Portrait of a Building Number 01 – 04

These were taken inside of the complex the band plays at. They used to be upstairs, now they are in the shaggin pad in the first floor. Yes, I said shaggin.

This next set was taken in the middle of nowhere, somewhere I can’t remember in Kalamazoo. This building stood out for its high security and paranoia.

Portrait of a Building Number 02 – 01

Portrait of a Building Number 02 – 02

Portrait of a Building Number 02 – 03

Portrait of a Building Number 02 – 04

These names may change when it goes into my Studies section.

Using the same technique as Pleasant Grove, AL. I stitched several images together with pseudo HDR techniques.

…Not sure where these images will end up.

Landmark Grain Elevator 01

Landmark Grain Elevator 02

Landmark Grain Elevator 03

Landmark Grain Elevator 04

Landmark Grain Elevator 05

Landmark Grain Elevator 06

Landmark Grain Elevator 07

Landmark Grain Elevator 08

Landmark Grain Elevator 09

Landmark Grain Elevator 10

Landmark Grain Elevator 11

Landmark Grain Elevator 12

Landmark Grain Elevator 13

Landmark Grain Elevator 14

Landmark Grain Elevator 15

Landmark Grain Elevator 16

Landmark Grain Elevator 17

Landmark Grain Elevator 18

Some of these are re-makes. Most are new (from old images).

Unthinking with Errors

Sure of Things v1

Used for a Better Purpose

Doll Face

Collision with Death

I hope musicians and artists aren’t merely becoming famous by getting the most “likes” on Facebook or tweets in Twitter.

Let me start this by getting to the point: There will be no one as famous as the Beatles or Picasso ever again. They were among the last to live with the possibility of THAT much media exposure.

It comes down to more than media, it’s not really “they” who caused this explosion in fame and exposure. (whoever “they” are). Before Napster there was MTV. Before YouTube their was America’s Funniest Home Videos. Before Google there were libraries. With all this free content we still demand more. We certainly don’t want to pay for it, that’s for sure. Surely this is human nature in the finest sense; besides sex, wealth, and power, we want to be entertained. As the market for sentimental value decreases, marketing campaigns spring up and shift the profit margin for their gaines in marketing the childish needs and wants of others. It only makes sense that companies and large online corporations would like to channel this hardwired emotion for profit. What better landscape now than online real-estate? Like the media, corporations aren’t at fault either. This isn’t about that. It’s about evolution. Besides, can you really blame them?

Wilson Ave, FL 01

“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.” —Chuck Palahniuk.

No way this couldn’t have happened. You’ve probably already figured this out. It’s seen as a good thing to take as many shortcuts as possible and live a life where everything you could ever want is at your fingertips as soon as possible. Take a pill—but I won’t even start with that.

Before Napster there were CD’s and records on vinyl. Before cameras there were paintings. Now that music can be accessed and downloaded practically anywhere now and art can be seen on an image search what continues to give this work value? It’s hard to say. Although it’s certainly “important” to honor those artists who are dead —Those that lived in another time-frame and gave rise to our ideas of the time— we can’t even pretend to understand how they thought anymore. We’ve already seen it all…

Well, now we’re in this service industry or sorts, and while there is still a wizard behind the curtain, this is the case where he represents another slick sales campaign trying to be clever purchased by a larger service industry (network) for pennies on the dollar —All to tell you some new solution for a problem you didn’t know you even had. Some comfort and relief from your anxiety. A way to improve your life.

The goofy analogy my Sunday school teacher used about our minds being like sticky tape and attracting everything that makes contact with it “unclean” and full of sin isn’t too far off from what happens to you when you are watching TV, browsing the internet, or even driving on the highway. “we’ve gone from being exposed to about 500 ads a day back in the 1970′s to as many as 5,000 a day today.” —link).

Wilson Ave, FL 02

With all of this digital noise the big question I have is how can we stand out? Keep in mind I’m writing this with artists in mind primarily.

From The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. Pg. 121, Law 16: Use Absense to Increase Respect and Honor.

“Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporarily withdrawal from it will make you talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.”

“Authority: Use absence to create respect and esteem. If presence diminishes fame, absence augments it. … Talents lose their luster if we become too familiar with them, for the outers shell of the mind is more readily seen than its rich inner kernel. Even the outstanding genius makes use of retirement so that men may honor him and so the the earning aroused by his absence may cause him to be esteemed.” —Baltasar Graciân, 1601-1658

Simply put What is rare is more valued. If your talents are not rare you must find some way to make them stand out.

