Lobotica

New Work

2009-12-11T18:32:00.002-05:00

I just finished this short movie. I made the characters, shot the movie, sang the song, played the banjo. It's a cover of a favorite song, "Parentheses" by the Blow. The scenes fit the lyrics, and are somewhat autobiographical!

two ideas

2009-09-23T21:45:00.002-04:00

1. Record people in their 20's & 30's while they talk to their grandparents on the phone.

2. Record little kids doing impressions of old people.

1+2. Maybe combine those two things, somehow.

Frivolity

2009-05-06T21:36:00.002-04:00

“What if works of art were considered to be what they actually are – frivolous objects or entities with no intrinsic value that only acquire value through a complex process of socialization during which some are empowered by an ongoing sequence of private, mercantile, journalistic, and institutional investments that are irrevocably extrinsic to them and to any intention they might embody?” - Dave Hickey

Okay it's a long question and all, but it's great to think about!

(I've been insane with finals, but look forward to some more art this sum sum summer...)

sort of an update:

2009-04-22T14:40:00.007-04:00

I bought a domain (www.lauragiorgio.com), and have used the space to remix/reorganize a lot of my past few months work (and there will be more to come).

You can view some of them here: American Apparel, New Museum, Epcot, Red Line.

I've also been working on this new cool thing, the 2001 Project, which is always and forever accepting submissions. The idea is to take an in-depth look at the year, as a whole, and compile an archive of memories, photographs, writings, artifacts of any nature. Has the world changed, stayed the same, does it matter?

I'll still be updating this blog, though, NO WORRIES.

Scenes from the Roof of the New Museum

2009-04-08T11:20:00.005-04:00

Young Artists Take Well Deserved Break From Installation Work Downstairs; Discuss Art

Man and Woman Enjoy View From New Museum; Discuss Art

Girls Quickly Snap Photographs and Leave; Discuss Nice View

BLINGEE.

2009-04-05T22:09:00.002-04:00

Glitter Graphics

wisdom i share with you, part eight:

2009-03-24T21:13:00.001-04:00

This advice is essential.

wisdom i share with you, part seven:

2009-03-23T20:03:00.003-04:00

A new installment from my ongoing morse code blinking advice column, presented by Youtube.

24 Photographs from Epcot

2009-03-18T09:04:00.008-04:00

Gross Anatomy

2009-03-16T23:53:00.004-04:00

Mhmm.

Gross Anatomy

2009-03-16T23:49:00.001-04:00

wisdom i share with you, part six:

2009-02-14T23:32:00.002-05:00

The Series Series

2009-02-10T00:28:00.005-05:00

New work up on my Facebook. Two series, one from American Apparel and the other from the streets of Cambridge and Boston. I used an instant camera, and asked strangers to take my picture. I definitely am inspired by artists like Nikki S. Lee, but the big difference is that I want to stay ME the whole time while doing these projects. Maybe it's a version of me that isn't entirely authentic (seeing as how this is definitely not documentary, in a traditional sense at least), but I'm not trying to don any new identities. And I'm mega-uncomfortable, which is sort of the point.

wisdom i share with you, part five:

2009-01-28T21:47:00.003-05:00

That birthmark was a happy accident.

Lonely Bologna

2009-01-27T22:01:00.005-05:00

This is a digital test print from my in-progress Lonely Bologna series. They are meant to be a part of a conceptual (promise) suicide note.

Better shots on film exist, soon to be scanned! An even better c-print of this exists, sigh.

This project has kind of forked me in two directions: one, towards more & different kinds of meat messages, and two, towards more & different domestic messages. They all relate to the original suicide note premise, so I see it (for now) as one project. Evolving.

How I Poked Everyone

2009-01-27T19:47:00.007-05:00

The other day, I poked all of my friends on facebook. 377 people, to be exact. The idea came while I was reading a conceptual art book- the idea of art being an action, a method, something not at all material. The real motivation came from feeling disconnected and a little lonely. I had a new years resolution to use less facebook, except let's be honest, facebook can be really usefulf and interesting. Facebook can be used for good and not evil.

So I poked everybody, and the way poking works now (it's been a while) is that you have to go to each persons individual profile. I can't just poke my way down my friends list, which was the original plan. It took many hours, no joke. In the process, I learned lots of new things about people who moved, got engaged, changed their hair. I thought about all the too-familiar people I have known forever, those strange names I hardly know, and the people I still can't believe I do know. The ex-everythings, and their current counterparts. The one deceased person. There were people I dreaded poking (but that was the rule, everyone) and one person even un-friended me (though I can't tell who, funny enough!). So far, a surprising amount have poked back. People who I never expected, who I haven't talked to in years, have written me messages. A few feel less special when they realize I poked everyone, which is half the point and also half not the point at all.

So far, 142 have poked me back. I am keeping them all.

Wikipedia Madlibs

2009-01-20T23:12:00.001-05:00

Super Bowl XIX was an American football game played on January 20, 1985 at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California,[1] to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion following the 1984 regular season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers (18-1) defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins (16-3), 38–16,[2] to win their second Super Bowl.

