Dad made me toys. Then dad made me a workbench so I could make my own toys.
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1972 |
In grade school I liked shops, making things. I liked art. My desk was up against the teacher's desk and surrounded by empty desks. I realized I wasn't like other kids.
I got my B.Arch. in 1965 and I learned -
- that architecture is creating spaces that enhance the quality of peoples' lives,
- that art and technology can coexist, and
- that only a few graduates (of architecture schools) ever become architects.
I read that architecture was frozen music (a quote by Goethe). I learned 2D and 3D design principles, architecture = sculpture + music.
I came away with two important ideas -
- Object, process and experience: that art is all of these things, simultaneously, and
- that architecture was an interdisciplinary art form.
I got my M.A.Sc. in Systems Design in 1967 and learned -
- computer programming and studied computer-aided design methods, (I learned)
- that architecture is 'choreography in reverse', a score performed by the people 'moving through' the space, and- that architecture and art have social meaning and are an important part of creating and maintaining a healthy community.
I was hired by the world's largest interior design firm, Saphire Lerner Schindler in NYC to write a computer-aided drafting program. My program was used to draw floor plans for the Sear's Tower, Chicago. The 40th floor had 200 secretarial stations surrounded by private offices, and although every office had a window, not one secretary could see outside. This was not why I became an architect, licensed or not. A really, really big moment, life changing, I quit!
I decided to make art using new media and computers. I became artist-in-residence at the Experimental Television Center in upstate NY. I succeeded Nam June Paik. My job was to demo the Paik Abe Video Synthesizer to schools, colleges, art galleries and museums.
I taught new media arts and computer graphics at William James College, an alternative educational college in Western Michigan and then at Virginia Commonwealth School of the Arts in Richmond VA.
I worked as a graphics programmer for Truevision in Indianapolis IN.
In 1994 Mary Ann and I incorporated 911 Electronic Media Arts as a 501(c)(3). A year later we moved to New England.
I worked for Looking Glass Technologies in Cambridge MA.
I taught new media arts and computer graphics at UMass Lowell MA. In 2003 I enrolled in Goddard College for my M.F.A in Interdisciplinary Art. I like to think and ask myself questions such as -
- How do we think - verbally, visually, and/or kinesthetically?
- How do we know what we know?
- Where do ideas come from?
- What is community art?
In 2005 911 re-opened as 119 Gallery in Lowell. The gallery is 'what architecture is all about;' it's a place and a space that enhances the quality of people's lives. A space we can reconfigure for exhibits, events, meetings and workshops. 119 Gallery is the only 'white space', contemporary art gallery in Lowell accessible to everyone.
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