HARD COPY NEW YORK

A Dream You Dream Alone is Only a Dream. A Dream You Dream Together is Reality

I’m writing this Wednesday, January 21st. Last day of installing my museum show at ICP. Also my Dad’s 75th. Happy Birthday Dad. Love you. The public opening is Thursday, January 29th 5-8pm. You can rsvp HERE. Think you can also just show up. And it’s a suggested donation. So can be anything.

It’s been a dream installing this show. Having a big team behind me. People who are excellent at their job.

Also— I made a zine for the show. You can buy it at Dashwood, ICP bookshop or on my site HERE.

Hard Copy is about getting as many people in the room as possible. To see photography large scale. Presented in a way that’s approachable. Hope it makes people want to print their pictures. Get off their phones. And go see art in person. Reminds me of a Yoko Ono quote I love.

“A Dream You Dream Alone is Only a Dream. A Dream You Dream Together is Reality”

Best part though— getting to hang out with David Campany, Ari Marcopoulos, Collier Schorr, Gray Sorrenti and Daniel Arnold. All together. A very fun three days.

I’ve been writing about Hard Copy for almost two years now. This is its third iteration. Don’t think I need to explain the concept to you again.

Ok but quickly— it’s about the freedom to print pictures large. Experiment often. Cuz the low cost. And make a group show feel cohesive. Via unified printing technique.

For many years I tried to find a home for my ideas. Being a photographer first, curator, publisher there is a good amount of rejection. Having a museum show at ICP feels like finally— someone was listening to me.

I thought about The Smiths. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side. Morrissey said the thorn was the music industry. Not getting his records played.

It’s one of my favorite songs. And resonates more today than it has in the past. Not sure where I fit in. In photography. Or anywhere really. It’s not everything— but yea a little bit of validation is nice.

Hope you’ll come to the public opening January 29th 5pm-8pm. If not the show is up till May.

My picture above. Fits my mood. It’s been a tough month without my dog. So lucky to have had her for 17 years. But feels a little rudderless.

I chose an untraditional path. Working for myself. In art. Most days/weeks/months are different from the previous. My dog was a constant in my life. Taking care of her gave me stability. Routine. Something to come home to. And in return she took care of me when the world felt dark. It’s a strange kinda grief.

Speaking of grief. Minnesota has been very tough. Look— the world has always been dangerous place. People do shitty things. But I can’t seem to shake this shooting. Let me rephrase. Execution.

Cuz that’s what it was. Not interested in a debate. Watched all the videos. It’s very clear. Yea he brought a gun. That’s legal. You can’t have it both ways. Even the NRA agrees. And all the tech giants and big corps stand on the sidelines. Profiting off the engagement online.

So why doesn’t the admin just say— this is wrong. We’ll hold them responsible. Move on. Because they’re not good people.

Reminded me of something Dolly Parton said.

“It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.”

I thought about Bob Dylan’s Disease of Conceit. It’s about vanity. Arrogance. Pride insidiously destroying empathy. And reality. Like telling us all we didn’t see what we saw on those videos.

Which reminded me of something Bukowksi said.

“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”

Reminded me of the Bruce Conner video installation. Saw it over the past weekend. It’s up at Paula Cooper til February 14.

I thought about headlines and— life in general. Flying by me.

In times of duress the first thing I turn to is music. Because all art aspires to be it. Don’t argue. Voltaire said it first. He knew some things. All the above had me thinking about Tears for Fears. Everybody Wants to Rule the World.

I look to pictures and paintings next. Like this 10 feet 9 panel John Divola Xerox print I made for the ICP show.

A dog running free through the desert. Makes me happy to think about. Like this picture Mark van der Brink took. He shoots on a Minox.

The blue and tan reminded me of a car I regularly dream about having.

Vintage cars, specifically Mercedes, BMW and Porsches make me happy. Bruno Sacco was an artist. Brilliant designer. It’s no different than a painting. To me at least.

It feels strange promoting my show during all this terribleness. The casualness of violence. It weighs on me. But I worked really hard on this exhibition the last 10 months. And I want to share it with people.

Thank you to David Campany for not only being an incredible co-curator but also for being so kind. For making this experience as good as it could have possibly been. Thanks to Izzy, Logan and Sara at ICP and to all the amazing art handlers.

Takashi Homma from 36 Views of Mt Fuji. Xerox by me.