The conception of Laura Marie Giorgio was an night of passion played on January 20, 1985 at the bedroom, hopefully, on the campus of their house in Glens Falls, NY,[1] to decide the let's make a baby champion following the recent marriage. The sperm champion Frank (18-1) defeated the egg champion Patricia (16-3), 38–16,[2] to win their zygote.

Rushmore was an movie played on January 20, 2008 at living room, on the campus of Eryk, Pattie and Adrianne's house in Orono, ME,[1] to decide the sexual tension champion following the realization of mutual admiration between Eryk and Laura. The hand holding champion Laura (18-1) defeated the couch cuddle champion Eryk (16-3), 38–16,[2] to win their relationship status.

Barack H. Obama's inauguration was an sworn in to office played on January 20, 2009 at Lincoln's bible, on the campus of the capitol building in Washington, DC,[1] to decide the presidential champion following the defeat of maverick McCain. The oath reading champion Obama (18-1) defeated the oath fucking up champion John Roberts (16-3), 38–16,[2] to win their constitutional prowess.

wisdom that i share with you, part four:

2009-01-20T18:41:00.001-05:00

wisdom that i share with you, part three:

2009-01-19T21:33:00.002-05:00

wisdom i share with you, part two:

2009-01-17T15:34:00.002-05:00

wisdom i share with you:

2009-01-17T15:20:00.002-05:00

What I've Been Up To Lately

2008-05-20T20:43:00.007-04:00

Lots! Going on!
Slowly trucking along on my big mostly-secret project, and incubating a plethora of new ideas for others.
Soon, soon I will have scans of the photographs that are currently up in Colvin- I hafta wait until the museum school's digital lab repoens in a few weeks. Contemplating taking a color darkroom course in June, which is exciting and will likely happen.

Researching things that will be more relevant later...

Reading good books...

Dancing, Beach bumming, and of course, Lattes.

Mascot Update

2008-05-06T22:00:00.008-04:00

So this awesome bear came into my life. I was at goodwill. We saw each other and knew instantly...

But what to DO with such an amazing bear? (besides take beautiful self portraits together). This bear was destined for greater things, I knew that much.

Enter: the honors college, who (mistakenly, some might argue) gave me reign over their walls for a year. The bear and I looked at each other, and I just knew it's rightful home was in the arms of Colvin hall... As it's mascot! And the mighty responsibility of naming the bear would be up to the students themselves.

So I got to work. I created a postcard, which is pictured below in my previous post, and spammed it all over the umaine email server. I also ghost-wrote this letter from Charlie slavin, the honors dean, and some voting ballots.

(click Charlie's face to enlarge)

So the two weeks flew by, and before I knew it I was back in orono, hands shaking in anticipation of what my bears name would be! Would people even vote? To my pleasant surprise, every single ballot was filled out.

There was a small degree of what some might call "voter fraud", but unfortunately for those kids, the "majority rules" concept was never a part of this game.

Here are the results:

sketch bear (24)
bearistotle (3)
kirsten johansen (3)
sketchy (2)
professor behr
ollie aka oliver
suck it bitch bear
emily cain
vince, the crazy crack fox
snuggles
elmo on sleeping pills
snuffy the bear
cherry beary
glaucon
dante
luvver
whitman
mr. tricia or candy
agamemnon
big red
smokey the bear
scary bear
fluffy
elroy
neitszche
charlie
horace the honors bear
are you kidding me?
raffi
radish bear
machiavelli
etch-a-sketch
maurice
we know sketch bear is the majority, don't pull anything

I think i've decided to disqualify the sketch bear crew, because come on, let's be more creative. If you're going to fill out 24 ballots, and cross out the names on about a dozen more ballots because you ran out of blank ones, then at least try to come up with something clever.

I have to admit, Bearistotle makes a delicious pun, as does Professor Behr. I'm also half-inclined to go with "Kirsten Johnson" because based on the handwriting she wrote her name in three times, and I'm wondering how she would react if more bear propeganda was spammed around campus with her name all over it. I was expecting more people to pull that stunt (unless Emily Cain wrote herself in, but I'm gonna assume somebody else did that, which is another brilliant vote. I'm sure she would love to add "namesake of terrifying bear" to her resume next time she runs for state senate).

So this bear's journey is far from over, but this chapter of it's life has sort of come to a close for now. I expect that I'll make an announcement over firstclass regarding the name selection, when I come to a consensus (er, I mean, when Charlie and Emily Cain come to a consensus) but for now the bear is riding around in the back seat of Eryk's car, experiencing the joys of Orono.

My vote, for the record, not that I did vote, would have been Cherry Bear-y Muffin...

move over, bananas

2008-04-28T22:52:00.002-04:00

say hello to the new mascot of the honors college.

for the past two weeks, it has been sitting in colvin hall, the honors center, with a ballot box, waiting to be named. after this weekend, we'll have results! i'm sure you're all titlated.

toy cameras

2008-04-21T21:57:00.001-04:00

i also ought to mention my flickr account

felt.