“The Smoky Mountains are a rare jewel. … Why not have a place where you can still see the stars? There is a value to keeping things primitive.” —James Daweson

What is seen as the unknown is what makes us curious. What makes us curious gives us energy and arguably the desire to discover. Maybe it’s the unknown that draws people together. Either way, being unknown without being popular just isn’t interesting anymore.

Popularity adds value in our quick fix “pre-selection” mammalian brain (the part responsible for language, abstraction, planning, and perception.) Popularity also grants exposure. Without exposure you might as well be a flag folded up in a shed. More common than ever the strategy for today’s artist is getting the most attention… the third choice. Too bad this same strategy is being used by every form of advertising and entertainment.

Wilson Ave, FL 03

Let’s take a step back and ask a question.

Why is being popular so damn important?

I’m surprised more artists haven’t become famous through campaigns to get likes & tweets.

Even if they did would it really matter? Wait another year, month, week, day, hour, 20 minutes, three seconds, or scroll the list of “famous” names to get your fix. Simply put things are happening so quickly that one can never keep up with “mainstream” news, celebrity gossip, trends, events, deaths, stock trades, family obligations, birthdays, names, faces, favorite cereal, etc.

What happens when word fame becomes like the word awesome? Watered down and no longer relevant except in concepts relating to sub-par excellence? So what happens when there is no such thing as mainstream fame?

Wilson Ave, FL 04

It seems that factions are more likely to spring up. Dominant culture will forever live up to its definition but respect for it will be like those of sheep following their shepherd. It makes me wonder if services advertising their current front-page magazine celebrity won’t take on the form of digital channels. We already have radio and TV channels. Why not an online one? Of course this is happening already. Since content is basically free money must come from advertising, which is getting more and more difficult for them because no one remembers any of their ads (it takes an average of seven exposures to an ad to even recall seeing it). The ironic thing about this is for those who work in advertising. They face the same fate as the providers they financially supported —They will become lost in the crowd and become just another fish in the sea. Will companies seeking to be caught on the lure of their own 15 minutes of fame connect to relevant popular music like Justin Beiber to be remembered? As this trend takes off it too will collapse under its own weight and become dispersed. For this is the way things seem to be playing out.

Smaller and smaller interest groups will mix and personal choice will no longer become a decision as infinite choice will the standard. Advertising will begin to stop shouting at the the lowest common denominator because the bottom line is so low that no one can even find it anymore. Commercials that appealed to everyone will probably be something your children will read about in their history books “when people still watched TV”, which undoubtably will favor and mention certain trends as a last-ditch effort for corporate exposure. There are just too many things going on. No one will probably even notice and from a marketing standpoint this is probably a good move. In the end only the icing on the cake will be remembered anyways. These days who has the time to care about that stuff anyways.

Wilson Ave, FL 05

Stop caring about how popular you are. Focus on your own group and become your very own tribal leader. Don’t you see? Having unlimited options for media exposure is just the same as having none at all. Once you get down to brass tacs you must realize that there are no quick fixes anymore for fame and a reputation. Even if you manage to slip through the cracks, you are still just a flash in the pan. Sure this technique might have worked in the good ol’ days when all you needed was a headline in a major newspaper, journal, magazine, to stand out and be remembered. Today publicity is important, but in a much different way. First you must become find your unique talent and control your niche. Gain followers who think like you do. Win the respect of your peers by supporting their work. Ignore the things you cannot have, for acknowledging the petty problem of getting likes on Facebook or winning that photo competition gives its existence credibility. The more attention you give to an enemy the stronger you make that enemy. It’s your choice: You can spend your time with in all of the weeds looking for a place to stand tall and see the river or you can turn your back and find the path that leads into the water itself.

In summary, quality over quantity and ease of access is essential. Create work that forces the viewer or listener to an experience. In today’s cultue of quick fixes, touch-screens, and headphones your audience will thank you. Experiences cannot be bought or sold. Experiences transcend all of our consumerist tendencies and go strait to the heart.

Focus on “making life easier” has become priority #1 instead of helping others. There is also the angle that life has become so redundant for so many people that being awake and dreaming might as well be the same thing.

The six images shown below were the best of a recent photoshoot with Alina Jjira.

…Once more images are in place many of these will be removed from the open eries to make room for other people. My goal is to have at least 10 people from all walks of life. Old, young. Men, women. Attractive, not so attractive…

A Much Deserved Moment

Duvet Inspired

Exuviae

Hibernated

Slept Under

Vendible Display