2008-04-21T20:44:00.008-04:00

oh boy. i am back. two excuses for my long absence: the first is that i had to give my dad back his camera, and the second is that i wasn't producing anything worth photographing anyways. then my hodgepodge art show happened, and my class happened, and eryk and i discovering toy cameras happened, and my new digital that lish gave me happened, and suddenly there's a lot to talk about here.

for now, let's reach back to the hodgepodge art show. it's called "felt" and it's currently up in colvin hall at umaine for two more weeks. i installed everything last january, but was only recently able to snap some pics. it's a weird mix of things i'm insanely proud of and things i want to forget. i'll focus on the prouder moments.

these are tape casts of my index fingers.

(detail)

somebody thought it would be a good idea to rip some down.

but that's really alright with me. considering it's a public building and a dorm building, and considering that the fingers look maybe a little gross and dirty to some (anyone i've shown them to, at least), i was expecting a little vandailism.

are these piccies too dark? enh.

alright, i take it back. this particular piece isn't really a "proud" moment, but it had much more potential (and still does). i took all the felt from the furniture after my move, cut it into fish scales, sewed them into strips. the strips, individually, are beautiful - they resemble spinal columns - and i don't know why i didn't just install them that way. i need to revamp this piece, but it was still a fun experiment. that's what it's all about though, right?

this was inspired by a joyce wieland piece i saw in ottawa last summer. her work, along with richard prince and jenny holzer, has been stuck in my head a lot lately- basically, anything with a large emphasis on text. i've had countless professors tell me countless times to not rely on text because it can become a crutch, but i find it can be a really powerful tool in the right situations. font is so beautiful. "i dealt" is like a headline, to me. it's a way of combining my love of newsdesign into my art.

i dealt, didn't you know?

pillows!

2007-09-09T15:47:00.001-04:00

i used to have a pet mouse named pillow.

i visited grandma lately and she gave me this fabric that my mom had cut and pinned with the intention of making pillows to match a chair back in the seventies. the fabric is very retro, textured-embroidered-lovely. i also thought this would make an easy sewing project to test out my old sewing machine that i haven't used in months (it works! i had thought it was broken but it works!), and what better time than a lazy sunday. i even had some fiber poly-fill lying around and everything (mm... poly-fill).

might i add, oh man oh man, most comfortable chair ever! my friend and i scored it off the side of the road. we pretty much furnished our entire place that way, but this was by far the best find.

gosh

2007-08-23T23:20:00.000-04:00

made this skirt forever ago. june, i think.

ingredients:

1 long silk scarf (twenty five cents at a searsport flea market)
1/2 yard polka dot cotton (no more than two dollars from mardens, and it's the perfect print to match)
1 fat quarter (for yellow waistband)
1 awesome, chunky lime green button (donated to the cause by sadie)

sewn by hand while watching a cheezy movie. i believe it was dodgball...

meow!

2007-08-19T18:36:00.000-04:00

i made this cat zippy bag for claire's birthday because she loves cats. she also got a cat tote by gabi. and some cat stickers. and she was going to get some cat butt gum but i forgot it. maybe next year, claire!

quilted quicker picker upper

2007-07-25T22:45:00.000-04:00

the quilt posted earlier is for mum, but this one is mine mine mine. completed in june, constructed (mostly) out of old shirts i couldn't fit into nor bear to give away.

what a shame that picture sucks, after going through the belated effort to get new batteries and all. maybe i will post a new one later so you can see it's glory.

also, i am excited about the darjeeling limited. thumbs up adrien brody, thumbs down jason schwartzman. although he is more tolerable with the 'stache (but then again, who isn't), i still cringe whenever he talks or moves or does things like that. but the trailer looks mostly delightful.

stay tuned for skirts, purses and recipes. wow, did i really just say that? i need to start welding again. build up some street cred.

why i love litterbugs

2007-07-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

seaglass!

i try to eat my lunch in interesting places and the other day i ended up at the best seaglass beach i've ever been to. not much food was consumed, in the long run, but i ended up with my pockets full of glass. mostly green and brown, but there are some purples and blues in there, as well as some other fun things. the photo is two lunch's worth of findings.

the location is super-secret but if you ask nicely, i'll let you in.

hopefully this fall, these pieces will end up in a mosaic, though i'm still trying to figure out what exactly to work on (furniture? a mirror? something entirely different?). i bought some spiff smashed china at the searsport flea markets last month. which reminds me, i should photograph my thrift scores from the a nearby church bazaar. can you say... lobster skirt?

in progress

2007-07-11T22:36:00.000-04:00

this piece started out as an abstract map-inspired (which i am prone to do) until i started sewing nonsense on top of it. but i adore nonsense. more to come.

leaf quilt

2007-07-11T22:19:00.000-04:00

more than a folk song

2007-07-09T22:58:00.000-04:00

i thought it would be nice to show what i do; be it arty, crafty or inbetweeney. i like to think it's mostly inbetweeney.

art is lovely and all, but craft deserves a lot of respect. craft is refreshingly thankless and doesn't come with the bogus pressure to SAY SOMETHING deep. i've always firmly believed that the silent, seemingly empty actions are the most powerful, in the long run. and long runs are great. i just emerged from a four year public school art education, and my mind is reeling. watch me try to keep running.